Child Domestic Workers Project (Phase II)
| Time-frame |
Donor(s) |
Duration: 24 months
Starting date: March 2004 |
Dutch Government |
While each and every country would benefit from a project to address the problem of child domestic
labour, the child domestic workers project focuses only on Pakistan and Sri Lanka in its second phase.
The reasons for this are that, firstly, the other countries are already addressing the concern, at least
to some extent, through other interventions such as the Time-Bound Programme (TBP) in Nepal and
the upcoming Phase II of the Andhra Pradesh state based project in India. In addition, in light of the
already large and high number of projects under implementation in countries like India and Bangladesh,
it was felt best to benefit from the experience of these projects before launching new ones.
The project for preventing and eliminating exploitative child domestic work through education and training
in south Asia builds on experience gained during Phase I (2002/03), which covered Cambodia, Sri Lanka,
Uganda, and Zambia. One of the main lessons learned in Sri Lanka during Phase I was the lack of
equal participation of stakeholders due to an over-focus on the trade unions and under-focus on the
participation of the plantation management in the previous programmes. Under this new phase,
participation has been much more inclusive.
Main objectives
- To prevent children at risk from entering domestic work;
- To withdraw and rehabilitate those working under exploitative conditions by providing them relevant
alternatives such as formal and non-formal education and pre-vocational training;
- To support the development of relevant policy related to CDL and strengthen the capacity of partner
organizations to sustain action to combat CDL, through training, sharing of lessons learned, and
networking among themselves.
Components
The strategy for Phase II employs a framework with three interlinked strategic components:
- Creating an enabling environment: to promote
the integration of child domestic labourers as part of a broader
child labour issue in national development policy and programmes;
- Direct Interventions: to focus on direct action
with child domestic labourers, their employers, families, and
communities as a continuation and reinforcement of the initiatives
of the first phase;
- Knowledge Management: to focus on providing
opportunities for information sharing and documenting of lessons
learnt and good practices emanating from the work of this project
and other relevant CDL projects in south Asia.
Direct beneficiaries
The direct beneficiaries of awareness raising, capacity building,
and knowledge development activities are representatives of the
Governments, NGOs and employers' and workers' organizations in south
Asia (Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka). Their
knowledge and capacity to address the issue of CDL has been enhanced
through a subregional network, information sharing, and capacity
building activities. In Pakistan and Sri Lanka, direct beneficiaries
include child domestic labourers (up to 18 years of age), children
at risk (8-14 years), and their families.
Key outputs of phase I
- Training of approximately 85 social mobilizers from among members
of the plantation communities situated in the central and southern
parts of Sri Lanka. Their work included gathering socioeconomic
data on the target groups, raising awareness about child labour
and children's rights, facilitating the peer-counselling programme
and coordinating the non-formal education (NFE) and vocational
training interventions on the estates they supervised;
- Establishment of 'Community Hearts' or community centres, which
form the hub for many of the interventions, including support
to the children's clubs and other activities such as recreation,
and peer-counselling facilities;
- Production of a code of conduct for employers of child domestic
labourers, advocacy material, and a draft policy for child domestic
labourers, which can be incorporated into the existing Child Labour
Policy. Additional products funded by the TICSA Project and other
projects are the non-formal education training of trainers (TOT)
manual and a life skills education TOT manual, which will be available
soon.
IPEC has also facilitated the finalization of the list of hazardous occupations in Sri Lanka. Some aspects
of child domestic labour are included in the list, which is now awaiting endorsement by the National
Labour Advisory Committee.
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