FROM THE FIELD: The Myanmar child workers risking their lives for stones

Thirteen-year-old Min Min scavenges day and night for precious stones in a quarry in Hpakant, northern Myanmar, where perilous conditions have led to the deaths of many workers. With more than a million children working in the country, the UN is fighting to end child labour worldwide.

The child workers run considerable risks: in just one day, in July 2020, some 200 people died in a mudslide at a jade mining site in Hpakant.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) in Myanmar has successfully helped to halve child labour in three communities, as part of a pilot project and, with 2021 marking the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, is working closely with the Government to eliminate the practice in the country.

Read more here about Min Min's struggle to survive, and how the UN is fighting to protect child workers.

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