KAMPALA (ILO News) – During a 2-day workshop, the ILO, under the leadership of Mr. Wellington Chibebe ILO Director, CO-Dar es Salaam launched Uganda’s Social Finance model, which represents an innovative and inclusive paradigm towards the achievement of Uganda’s goals and international commitments towards the elimination of  all forms of Child Labour by 2025  as envisaged in  SDG Target 8.7 “Take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms”.

The event was honoured with high-level representation from the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development represented by Hon. Amongi Betty Ongom, the UN Resident Coordinator H.E. Susan Ngongi Namondo and the Representative of H.E. Karin Boven, Ambassador Government of the Netherlands, Mr. Joost Van Ettro, Head of Development Cooperation from the Embassy of the Netherlands in Kampala, Uganda.

Director Wellington welcomed participants to the event and highlighted the importance of financial services to support the elimination of child labour through addressing some of its root causes: poverty reduction, productivity, resilience, gender inequality and gender-based violence, and education.

The social finance model is an innovative solution for improving access to finance and improving livelihoods as an effective way to reduce poverty and address the root cause of child labour, forced labour and human trafficking, highlighted Ms Ngongi. On the same subject, the Permanent Secretary Ministry of Gender, Labour, and Social Development highlighted that Uganda as a pathfinder country and member of the alliance 8.7 is required to take immediate measures to accelerate action towards the elimination of child labour to bring about inclusive and sustainable development.

The ACCEL Africa project, financed by the Netherlands, is supporting the design of innovative financial (and non-financial) services aimed at supporting workers in lower tiers of the coffee and tea supply chains in Kikuube, Hoima, Buikwe, Mbale, Sironko, Bulambuli and Kabarole, Uganda. Through various financial services, the project has reached to 2000 women and men. The approach taken by the project includes:

• Sustainable investing – which is the engagement of and with investors on the identification and mitigation of human and labour rights violations through improved investment practices.
• Financial Inclusion – supporting vulnerable groups’ provision of banking services (incl. credit unions and microfinance services).
• Impact Insurance – addressing chocks in agricultural sectors through insurance and risk management solutions.

ACCEL’s Africa model follows a comprehensive four-step approach, which first supports capacity building and provides direct livelihood support to beneficiaries, focusing on productivity, diversification, and entrepreneurship. Second, it provides the capacity to cooperatives and member-based organizations (farmer groups) intending to improve access to finance. Third, e-learning includes material and information to farmers through interactive voice responses in local languages. Fourth, access to agriculture-tailored financial instruments, including savings, credit, payments, and agriculture insurance, to project beneficiaries.

During the event, presentations on the project implementation's results showcased 9843 beneficiaries (incl. adults and children) through the project’s livelihoods support activities, 15 cooperative and farmers associations supported, and a total of 1015 beneficiaries enrolled in the e-learning programme.

The Minister of Gender, Labour and Social Development called for financial institutions, International Development Banks, Multinationals and Civil Society to come together to tackle the growing Child Labour Challenge in Uganda and launched the Social Finance model through the signature of a commitment board.

After the launch, the ILO under the leadership of Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE), will continue to explore new partnerships with other coffee and tea supply chain actors, to replicate the model in other communities and hence reach scale.