Child Labour Prevention through Child Protection

PANEL CHAIR: GORD PHANEUF, MSW, RSW.

CEO, CHILD WELFARE LEAGUE OF CANADA

Problem: Child Labour

Tanzania has made major efforts to respond to child labour. Increased efforts are required, of particular urgency is the need to strengthen national and district-level child protection capacity to respond to this form of child abuse.

While there are many excellent local initiatives there is a clear & pressing need for population-wide, system-based prevention and response social protection services.

Resource limitations & the need for improved practice recommends adopting an incremental approach that emphasizes coordinated & integrated strategies which reach across all sectors.

There is a need to bolster national and district strategies, frameworks, policies and services.

Violence against Children in Tanzania

To understand the Tanzanian context it is important to examine the overall rates of violence against children. In an given year over 70% children do not have two or more of their

basic needs met. [2009 Violence against Children (VAC) Survey]. Physical abuse affects 3 out of 4 children. While emotional abuse

impacts 25% of all children. Sexual violence affects 1 out of 3 girls and 1 out of every 7 boys .

Child Vulnerability in Tanzania

Many children in Tanzania are participating in dangerous work and/or living in non-standardized institutions at significant rates.

Nearly 30% of children between 5 and 17 years old are child laborers, often working in dangerous situations.

Adult prisons in Tanzania contain approximately 1,400 children, most of whom have not been to trial.

Children’s homes, or alternative care homes, many of which are unregistered, house more than 11,000 boys and girls.

Ecological Approach

Child protection capacity building needs to be addressed at the national, district & community levels.

An ecological approach seeks to incorporate all relevant actors.

Adapted from: World Health Organization- Violence Prevention Alliance

(National) (District/Community)

(Family) (Child)

Multi-Sectoral Approach in Tanzania

Public Sector Governments at all levels

Corporate Sector Agriculture, Fisheries, Mining, Tourism

Labour Sector Trade Unions

Education Sector Colleges, Universities, Schools

Faith Communities Churches, Mosques, Tribal Leaders

Professional Sector Legal, Social Work, Police, Judiciary, Medical

Voluntary Sector Volunteers, paraprofessionals, students, interns

Ways Forward: Strengthening Child Protection Nations which prioritize the needs of

vulnerable children experience: higher levels of youth engagement;

positive child health outcomes; lower incidence of youth anti-social behaviour and youth criminality; lower rates of incarceration; lower child morbidity and child mortality.

Child protection provides a “wide lens” on the child. It identifies risk & protective factors while responding the specific form of child abuse.

Ways Forward: Strengthening Child Protection

Viewing child labour in the context of child protection can help to make visible other risks or harmful practices which may be present in a child’s life.

Child protection should be a central focus of all governmental, corporate & non-governmental initiatives relating to children.

Child labour strategies can provide vital pathways for the identification, investigation & treatment of other forms of abuse & adversities in a child’s life.

Child protection is tasked with assessment & response of overall climate risk not simply one aspect of it.

Pillars of a Child Protection System

Support & Treatment

Alternative Care

Monitoring, Evaluation & Data Collection

Child Rights Focus - Accountability Mechanisms

Referral System & Investigation Response

Legal Framework

PreventionServices

InterventionServices

Support &Treatment

Data Collection &

Analysis

Accountability Mechanisms & Quality Control

Child Protection System: “Virtuous Cycle”

Child Protection System: Enhancements

Guidelines & Standards

Range of Prevention Services

Collaborative Practice

Data Analysis & Reporting

Structured Knowledge Exchange

Advocacy & Quality Control

Ways Forward: National Level

Fostering public awareness advances identification, referral and attitudinal change.

Strengthening the legal framework (judicial training, prosecution, investigation protocols, etc.) is relatively doable.

Reinforcing the referral system entails working across jurisdictions, disciplines and sectors.

Supporting multidisciplinary response: 3Cs cooperation, coordination & collaboration.

Prioritize structured, on-going knowledge exchange initiatives as a domain for Official Development Assistance (ODA).

Ways Forward: District Level

Encouraging child protection knowledge exchange & skills transfer at all levels of the social protection continuum:

concentrated focus on supervisory and managerial levels.

Establishing “South-to-South” technical assistance facilities to foster cross boundary learning and training, eg. WHO.

