ADDIS-ABABA (ILO News) – The ILO and the African Union Commission held a regional workshop aimed at enhancing data collection, analysis, and statistical capabilities in the area of child labour. 

The workshop was financed by the Global Accelerator Lab 8.7 Project – Intensifying Action Against Forced Labour and Child Labour (GALAB project) funded by the US Department of Labour (USDOL) and by the ACCEL Africa project funded by the Netherlands.”

The workshop on building national capacity in child labour data collection and analysis took place from 17 to 21 July 2023 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. The initiative empowered National Statistical Offices (NSOs) with the necessary tools to effectively gather and utilize information on child labour.

As described by Maria Payet, ILO Statistics Specialist, “The trainees here are obtaining extra capacity to process child labour data. Child labour data has a statistical component as well as a legislative and policy component. The objective is to empower trainees to make the link between statistics and legislations on child labour in their country.”

The workshop provided insights on the concepts and definitions of child labour, presented reliable data collection methods and tools, and fostered an understanding of statistical indicators and methodologies for producing accurate statistics on child labour.

Participants were equipped with the skills to process and analyse data, generate child labour indicators, and establish sustainable programmes for data collection and dissemination.

As mentioned by Nadia Touihri, Regional Labour Statistician, “When child labour statistics are regularly collected and analzed, it allows authorities to pinpoint areas with a high prevalence of child labour, evaluate the effectiveness of current interventions, and monitor the progress towards eliminating child labour. This data-driven approach facilitates better allocation of resources, ensuring that efforts are concentrated where they are most needed to combat child labour effectively.”

The workshop has successfully strengthened the capacity of participants, empowered their knowledge to tackle the issue of child labour effectively, enhanced their skills and equipped them to drive positive change and make a lasting impact, as noted by a post-training survey.

Elizabeth Nyirantwari, a trainee from Uganda highlighted the importance of the training: “We are learning how to conduct child labour data analysis from the grassroots and also how to incorporate child labour data into our existing surveys.”

As Federico Blanco, ILO Sr Research Officer explained: “This is a hands-on training with a lot of emphasis on the sustainability of child labour data collection and analysis that helps statistics offices not only to assess trends and monitor the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) but also to understand the importance of data for public policy formulation.

Participants from National Statistical Offices of 24 English-speaking African countries gathered to discuss and identify solutions, as well as prioritize future actions within their respective nations. The workshop was an opportunity for networking and experience-sharing between the countries.

A similar workshop will be conducted from 25 to 29 September 2023 in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, targeting National Statistical Offices from 25 French-speaking African countries. These workshops underscore the importance of data-driven approaches in shaping policies, interventions, and actions to promote decent work and combat child labour.