World Day Against Child Labour 2019: Leaders and Politicians Show Support to the Cause

Every year, June 12 is celebrated as World Day Against Child Labour, to protest against the practice of child labour. The International Labour Organisation-sanctioned day was first celebrated in 2002, bringing attention to the cause of child labour and making people join hands to fight against the issue.

The theme for 2019’s World Day against Child Labour is ‘children shouldn’t work in fields, but on dreams.’ As per International Labour Organisation, today 152 million children are still in child labour, with child labour occuring in almost all sectors. However, 7 out of every 10 of these children involved in child labour are working in agriculture.

On this day, many leaders, politicians and artists took to twitter to share their support for the cause of putting a pause to child labour.

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar shared the theme and wrote, “Let us together strive to prevent child labour. #SayNoToChildLabour”

Congress leader Randeep Singh Surjewala also shared a picture, with the caption, “Don't give a child a tool to earn; instead, give him a book and help him learn!” with the hashtags #StopChildLabour #WorldDayAgainstChildLabour.

Nobel Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, who won the award for his consistent efforts towards providing education to children, tweeted, “Whose children are they who toil in mines, factories &fields at the cost of their freedom & education? They are all our children. Please don’t accept hospitality where children are working.Why 152 million child laborers when 210 million adults jobless? #WorldDayAgainstChildLabour”

Indian Vice-president Venkaiah Naidu also shared a tweet, writing, “Child labour is a social evil that endangers the development of children and the society. On World Day Against Child Labour, Let us resolve to eradicate the social evil and ensure a safe, happy & supportive environment to children.”

Sand artist Sudarshan Pattnaik shared his art on the Puri beach, with the message, ‘Stop Child Labour’. Sharing the picture on Twitter, he wrote, “On #WorldDayAgainstChildLabour, let us spread awareness to STOP #ChildLabour. One of My SandArt at Puri beach.”