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Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Project Title

Supporting the Time-Bound Program on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Republic of the Philippines

Region/Country

ASIA/Philippines

Project Duration

September 30, 2002 – August 31, 2007

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY2002: USD 5,199,198

Problem to be Addressed

The Government of the Philippines, the National Child Labor Committee, and other committed partners made combating child labor a priority concern in the Philippines.  An estimated 4 million children aged 5-17, or 16.2 percent of the age group, were working in 2001.  About 60 percent, or 2.4 million, were engaged in hazardous work.  Many of those children are working in the worst forms of child labor (WFCL).

Results

The project withdrew 12,391 children and prevented 9,209 children from exploitive labor in sugar cane plantations, mining and quarrying, pyrotechnics production, deep-sea fishing, domestic work, and commercial sexual exploitation. The project was implemented in 6 regions of the Philippines, spanning a total of 8 provinces:  Bulacan, Metro Manila, Camarines Norte, Iloilo, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Cebu, and Davao.

Project Objectives

Development Objective: Contribute to the elimination of worst forms of child labor (WFCL). 

This is to be achieved through the following immediate objectives:

  • At the end of the project, there is an enhanced knowledge base on WFCL for policy development and implementation in the Philippines;
  • At the end of the project, there is an enhanced and better-enforced legislative framework;
  • At the end of the project, national development and social policies include child labor concerns;
  • At the end of the project, enhanced education and training policies can effectively respond to the needs of girls and boys in child labor and to children at risk;
  • At the end of the project, attitudes towards child labor have changed among national partner agencies;
  • At the end of the project, the capacity of local governments and civil society to monitor and manage action against the WFCL will have been strengthened;
  • At the end of the project, families affected by the WFCL will have been provided with new opportunities for enhanced income and access to social safety nets;
  • At the end of the project, children at risk and in WFCL will have access to primary, vocational or NFE, including alternative and flexible learning systems; and
  • At the end of the project, all major local-level actors and institutions will have become aware of the problem of WFCL and will be mobilized in the battle against it.

Summary of Activities
  • Strengthened the enabling environment for the elimination of WFCL at the macro level, through research and policy work, promotion of effective legislation to protect children, and strengthened national capacity to enforce existing laws;
  • Reduced the incidence of selected WFCL through direct action for child laborers and their families; and
  • Increased public awareness of the hazards of child labor.

Grantee

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

Implementing Partners

Department of Labor and Employment, Department of Education, Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Agrarian Reform, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, provincial and municipal governments, local NGOs, employer confederations, and trade unions.

Contact Information

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

(202) 693-4843