Statistics on Working Children and Education

In 2012, Colombia made a significant advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. The Government amended the Labor Code to increase fines for labor violations substantially, including child labor violations, and conducted 1,638 inspections to verify labor conditions for adolescent workers. The Government also converted the conditional cash-transfer program, Families in Action, into a national policy to combat poverty with a guaranteed budget allocation regardless of changes in the political administration. It established priority sectors in which to combat child labor under its national policy against child labor, including child labor in mining as well as sugar and coffee production. However, lack of inter-agency coordination and adequate resources hinder efforts to more effectively combat child labor and human trafficking. Children continue to be forcibly recruited by non-state armed groups and continue to engage in other worst forms of child labor, particularly in hazardous activities in agriculture and street work