Cuba at World Conference on the Eradication of Child Labor

Liurka Rodríguez Barrios, Chargé d'Affaires a.i. of Cuba in Morocco, represented the largest of the Antilles at the VI World Conference on the Eradication of Child Labor, held in Marrakech.

According to the official website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Minrex), the meeting was convened by the International Labor Organization (ILO) and Moroccan authorities, bringing together high-level representatives from governments, international organizations, social partners, trade unions, and civil society to debate global challenges and eliminate this practice affecting millions of children on the planet.

The source highlights that Rodríguez Barrios emphasized that in Cuba, the prohibition of child labor constitutes a legal, social, and cultural reality consolidated over more than six decades of Revolution.

Likewise, she underscored that education in humanist and solidarity-based values has forged citizens committed to human dignity and opposed to all forms of exploitation.

According to ILO data, more than 138 million children work worldwide; half of them in agriculture and 42 percent in hazardous occupations that put their health, safety, and moral integrity at risk.

The statement asserts that poverty, armed conflicts, and economic, commercial, and financial blockades were identified as serious threats to the comprehensive development of childhood.

In this regard, the participants agreed that there can be no truce: a collective effort is urgently needed to eradicate the structural causes that lead to child labor.