Project Title |
Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Madagascar – IPEC’s contribution to the National Action Plan to Eliminate Child Labor |
Region/Country |
AFRICA/Madagascar |
Project Duration |
September 30, 2004 – June 30, 2009 |
Fiscal Year & Funding Level |
FY2004: USD 4,750,000 |
Problem to be Addressed |
Surveys indicate that 33% of children between the ages of 7 and 17 in Madagascar are child laborers on a full or part-time basis, and that 11% of the total working population is under 15 years old. In rural areas, children care for small livestock, work in agriculture, carry water and firewood, and collect hay. In urban centers, children work as domestic servants, and in the commerce and industrial sectors. Children also work in prostitution, stone quarries, mines, fishing, and salt production. They work long hours and perform dangerous tasks without protective gear. Also, a variety of factors contribute to child labor, including poverty, both at the household and at the national level; the inadequacy of the education system; and cultural customs and practices. |
Targets |
The project targets 10,000 children under the age of 18 years, 3,500 for withdrawal and 6,500 for prevention through educational and/or training services. These children will be withdrawn and prevented from work in commercial sexual exploitation, domestic work, mining and stone quarrying, agriculture (including sisal plantations), fishing, and the informal sector in both urban and rural areas. The project will provide direct services to children in the cities and outlying, semi-rural areas of Antananarivo, Antsirabe, Antsiranana, Majunga, Toliara, and Toamasina. |
Project Objectives |
To contribute to the elimination of the worst forms of child labor (WFCL) in Madagascar.
Intermediate objectives include:
- Strengthen the enabling environment for national action against WFCL (policy, legislative, cultural, and social);
- Develop the knowledge base on child labor and education, and implement awareness-raising and social mobilization initiatives;
- Strengthen the capacity of national institutions, including educational/vocational training systems;
- Harmonize the legal framework on child labor and education, and enforcement mechanisms for the legislation; and
- Develop model interventions for prevention, withdrawal and rehabilitation of boys and girls in selected WFCL, including baseline studies, training of implementing agencies, provision of educational services to children, income generation activities for families and local awareness raising.
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Summary of Activities |
- Provide technical support for inclusion of child labor data in the national census, employment surveys, household surveys, and/or vulnerability studies;
- Document good practices and models of intervention, including those emerging from targeted interventions done as part of this project;
- Provide support for the integration of the National Action Plan (NAP) policy framework with the Poverty Reduction Strategic Plan (PRSP) and with other development policies;
- Support the harmonization of existing laws with the international conventions ratified by Madagascar, designing training modules on child labor, laws and regulations, and facilitating a methodology for creating and promoting adoption of community treaties (Dina);
- Contribute to national campaigns on birth certificates, creating networks with projects or agencies that fund school construction and encourage construction in or near sites where WFCL are prevalent;
- Facilitate the improvement of literacy course contents and adapt curricula;
- Develop vocational training and apprenticeship schemes focusing on the needs of the urban informal economy, the agriculture and fishing sectors, and the rural non-farm sector;
- Develop and implement awareness raising and social mobilization at the national and local levels;
- Conduct statistical baseline surveys in selected and control areas;
- Provide non-formal education, vocational training and apprenticeship, referral to the formal school system, and counselling services;
- Provide families vulnerable to having children in WFCL with training and advisory services to access micro-credit and/or savings schemes in the locality; and promote improved productivity and work place safety; and
- Establish community-based child labor monitoring systems.
- As of February 28, 2009, 17,860 children have been withdrawn or prevented from WFCL as a result of this project.
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Grantee |
International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) |
Implementing partners
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UNICEF; agencies; Non Governmental Organizations; and others to be identified.
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Contact Information |
Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT)
(202) 693-4843 |
