Reflection | The Alliance's Participation at the Sixth Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour

The Alliance for Child Protection in Humanitarian Action was pleased to participate in the 6th Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour from February 11th - 13th in Marrakesh, contributing expertise on specialised child protection prevention and response services, and on multisectoral, multi-stakeholder approaches to eliminating child labour, while ensuring that children affected by humanitarian crises remain central to global action.

In humanitarian contexts, child labour rises to 21% — more than four times the rate in stable settings. Throughout the Conference, we emphasised that child labour in humanitarian settings is not only an economic issue, but a serious child protection violation requiring specialised prevention and response services

Our Engagement:

Panel - Impact of Child Labour on Mental Health: 
The Alliance participated in the thematic panel on the Impact of Child Labour on Mental Health, highlighting how child labour not only affects children’s physical safety and education, but also has deep and lasting impacts on mental health and psychosocial well-being. In the panel, we focused on how crisis conditions increase children’s exposure to hazardous work and psychosocial distress, and raised concerns about funding cuts undermining child protection programming, including critical MHPSS interventions

Watch the panel livestream recording here.

Interactive Workshop - Applying the Child Labour Toolkit in Humanitarian Contexts:
The Alliance also facilitated an interactive workshop on applying the Child Labour in Humanitarian Action Toolkit, attended by representatives from civil society, trade unions, and ministries of labour from Nigeria, Senegal, Namibia, Türkiye, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Liberia, and the Netherlands.

Through scenario-based exercises, participants explored how the Toolkit supports multi-stakeholder, multi-sectoral, prevention- and response-focused interventions in crisis-affected settings.

Explore the Child Labour Toolkit here.

Innovation Fair: 
At the Innovation Fair, the Alliance hosted a stand showcasing key technical tools and engaged participants in discussions on practical implementation in humanitarian contexts. The Fair provided valuable opportunities to exchange experiences and build new partnerships.

Moving Forward: 

The Conference marked an important milestone in global efforts to eliminate child labour. As humanitarian needs grow and funding tightens, it is essential that children in crisis settings remain visible, prioritised, and protected.

The Alliance remains committed to advancing practical, child-centred approaches that integrate humanitarian action, child protection systems, mental health, and cross-sector collaboration to prevent and respond to child labour in the world’s most fragile contexts.

Read the Alliance’s full conference reflection to learn more!