Peter Van Rooij , director of the International Labour Organisation (ILO), said in a seminar on Sunday that 1.5 million children are currently working in Egypt.
The seminar was organised by the ILO to discuss ways to decrease child labour.
During the seminar, Rooij announced that approximately 1.594 million children between the ages of 5 and 17 are working in Egypt, according to a Central Agency for Public Mobilisation and Statistics (CAPMAS) 2014 study.
Rooij said there are good indications that child labour will decrease in Egypt, explaining that Egypt has signed two international conventions to combat child labour and has developed its own national strategy to address the issue.
The Egyptian government is invested in eradicating the phenomenon and the ILO is eager to assist it, he further added.
Rooij pointed out that child labour has decreased by 30 percent on a global scale; however, there are still 160 million children who are working throughout the world.
The director stressed the necessity of celebrating ‘World Day Against Child Labour’ in all countries, as well as tackling the issue in the media. He also explained that civil society organisations, as well as the workforce and social solidarity ministries, need to raise public awareness by increasing their sense of responsibility towards child labour issues.
