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Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Project Title

Combating Child Labor in the Commercial Agricultural Sector

Region/Country

THE AMERICAS/Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama

Project Duration

April 2000 – September 2005

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY 2000: USD 1,122,501

Problem to be Addressed

Many factors, including poverty, high rates of unemployment and low family incomes, contribute to the incidence of child labor in Central America and the Dominican Republic. Children who work often do so in conditions that can be detrimental to their safety, health and development. They often work long hours, far exceeding legal limits. Most rural children work in the agricultural sector, where they are frequently exposed to dangerous chemical substances, sharp tools and animal and insect bites.

Results

The project withdrew or prevented 12,416 child laborers from engaging in hazardous agricultural activities, and those at risk of work, in the Dominican Republic and Central America

Project Objectives

Development Objective:
To contribute to the prevention and elimination of child labor in the commercial agricultural industry of Central America and the Dominican Republic.

Immediate Objectives:

  • Ensure the effective implementation of five national projects in commercial agriculture in Central America and the Dominican Republic; and
  • At the end of the project, an information base in support of planning comprehensive interventions to combat child labor in the commercial agricultural sector in Central America and the Dominican Republic will have been developed.

Summary of Activities
  • Organized training workshops on program design, implementation, monitoring, evaluation, and reporting at the start of the program;
  • Provided technical support to partner agencies;
  • Raised awareness among governmental and non-governmental organizations, agricultural associations, producers, workers, regional chambers, and employers on the nature and extent of child labor in commercial agriculture; and
  • Designed, established, and implemented a credible child labor monitoring and verification system.

Grantee

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

Implementing Partners

Ministries of Labor, Health, Education, and Agriculture; Regional and National Chambers of Commerce and Industry; National Commercial Agricultural Associations and Councils Regional Workers’ and Employers’ Associations; tomato, sugar cane, grain, melon and broccoli producers and plantation owners; plantation recruiters and overseers; local authorities; community and religious leaders; educators; governmental and non-governmental institutions working in the field of child labor; academic institutions and universities.

Contact Information

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

(202) 693-4843