Moving Towards a Child Labour Free Jordan

Summary

Estimates from 2007 show that 1.6 per cent of children in Jordan aged between 5 and 17 are child labourers. The recent influx of refugees from Syria has exacerbated the situation in terms of the magnitude and the complexity of the issue. This ILO project aims to address the problem by strengthening the policy and legislative frameworks and building the capacity of key stakeholders to combat child labour. In 2011, Jordan adopted a comprehensive policy on child labour, the National Framework to Combat Child Labour (NFCL), which aims to tackle the issue throughout the Kingdom through systematic monitoring of child labour and collective action by key stakeholders, mainly the ministries of Labour, Education and Social Development. Since 2012, the piloting of the NFCL has been rolled out to all of Jordan’s governorates with the support of the ILO. A National Survey on Child Labour is currently being conducted, coordination mechanisms with particular emphasis on Syrian refugees are being strengthened and child labour monitoring through training of officials and improving the Child Labour Database are being further strengthened. Enhancing awareness and strengthening the knowledge base on child labour are also key features of the project.

Objectives

The project creates an enabling environment for the elimination of child labour in Jordan. It aims to:

• Support national partners through improving overall coordination and reinforcing integration and coherence between the monitoring systems of various stakeholders, including the Labour Inspectorate and the Ministries of Education and of Social Development. This will strengthen national monitoring systems designed to support child and family protection and improve mechanisms of linking child labourers and their families to improved educational provision and social protection;
• support further research into aspects and trends in child labour to assist in forming policy decisions and guiding direct action;
• support the enhancement of the capacity of ILO constituents to implement the NFCL; and
• support the mainstreaming of child labour elimination and the promotion of issues concerning youth employment into national development policy frameworks.

Main Activities

OUTCOMES ACHIEVED (2012- March 2016)

• A national committee is in place that acts as a sustainable coordination mechanism for implementing and mobilising the NFCL and mobilising the commitment of national and international partners to tackle child labour as part of a broader and more coherent child protection framework;
• a web-based database on child labour housed in the Ministry of Labour has been designed and is operational;
• the NFCL is operational in all 12 governorates in Jordan;
• an assessment of the implementation of the NFCL has been carried out and recommendations have been shared with the national steering committee;
• information management capacity and infrastructure of key stakeholders have been improved in order to more effectively monitor and address child labour at the governorate and district level;
• a model for incorporating child labour questions into the Department of Statistics Labour Force Survey has been developed;
• the capacity of the Child Labour Units at the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Social Development have been enhanced;
• the capacity of social partners to tackle child labour has been enhanced;
• a research project has been carried out on child labour in the auto-repair sector in collaboration with the ILO’s initiative on youth employment and apprenticeships in Jordan;
• linkages between child labour and youth employment has been strengthened and over 100 youth are engaging in apprenticeship programmes;
• a training manual has been developed for the Ministry of Social Development's social workers on tackling child labour and master trainers have been trained; and
• child labour issues have been mainstreamed into national development policy frameworks and UN frameworks including the UN Development Assistance Framework for Jordan.

Main Outcomes

FOR THE EXTENDED PHASE 2016

• National Child Labour Survey report launched;
• the new Child Labour Unit of the Ministry of Social Affairs strengthened and operational with an organizational structure;
• the role of the Greater Amman Municipality strengthened in creating awareness, monitoring and preventing child labour through the further engagement of 279 municipal inspectors on child labour;
• coordination mechanism for child labour established with particular focus on Syrian refugee communities;
• the capacity of key partners on child labour monitoring enhanced;
• training conducted for inspectors and employers on a revised manual developed to prevent hazardous child labour;
• support of the NFCL field implementation continued; and
• training manual for Ministry of Education school counselors developed.