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Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Project Title

Combating the worst forms of child labor through education in Nicaragua, “ENTERATE”

Region/Country

THE AMERICAS/Nicaragua

Project Duration

October 1, 2008 – November 30, 2011

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY 2008: USD 5,000,000
Matching Funds: USD 716,959

Problem to be Addressed

According to the National Survey on Child and Adolescent Labor in Nicaragua, 65.8% of child labor occurs in rural areas and 56.5% of child labor takes places in agriculture. Children in the agricultural sector of Nicaragua work in the production of coffee, corn, tobacco and sugar. In the Departments of Jinotega and Madriz, about 80% of the rural populations live in poverty and Jinotega has seen an increased incidence of child labor. The Department of Madriz is characterized not only by a high incidence of child labor in agriculture, but also by an elevated risk of trafficking and sexual exploitation due to the border with Honduras and the Pan-American highway. Children in rural areas are particularly vulnerable to trafficking. Some trafficking victims are forced to work as domestic servants or prostitutes in bars, nightclubs, and brothels in Nicaragua or in other Central American countries. In urban areas, children can be found working in markets, streets, and garbage dumps.

Targets

The project targets 5,045 children for withdrawal and 5,000 children for prevention from exploitive child labor in the Departments of Madriz, Jinotega and Managua who will be provided with education and training opportunities.

Project Objectives

To contribute to the elimination of exploitive child labor in Nicaragua.

Immediate Objectives:

  • Withdraw or prevent children from involvement in exploitive child labor through the provision of direct education and training services;
  • Strengthen capacity of national institutions to combat child labor;
  • Raise awareness of the importance of education for all children and mobilize a wide array of actors to improve and expand education infrastructures;
  • Support research and the collection of reliable data on child labor; and
  • Ensure long-term sustainability of these efforts.

Summary of Activities
  • Develop public sector outreach and partnership with NGOs to provide a variety of educational services to beneficiary children;
  • Strengthen CNEPTI (the National Commission coordinating the elimination of child labor in Nicaragua) and build its capacity to leverage resources and raise child labor awareness;
  • Implement a sustainable child labor monitoring/inspection system, particularly the capacity for inspection at the municipal level;
  • Develop an innovative corporate social responsibility strategy with the private sector and coffee growers;
  • Execute an awareness-raising strategy that includes a program offering communication and leadership training, in addition to conducting public service announcements;
  • Work with local law enforcement to strengthen its capacity to enforce existing child labor laws; and
  • Conduct research to better inform prevention and mitigation strategies by the government and other interested stakeholders.
  • As of August 31, 2009, 1,619 children have been withdrawn or prevented from exploitive child labor as a result of this project.

Grantees

American Institutes for Research (AIR), in association with Asociación de Educación y Comunicación La Cuculmeca (La Cuculmeca), and Instituto de Promoción Humana de Somoto (INPRHU-Somoto)

ImplemeNTING PARTNERS

Asociación Infantil “Tuktan Sirpi” (Club Infantil);
Ministries of Labor, Education, Agriculture and Forestry, and Family, Adolescence and Childhood.

Contact Information

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

(202) 693-4843