Armed conflict, economic instability and forced displacement are not isolated crises. They are overlapping shocks that reshape family livelihoods, weaken public systems and place children at heightened risk of exploitation. Among the most persistent consequences is child labour, which often emerges when protection mechanisms fail and households are pushed into survival mode.
From a human rights perspective, this link is neither incidental nor new. Conflict undermines the conditions that allow children to remain in school, access healthcare and grow in safe environments. When these foundations collapse, child labour becomes a coping strategy rather than a choice.
Conflict as a multiplier of risk
Recent global evidence confirms the scale of the challenge. According to the latest estimates by International Labour Organization and UNICEF, child labour prevalence in conflict-affected settings reaches 21 per cent, more than four times higher than in countries not affected by conflict or fragility. Even in contexts without active fighting but marked by weak governance or institutional instability, child labour remains elevated at 16 per cent.
Conflict disrupts livelihoods, destroys infrastructure and overwhelms education and social protection systems. Parents lose income. Schools close or become unsafe. Health services are strained or inaccessible. In this environment, children are more likely to work to support household survival or to be exposed to hazardous and exploitative labour.
Globally, child labour still affects nearly 138 million children, including 54 million in hazardous work. These figures remain unacceptably high and fragile in the face of growing global pressures such as conflict, climate change and economic volatility.
Displacement and barriers to protection
Forced movement compounds these risks. Families fleeing violence or instability often arrive in new locations without legal status, social networks or access to services. Securing decent work, housing, education and childcare becomes difficult, particularly when language barriers and administrative hurdles are present.
In these conditions, migrant and displaced children face specific vulnerabilities. When parents cannot access formal employment or childcare, children may accompany them into informal work or drop out of school altogether. Gaps in school enrolment, healthcare access and social assistance increase the likelihood of children entering labour markets prematurely.
This is not limited to cross-border displacement. Internal displacement within fragile or conflict-affected countries presents similar challenges, particularly where public services are already under strain.
The erosion of rights in conflict settings
The scale of children affected by armed conflict is unprecedented. In 2024 alone, an estimated 473 million children, nearly one in six globally, were affected by armed conflict, according to Save the Children.
Reports from the United Nations Human Rights Office underline that armed conflict remains one of the gravest threats to children’s rights. It undermines nearly all protections guaranteed under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, one of the most widely ratified human rights instruments globally.
Children in conflict settings face not only violence and displacement, but also heightened exposure to forced labour, trafficking, recruitment into armed groups and other worst forms of child labour. Many of these abuses remain underreported due to their hidden or illicit nature, particularly in humanitarian contexts where data collection is constrained.
Education as a protective anchor
Across crises, one factor consistently reduces the risk of child labour: access to education. Keeping children in school is among the most effective safeguards against exploitation. Education provides structure, protection and long-term opportunity, even in fragile settings.
Yet crises frequently interrupt schooling. Schools may be destroyed, occupied or unsafe. Families may lack documentation or resources to enrol children in new locations. Addressing child labour in crisis contexts therefore requires education to be treated as a core component of humanitarian response rather than a secondary concern.
Child labour considerations must be integrated into crisis preparedness, response and recovery, from emergency cash assistance and livelihood support to education, child protection and social services.
Towards rights-based responses
There is no single solution to child labour in contexts shaped by conflict and displacement. Responses must be adapted to diverse realities and grounded in human rights principles.
This includes strengthening social protection systems, supporting decent work for adults, ensuring access to education and healthcare for displaced families, and embedding child labour prevention into humanitarian and development programming. It also requires recognising that child labour is not only a consequence of poverty, but of systemic shocks that erode rights and resilience.
As conflicts intensify and displacement grows, protecting children from labour exploitation demands coordinated, long-term approaches that bridge humanitarian action and sustainable development. Addressing child labour in these contexts is not only a matter of recovery. It is a measure of how effectively children’s rights are upheld when systems are under pressure.
