Promising Futures: Reducing Child Labor in Jordan Through Education and Sustainable Livelihoods

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Country
Project Duration
December 2010
-
December 2014
Funding and Year
FY
2010
: USD
3,998,881

Reduce the number of children who work and at risk of becoming engaged in exploitive child labor in Jordan and enhance family livelihood opportunities to address its root causes

The Problem

In Jordan, children, mostly boys, engage in a variety of dangerous occupations that have been classified by the Government of Jordan as hazardous child labor. These include work in auto maintenance and repair, vocational trades (such as blacksmiths, electricians, battery technicians, plumbers), agriculture, fishing, mining, manufacturing, the gas and water sectors, construction (carpenters, painters), hotels and restaurants, transport and storage, street peddling, and begging. 

Our Strategy

Targets:

The project targets 5,000 children for withdrawal and 2,000 children for prevention from exploitive labor and provides livelihood services to 3,500 families. The project targets children working in construction, small workshops, manufacturing, transport and storage, and domestic servitude in East Amman, Zarqa, Mafraq, and Ma’an. 

  • Intermediate objectives include:
  • Withdraw and prevent children from exploitive child labor through provision of rehabilitation and reintegration services, formal and non-formal education, vocational training programs, and livelihood services;
  • Strengthen policies and capacity on child labor, education, and sustainable livelihoods;
  • Raise awareness on exploitive child labor, including its root causes, and the importance of education;
  • Increase knowledgebase on child labor in Jordan through needs assessment and research; and
  • Promote long-term sustainability of efforts to combat exploitive child labor and improve livelihoods.

Summary of Activities:

  • Build on existing rehabilitation and reintegration services and expand to new areas of the country;
  • Identify and enroll child beneficiaries in formal and non-formal education, vocational training, and internship programs;
  • Increase access of selected households to financial and financial literacy services, non-formal education programs, and producer and marketing groups;
  • Establish capacity at the local and governorate levels to monitor and track both child labor and social services for child beneficiaries;
  • Increase awareness among key stakeholders at the community and governorate level on the negative effects of exploitive child labor and the importance of education;
  • Conduct needs assessments on the prevalence of exploitive and worst forms of child labor; education performance; and the economic profile of targeted households and schools; and
  • Establish sustainability and roll-out plans with key government and NGO stakeholders.

Results

The project provided education services to 8,716 children who were engaged in or at high-risk of entering exploitative child labor, and livelihood services to 3,959 to members of households with children who were engaged in or at high-risk of entering exploitative child labor.

Learn About Our Success

Mahmoud at a desk with books. Photo by Chris de Bode.

Mahmoud lives in Amman, Jordan with his parents and nine siblings. After his father had a stroke, he was forced to leave school at the age of 14 and earn the family's income with his elder brother. Mahmoud was devastated.

Grantee:
Save the Children
Implementing Partners:
The Jordanian Hashemite Fund for Human Development
Contact Information:
(202) 693-4843 / Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT)
Tags:
Child Labor
Construction
Domestic Work
Evaluations
Livelihoods
Manufacturing
Small Workshops
Transport and Storage