KINGSTON, Jamaica — Minister of Labour and Social Security, Pearnel Charles Jr, has reaffirmed Jamaica’s commitment to the mitigation of child labour with a focus on prevention and data-driven interventions.

The minister made the commitment on Wednesday during his participation in the regional virtual roundtable, “The Americas – Key Alliances for the Elimination of Child Labour: Prevention as a Pathway to Eradication”, highlighting Jamaica’s use of evidence-based tools to identify, prevent and reduce child labour at the community level.

Charles Jr underscored Jamaica’s implementation of the Child Labour Risk Identification Model (CLRISK), a predictive tool developed by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC), which enables governments to identify geographical areas and population groups most at risk of child labour and to tailor prevention strategies accordingly.

“The fight against child labour must begin with prevention,” the minister emphasised. “By using robust data and predictive models, Jamaica is better positioned to intervene early, protect children’s rights and break the cycle of poverty that perpetuates child labour.”

The minister noted that Jamaica’s application of the model is grounded in findings from the 2016 Jamaica National Youth Activity Survey (JYAS), conducted in partnership with the Statistical Institute of Jamaica (STATIN) and the ILO.

The survey revealed that approximately 54,000 children were engaged in economic activity, with an estimated 38,000 children involved in child labour, including over 26,000 children in hazardous work.

“The CLRISK model identified high-risk parishes, including St Thomas, Portland and Trelawny, as well as several medium-risk parishes, largely influenced by factors such as household income instability, rural residence, lower educational attainment of household heads, and unpaid family work. These findings have been instrumental in guiding targeted, multi-sectoral prevention efforts across the island,” he added.

Charles Jr also reaffirmed Jamaica’s alignment with Sustainable Development Goal Target 8.7, which calls for immediate and effective measures to eliminate the worst forms of child labour and to end child labour in all its forms.