Global Campaign Against Child Labour in Domestic Work

Global Campaign
Against Child Labour
in Domestic Work
With the ever-swelling middle class across the globe, children's
engagement in domestic work is at an all-time high amidst demand for
cheap labour. As per global statistics, a total of 17.2 million children in the
age group of 5-17 years are in domestic work. Out of this, 11.5 million
children are engaged in child labour, with 7.5 million children being girls.
While child labour in domestic work is a growing and pervasive
phenomenon, it is difficult to tackle. Addressing child labour in domestic
work is challenging as it remains largely invisible. Child exploitation
usually takes place in private homes hidden from public view, falling
beyond the scope of regulation and inspection; cultural acceptance and
social attitude regard domestic work as “safe” and often a form of
apprenticeship for girls. The lack and inadequacy of legal interventions
further complicates efforts to tackle the issue.
With the support of ILO-IPEC, Global March started a project “Global
Advocacy Campaign for Elimination of Child Labour in Domestic
Work and Protection of Child Domestic Workers” in January 2013,
with the prime aim of pushing for the ratification of ILO Convention 189 on
Decent Work for Domestic Workers.
The Campaign, FREE: Free from Exploitation for Education was
global in nature with focussed action in 3 countries, i.e., Indonesia,
Panama and Togo entailing research, awareness raising, advocacy and
capacity building activities. The countries were identified keeping in mind
the geographical spread of the campaign and given that these countries
were also representative of their respective regions with respect to the
situation of children in domestic work. The campaign activities were
carried out by Global March partners JARAK (Indonesia), IDEMI
(Panama) and WAO-Afrique (Togo) in their respective regions.
Main Focus of Activities:
Sensitising different stakeholders
including local/national bodies,
government, universities, churches and
trade unions of women workers.
Jun’13- Conference on World Day Against
Child Labour
A full day video conference event organised
with civil society representatives from Costa
Rica, El Salvador, Honduras and Spain;
adolescents from 4 provinces of Colón,
Panamá, Coclé and Veraguas that form an
integral component of the Movement called
“Voice of childhood and youth”. Declaration
on education signed by children and
adolescents along with charter of demands
was delivered to the Ministry of Labour in
support of ratification of Convention 189.
Oct’13- International Day of Girl Child
Inter-institutional forum organised by IDEMI
with CONAMU, INAMU, CETTIPAT and
SENNIAF, attended by 134 strategically
important representatives across the
country, highlighted the issue of exploitation
of girls and children in domestic work.
Feb’14- Workshop
Organised on violence and child labour in
domestic work with the communal
authorities of Mata, families of children and
group of young domestic workers in
Veraguas.
Mar’14- Sensitisation Activities
Capacity building exercises organised for
representatives of National Movement of
Women, National Council of Workers.
Sensitisation workshops for directors of
Panama East provinces, church leaders of
Panama and media professionals on
conditions of children in domestic work,
their vulnerabilities with respect to their
rights and Convention 189; Collaborated with
50 NGOs to develop an agenda for the
fulfilment of rights of the child, later agreed
upon and signed by 6 presidential
candidates.
WAO- AFRIQUE works to promote and protect
children's rights, in particular removal of children
from exploitative situations along with their
rehabilitation and reintegration.
Main Focus of Activities:
To promote the protection of child domestic workers
who have reached minimum age for work in Togo.
INDONESIA
children and adolescents.
TOGO
PANAMA
IDEMI works for the rights of women,
JARAK is a network of national NGOs
promoting the elimination of the worst forms
of child labour.
Main Focus of Activities:
Advocacy and legislative lobbying for
ratification of Convention 189 and clearance
of the Bill on Protection of Domestic Workers.
Jun’13- Awareness Campaign on World Day
Against Child Labour
Organised by JARAK with ILO Jakarta and
JALA-PRT on child labour in domestic work
under the theme “No to child labour in
domestic work”; sensitised high ranking
officials from ILO, Ministry of Labour, Ministry
of Women Empowerment and Child Protection,
Trade Union Confederation, members of
JARAK network and others.
May’13- Engaging Child Domestic Workers (CDWs) on
Labour Day
A picnic of CDWs was organised, wherein for the first
time, CDWs of Lomé, Kpalimé and Sokodé met in Lomé
to share experiences and advocate for ratification of
Convention 189.
Nov’13- Demonstration before Parliament
Organised by JARAK and JALA-PRT before the
Parliament Building, followed by hearing with
Legislative Bodies of Parliament to demand for
the enactment of Domestic Workers Bill and
ratification of Convention 189.
Jun'13- World Day Against Child Labour
Under the theme "No to child labour in domestic work",
WAO-Afrique with Ministry of Social Action and National
Solidarity, Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social
Security, and their partners organised mass
mobilisation activities for promoting child rights with
different religious groups in Lomé. About 5,000 people
participated directly in these activities, indirectly
impacting more than 1,500,000 people.
Feb’14- Public Discussion
Organised by Ministry of Manpower and ILO on
ratification of Convention 189 with participants
from related ministries, unions, NGOs
(including JARAK), international organisations,
media, etc.
July’13- Sub-Regional Workshop for Ratification of
Convention 189
2 day Sub-Regional Workshop organised on the
reflection of strategies to be implemented for the
ratification of Convention 189 in Lomé, attended by civil
society actors from Togo, Benin and Côte d'Ivoire.
Dec'13- International Day of Human Rights
Advocacy and community mobilisation carried out in
Lomé and Adomi-Abra by children and youth to raise
awareness on Convention 189.
