Project Overview
Combating the worst forms of child labour - A project of the ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean and the Government of Canada
11 September 2014
The ILO Subregional Office for the Caribbean, through its Regional Child Labour Project, seeks to contribute to the progressive elimination of child labour, beginning with the worst forms of child labour, in the English and Dutch-speaking Caribbean.
Launched in October 2001, the project focuses on the development of a subregional capacity for the effective promotion and national implementation of policies and programmes that give effect to ILO Conventions No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Employment.
Funded by the Government of Canada, the project targets Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Belize, Suriname, Barbados and the Bahamas.
The major goal of the ILO's Regional Child Labour Project is the integration child labour policies and programmes into the national social policy of the respective governments.
Given child labour’s link to poverty and education, child labour policy and programmes should ideally be linked to integrated poverty eradication policies and programmes, as well as interventions geared to achieve Education For All. The prohibitive cost of education to many poor families has created an incentive to keep children out of school and use them for economic activity, whether at home, on the street, in markets, on farms, in illegitimate activity or other hazardous work. Any policy therefore geared towards the provision of quality education for all will reduce incidences of child labour attributable to inaccessible or poor quality education.
From 2001 to 2002, the project initiated six rapid assessment studies on the worst forms of child labour in Barbados, Bahamas, Trinidad, Tobago, Suriname, and Guyana. A rapid assessment study and a national study on child labour in Belize were also conducted by the Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme (SIMPOC) of ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC).
These studies facilitated the identification of vulnerable groups and the collection of information on the causes, manifestations and consequences of child labour in general and its worst forms in particular. They revealed the existence of the worst forms of child labour in areas such as scavenging, commercial sexual exploitation, construction, agriculture, mining and street work.
In an effort to raise awareness of the research findings and the issues surrounding child labour in the region, the Regional Child Labour Project subsequently developed promotional materials, a campaign song “Let Us Try” and a video “A Loss of Innocence – Combating Child Labour in the Caribbean.” Popular theatre groups and teachers from the six project countries also attended training sessions on the ILO’s education package entitled SCREAM – Supporting Children’s Rights through Education, the Arts and the Media which uses visual, literary and the performing arts as a means to deepen understanding of social issues like child labour.
Cognizant of the multidimensional nature of child labour in the region, the Regional Child Labour Project adopted a multisectoral, integrated approach to addressing the issue, through the establishment of National Child Labour Committees in each of the project countries. Comprising members of the Ministry of Labour, other major social ministries, employers’ and workers’ organizations, and non-governmental organizations, each Committee was tasked with the responsibility to recommend policies and programmes to their respective governments on the elimination and prevention of child labour, particularly its worst forms.
In collaboration with the National Child Labour Committees, the project later launched three pilot rehabilitative programmes between 2004 and 2005, in an effort to find a viable and immediate solution for those children already actively engaged in child labour. These pilot programmes seek to withdraw child labourers from the labour force, offer them alternative developmental options and work with the families and households on alternative sources of income so that the child labourers could obtain counselling, improve their reading and writing skills, return to school or attend vocational classes. These rehabilitative programmes also emphasize preventative measures for vulnerable children and seek to sensitize communities on the dangers of child labour. These pilot programmes were launched in Trinidad, Belize and Guyana.
In its efforts to build capacity in the region, the Regional Child Labour Project is also conducting a review of relevant legislation throughout the region, identifying gaps in legislation that permit the exploitation of children and young persons. In addition, the study also assesses the institutional framework to implement child protective legislation and policy. The project continues to collaborate with Ministries of Labour to facilitate the identification of hazardous occupations for children and young persons, consistent with the goals of ILO Convention No. 182. It is hoped that these lists of hazardous work from which children and adolescents should be debarred will be officially sanctioned and publicized.
