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Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Project Title

The Prevention and Elimination of
Child Domestic Labor in South America

ILAB Program

International Child Labor Technical Assistance

Region/Country

THE AMERICAS/Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay, Peru

Project Duration

January 2001 – December 2004

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY 2000: USD 4,672,104

Problem to be Addressed

Children who work in a household other than their own belong to the group most vulnerable, exploited, and most difficult to protect within the realm of child labor. Children are often subject to a number of legal, physical, social and cultural abuses. The invisible nature of the employer-employee relationship and the lack of related and credible data in most countries result in unreliable estimates of the number of children working in such situations. Nevertheless, it has become clear that child domestic work (CDW) is widespread throughout Brazil, Paraguay, Colombia and Peru.

Results

The project withdrew 2,693 children from exploitive child domestic labor (CDL). The geographic area targeted by the project included the following cities: Recife, Belo Horizonte and Belem, Brazil; Bogota and Bucaramanga, Colombia; Asuncion, Paraguay; and Cajamarca, Cusco and Lima, Peru.

Project Objectives

Development Objective:
To contribute to the prevention and elimination of domestic child labor in Brazil, Colombia, Peru, and Paraguay.

Immediate Objectives:

  • Make available relevant data and information for designing program interventions for the prevention of child domestic labor and the withdrawal and rehabilitation of child domestic laborers;
  • Provide recommendations for the improvement of national legislation in relation to child domestic laborers and its effective application to guarantee the protection of their rights;
  • Strengthen the capacity of public and private institutions at both local and national levels to combat CDL;
  • Contribute to sustained efforts to combat the problem of child domestic laborers;
  • Withdraw 80% of child domestic laborers considered as direct beneficiaries from exploitive labor conditions and provide them with educational opportunities and complementary support services; and
  • Provide families of origin with training in alternative income generating activities and micro-credit.

Summary of Activities
  • Developed indicators for inclusion into country statistical systems and conducted studies on the incidence and nature of CDL;
  • Conducted training workshops at the national level for legislators, labor inspectors, the ombudsman's office, municipal government representatives and NGOs to inform them of the laws regarding CDL and their responsibilities for implementing and enforcing such laws;
  • Facilitated the development of complaint mechanisms to improve reporting on CDL cases by the municipalities, Minors Courts, labor inspectorates or other competent agencies;
  • Provided educational opportunities and complementary support services to project beneficiaries (where possible, returned children under age 14 years to their community of origin);
  • Provided training in alternative income generating activities to families of origin; and
  • Led awareness-raising efforts on the issue of CDL.

grantee

Implementing partners

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

Ministries of Labor, Education, and Health; Local Governments; Workers' Organizations; Child Protection Councils; Minors' Courts; NGOs and Community-Based Organizations.

Peru: Save the Children Fund

Colombia: Save the Children Fund

Paraguay: Educational Base and Support for Communities (BECA).

Brazil: Centro Dom Helder Camara (CENDHEC); Municipal Secretariat for Social Development; CEDECA Emaus.

Contact Information

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

(202) 693-4843