Strategic Framework

During the past decade, and with the country’s ratification of ILO Convention No. 182 (1999) in November 2000, the goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labor has become a priority item on the national development agenda in the Philippines. As a result of 12 months of preparatory work, the Philippine Time-Bound Program was launched last 28 June 2002. In support of the Time-Bound Program, which forms a major component of the National Program Against Child Labor, the National Child Labor Committee has made a commitment to work towards a 75 per cent reduction of the worst forms of child labor by 2015.

Given the extensive research on the problem and the past contribution of ILO-IPEC and its partners, the causes and consequences of the worst forms of child labor are well understood. The Government of the Philippines has addressed the problem by integrating child labor as a priority concern in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (2001-2004) and through the new National Program Against Child Labor that has been designed as an overall framework for action against child labor.

The USDOL-funded ILO-IPEC Project (or the Project) is being implemented in support of the National Program Against Child Labor (NPACL), particularly to realize the goal of reducing the worst forms of child labor by 75 per cent by 2015

• On the one hand, the Project focuses on strengthening the NPACL, in particular in the areas of leveraging resources and establishing linkages with other national policy and program frameworks.
• On the other hand, the Project has been designed to significantly reduce the incidence of the six priority worst forms of child labor that have been identified by the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) and other stakeholders.
  The six target groups of the Project are i) child labor in sugarcane plantations, ii) mining and quarrying, iii) pyrotechnics, iv) deep-sea fishing, v) domestic work, and vi) child prostitution. The Project is being implemented in 6 regions of the Philippines, covering a total of 8 provinces, namely Bulacan, Metro Manila, Camarines Norte, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Oriental Negros, Cebu and Davao.

The Project is composed of two main strategic components: (1) strengthening the enabling environment for the elimination of the worst forms of child labor at the macro level and (2) reducing the incidence of selected worst forms of child labor through direct action for child laborers and their families at the meso and micro levels.

To strengthen the enabling environment, the Project will sponsor new research and policy discussions to improve the knowledge base and capacity of relevant institutions. The issue of child labor will be mainstreamed into macroeconomic policies such that poverty, employment, labor and social policies and programs will benefit the poorest of the poor. The Project will aim to develop education and training policies that will respond to the special needs of working children and those at risk. It will promote new legislation against child labor and strengthen national capacity for its enforcement. Moreover, it will aim for increased public awareness and social mobilization against the worst forms of child labor.

Direct action at the meso and micro levels will be focused on strengthening local capacity to monitor and manage action against the worst forms of child labor. The Project will also emphasize local advocacy and social mobilization at the meso level. It will provide for social safety nets and economic opportunities for the benefit of poor families and communities vulnerable to the worst forms of child labor. To ensure that children withdrawn from work will not go back to work, the Project will provide relevant and quality educational alternatives to them, building on the existing work of ILO-IPEC and its partners in the Philippines.

An estimated 22,000 children in the worst forms of child labor will be withdrawn from their place of work or exposure to hazardous conditions. ILO-IPEC and its partners will in turn provide support to those children, as well as meaningful alternatives, ranging from counseling, health care, education, and services for healing/rehabilitation and reintegration with their families. Another 22,500 children at risk will be prevented from entering into work. They will receive a variety of services and activities such as awareness-raising activities against child labor and additional educational support to help prevent them from prematurely entering the labor market. The children at risk include younger siblings as well as girl children.