COVID-19 is the biggest crisis of our lifetime. With no food supplies, no access to healthcare, social protection, education, and no family income; thousands of children from vulnerable backgrounds are at great risk of losing their lives, dropping out of school and entering child labour. This is true especially for girls.

We cannot let this happen.

We need your help now more than ever in ensuring marginalised children, their families and communities in different parts of Asia, Africa and Latin America are not going hungry and children are not exploited but educated. And to ensure that children not only survive but thrive.

SOME WAYS YOU CAN SUPPORT US

Provide for Essential Supplies Soap, gloves, masks, food items are some necessities every child and their family would require. Your gift can help us ensure they have access to the basics.
	Bring Children Back to School The unforeseen gap in the education and decreased family income due to lock down is likely to push hundreds of children out of school and never to return. Your gift can help us ensure children go back to school.
Help Access Remote Learning Children from poor backgrounds do not have access to phones, computers, internet, radio, television and even books to continue their education. Your gift can help us ensure they have access to the learning devices and materials.
	Light Up a Child's World Many children are unable to study and may lag behind due to lack of electricity. Your gift can help us bring rechargeable solar devices to children.
Reinstate Free Lunches at School School feeding programmes help in protecting children from malnutrition, illiteracy and child labour. Your gift can help us feed children and ensure they stay in school.
	Help Us Make a Better World for Children We now have the opportunity to turn this crisis into an opportunity- to reach out to neglected and the hardest to reach children. We have the experience, tools and partners to not only help communities recover, send children to schools but also empower them to protect themselves and their families for the future. Are you with us?

OUR RESPONSE TO COVID-19

COVID-19 pandemic has presented an extraordinary challenge for the people of all strata across the world. The poor, vulnerable and the most marginalised families and children risk being the biggest victims of this virus. As the numbers of cases seem to be increasing every day, so are the needs of millions of children and their families around the world.

Global March Against Child Labour network members across Asia, Africa and Latin America are therefore making efforts to support vulnerable populations in their respective countries, providing them with essential supplies such as food, sanitary materials, masks, gloves and psychosocial support. Members are also making efforts to provide alernate learning means and making advocacy appeals to the government for protecting vulnerable children and their families and for ensuring continuity of their education.

Read how our members are working to support children and families get through this.

IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON CHILD LABOUR

COVID-19 is already showing a grave impact and may have devastating consequences for children and their rights. As the virus has stretched healthcare systems globally and has triggered a lasting economic crisis, it has also begun leaving children hungry, pushing them out of schools, and laying the foundations of their future exploitation.

In many poor parts of the world, hundreds of adults are losing their jobs and businesses, and many children are unable to access alternate education or remote learning means with the closure of schools. This means that there is a real danger of this temporary interruption in schooling becoming a permanent one- especially for girls. This is also likely to force many girls into early marriage and boys into exploitative child labour. And as poverty deepens, many children may never have an opportunity to enjoy their childhood.

Due to lockdowns across the globe, hundreds of trafficked children and children in child labour are trapped in their workplaces, with hardly any food to survive or protective gears to protect themselves. Children working in domestic work are also likely to face the brunt of sexual and physical violence confined within homes of their employers. They are also at risk of catching the disease due to the continuous exposure to the virus as many are expected to move out of their homes for fetching the essentials.

It has taken more than two decades for our movement against child labour to reduce the number of children in child labour from 246 million in 2000 to 152 million today. However, these few months of the outbreak of COVID-19 can adversely affect this progress and pull us years behind in our endeavours of protecting children and achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 8.7 of ending child labour by 2025.

We must act now before it’s too late. We need to protect vulnerable children now. Global March Against Child Labour network is rapidly responding to protect children and their families from this pandemic.

Will you support us?