There have been glimmers of hope along the way. Like the time when this ‘smart and clever girl’ showed potential as a team leader at a shelter for street children, shining as bright as the gold embroidery she learnt to sew onto bags. “Sometimes I want to give up,” she says, “but I am expecting another baby…”

 

What will become of this young woman now? What life is in store for her unborn child, and other street children across Myanmar?

 

Street children and runaways can be drawn into the worst forms of child labour with dire consequences: depression, alcohol and drug addiction. More than ever with COVID-19, it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure every child is protected, safe and in school.

 

This short documentary is part of a World Day Against Child Labour awareness-raising campaign coordinated by the ILO in partnership with PhotoDoc, and in collaboration with the MoLIP and the Embassy of Switzerland.