Forging role clarity among stakeholders involved in the issue.

Providing incentives for collaborative approaches and rewarding partnerships.

Using creative incentives to support & reward school attendance.

Ways Forward: Child Labour

The wealth of good will among stakeholders must be marshaled to implementing the components a coordinated national plan of action.

Prevention & intervention initiatives are most often successful when they are realistic, implementable & scalable.

Establishing time-bound goals, monitoring progress & publicly reporting results encourages transparency, promotes efficiency and demonstrates success.

Credible sanctions can serve to deter hazardous child labour.

Nation-Level: Recommendations Integrate the various national plans of action on children to

avoid fragmentation, duplication and unnecessary expenditures.

Withdraw children from hazardous labour by strengthening the referral system, stepped up inspections, use of sanctions & confronting underlying socio-economic drivers. 

Ensure national action plan prioritizes capacity development at the district-level.

Explore use of South-to-South initiatives. Engage in cross-jurisdictional knowledge exchange

initiatives with regional and international partners.

District-Level: Recommendations

Build district-level prevention capacity to address contributing factors where they occur.

Develop sustainable child protection services to address all forms of child abuse.

Identify practical challenges in moving from problem identification to implementing protective strategies.

Strengthen oversight & supervision of sectors implicated in child labour.

“There can be no keener revelation of a society's soul than the way in which it treats its children.”

Nelson Mandela

“Childhood decides.”Jean-Paul Sartre

Child Protection must balance caring for the young while supporting their path to independence

Resources

African Network for the Prevention and Protection against Child Abuse and Neglect. (2011). Desk Review and Analysis of Literature on Child Protection Systems in the Eastern Africa Region. Nairobi: Save the Children Sweden.

ECLT Foundation. (2012). Malawi National Conference on Child Labour in Agriculture: Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing . Lilongwe: ECLT Foundation.

European Commission. (2010). Investing in Children, Fighting Child Labour. Grant Application Forms (Parts A and B) . European Commission.

International Labour Organization. (2014). What is Child Labour. Retrieved September 12,2014, from http://www.ilo.org/ipec/facts/lang--en/index.htm.

Ljungman, C., Nilsson, A., Mashamba, C., & Mtengeti, K. (2014). Evaluation of Save the Children's Child Rights Governance and Protection Projects in Tanzania - Mainland Project. Embassy of Sweden in Tanzania : Sida Decentralised Evaluation.

Report on Stakeholders Workshop to Develop Proposal on Child Labour . (2010). Eastern African Centre for Research on Oral Traditions and African National Languages. Zanzibar.

Sana, A. (2011). We Save the Children, Will you? Child Protection in Zanzibar. [PowerPoint slides]. Kilimani, Zanzibar Town.

Resources

Save the Children Fund. (2011). Case Management Practice within Save the Children Child Protection Programmes. London: Save the Children UK.

Save the Children Tanzania. (2015). What We Do - Child Protection. Retrieved from Save the Children Tanzania : https://tanzania.savethechildren.net/what-we-do/child-protection.

The United Republic of Tanzania. (2009). National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labor. Ministry of Labor, Employment and Youth Development.

Unicef. (2014). Child Labour and UNICEF in Action: Children at the Centre. New York: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF).

Unicef. (2013). UNICEF Annual Report 2012. United Republic of Tanzania, ESARO.

Unicef, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . (2011). Violence Against Children in Tanzania Findings from a National Survey 2009. Dar es Salaam: United Republic of Tanzania.

United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner . (2011). Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implenting the United Nations "Protect, Respect and Remedy" Framework . New York & Geneva : United Nations.

Resources

United Nations. (2011). United Nations Development Assistance Plan (UNDAP) 2011- 2015. 83-87.

United Republic of Tanzania. (2008). Report on Research and Public Enquiry on the Implementation of Children's Rights in Zanzibar, March, 2008. Dar Es Salaam: Commission for Human Rights and Good Governance.

Winrock International. (2008). Best Practices in Preventing and Eliminating Child Labor through Education. Little Rock : Brockinton Company .

Wulczyn, F., Daro, D., Fluke, J., Feldman, S., Glodek, C., & Lifanda, K. (2010). Adapting a Systems Approach to Child Protection: Key Concepts and Considerations . New York: United Nations Children's Fund(UNICEF).