Ministry of Social Welfare, Relief and Resettlement is coordinating with relevant ministries to draft the child protection policy.

Myanmar has a child population of more than 12 million. More than 1.1 per cent of the child population are child workers, most of whom are under 18. The children account for more than 30 per cent of the country’s total population. Over two million children are caught up in the conflicts and living in poverty, according to the figures of the UNICEF.

Children represent 34 per cent of Myanmar’s population of 53 million people.  More than half of these children live in poverty; between 100 and 150 children die every day before reaching their fifth birthday; 50 percent of children become adults with an incomplete education; and some 1.2 million children aged 5-17 are working.  Meanwhile an estimated 2.2 million children are affected by conflict.

Department of Labour conducted a survey on child workers aged between five and 17. The definition of child labour is: the children aged five to 17 years working in the dangerous workplaces for at least one hour in a week for salary or profit, the children aged 5 to 11 years for at least one hour in a week, the children aged 12 to 14 years, the day and night shifts for more than 24 hours in a week and the children aged 15 to 17 years, for more than 44 hours in a week, are designated.

According to the survey, there are about 12 million populations aged between five and 17 in Myanmar. All working children cannot be designated as child labour. Child workers represent nine per cent of the total child population. Of them, 54.8 per cent of children are working in the dangerous workplaces, mostly in forest and farm sectors.