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Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Project Title

Support to the Indonesian National Plan of Action and the Development of the Timebound Program for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor (Including Aceh Addendum)

Region/Country

ASIA/Indonesia

Project Duration

September 30, 2003 – March 31, 2008

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY 2003: USD 4,065,000
FY 2005: USD 1,500,000 (Addendum to address post-Tsunami needs)

Problem to be Addressed

In 2002, of 34.1 million children aged 10-17 in Indonesia, almost 4.9 million (14.3%), were reported to have participated in the labor force.  Child labor is a problem of vast dimensions in sectors including agriculture, fishery, manufacturing, construction, mining, trades, domestic services, and commercial sex.  Children are increasingly involved in the sale, production and trafficking of drugs.  Trafficking of children also occurs.  Many children are trafficked into, from and through Indonesia, often for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.

In December 2004 a devastating earthquake and tsunami struck Indonesia, causing an enormous number of deaths and displacements.  Experience in disaster zones elsewhere in the world has shown that when families lose livelihoods children are often likely to drop out of school, and many begin to work. These children are highly vulnerable and the risk of involvement in worst forms of child labor (WFCL) is high.

Results

The project withdrew 1,724 children and prevented 24,417 children from being involved in the sale, production or trafficking of drugs, being trafficked for commercial sexual exploitation, and working in the fishing, mining and footwear sectors.  The project worked in Jakarta, West, Central and East Java, East Kalimantan, Sumatra, and Aceh.

Project Objectives

Development Objective:
To contribute to the elimination of WFCL in Indonesia, including post-tsunami Aceh:

  • Strengthen the policy and enabling environment supporting the elimination of WFCL;
  • Implement targeted, direct interventions to tackle WFCL and to prevent and/or withdraw approximately 12,710 children country-wide (and an additional 3,000 in Aceh) engaged in or at risk of engaging in child labor; and
  • Increase public awareness about the harms of child labor, and enhance the capacity of stakeholders to plan, monitor, implement and evaluate action to prevent and eliminate WFCL.

Summary of Activities
  • Built the knowledge base on WFCL through various surveys and studies, as well as by establishing a network on child labor;
  • Ensured that national, provincial, and district development plans and policies include child labor concerns;
  • Designed and implemented an awareness-raising campaign;
  • Provided assistance so that education and training policies were responsive to the needs of boys and girls involved in or at risk of WFCL;
  • Increased the capacity of national, provincial and district level stakeholders through training and committee and network building;
  • Supported the formulation, implementation and enforcement of policies and legislation in line with ILO Conventions No. 182 and 138;
  • Provided new socio-economic opportunities leading to increased income for poor families; and
  • Provided alternatives to child labor, including formal, non-formal or transitional education and vocational training, through direct action interventions for children engaged in WFCL.

Grantee

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

Implementing Partners

Ministries of Manpower and Transmigration, Women’s Empowerment, Social Welfare, and Education; the National Steering Committee on Child Labor which consists of representatives of other Ministries, workers’ organizations, employers’ organizations, and both local and international NGO’s; APINDO, JARAK, various NGO’s and community-based organizations.

Contact Information

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

(202) 693-4843