Dec'13- Press Conference by Child Domestic Workers
Urgent appeal made to Parliament and the Togolese
government for the ratification of Convention 189;
participants included Advisory Committee of Child
Domestic Workers, Association of Working Children and
Youth of Togo- Lomé section, Domestic Workers Trade
Union.
Jun'14- World Day Against Child Labour
Working session with children and youth clubs including
presentations and discussion on the theme of “Let's
eliminate child labour in extending social protection”,
followed by suggestions for protection of young
domestic workers.
May’14- Rally on International Labour Day
Organised by JARAK, JALA-PRT and others
before Presidential Palace, urging the
President to enact Domestic Workers’ Bill
and honour his commitment of ratifying
Convention 189. Followed by visit to the
Governor's house of Jakarta to lobby for the
regulation of domestic workers and prevention
of child labour in this sector.
Aug & Sep’14- Community Meetings
Organised in Pasar Minggu & Jambul
Community (South Jakarta) and Depok City
(West Java) to raise awareness on the issue
of child labour in domestic work, focussed on
prevention of entry of children into domestic
work, trafficking, community watch system and
the role of domestic workers' organisations.
Situational analysis of child labour in
domestic work
Capacity building activities in
campaign countries
All 3 respective country partners carried out detailed situational analyses
by compiling documentary evidence and conducting interviews with civil
society organisations, trade unions, concerned officials from statutory
authorities, employers of child domestic workers and in some cases from
the children themselves.
IDEMI, JARAK and WAO-Afrique in their respective regions
organised trainings/workshops on child labour in domestic
work for enhancing capacity of stakeholders (NGOs, trade
unions, governments, etc.) involved in addressing the issue.
In Panama information was also collected from the girls, children and
adolescent workers studying in the night schools of Veraguas. In Togo the
report of the field study was approved at a sub-regional workshop held in
Lomé.
These workshops improved participants’ understanding of the
child labour situation in their respective countries and
highlighted the importance of using advocacy as a tool to
address the same.
Resources
Key resources developed under the campaign:
Ÿ
Web-based platform: A sub-site on child labour in domestic work was developed to
support the Campaign, for awareness raising, sharing updates and resource materials on
the issue.
Ÿ
Campaign Materials: Various campaign related materials like posters, flyers, stickers,
etc. were developed and disseminated amongst partners. These were used as important
tools in raising awareness during various activities organised by partners globally. These
were made available in English, French, Spanish, and Bahasa.
Ÿ
Resource Manual on Tackling Child Labour and Protecting Young
Workers in Domestic Work: A comprehensive user- friendly resource manual
designed to serve as reference material for capacity building activities of NGOs and civil
society for enhanced action and advocacy on children's engagement in domestic work.
Ÿ
Compilation of good practices document on child labour in domestic
work: A compilation of 10 good practices from the work of Global March partners and
members, in the area of child labour in domestic work in Africa, Asia and Latin America.
These practices serve as successful examples for all stakeholders involved to learn from,
adopt or replicate in their advocacy efforts.
Key Activity Highlights in Rest of the World
Ÿ
Feb'13 - Joint letters to Labour Ministers on Convention 189: Global March and Human Rights Watch in collaboration with 8 other international
organisations sent letters to labour ministers across c134 countries to push for ratification of the Convention.
Ÿ
Jun'13 - World Day Against Child Labour: Under the theme of “No to Child Labour in Domestic Work”, Global March partners organised focussed events
in Costa Rica, DR Congo, Morocco, India, Bangladesh, USA, Canada, Peru, covering mass awareness and mobilising support for ratification of Convention
189.
Ÿ
Nov'13 - Awareness Conference in Pakistan: GODH Pakistan with the support of Global March, organised an awareness conference on the issue of child
labour in domestic work, attended by representatives from governments departments, civil society and others, including 2 Parliamentarians.
Ÿ
Jan'14 - Appeal for Action: Global March, in its protest against the atrocities on children in domestic work in Pakistan, submitted a letter to the Hon'ble
Prime Minister of Pakistan, urging the government to take urgent action against the perpetrators of child labour. To mobilise public opinion on the incident
an online petition campaign was also launched.
Ÿ
Jun'14 - World Day 2014: Supported through Global March, partners in Cote d'Ivoire, Liberia, Pakistan and Peru organised awareness and advocacy
activities on child labour in domestic work. Activities ranged from radio debate, panel discussion, skit, media mobilisation, door-to-door awareness drive
and virtual campaign.
Some Lessons Learnt
Way Forward
Ÿ
Advocacy on child labour in domestic work must
include the voices and participation of children in
domestic work.
In order to further accelerate action and efforts for
tackling child labour in domestic work, it is thus
important to :
Ÿ
Non-traditional organisations such as religious/faith
organisations have a key role to play in raising
mass awareness on the detrimental effects of child
labour and the importance of education.
Ÿ
Build capacity of civil society organisations and/or
non-traditional actors for advocacy to end child
labour in domestic work.
Ÿ
Develop a repertoire of knowledge tools including
evidence-based researches on child labour in
domestic work for policy advocacy and capacity
building of civil society organisations for effective
ground actions and interventions.
Ÿ
Advocacy on child labour in domestic work and
ratification of Convention 189 is effective when it is
carried out in collaboration with trade
unions/networks of domestic workers.
Global March Against Child Labour (Foundation):
Kneuterdijk 8, 2514 EN, The Hague, Netherlands
Global March International Secretariat:
L-6, Kalkaji, New Delhi-110 019, India
Tel: +91 11 4921 1111 Fax: +91 11 4921 1138
E-mail: info@globalmarch.org
Website: www.globalmarch.org