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

Combating Exploitive Child Labor Through Education in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia Together (KURET)

Region/Country

AFRICA/ Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia

Project Duration

September 30, 2004 – March 31 , 2009 (Closed)

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY 2004: USD 14,500,000
Matching Funds: USD 5,906,929

Problem to be Addressed

Lack of quality and access to basic, technical, and vocational training for HIV/AIDS-affected children who are engaged in, or at risk of engaging in the worst forms of child labor in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia.

Results

The project withdrew and prevented 32,823 HIV/AIDS-affected children ages 5 to 17 years from WFCL in Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia through the provision of educational services. Children were withdrawn and prevented from work in agriculture (including tea, coffee, and cotton plantations), street work, commercial sexual exploitation, domestic work, armed conflict, smuggling of illicit goods, quarrying, charcoal burning, and weaving. The project operated in Kenya in the districts of Busia, Nairobi, Siaya, and Maragua; in Uganda in the districts of Lira, Gulu, and Arua; in Rwanda in the districts of Gikongoro, Kigali Rural, Kigali Urban, Byumba, and Umutara; and in Ethiopia in the districts of Addis Ababa, Benishangul, Oromiya, Amhara, and SNNPR.

Project Objectives

To reduce the engagement of children in the WFCL by increasing access to quality and relevant education in areas impacted by HIV/AIDS, and among children at risk of, and/or removed from exploitive labor.

Immediate Objectives:

  • Increase access to education for child who are working or at risk of working in the worst forms of child labor;
  • Improve quality and relevance of education for children who are working or at risk of working in the worst forms of child labor;
  • Increase awareness of key stakeholders on the negative affects of child labor, the importance of education, and the relationship between HIV/AIDS and child labor; and
  • Increase support for children to enroll and persist in school by communities and local institutions.

Summary of Activities
  • Increased household income through the provision of work-skills and small business development training and increased access to start-up or micro-credit funds;
  • Identified children engaged in WFCL and transitioned them to the appropriate educational program, using the PAVE (Pathways Advancing Viable Education) approach;
  • Supported the establishment of alternative education programs including accelerated learning, flexible-schedule schooling, and functional vocational literacy programs;
  • Improved access to and quality of formal schooling, by enhancing school management capacity and offering teacher training, school feeding, and material support;
  • Implemented a national-level awareness campaign based upon radio public service announcements, campaign/advertising materials, and mini-dramas;
  • Implemented a community-based awareness campaign by supporting PTAs and Child Protection Committees, and organizing local events and child-to-child activities to stimulate discussion on education, child labor and HIV/AIDS;
  • Conducted targeted research including an HIV/AIDS and Child Labor Study in each implementation country and two additional operational research studies on specific topics or regional themes; and
  • Strengthened national policies and built advocacy capacity of national and local institutions through training and technical assistance.

Grantee

World Vision
The International Rescue Committee

Implementing partners

Academy for Educational Development

Contact Information

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

(202) 693-4843