Caring Gold: Future without child labour

Small-scale gold mines provide income for communities in the Philippines. Yet, people survive at any cost as workers suffer from poor working conditions, limited rights and income, and lack of social protection. Chemicals like mercury also pose hazards to the safety and health of miners and to the environment.

ILO estimates in 2011 revealed that 19,000 children work in 45 artisanal and small-scale gold mines in the Philippines. Children can be found inside mining tunnels or on surface collecting gold and hauling sacks of ore or smelting gold. Children working in gold mines is considered as a worst form of child labour.

The ILO’s Convening Actors to Develop and Implement Strategies to Reduce Child Labour and Improve Working Conditions in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (CARING Gold Mining Project), convened key actors and introduced innovative solutions in partnership with the United States Department of Labor (USDOL).

The project reached out to mining communities in Camarines Norte and South Cotabato to help transition from the informal economy through decent work and to build a future without child labour that leaves no one behind.

Funding is provided by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreement number IL-28105-15-75-K-11. This material does not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of Labor, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government. One hundred percentage of the total costs of the project is financed with Federal funds, for a total of 5,000,000 dollars.