HIV AIDS and Child Labour

Project title: Combating and preventing HIV AIDS induced child labour in sub- Saharan Africa- Pilot action in Uganda and Zambia

The International Labour Organization (ILO), International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) has been working on the linkages between HIV/AIDS, child labour, education and gender since 2001. Different studies and workshops were done that resulted in a knowledge base on HIV/AIDS and child labour through a 12 paper series. It is available on the ILO website www.ilo.org/child labour. The last two papers are from the HIV/AIDS induced child labour project: no. 11: "Enhancing social protection to alleviate HIV/AIDS induced child labour: Experiences from Uganda" (2007), and no. 12: "Emerging good practices of the community based models in Uganda and Zambia" (2008).

The ILO-IPEC HIV/AIDS induced child labour project with pilot actions in Uganda and Zambia was designed based on the knowledge gained from the studies and workshops. The project commenced in 2005 and will run up to December 2008, funded by the US Department of Labour (USDOL).

WHY the strong link between HIV/AIDS and child labour? The HIV pandemic is both a cause and consequence of child labour. A cause: HIV/AIDS in the family forces children, especially the girl child to drop out of school, look after sick parents, and consequently take care of an alternative income for the family. HIV/AIDS as a consequence of child labour: often these children (girls) find jobs in the informal sector where they are very vulnerable and at risk of sexual abuse and exploitation. Some even end up in Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children (CSEC) with great risks of being infected themselves with HIV. This complete scenario forms a vicious cycle that requires attention and action to ensure that the cycle is broken!

What does the ILO-IPEC HIV/AIDS induced child labour project do?

The project works towards two objectives:

• Community-based models for assisting HIV/AIDS orphans and girls and boys affected by HIV/AIDS in child labour or at risk of entering child labour, through education and social protection, will have been adopted by relevant national organizations in Uganda and Zambia, and will be available for replication in other countries in the sub-region;
• Policy makers and programme planners in the field of HIV/AIDS and child labour in the sub-region will have mainstreamed tools, policy recommendations and good practices for dealing with HIV/AIDS and child labour.

Achievements and lessons learnt so far as of 1 June 2008:

• The five implementation agencies in Lusaka, Kapiri Mposhi, Livingstone and Luanshya Districts have prevented 1,242 HIV/AIDS affected girls and boys from entering child labour, and 861 HIV/AIDS affected girls and boys withdrawn from child labour, rehabilitated and integrated in UPE schools and vocational training courses. Over 300 families affected by HIV/AIDS are assisted with setting up income generating activities and forming group savings schemes.
• Strong community based approaches and social protection mechanisms were developed and documented as good practices for replication purposes.
• Development of several practical tools and materials to assist teachers, community leaders and the youth to tackle HIV/AIDS induced child labour by addressing stigma, discrimination, the use of participatory approaches, support/counselling techniques, how to develop action plans and how to mainstream HIV/AIDS issues in child labour activities, policies and programmes and vice versa. Produced are:
• Rapid Assessment on HIV/AIDS and Child Labour,
• Training Manual on HIV/AIDS and Child Labour,
• A SCREAM special module on HIV, AIDS and Child Labour,
• Social Protection paper,
• Mainstreaming Handbook,
• A teachers manual on psycho social support and emerging good practices of the community based models in Uganda and Zambia.
• Drafting of the National Child Labour Policy (NCLP) with mainstreamed HIV/AIDS issues in 2006 and the recent support to the MLSS towards the creation of the district child labour committees in the four districts where the project is being implemented.
• The project supports employers’ and workers’ organizations to raise awareness and mainstream child labour and HIV/AIDS issues into their programmes and activities. For example, the Zambia Federation of Employers (ZFE) has been conducting awareness raising activities using the IPEC training manual on child labour and HIV/AIDS to its constituencies. The same training manual was used by the Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) as a basic tool at workshops.
• The project has successfully worked to increase awareness of HIV/AIDS induced child labour issues. Its action has resulted in increased reporting of HIV/AIDS and child labour issues by all types of media. It has also increased collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, Ministry of Education and other major players at national and district levels, including by increasing the capacity of stakeholders at district and community levels to handle HIV/AIDS induced child labour issues.

Challenges ahead of us:

• Supporting the drafting of the National Action Plan (NAP) by the Ministry of Labour and Social Security and other stakeholders in Zambia through the district child labour committees.
• Despite all the efforts, the awareness level is still limited on the link between HIV/AIDS, child labour, education and gender. The project implemented a media and advocacy action programme that raised the levels of awareness. The project officially launched all project tools developed, including the emerging good practices on the community-based models in order to share and promote the strategies and tools developed.
• The coverage of the beneficiaries under this project is still very limited, and the numbers of people requiring assistance is overwhelming.
• There are concern on how to assist the grand parents better, especially the grandmothers (grannies) who are looking after sometimes 10 or more orphans, (for example through cash transfers, social welfare schemes, etc).
• Distribution, dissemination, training and reaching as many stakeholders, donors, etc as possible to make use of the project’s developed materials and to seriously address HIV/AIDS induced child labour in Uganda, Zambia and the eight non-core countries.

Although the Government of Zambia’s funding for child labour has doubled in the financial year 2007/08, the resources available for child labour remain very limited to be able to implement national and district action plans focussing on child labour. This all requires combined and concerted efforts, a holistic approach, horizontal programming and last but not least; leadership and commitment at all levels, from community leaders to government leaders.