The project contributes to the promotion of decent work in Kosovo* by supporting the implementation of the Action Plan 2019-2021 of the Strategy on Child Rights 2019-2023 and priority interventions defined with the Work Plan of the Child Labour Committee for 2020.

National context

According to a USDOL 2018 report, children in Kosovo engage in the worst forms of child labour, including in commercial sexual exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking. Children also perform dangerous tasks in street work. The government has established policies and mechanisms to coordinate its efforts to address child labour. However, gaps exist that hinder the adequate coordination of efforts to address child labour, including efficacy in accomplishing mandates.

Child labour monitoring system lacks quality data reporting and analysis; labour inspectorate and centers for social work face financial and human resource constraints to manage cases of child labour; police, inspectors, prosecutors, and judges are not sufficiently prepared to deal with child labour cases.

As a child labour survey has not yet been undertaken, there is a lack of reliable data on the total number of child labour cases in Kosovo. Some organizations have collected data including:

• Centres for Social Work and Kosovo Police who identified 129 child labour cases in 2019.
• An older Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted in 2013-2014, found that 5,398 children were engaged in child labour.
• A parallel MICS targeting the Roma, Ashkali, and Balkan Egyptian communities in Kosovo found that 2,168 children from these communities were engaged in child labour.

Project activities

The project activities in Kosovo have five areas of focus:

• Strengthening central and municipal framework for monitoring the prevalence of child labour and planning fact-based measures to address child labour.
• Strengthening the role of the social protection system in preventing and protecting children from child labour.
• Strengthening the role of the education system in preventing and protecting children from child labour.
• Improving enforcement of laws and policies related to child labour, including worst forms of child labour.
• Improving the role of judiciary system in dealing with child labour cases.

Partners

Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Labour Inspectorate, Centres for Social Work, Kosovo Police, Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Regional Development, Ministry of Education, Science, Technology, Innovation, Academy of Justice.

Target beneficiaries

The direct beneficiaries are Kosovo institutions mandated to fight child labour, whereas the final beneficiaries of the project are children engaged in worst forms of child labour.


^{* As defined in UN Security Council resolution 1244 of 1999.}