The Regional Child Labour Project is headed by Mr. Leslie Bowrin, Programme Manager, who is assisted by Ms. Liz Mazelie, Secretary. For more information on this project, please contact [email protected]
Launched in October 2001, the project focuses on the development of a subregional capacity for the effective promotion and national implementation of policies and programmes that give effect to ILO Conventions No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour and No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Employment.
Funded by the Government of Canada, the project targets Trinidad and Tobago, Guyana, Belize, Suriname, Barbados and the Bahamas.
Objective
The major goal of the ILO's Regional Child Labour Project is the integration child labour policies and programmes into the national social policy of the respective governments.
Given child labour’s link to poverty and education, child labour policy and programmes should ideally be linked to integrated poverty eradication policies and programmes, as well as interventions geared to achieve Education For All. The prohibitive cost of education to many poor families has created an incentive to keep children out of school and use them for economic activity, whether at home, on the street, in markets, on farms, in illegitimate activity or other hazardous work. Any policy therefore geared towards the provision of quality education for all will reduce incidences of child labour attributable to inaccessible or poor quality education.
Research findings
From 2001 to 2002, the project initiated six rapid assessment studies on the worst forms of child labour in Barbados, Bahamas, Trinidad, Tobago, Suriname, and Guyana. A rapid assessment study and a national study on child labour in Belize were also conducted by the Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme (SIMPOC) of ILO’s International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC).
These studies facilitated the identification of vulnerable groups and the collection of information on the causes, manifestations and consequences of child labour in general and its worst forms in particular. They revealed the existence of the worst forms of child labour in areas such as scavenging, commercial sexual exploitation, construction, agriculture, mining and street work.
Awareness-raising
In an effort to raise awareness of the research findings and the issues surrounding child labour in the region, the Regional Child Labour Project subsequently developed promotional materials, a campaign song “Let Us Try” and a video “A Loss of Innocence – Combating Child Labour in the Caribbean.” Popular theatre groups and teachers from the six project countries also attended training sessions on the ILO’s education package entitled SCREAM – Supporting Children’s Rights through Education, the Arts and the Media which uses visual, literary and the performing arts as a means to deepen understanding of social issues like child labour.
Multisectoral approach - National Child Labour Committees
Cognizant of the multidimensional nature of child labour in the region, the Regional Child Labour Project adopted a multisectoral, integrated approach to addressing the issue, through the establishment of National Child Labour Committees in each of the project countries. Comprising members of the Ministry of Labour, other major social ministries, employers’ and workers’ organizations, and non-governmental organizations, each Committee was tasked with the responsibility to recommend policies and programmes to their respective governments on the elimination and prevention of child labour, particularly its worst forms.
Pilot rehabilitative programme
In collaboration with the National Child Labour Committees, the project later launched three pilot rehabilitative programmes between 2004 and 2005, in an effort to find a viable and immediate solution for those children already actively engaged in child labour. These pilot programmes seek to withdraw child labourers from the labour force, offer them alternative developmental options and work with the families and households on alternative sources of income so that the child labourers could obtain counselling, improve their reading and writing skills, return to school or attend vocational classes. These rehabilitative programmes also emphasize preventative measures for vulnerable children and seek to sensitize communities on the dangers of child labour. These pilot programmes were launched in Trinidad, Belize and Guyana.
Legislative review
In its efforts to build capacity in the region, the Regional Child Labour Project is also conducting a review of relevant legislation throughout the region, identifying gaps in legislation that permit the exploitation of children and young persons. In addition, the study also assesses the institutional framework to implement child protective legislation and policy. The project continues to collaborate with Ministries of Labour to facilitate the identification of hazardous occupations for children and young persons, consistent with the goals of ILO Convention No. 182. It is hoped that these lists of hazardous work from which children and adolescents should be debarred will be officially sanctioned and publicized.
Contact us
The Regional Child Labour Project is headed by Mr. Leslie Bowrin, Programme Manager, who is assisted by Ms. Liz Mazelie, Secretary. For more information on this project, please contact [email protected]