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Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Project Title

Support to the Cambodian National Plan of Action on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor: A Time-Bound Approach

Region/Country

SOUTHEAST ASIA/Cambodia

Project Duration

September 30, 2004 – April 30, 2009 

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY 2004: USD 4,750,000

Problem to be Addressed

Due to extensive rural poverty combined with a growing population, weak education and social support systems, a large informal labor market, and the phenomenon of trafficking in persons, Cambodia has the largest proportion of economically active 10-14 year-olds in East and Southeast Asia.

Targets

This project withdrew 5,884 children and prevented 7,789 children from hazardous work in the sectors of brick-making, portering, rubber-making, domestic work, salt production, fishing, and the service sector.  Target regions include Siem Reap, Banteay Meancheay, Kampong Cham, Prey Veng, Svay Rieng, Sihanoukville, Kampot, Kep, and Phnom Penh. 

Project Objectives

Contribute to the elimination of identified worst forms of child labor in Cambodia and to the creation of a platform for eliminating all forms of child labor.

Intermediate objectives include:

  • Policy and capacity building: by the end of the project, national and provincial policy frameworks and implementation capacity to combat WFCL will have been strengthened;
  • Knowledge base, building commitment and mobilization: by the end of the project, key stakeholders and networks at all levels will have been mobilized effectively to combat WFCL; and
  • Targeted interventions: by the end of the project, integrated, effective and sustainable responses to fight against WFCL are in place in selected provinces to serve as pilot models.

Summary of Activities
  • Provide training on ways to build linkages between institutions implementing the National Plan of Action to eliminate child labor;
  • Enhance national and provincial capacity to engage, plan, and coordinate efforts between government and NGOs;
  • Raise awareness of prakas (ministerial decrees) and updated legislation among employer and worker organizations and other groups;
  • Provide technical advice to national tripartite consultations to finalize the list of hazardous work;
  • Conduct sectoral studies on child labor to improve the knowledge base of the problem;
  • Support networking among employer and worker organizations to advocate on child labor issues, as related to the National Plan of Action at the community, provincial, and national levels;
  • Select target group of working children and those at-risk and provide educational or vocational training and other support needs;
  • Develop a child labor monitoring system and adapt as necessary for use at the provincial level; and
  • Prepare good practices and intervention models for monitoring, evaluation and research, and share information with a broad audience of policy makers and stakeholders.
  • As of February 28, 2009, 13,673 children have been withdrawn or prevented from exploitive child labor as a result of this project.

Grantee

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

Implementing Partners

Ministry of Labor and Vocational Training; Municipal and Provincial Departments of Labor and Vocational Training; Trade Union ((PACT Against Child Labor); Cambodian Federation of Employers and Business Association; and the Ministry of Information.

Contact Information

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

(202) 693-4843