Launch of a new education program to reduce child labour in agriculture in Tanzania

Dar es Salaam (ILO NEWS) - Japan Tobacco International (JTI) in collaboration with the ILO, Winrock International and the Prime Minister’s Office, Ministry of Labour, Employment, Parliamentary Affairs and the disabled, Tanzania, launched a multi-year program called ARISE to help reduce child labour in the Districts of Kaliua, Uyui and Urambo, Tabora region.

“This is a milestone as far as elimination of child labour is concerned in our country… as the problem of child labour is a global, regional and national phenomenon which affects children mentally, physically and morally”, Hon. Dr. Abdallah Possi, the Deputy Minister of State, Prime Minister’s Office, Policy, Parliamentary Affairs, Labour, Employment, Youth and the People with Disabilities, stated by commending the three organizations for having selected Tanzania to be part of the new program.

The Deputy Minister also warned that if uncontained, the problem will remain a perpetuator of poverty and if not effectively eliminated, it denies children of their brighter future and opportunities to enjoy potentials of decent work.

The Minister further informed on the present Government’s efforts to revamp economic transformation through industrialization and improve provision of social services including health, education, and water supply.

Partly, the efforts are meant to address poverty of households which is one of the root causes of child labour. “We are determined to ensure that all children have access to education as we are now implementing the free education initiative for Primary and Secondary education levels” he underscored.

According to the Integrated Labour Force Survey undertaken last year, there are more than 4 million children in child labour. About 29 percent of children aged 5-17 years, are engaged in child labor in various economic sectors, including agriculture, domestic work, fishing, and mining industries.

Delivering his remarks at the event, Mr. Jealous Chirove, ILO Employment Specialist, who spoke on behalf of the ILO Dar es Salaam, Country Office Director, Ms. Mary Kawar, commended the Government of Tanzania for the measures already undertaken to combat the scourge, among them ratification of ILO Conventions No. 182 and 138 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour and the Minimum Age for Employment, implementation of the national Time-Bound programme for the elimination of child labor and development of the National Action Plan (NAP) for the elimination of child labour. In addition, the Government, has formulated sectorial strategies to address each form of child labour and has updated and validated the list of hazardous forms of child labour.

“To date, thousands of children have been withdrawn from child labour and provided with education and rehabilitation services, families of child labourers have been supported with alternative income opportunities, tens of thousands of vulnerable children have been prevented from becoming child labourers…” he emphasized.

On his part, Mr. Rob Glenn, Managing Director, JTI in Tanzania said the programme will benefit the communities in Tabora region especially those involved in tobacco production by reducing the number of child labour and educate the society about its consequences.

“The program is designed to increase access to quality education for children, raise awareness on child labor, and improve the livelihoods of the tobacco growing communities …also improving local schooling with additional tuition as well as offering vocational training for older children and helping marginal farms to improve productivity, crop quality and working conditions”, he concluded.

Background information

To date, the program has being successful in Brazil, Malawi and Zambia with over 14,900 children and youth enrolled in formal and informal education, and more than 50,000 community members educated on child labor elimination.
Since 1992, the ILO through its International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), has provided technical assistance to Governments, employers’ and workers’ organizations, businesses and civil society organisations, to eliminate child labour in more than 107 countries.

Through this programme, from projects funded during the period 1995-2010, a total of 985,698 children were withdrawn or prevented from entering child labour through the provision of educational and other opportunities. 159 new laws related to child labour have been adopted in 59 countries and 57 countries were supported to formulate, adopt and implement specific policies, plans and programmes designed to combat child labour.