Technical Cooperation Project Summary
Project Title |
Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labor Through Education in Brazil |
ILAB Program |
International Child Labor Technical Assistance |
Region/Country |
THE AMERICAS/Brazil
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Project Duration |
September 2003 – September 2007 |
Fiscal Year & Funding Level |
FY2002: USD 5,000,000 |
Problem to be Addressed |
In 2000, nearly four million children between the ages of 7 and 14 years were working in Brazil, representing nearly 15% of children in this age group. About half of the working children live in the Northeast: six of the nine states of the Northeast have the highest incidences of child labor in the country.
Working reduces the time that children spend in school, limiting their educational attainment and future earning prospects. Children in 90% of poor households have not graduated from primary school and children in 74% of poor households have not completed fourth grade.
Brazil is confronted with major challenges in quality and access to education - particularly in the Northeast. The educational system offers little or no incentive for children or adolescents from poor, uneducated backgrounds to stay in school. Many teachers are ill-prepared and unmotivated. The educational sector is especially weak in rural areas. |
Results |
The project withdrew or prevented 11,009 children from engaging in commercial sexual exploitation and hazardous work in the illicit agriculture/marijuana sector, in 20 municipalities within 3 states in Brazil. |
Project Objectives |
Development Objective:
To improve the effectiveness of education for children involved in or vulnerable to the worst forms of child labor in Brazil, as a means of reducing the number of children engaged in child labor activities in high-incidence areas.
Immediate Objectives:
- Improve the effectiveness of education efforts to reduce the incidence of child labor;
- Increase the awareness of an array of actors as to the importance of quality basic education; and
- Strengthen municipal, state, and national institutions that address education and child labor.
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Summary of Activities |
- Developed an educational outreach program for the identified municipalities in the semi-arid Sertão of Pernambuco, Paraiba and Bahia;
- Developed and implemented interventions directed against sexual exploitation;
- Provided technical support to municipal and state education programs, especially in rural and peri-urban areas, directed to children involved in, or at risk of child labor;
- Involved parents, teachers and opinion makers in awareness raising and school development plans;
- Secured coordination with complementary school programs and “open school” days; and
- Developed and disseminated monitoring methodology.
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Partner Organizations |
Executing Agency
Partners of the Americas
Implementing and Collaborating Agencies
CPD
SERTA |
Contact Information |
Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT)
(202) 693-4843 |
About ILAB
ILAB Offices
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