Apenisa Waqairadovu 
[Source: The ASEAN]
Acting Minister for Employment, Filimoni Vosarogo says 259 children have been withdrawn from child labour.
He says the figures are from 2011 to date.
Vosarogo was speaking at the World Day Against Child Labour this morning.
The Minister says returning these children to the school system was possible due to collaboration with stakeholders.
The Acting Minister says the achievement is huge, but there is still a long way to go.
Vosarogo says the COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated the number of children forced into child labour globally.
“Globally prior to COVID-19 there was a huge decline in child labour unfortunately that has increased from 152 million from the last two years to around 160 million as of today. Which is an additional eight million child labour cases reported.”
Vosarogo says the Ministry will continue to drive its efforts through awareness and inspections.
The theme for this year is “Social Justice for All and Ending Child Labour.”
