Combating Worst Forms of Child Labor Through Education and Livelihood Interventions in Egypt

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Region/Country:
Middle East & North Africa Egypt
Project Duration:
December 2010
-
December 2014
Funding and Year:
FY
2010
: USD
9,500,000

Project Objectives: To combat child labor, with special attention to the worst forms of child labor in agriculture, through improved child labor policy and legislation, and the promotion of educational opportunities for children and sustainable livelihoods for vulnerable households

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The Problem

At least seven percent of Egyptian children ages 5 to 14 work instead of attending school, and another 6 percent are combining work and school. The majority of working children are in rural areas, where children commonly work in agriculture. These children often work long hours and with little or no training on safety precautions for work with toxic pesticides. 

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Our Strategy

Targets:

The project targets 8,000 children for withdrawal and 8,000 children for prevention from the worst forms of child labor in agriculture. Beneficiaries will be targeted in the key governorates of Sohag, Assiut, Fayoum, Minya, and Sharqiyah. In addition, the project will provide livelihoods support to 5,000 targeted households

Intermediate objectives include:

  • Provide direct educational services to children and provide sustainable livelihoods for target households;
  • Support national institutions to review and revise legislation on child labor and promote education and sustainable livelihoods;
  • Raise awareness on child labor and its root causes and mobilize stakeholders to improve and expand educational opportunities;

Summary of Activities:

  • Expand and enhance formal and non-formal education, including vocational education and apprenticeship programs, for targeted children;
  • Establish new community schools in targeted governorates and provide infrastructure improvements to existing schools;
  • Offer incentives and livelihoods support to working and at-risk children and targeted families to eliminate the root causes of child labor, including take-home food rations, school feeding, incomegeneration training for mothers, and micro-savings groups;
  • Provide technical support, advocacy, and capacitybuilding initiatives to governmental institutions and NGOs to improve policies and legislation. 
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Results

The project has provided education services to 19,558 children who were engaged in or at highrisk of entering exploitative child labor; and has provided livelihood services and income diversification to 4,825 households as of October 31, 2014.

Grantee: United Nations World Food Program (WFP)
Implementing Partners: and community-based organizations, ILO, non-governmental organizations, UNICEF
Contact Information:
(202) 693-4843
/
Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT)
Tags: Child Labor Agriculture Livelihoods