Skip to page content
Bureau of International Labor Affairs
Bookmark and Share
DOL Home > ILAB > Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Project Title

National Program for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labor in Jordan

Region/Country

MENA/Jordan

Project Duration

September 30, 2002 – September 30, 2007 (revised)

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY 2002: USD 1,000,000

Problem to be Addressed

There is no reliable estimate of the extent of child labor in Jordan. According to a study by the Ministry of Labor (MOL) published in 2002, children who work are employed in automobile repair, carpentry, sales, blacksmith shops, tailoring, construction, and food services.  Child vendors on the streets of Amman work selling newspapers, food, and gum, or rummaging through trash dumpsters to find recyclable items.  Working children are primarily concentrated in the governorates of Amman, Zarka, Irbid, Balqa, and Ma’an. 

Results

The project withdrew 940 children and prevented 689 children from exploitive work in the urban services sector.

Project Objectives

Contribute to the progressive elimination of child labor in Jordan.

Intermediate objectives include:

  • Develop a National Policy and Program Framework to combat child labor, taking concrete measures to support the government in shaping relevant policies to address issues of child labor;
  • Strengthen capacity of key institutions to address child labor issues in their programs and to monitor incidence of child labor;
  • Withdraw and rehabilitate children involved in exploitive child labor;
  • Raise awareness among employers, families, national/local authorities, communities and the general public of the problem of child labor and its negative consequences; and
  • Mobilize action against child labor.

Summary of Activities
  • Withdrew from work and rehabilitated child workers and siblings, including mainstreaming them into regular formal or non-formal educational programs and providing them with  health services, counseling and recreational activities; 
  • Assisted families of former child workers with social protection measures, including alternative income generation;
  • Trained inspectors to investigate and monitor situations of child labor and educators to coordinate activities that combat and prevent child labor;
  • Developed a National Strategy to combat the worst forms of child labor and took concerted measures toward harmonizing Jordan’s child labor and education legislation with international standards;
  • Conducted research and surveys, and provided consultation on policy and program issues; and
  • Raised awareness and mobilized employers, families, national and local authorities, communities and the general public on the issue of child labor and its negative consequences.

Grantee

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

Implementing Partners

Ministry of Labor (MOL); Ministry of Education (MOE); General Trade and Union Federation (GTUF); Jordan Chamber of Industry (JCI); The Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development (JOHUD)

Contact Information

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

(202) 693-4843