Project Title |
Combating Trafficking in Children for Labor Exploitation in West and Central Africa, Phases 1 & 2 (LUTRENA) |
Region/Country |
AFRICA/Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo
As of November 2004: AFRICA/Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Mali, and Togo
Headquartered in Senegal |
Project Duration |
Phase 1: October 1999 – May 2001
Phase 2: July 1, 2001 – December 31, 2007 |
Fiscal Year & Funding Level |
FY1999: USD 225,525
FY2001: USD 7,279,154
FY2004: USD 2,000,000 |
Problem to be Addressed |
At the time of funding, the number of reports of children being trafficked across borders for the purpose of child labor was steadily increasing. Children were lured and trafficked from their countries, and the situations in which they found themselves were tantamount to forced labor. |
Results |
The project withdrew 4,240 children and prevented 7,213 children from trafficking. Priority target groups were the most vulnerable children, i.e. those under 12 years of age and girls. |
Project Objectives |
To contribute to the effective abolition of trafficking in children for the purpose of child labor.
Phase 1 of the project focused on the following intermediate objectives:
- By the end of the project, victims of child trafficking for the purposes of forced, hazardous, and exploitive child labor will have been rehabilitated. Children will also have been prevented from becoming victims of child trafficking;
- By the end of the project, the capacity of governments and non-governmental organizations will have been increased; and
- By the end of the project, successful awareness raising campaigns will have been conducted.
Phase 2 of the project focused on the following intermediate objectives:
- By the end of the project, the demand for boys and girls for the purpose of trafficking for labor exploitation will have been reduced;
- By the end of the project, the state of child exploitation will have been reduced, through withdrawal and prevention, and provision of a range of services leading to their sustainable reintegration; and
- By the end of the project, the supply of boys and girls for the purpose of trafficking for labor exploitation will have been addressed. Boys, girls, and adult family members in trafficking-prone high risk areas will have been provided with viable educational and socio-economic alternatives to reduce their vulnerability to child trafficking.
|
Summary of Activities |
Phase 1
- Increased the capacity of governmental and non-governmental organizations in African countries to stop child trafficking within countries and across borders by developing policies and implementing practical measures at the local, national and sub-regional levels; and
- Created public awareness and mobilized support in societies against child trafficking.
Phase 2
- Continued to improve understanding of child trafficking and strengthened networks of child labor advocates and program implementers in the sub-region;
- Rescued and rehabilitated trafficked children, and prevented trafficking through awareness-raising campaigns among groups at risk through direct action programs;
- Developed functioning sub-regional and bilateral coordination mechanisms for prevention of trafficking of children, withdrawal from exploitive labor, and reintegration;
- Facilitated the development of a more favorable legal environment at national levels to implement actions against child trafficking;
- Carried out research on demand-side factors and the dynamics of the labor market related to trafficking in children;
- Developed National Plans of Action (NPA) for reducing the demand side of child trafficking;
- Trained border authorities in selected areas to detect and intercept child trafficking;
- Mobilized employers of child trafficking victims on the harmful aspects of child labor and on the legal consequence of using child labor manpower;
- Provided non-formal education, referral to local schools, or occupational skills training, for children withdrawn from trafficking and out-of-school children, and established skills training and employment options in selected trafficking-prone communities;
- Increased capacity of schools to monitor vulnerable children at risk of dropping out;
- Increased capacity of community vigilance teams (CVTs) to identify vulnerable families and provide basic social protection assistance; and
- Signed bi-multi lateral agreements with transit or receiving countries.
|
Grantee |
International Labor Organization's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) |
Implementing partners
|
Save the Children UK; Save the Children/Aide a l'Enfance Canada; Anti-Slavery International; WAO-Afrique (Togolese NGO); Environmental Development Action in the Third World (ENDA Tiers-Monde); Organization for African Unity (OAU); Commission Economique et Monetaire de l'Afrique Centrale (CEMAC); Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS); transporters and journalists trade unions; worker organizations; and other governmental and nongovernmental organizations. |
Contact Information
|
Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT)
(202) 693-4843 |
