Morocco Launches National Mechanism to Eradicate Child Labor

Morocco has launched a national mechanism to eradicate child labor, aiming to protect and reintegrate working children. The initiative, unveiled on Friday in Rabat, is under the patronage of King Mohammed VI and the presidency of Princess Lalla Meryem. The National Observatory for Children's Rights, which oversees the mechanism, aims to ensure the withdrawal of children from work and their reintegration, along with providing socio-economic support to their families.

The new mechanism focuses on individual care for each affected child, assessing their situation and needs, withdrawing them from work, and reintegrating them, while providing economic support to their families from the day of their withdrawal from the labor market. This initiative comes amidst ongoing child labor in Morocco, which has decreased by over 80% since 1999. According to data from the High Planning Commission for 2025, approximately 103,000 children aged between 7 and 17 are still working, representing 1.3% of children in that age group.

The data also reveals a disparity between rural and urban areas, with 2.4% of children working in rural regions compared to 0.5% in cities. The new national mechanism aims to address several shortcomings in the existing system to combat child labor. It ensures continuous intervention among various institutions, adopts a sectoral and regional approach considering the specificities of regions and economic activities, and creates an individual file for each child to monitor their situation. The system is built on two main pillars: continuous vigilance and individual intervention, relying on regional cells combating child labor under the Ministry of Economic Integration, Small and Medium Enterprises, Employment, and Skills, in coordination with contracted associations responsible for field interventions.

Seventeen institutional and associative actors are involved in implementing the mechanism, distributed across three levels of intervention: strategic leadership, territorial coordination, and technical support. At the strategic level, the National Observatory for Children's Rights chairs the leadership committee, while the Ministry of Economic Integration, Small and Medium Enterprises, Employment, and Skills heads the technical committee responsible for monitoring the implementation of procedures. At the territorial level, regional actors chair the regional committees to follow up on the national mechanism to eradicate child labor, involving cells combating child labor and contracted associations to ensure coordination among various actors.

This mechanism is designed to provide comprehensive protection for children and support for their families. It aims to address the challenges of child labor in Morocco, which, despite significant progress, persists in certain regions and sectors. The initiative underscores Morocco's commitment to international standards and conventions aimed at eliminating child labor and promoting the rights and well-being of children.

CONTEXT: Child labor remains a global issue, with millions of children worldwide engaged in various forms of work that deprive them of their childhood and hinder their educational and developmental opportunities. Morocco's launch of a national mechanism to eradicate child labor is a significant step towards addressing this issue within the country. The initiative reflects Morocco's commitment to upholding children's rights and ensuring their protection and well-being, aligning with international efforts to eliminate child labor and promote sustainable development. The mechanism's focus on individual care, continuous vigilance, and sectoral approaches aims to provide a comprehensive solution to the challenges posed by child labor, ensuring that children are protected, reintegrated, and supported in their families and communities.