2007-06-12 00:26:56 -

SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization said Monday that it has joined with six other international organizations to fight child labor in the agricultural sector, which affects more than 126 million children worldwide.
In a communique released ahead of Tuesday's World Day Against Child Labor, the FAO said it formed an

alliance with the U.N.'s International Labour Organization, agricultural groups and an international labor union of hotel and restaurant workers.
«The goal ... is to develop joint strategies, programs and activities against child labor in agriculture in the national and international levels,» the FAO said from its Latin American office in Chile's capital of Santiago.
More than 126 million children work in agricultural, accounting for one third of the sector, the FAO said.
In Latin America, 70 percent of child laborers _ some as young as five _ work in agriculture, «which is considered one of the most dangerous areas of labor for children, along with mining and construction,» it said.

In Central America, children make up about 65 percent of the agricultural work force. While in Brazil, Latin America's largest nation, 1.2 million children aged 5 to 17 work in agriculture.
The FAO said that while some activities, such as pasturing and feeding animals, are acceptable, child labor in commercial or business agriculture is not.