HIV, AIDS and child labour

The high mortality of adults in their reproductive and productive prime from AIDS and AIDS-related illnesses and the number of girls and boys growing up without a responsible guardian have a serious impact on national development and the future of the children concerned. With a lack of adult mentors and limited prospects for education, many orphaned girls and boys miss out on the developmental skills and technical know-how needed to access decent work in their adult lives. The impact of HIV-AIDS on communities, families and entire countries undermines the process of socialization of children in its broadest sense, inverting care-giving roles and giving rise to social exclusion and loss of identity. The human capital losses arising from the pandemic exacerbates a multitude of other problems faced daily by children, their families and the communities, in many regions of the world. These include pervasive poverty, gender based discrimination, unemployment and lack of social services. It is also an additional and growing obstacle to education, as it has also claimed significant numbers of teachers among its victims in some countries. As a result, the pandemic poses a particular challenge for the elimination of child labour and constitutes a real threat to the significant results achieved so far in the global fight against child labour.

What's new

  1. SCREAM: A special module on HIV, AIDS and child labour

    10 March 2008

    This publication is a companion module to the IPEC SCREAM education pack. It is intended for use by educators to inform young people about HIV and AIDS and includes activities to increase awareness and understanding of related health, family and child labour issues.