UNICEF is planning to launch a watchdog organization to protect children from harm while working, the organization announced in a senate hearing on Thursday (February 17).

"In Italy there is a lack of perception of child labor, a high amount of disinformation, and an underestimation of the problem that creates enormous harm to children who are exploited," the head of the Italy section of UNICEF, Carmela Pace, said during a hearing in the senate of the parliamentary commission tasked with looking into labor conditions, exploitation and safety in public and private workplaces.

"This is why we, as UNICEF Italia, will set in motion the establishment of an observatory for the prevention of health-related harm", she said, "starting from an analysis of the harm caused to the health of children due to an exposure to work-related risks and the ways in which these risks and dangers at workplaces are identified."

UNICEF announced that the Italian Paediatric Society (SIP), and the Italian Association of Paediatric Hospital Companies, as well as experts in preventive occupational medicine and the Salerno University Studies Laboratory will take part in the watchdog organization.

Two students died during internship

"It is unacceptable that the future of minors involved in child labor in our country is put at risk from unsafe and unhealthy conditions at the workplace," said Pace, whose speech came a few days after the tragic death of a 16-year-old in Serra de' Conti in the central Italian province of Ancona. The young man died in a road accident while he was on his way to an internship at a thermohydraulic firm.

In early February, another young man, an 18-year-old student, died during a company internship in a workplace accident.

These two incidents brought renewed attention to the problem of workplace safety in Italy. Thousands of students participated in protests to demand more protection within school-work internships. The demonstrations reached a peak on Friday, with protests and marches in over 40 cities.

Unaccompanied migrants make up half of underage workers

"The exploitation of child labor distances the minors involved from schools, exposing them to multiple violations of their rights. It is necessary to take action to promote preventative measures, orientation activities, and professional training so that young people can make choices about their future activities in an aware manner, without incurring risks to their lives and wellbeing," Pace argued.

She said that in 2020, there were 7,772 minors working on irregular contacts, according to the national statistics agency INPS. According to INAIL (the National Institute for Insurance against Accidents at Work), however, she added, there are presumed to be about 28,000 minors working in an undocumented manner, of whom 50% unaccompanied migrants.