Slideshow
“No to child labour in Turkey’s hazelnut gardens”
An ILO project prioritizes education as the main instrument to eliminate child labour in the country’s seasonal agriculture. So far, more than 1,200 children have benefitted from the project.
SANLIURFA, Turkey (ILO News) – Turkey is the world’s largest producer of hazelnuts and accounts for 75 per cent of global production. The majority of hazelnut plantations are situated in the Black Sea region.
For economic and social reasons, the children of adult seasonal workers usually accompany their parents from place to place. They help their parents to make a living but they are in work that is unsuitable for their age. They mostly live in camp sites that lack basic infrastructure.
The ILO has responded to this situation through a series of public-private partnership projects called the “Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Seasonal Agriculture in Hazelnut Harvesting in Ordu”, and the “Integrated Model for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Seasonal Agriculture in Hazelnut Harvesting in Turkey” which were implemented in cooperation with the Turkish Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MoLSS).
The project in Ordu province has started in 2012 with financial contributions of the Association of Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries of Europe (CAOBISCO) and the Government of the Netherlands. It prioritizes education as the main instrument to eliminate child labour in seasonal agriculture.
As a follow-up, the ‘Integrated Model’ has extended project activities to a wider geographic area (Ordu, Düzce, Sakarya and Şanlıurfa), and will run till the end of 2017.
The project aims at enhancing the capacity of local institutions in planning and managing activities to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in seasonal hazelnut harvesting, withdrawing child labourers from work and preventing children at risk from entering the sector. Awareness raising activities target families, employers, intermediaries, civil society and the media.
Between 2013 and 2015, 1281 children aged 4 to 16 have benefitted from the programme.
For economic and social reasons, the children of adult seasonal workers usually accompany their parents from place to place. They help their parents to make a living but they are in work that is unsuitable for their age. They mostly live in camp sites that lack basic infrastructure.
The ILO has responded to this situation through a series of public-private partnership projects called the “Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Seasonal Agriculture in Hazelnut Harvesting in Ordu”, and the “Integrated Model for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Seasonal Agriculture in Hazelnut Harvesting in Turkey” which were implemented in cooperation with the Turkish Ministry of Labour and Social Security (MoLSS).
The project in Ordu province has started in 2012 with financial contributions of the Association of Chocolate, Biscuit and Confectionery Industries of Europe (CAOBISCO) and the Government of the Netherlands. It prioritizes education as the main instrument to eliminate child labour in seasonal agriculture.
As a follow-up, the ‘Integrated Model’ has extended project activities to a wider geographic area (Ordu, Düzce, Sakarya and Şanlıurfa), and will run till the end of 2017.
The project aims at enhancing the capacity of local institutions in planning and managing activities to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in seasonal hazelnut harvesting, withdrawing child labourers from work and preventing children at risk from entering the sector. Awareness raising activities target families, employers, intermediaries, civil society and the media.
Between 2013 and 2015, 1281 children aged 4 to 16 have benefitted from the programme.
The first step: Children are identified and families encouraged to register their children at social support centres instead of taking them to the hazelnut harvest (Esma Hanım Village, Akçakoca, Düzce).
© ILO
ILO Programme Officer Nejat Kocabay and Social Service Expert Aytaç Gülcan inform families about child labour legislation and remind them that employing children in hazelnut fields under the age of 16 is illegal (Hendek, Sakarya).
© ILO
Vata (11) and Mihriban (13) from Esma Hanim village on the trip to the school.
Once they are identified, and with their parent’s permission, migrant children are taken every morning to centres with a school bus and brought back to their families after school.
Once they are identified, and with their parent’s permission, migrant children are taken every morning to centres with a school bus and brought back to their families after school.
© ILO
Metin Ödemiş is a teacher in the social support centre of Esma Hanım Village. Social support centres operated under the project are for the children of seasonal workers but this centre also opens its doors to local children which contributes to the social integration of migrant children.
© ILO
Students at Efirli Social Support Centre in Ordu attentively follow a tailor-made education programme.
© ILO
A mobile dental health-scanning car provided by the Public Health Centre of the Ministry of Health checks the teeth of students at the social support centre.
© ILO
İrfan Balkanlıoğlu, Governor of Ordu , underlines the importance of local ownership and collaboration to eliminate child labour in hazelnut harvesting.
© ILO
Ordu municipality has started a broad information campaign in the city centre and temporary settlement areas of migrant workers with a clear message “No to child labour in Hazelnut Gardens.”
© ILO