The Minister for Women and Poverty Alleviation says the COVID-19 pandemic may reverse years of progress in the fight against child labour.

Mereseini Vuniwaqa says the COVID-19 crisis has worsened the financial situation of many families.

She adds the challenges of addressing child labour has also taken new turns because of the pandemic.

“Children already in child labour may be working longer hours or under worsening conditions, the report says. More of them may be forced into the worst forms of labour, which causes significant harm to their health and safety.”

Vuniwaqa says taking decisive action now is critical in reversing the growing issue of child labour.

“Training these actors on inter-agency guidelines, supporting child protection training in schools, establishing the commercial sexual exploitation of children and child labour sub-committees and working groups under the national coordinating committee on children.”

In the last 20 years, almost 100 million children have been removed from child labour, bringing numbers down from 246 million in 2000 to 152 million in 2016.

Fiji is working to end child labour in all its forms by the year 2025.