Some 171 million children around the world work in mines, quarries and other hazardous places or with dangerous materials like chemicals, pesticides and heavy machinery, the United Nations said on Friday. They are among an estimated 246 million child labourers - defined as those under 18 - who should instead be getting a quality education offering them "the best chance of escaping a life of poverty and hardship," said Ann Veneman, executive director of the UN Children's Fund UNICEF.
"Children as young as five are forced to spend long hours doing back-breaking labour, often in harsh weather and without access to health care," Veneman said in a report issued ahead of Sunday's World Day Against Child Labour.
"Children mining rock, gold, coal, diamonds and precious metals in Africa, Asia and South America are at constant risk of dying on the job, being injured or becoming chronically ill," she said.
Veneman, who served as the US agriculture secretary during President George W. Bush's first term, succeeded Carol Bellamy as UNICEF head last month.
UNICEF said it was joining with the Geneva-based International Labour Organisation, another UN agency, to campaign for an end to putting children to work in mines and quarries.
About a million children world-wide work in small-scale mines and quarries, and the number is increasing in some parts of the world, the ILO said.
Working with governments, UNICEF has set up pilot projects in Bangladesh, Morocco, Burkina Faso and elsewhere to end the practice and enroll these children in school.