The main intervention of the project in Kyrgyzstan is to create sustainable mechanisms to eliminate child labour in tobacco-growing through increased family income and the provision of alternative forms of employment.

Specifically the project aims to support at least 3,000 children withdrawn from child labour or prevented from entering child labour.

Project in Brief

Project name	Elimination of child labour in the tobacco industry in Kyrgyzstan.
Partners	The Working Group on Elimination of Child Labour in Tobacco Growing in Kyrgyzstan
Duration	January 2010 – December 2012
Budget	US$ 552 909
Location	Nookat District, Osh Province and Alabuka District, Jalalabat Province
Overall goal	To create sustainable mechanisms to eliminate child labour in tobacco-growing through increased family income and the provision of alternative forms of employment.
Strategic objectives	Mobilise and strengthen capacity of local stakeholders to implement and monitor efficient practices to eliminate  child labour in tobacco-growing. Improve living standards of farmers in project districts, and expand the geographical areas covered by the project in the districts. Support and develop credit unions and cooperatives to effectively reduce poverty. Improve access to social services, education and vocational training to offer alternative forms of employment to children. Provide direct financial support to poor families.
Direct beneficiaries	- 3,000 children withdrawn from child labour or prevented from entering child labour;  - 903 families, through Mutual Aid Groups (MAGs)

Background

Poverty levels are very high in Kyrgyzstan, particularly in rural areas. In 2007, 34.8% of the population lived below the poverty line of 963 coms per month (US$20.5).

Poverty remains one of the main underlying causes of child labour in Kyrgyzstan. There is a greater incidence of 5-17 year olds engaged in child labour in rural areas (47.6%), than in urban areas (23.5%). Most children involved in child labour work as unpaid family workers.

Kyrgyzstan relies heavily on agriculture, producing tobacco, cotton, maize, rice, potatoes and vegetables. The southern part of Kyrgyzstan, including Osh, Jalalabad and Batken regions, is the major tobacco-growing area of the country. According to the US Department of Labour (USDOL), children employed in agriculture work in all forms of crop production, including tobacco. In Kyrgyzstan children are also involved in the mining of coal and gold, and cattle rearing.

Many children working in agriculture are exposed to the worst forms of child labour (WFCL). They are vulnerable to an array of hazards, such as carrying heavy workloads, being exposed to dangerous pesticides and fertilizers and using dangerous  tools. In tobacco fields many children are involved in spraying, curing and grading.

Contributory factor to child labour

Supply factors:

1. Distance to Schools: In Kyrgyzstan schools exist in rural areas, but they can often be very far from farms. Many children have to walk long distances, often in extreme weather conditions, to reach their school. During  winter, some children cannot go to school because they lack warm clothing. 
2. Quality of Education: Despite high enrolment rates and the high number of schools in Kyrgyzstan, the quality of education has decreased in the last few decades because of a shortage of teachers. The quality of education is also affected by a shortage of school books and sub-standard school buildings.
3. Lack of employment alternatives: In rural areas, youth involvement in agriculture is often the result of a lack of other employment alternatives.  Many young men and women who are engaged in child labour lack business and entrepreneurship skills. They are often unable take the initiative to improve their well-being because they do not have access to vocational training courses, and/or market and micro-credit financing opportunities.
4. Absence of awareness about children’s rights for parents and children. This has both short and long term effects on the prevalence of child labour in agriculture, and particularly in tobacco-growing. Parents are not aware of the hazards their children face when they work in tobacco-growing. In addition, there is a lack of awareness and enforcement of the legislation which should prevent children under the age of 18 from working in tobacco. 

 Demand Factors: 

1. Demand for labour: Tobacco is a labour intensive crop which requires on average four labourers per hectare in Kyrgyzstan. Adult manual labour is expensive so parents often resort to employing  their own children as free labour to reduce the costs of production.
2. Poor law and regulation enforcement: The government of Kyrgyzstan is a signatory to various International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions and has implemented both a state programme for the elimination of WFCL, and a road map to eliminate all forms of child labour by 2016. But the capacity to enforce the legal and regulatory framework to combat and prevent child labour is still limited. Some promising steps are being taken by the Ministry of Social Protection. At the local level, there is also a need to strengthen the capacity of local authorities and social workers so they can adequately address issues around child labour.

 

Project Details

Immediate Objective 1
Mobilise and strengthen capacity of local stakeholders to implement and monitor efficient practices to eliminate child labour in tobacco-growing

In order to enhance the effectiveness of the project, two local working groups have been created. These comprise of local authorities, representatives of trades unions and other key stakeholders. The working groups collaborate at all stages of the project and monitor its implementation and impact.

Through the working groups, village health committees and school parliaments, the project raises awareness about child labour in tobacco-growing and its impact on children’s development. 

The World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL) takes place on 12^th June each year. It is an opportunity for the project to raise awareness through school competitions, concerts and musical performances. These events are organized in 67 schools in collaboration with the local education departments and the Child Creativity Center. The project also uses various platforms  and tools – national conferences, videos, t-shirts and leaflets – to  increase awareness about the hazards of child labour.

