Preventing and Eliminating Exploitative Child Domestic
Work in South Asia
| Time-frame |
Donor(s) |
Duration: 2 years
Starting date: March 2004 |
Government of Netherlands |
In April 2001, under the IPEC core action programmes, an initiative was launched in collaboration with
the Federal Ministry of Women Development, Social Welfare and Special Education, to address the issue
of child domestic labour (CDL) in Pakistan, under the Ministry's programme to assist children in especially
difficult circumstances. This project was implemented in three urban centres in Pakistan with the aim
of developing a knowledge base on the issue of child domestic labour, to impart non-formal education
to child domestic labourers and to provide them with vocational training, and to develop national capacity
to deal with the issue effectively. The programme was originally designed for two years ending in May
2003, but it has now been provided with a budget extension till August 2004. The new project is an
extension and expansion of the previous one, which seeks to synthesise and build upon the good
practices, lessons, and experiences of the last project and includes innovations for greater outreach and
impact. The programme's approach is multipronged, integrated, unified, and holistic, recognising that the
problem of CDL is complex. It seeks to address the issue of:
- A reliable knowledge base that will contribute to sound public planning;
- Invisibility and public awareness;
- Remaining outside the ambit of the national employment related legislation framework;
- Inadequate access to education facilities;
- Lack of marketable skills for an alternative occupation.
The major thrust of the project has been to work with the ILO's traditional social partners, particularly
the Government and trade unions. The Government's structures and institutions mandated to work on
child welfare are the frontline implementers of the action programmes, while advocacy and social
mobilization are carried out through trade unions, along with the media and elected representatives. The
project is closely linked to the media project mentioned earlier, and is being implemented in five cities
of Pakistan.
|
