Protecting children, securing futures: Why safeguarding must anchor development goals

As of 2024, an estimated 138 million children; around 8% of all children globally; remain in child labour, and among them, 54 million endure hazardous work that threatens both their health and development. While global child labour decreased by over 22 million children between 2020 and 2024, progress in this respect could still be sped up greatly to address the urgency. Sub-Saharan Africa bears the greatest burden, with 87 million children in child labour; regional prevalence declined only slightly from 23.9% to 21.5% since 2020, with total numbers unchanged due to population growth.

The development sector calls children the leaders of tomorrow; but for millions living in conflict zones, displaced by climate disasters, or trapped in generational poverty, the promise of a better tomorrow is meaningless without protection today. Child protection should not be a moral side note to sustainable development; but rather be at its very core. The starting point for sustainable development is resilient and community-rooted systems.

The scale of the challenge is stark, and UNICEF data reveals that every two minutes, a child is trafficked; forced into labour, exploitation, or armed conflict. These are not isolated tragedies; they are systemic failures that undermine the very goals of the Sustainable Development Agenda.

Vulnerability is often the entry point for exploitation. For instance, in the mines of the Democratic Republic of Congo, children risk their lives to extract minerals; in rural Morocco, girls work in hidden domestic service; and in areas affected by conflict or climate change, displacement renders children invisible to policymakers and aid systems. Within such fragile contexts, we need to work alongside communities, drawing on local knowledge to help shield children from exploitation and to safeguard their rights.

Preventative initiatives that restore dignity is the need of the hour. According to the Know Violence in Childhood initiative, violence against children may cost countries 2% to 8% of their GDP annually. The focus should be on supporting sustainable pathways that protect children, so they can grow, thrive, and pursue their ambitions, an investment that contributes to the long-term well-being and stability of societies.

The good news is that solutions exist and are showing positive headway. In Latin America, youth-led advocacy has driven legislative reforms on safe migration. UNICEF and governments are promoting birth registration, and Colombia granted citizenship to Venezuelan children born since 2015 to prevent statelessness. In Mexico, organisations like Plan International offer shelter, education, and mental health support to migrant children.

In South Asia, targeted partnerships between NGOs and local authorities have driven a reduction in bonded child labour. The ILO’s ‘PEBLISA’ initiative uses microfinance and legal enforcement to free bonded labourers and prevent new cases across Bangladesh, India, Nepal, and Pakistan. These examples prove that protecting children is not only possible — it is catalytic, triggering long-term social and economic gains.

We should stop treating child and youth protection as an aspirational ideal and start treating it as the first non-negotiable metric of progress. Because when a child is protected, a society is strengthened… and when youth are empowered, the future is no longer a fragile hope, but a secured reality.

Lujan Mourad is Director of Khalid Bin Sultan Al Qasimi Humanitarian Foundation