'Significant progress against child labor in Turkey'

By Metin Girgin

KOCAELI, Turkey (AA) - Turkey has made significant progress in the fight against child labor, a UNICEF official said Friday.

“Turkey is home to 1.6 million Syrian children. We are pleased to see that the fight against child labor is the top agenda of the Turkish government," said Nona Zicherman, deputy representative at UNICEF Turkey.

She was speaking at the opening ceremony of the "Symposium on Combating Child Labor" in western Izmit province.

“The efforts of the Turkish government are known as best practice examples across the world,” she added.

Zicherman recalled that 2018 was declared the year to fight child labor, adding that Turkey has been fighting the menace since the 90s.

"Turkey has made a very significant progress in the fight against child labor, it brought the necessary legislation on this issue and has implemented appropriate policies and programs," she said.