By the end of 2012:

• In Nookat district, from a total of 52 schools, the project will have raised the awareness of 26,370 students about the hazards of child labour;   
• In Alabuka district, from a total of 13 schools, the project will have raised the awareness of 7,522 students  about the hazards of child labour.   

 

Immediate Objective 2
Improve living standards of farmers in project districts, and expand the geographical areas covered by the project in the districts

The project will expand its coverage to 8 localities in Nookat district where tobacco is the primary crop and continue the implementation of the project in the same localities in Alabuka District.

The project has created mutual aid groups (MAGs) in 37 villages in Nookat district and in two localities in Alabuka district. Each MAG brings together 6 to 10 tobacco farmers who each receive conditional microcredit at a preferential interest rate. Farmers can only sign up to the micro-credit scheme if they pledge not to employ children in their fields. The MAG also functions as a monitoring and support group. Farmers assist each other in the fields and ensure that all members repay their loan on time.

The purpose of the microcredit scheme is to enable poor tobacco farmers to diversify their livelihood, increase their revenue and, ultimately, lift themselves out of poverty.

By the end of 2012, the project will have:

• Supported 903 low-income tobacco farming families through microcredits;  
• Established 93 mutual aid groups, each consisting of 6 to 10 families.

 

Immediate Objective 3
Support and develop credit unions and cooperatives to effectively reduce poverty

Successful cooperatives lead both to an increase in farming efficiency and profitability, and a reduction in manual labour.  In most cases this manual labour is undertaken  by children. The Kyrgyzstan agrarian reform plan resulted in the fragmentation of state farms into small private farms which often cannot afford to purchase agricultural machinery.  Cooperatives farming necessitates that farmers jointly farm their land to make better use of their combined resources. It requires heavy machinery to cultivate the land. Using this machinery leads to a drastic decrease in manual labour – and thus contributes towards eliminating child labour in agriculture.

As cooperatives have such a positive impact on the reduction of child labour, the project facilitates the creation of cooperatives and provides assistance for the procurement of agricultural machinery. The project provides 50% of the costs of a second-hand tractor as a technical loan to the farmers in the cooperative. 

Training sessions on the establishment of cooperatives are conducted for the MAGs; legal and regulatory issues are also covered.  

By the end of 2012, the project will have:

• Created at least three cooperatives consisting of 20 or more farmers involved in the project;
• Distributed three technical loans to enable farmers to purchase agricultural machinery.

 

Immediate Objective 4
Improve access to social services, education and vocational trainings to offer alternative forms of employment to children

Summer Camp

Efforts to organize summer holiday camps for children have yielded tremendous results in terms of reducing child labour.   Over the 10 days of these summer camps, project staff explain to the children that working in tobacco fields is prohibited by law.  The children then pass on this information to other children who live in the same streets and villages and to those who attend the same schools. The summer camps also provide children with a rare opportunity of spending decent holidays with other children, and to play and enjoy their childhood. Each year, 200 children are able to spend their summer holiday in these camps.

Medical Rehabilitation Centre

Summer camps are not sufficient, though,  for addressing children’s illnesses related to working in tobacco agriculture.  Each year, 50 children formerly in child labour are sent to a Medical Rehabilitation Centre for 15 days of treatment.  

Professional Courses for young people

The project also focuses on supporting vocational education and recreational activities for school age children.  In order to achieve this, the project supports the opening of 11 professional training courses in schools including hairdressing, carpentry, tailoring and cooking.

The project also facilitates the provision of equipment and recreational materials for summer day camps for schools in Nookat district. Equipment for sports grounds in secondary schools is also procured including: exercise bars, boxing gloves, a boxing punchbag, mattresses, tennis tables, and training apparatus.

By the end of 2012, the project will have:

• Supported 11 schools in Nookat district in the implementation of vocational education and recreational activities for children;
• Enabled 96 children to attend hairdressing courses, 120 children to be trained in tailoring skills, and 90 children to acquire joinery and carpentry skills;
• Supported 600 children through attendance at summer camps;
• Provided medical rehabilitation for 150 children affected by working in tobacco agriculture.

 

Immediate Objective 5
Provide direct financial support to poor families

In remote villages, some children do not attend school  because they are extremely poor. Families cannot afford essential items such as shoes and clothes for their children. In each village, there are on average one or two families suffering like this. The project encourages the MAGs to find solutions for these vulnerable families.

 In addition, the project implements a ‘pass-on’ scheme. One milking cow is distributed to the most vulnerable families on the condition that it will be passed on to another poor family after it has delivered offspring (after one or two years ). The cows will provide milk for the families’ children and a source of income if the milk products are sold on the market.

By the end of 2012, the project will have:

•  Provided assistance to 36 low income families through the loan of a milking cow (12  families per year).

 

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 Sources:

 2009 UNDP – National Report – Successful Youth Successful Country

 USDOL 2009 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labour