Programme initiatives to tackle child labour

The project supported a number of programmes aimed at tacking child labour by promoting access to education and skills training. Programmes in La Paz and El Alto focussed particularly on the needs of vulnerable adolescents, including children working on the street.

A programme in Riberatlta focussed on children working in the chestnut supply chain and was developed in close cooperation with the local government and an inter-Ministerial group concerned with the issue (the Amazon subcommittee on Child Labour). The problem in Riberalta concerns the fact that large numbers of children stop attending school at the time of the harvest in order to go with their families to collect chestnuts. This is disruptive to education for several months and often leads to early school drop-out. The cooperation with local partners has sought to put in place programme initiatives to address the issue and the training needs of older adolescents in the area.

The project facilitated the commitment of local and regional tripartite actors, in regard to the worst forms of child labour and its linkages with the need for education opportunities for adolescents.

Capacity of partners to promote effective action

The project built close links with Units within both the Ministry of Labour and Ministry of Education, with various activities and events organised to strengthen capacity. A taskforce was established to develop a National Action Plan on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour. To support this process technical meeting, training workshops and other activities were developed with key government actors as well as with workers and employers.

The work with the Amazon subcommittee on child labour also involved various initiatives designed to establish integrated strategies on labour, education and social protection.

Building on previous experience of IPEC in Bolivia, a teacher training programme was developed to help meet the social and educational demands of the most vulnerable population by incorporating the IPEC education pack Supporting Children’s Rights through Education, the Arts and the Media (SCREAM) within teaching practice.

National partners have also participated in capacity building and knowledge sharing workshops involving the four project countries and held at the International Training Centre of the ILO (ITC-ILO) in Turin.

Knowledge sharing

Early in the project a national workshop of partners was held to review the major challenges on child labour, the new education law, and how more effective synergies could be developed between work on child labour and education. A follow-up national workshop was held in 2013 to share information between the various partners involved in implementing programme activities.

Regular reports have also been provided to the education development partners group on the initiatives supported by the project.

Cooperation was also established with UNICEF on an assessment of child domestic labour, which included an assessment of education issues relating to those in child labour. The results of the survey were shared with partners through a workshop and other promotion.