THE International Labour Organisation warned today that more children are doing harsh and dangerous work in Philippines villages since they were hit by Typhoon Haiyan last November.

The United Nations labour agency said a joint assessment made by humanitarian organisations and Philippines authorities showed 54 per cent of villages contacted had children involved in harsh and dangerous work, with 39 per cent of them saying the number of such children increased after the typhoon.

Villagers told ILO investigators the children had volunteered to work to support themselves or their families, often on farms or as household workers.  Others were vendors, construction workers, fishermen, scrap collectors or pedicab drivers.

ILO child labour programme spokesman Giovanni Soledad said it was yet not clear exactly how many more children had started working in dangerous conditions after the typhoon.

But government data prior to the typhoon showed that in 2011 there were 1.6 million child workers aged 5 to 17 in the region. 

Of that number, more than 450,000 were engaged in hazardous work.

In 2011, 5.4m out of 29m Filipino children aged 5 to 17 were working. 

About three million of them were counted as child labourers — defined as too young to work or in jobs harmful to their wellbeing. 

Shockingly, 99 per cent of that number were engaged in hazardous jobs.

Thousands of children and their families are expected to march against child labour today in central Tacloban City to mark World Day against Child Labour.