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Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Project Title

Progressive Eradication of Child Labor in Gravel Production in Retalhuleu, Guatemala

Region/Country

THE AMERICAS/Guatemala

Project Duration

September 2001 – June 2006

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY 2001: USD 674,918

Problem to be Addressed

Approximately 90% of Guatemalan working children and teenagers work in the informal and subsistence agriculture sectors. Work in the quarries constitutes one of the harshest forms of labor, particularly for children. Older children carry heavy stones from the riverbank to the work sites and break stones with hammers and sledgehammers. Children as young as 5 years old break the rocks with hammers and gather the gravel into piles. Dangers include flying shards of rock that can cause severe eye injury, muscular-skeletal problems associated with lifting loads that are too heavy, injuries caused by tools, skin problems resulting from prolonged periods working in intense sun and heat, and dehydration.

Results

The project withdrew 566 children and prevented 116 from work in the gravel production. The project targeted child laborers aged 5 to 17 years in the municipalities of San Sebastián, Santa Cruz Muluá, San Martín and San Felipe, in Retalhuleu province, Guatemala.

Project Objectives

Development Objective:
To contribute to the progressive eradication of child labor in gravel production in Retalhuleu, Guatemala.

Immediate Objectives:

  • Reduce child labor in gravel production in the basin of the Samala River by withdrawal and prevention through access to education or vocational training and access to health and sanitation services that will diminish health-related costs that can result in children working;
  • Increase targeted families’ household income;
  • Increase awareness of local and national authorities, the target communities and the public at large about child labor, especially in gravel production, and mobilize actors to continue efforts to eradicate child labor; and
  • Improve the education system as part of continued efforts to eradicate child labor in gravel production in Retalhuleu.

Summary of Activities
  • Provided education, health, and rehabilitation services to targeted children;
  • Assisted their families with training and/or income generating alternatives;
  • Increased the capacity of teachers, partner organizations, community organizations/agencies, government agencies, and local authorities, to take action against child labor in gravel production;
  • Raised awareness in 12 communities to take action against child labor; and
  • Established a community child labor monitoring system.

Grantee

International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC)

Implementing Partners

CEIPA; ADISS/HOPE; Ministries of Education, Health, Labor, and Agriculture; Guatemalan Institute for Professional Development (INTECAP); Department Development Council of Retalhuleu; Municipalities Local Development Councils; Retalhuleu Chamber of Commerce.

Contact Information

Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT)

(202) 693-4843