Industries that rely on child labor
The International Labour Organization says that 218 million children between 5 and 17 years old are in employment. DW looks at some of the most exploitative industries.
Coffee
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), agriculture is where the worst and most common forms of child labor are found. Coffee plantations employ children to pick beans in Colombia, Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mexico, Nicaragua, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Panama, El Salvador, Guinea, and Ivory Coast.
Cotton
Cotton-picking is done by children all over the world, but particularly in countries whose economies rely heavily on its harvest - like in Ivory Coast, where it provides a livelihood for 3 million people. According to the NGO Cotton Campaign, it is also a major problem in Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, where children are sometimes forced to work in the cotton sector.
Bricks
The US Department of Labor lists 15 countries using child labor to produce bricks for construction projects. These countries include Argentina, Brazil, China, Ecuador, North Korea and Peru.
Garment industry
Perhaps most famous for its oppressive sweatshop conditions in Cambodia and Bangladesh, the garment industry employs children all around the world. Here, Syrian refugees, including children, are seen producing shoes in Gaziantep, southeastern Turkey.
Sugarcane
Sugarcane harvesting is carried out by children in countries such as Guatemale, the Phillipines and Cambodia, amongst others. ILO found thousands of children working in sugarcane production in the Phillipines, some as young as seven years old.
Tobacco
ILO says that the tobacco industry is one of the most hazardous for child workers due to the long hours, extreme heat, exposure to dangerous chemicals, having to carry heavy loads and risk of attack from animals. The average child worker in the tobacco industry works around 10 hours a day.
Gold
Child labor in mines, particularly gold mines, is common in some parts of Africa, Asia and South America. Children either risk death from explosions in mine shafts, or must stand for hours in riverbeds sifting for small nuggets of gold. Because of unclean water, the children working in the gold industry are at high risk of contracting dysentery, malaria, meninigitis and tuberculosis.