The project in the Philippines provides educational support for former child labourers and strengthens remote, community based Child Protection Committees to raise awareness amongst communities. 

The project aims to withdraw and protect 286 children from child labour and help 300 parents to increase their income. 

To achieve this the project’s objectives are to: 

• Raise awareness and capacity of local communities so they can address child labour;
• Reorganise and revitalise 113 Barangays (Councils for Protection of Children – (5,750 people)
• Provide education assistance to the most at risk children;
• Provide income generating activities for families and entrepreneurial capacity;
• Set up an effective and efficient M&E system.

Progress so far

Changing attitudes

The project has directly achieved a change of attitude toward child labour amongst the communities it works with. Child labour generally accepted as a cultural norm is now less acceptable. Requests for support and intervention have come from outside the project areas, as awareness has increased. The livelihoods of families targeted by the project have been measurably improved and the majority of children who have been supported have performed significantly better at school and in public exams.

Influencing from within

To create local capacity to address child labour 230 Child Labour Committees and 127 Parents’/Teachers’ Associations have been established or strengthened. 330 Community Leaders and 120 farmowners, those most influential in the community, have been trained on child labour. As leaders and employers they can have a direct influence on attitudes and instances of child labour.

Back to school

In an effort to target the most vulnerable, 279 children were given assistance to enable them to go to school.

Addressing poverty

An income generating project designed to address poverty reached 300 families. 10 new projects have been approved in five municipalities. Parents will be expected to contribute to the new scheme. Beneficiaries of the scheme will pay back 20% of the profits they make, against the money they borrow.

Importantly the Local Government Unit has become an Accredited Co-Partner (ACP) of the income generating project. This means it has a stake in the project, will contribute financially and will help with monitoring, thereby making the project more sustainable.

Harnessing the power of government institutions

Through supporting and strengthening government councils set up to protect children, the programme harnesses the power of regional and national institutions already in place. During 2008 the programme ran training programmes for 140 members of the Municipal Councils. 251 chair people and secretaries and 1,273 members of local councils also participated in training and sensitisation programmes during the period.

A baseline survey was also carried out by the National Statistic Office to understand the scale of the problem and the characteristics of child labour in the region.

Who’s running the project?

National coordinating partner

Department of Labor and Employment, DOLE, Government of the Philippines.

Steering Committee

DOLE, Central Ministries (Education, Labour, Local governance, Social Welfare & development and others), local government units, NTA (National Tobacco Administration), tobacco companies (PMI, Trans-Manila, NTRCI, Conleaf, Universal leaf), Unions (NTRCI-NAFLU and TUCP), ILO/IPEC, UNICEF. 

Area covered by the project

 Five priority regions in the Northern Luzon area.

Duration of the project

The first project: August 2003 - March 2006
The second project: January 2007 - March 2009.

Budget

The overall programme budget is US$469,026 spread over 27 months. ECLT’s share of the budget is US$246,560 (53% of overall budget).