Pristina, 13 June 2022 – 12 June worldwide is marked as the World Day Against Child Labor. The celebration of this day is done in order to raise awareness and encourage not only state and non-state institutions, but also the society in general, to take the necessary actions to prevent and eliminate child labor, which by nature or manner how it develops, it harms, abuses and exploits the child and denies the child the right to education.

About 160 million girls and boys in the world are involved in work. Even in Kosovo, a number of children are involved in economic activities and housework, even in dangerous working conditions, in which they are exposed to dust, cold, heat or humidity, endangering their health and well-being. The Ombudsperson draws the attention of the authorities to the serious situation of children in street situations who survive by cleaning car windows, selling small items, begging or collecting from garbage bins, facing the same risks and the risks of abuse and exploitation as they are found in the street.

The Ombudsperson urges the authorities to take all necessary measures to protect children from economic exploitation and the performance of any work that poses a risk or impairs education, harms health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development of children, that are guaranteed by the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which is directly applicable in Kosovo. While the Law on Child Protection addresses the prohibition of all forms of child labor and aims to regulate the monitoring of child labor, among others.

The Ombudsperson appeals to the Government of Kosovo as well as the relevant Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare to issue an administrative instruction regarding the prevention and prohibition of dangerous forms of child labor in Kosovo.