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Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Project Title

Program to Combat Child Labor in the Footwear Sector in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand Phase I

Region/Country

ASIA/Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand

Project Duration

October 1999 – June 2004 (revised)

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY1999: USD 1,736,171

Problem to be Addressed

Children in the footwear production sector face serious health hazards, including respiratory illness, dizziness, asthma and other illnesses.  Various injuries result from the use of sharp implements, and long working hours leading to chronic fatigue.

Results

Targeted children included those working or at risk of working in the footwear sectors in three districts in Bandung, Indonesia; Barangay de la Paz and Malaban in Binan, the Philippines; and Thonburi in Bangkok, Thailand.

Project Objectives

Development Objective: To contribute to the effective elimination of child labor in the footwear sector of Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.

  • At the end of the program, 1,800 children working in the footwear sector in selected areas of Indonesia and the Philippines will have been systematically removed from child labor and another 2,000 siblings will have been prevented from starting work; further 900 adult members will have been trained in income generating activities or given access to credit/loan/savings facilities through mechanisms established for workplace monitoring; and
  • The capacity of national partners in Indonesia and the Philippines will have been strengthened to plan, initiate, implement, and evaluate action to prevent and progressively eliminate child labor.

Summary of Activities
  • Conducted action-oriented research on the prevalence of child labor in the informal footwear production sector;
  • Withdrew children from work at selected sites and provided alternatives to work through social protection services;
  • Prevented at-risk siblings from starting work through the provision of social protection services, and provided income generation opportunities to family members;
  • Built capacity among concerned government departments, employers organizations, the NGO community and community-based organizations to effectively combat child labor in the informal footwear production sector;
  • Raised awareness among communities, government agencies, non-governmental agencies and other concerned groups about child labor; and
  • Established an effective long-term monitoring system.

 

Grantee

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

Implementing Partners

Thailand: Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare (MoLSW); OPTA.

Philippines: Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE); Occupational Safety and Health Center; Department of Health; Department of Education, Culture and Sports; Technology and Skills Development Authority (TESDA); local government units; Ateneo Human Rights Center; Center for the Promotion, Advocacy and Protection of the Rights of the Child; Punla Foundation; ERDA; Philippine NGO Council on Population, Health and Welfare; Lunduyan; University of the Philippines; ITGLWF; Federation of Free Workers; Open Heart Foundation.

Indonesia: ILPM-ITB: Bandung Institute of Technology; SCN; PWI West Java; PKBI; Sidikara; BPKB (Center on Learning Activity Development); PGRI Bojongloa Kidul (Teacher’s Association); SP-TSK; SKEPO; LPKM – The Catholic University; Ulil Albab Foundation; Independent Film Community; Microsoft Indonesia; International Relief and Development, Inc.

Contact Information

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

(202) 693-4843