G8 leaders cite need to enhance EFA implementation
26-07-06 09:52
UNESCO Director-General highlights education’s financial gap during summit
Leaders of the world’s industrialized countries have noted the need to boost efforts for the realization of the EFA goals, in particular improving the quality of education and ensuring universal basic literacy.
“We need to step up efforts to implement the Education for All Programme. If we do not ensure universal basic literacy, especially in the developing countries, we will not be able to achieve scientific and technical progress in the world,” Russian President Vladimir Putin said reading the G8 Declaration at the conclusion of the G8 Summit held in St. Petersburg from 15 to 17 July 2006.
Education was among the top items on the G8 Summit agenda, which was chaired by Russia. UNESCO Director-General Koïchiro Matsuura, who spoke during the Summit, also appealed for more support from the international community to fill the financial gap so that developing countries, particularly in Africa, can achieve key basic education goals.
The G8 leaders have re-affirmed their commitment to help countries reach the goals of EFA and reiterated their support for UNESCO’s leadership in coordinating action to achieve the EFA goals.
According to a statement from UNESCO, the education document approved on 16 July by the G8 Summit – entitled “Education for innovative societies in the 21st century” – showed the G8 leaders reaffirmed their commitment to the EFA agenda and welcomed “UNESCO’s efforts to finalize a Global Action Plan to achieve the EFA goals and provide a framework for coordinated and complementary action by multilateral aid agencies in support of country-level implementation.”
Throughout this document, the G8 leaders “call upon UNESCO and the additional convening agencies of the Dakar Framework (UNDP, UNFPA, UNICEF and the World Bank) to support harmonization and alignment with national priorities, plans and targets and to utilize each organization’s unique capacities to eliminate duplication of effort and increase efficiency.”
The G8 leaders also expressed their continuing support for an effective implementation of the EFA Fast-Track Initiative (FTI) and reiterated their commitment to support Africa in its achievement of the EFA agenda.
The G8 is composed of the USA, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy and Canada, and representatives of the European Union.
Abolition of school fees, child labor focus of global EFA group’s meeting
26-07-06 09:03
UNESCO-led group also discussed Global Action Plan
UNESCO and its partners involved in education met in Paris to discuss key issues related to Education for All (EFA).
The 7th Meeting of the Working Group on EFA was held in Paris from 19 to 21 July 2006. It discussed some of the major obstacles in achieving EFA: school fees; child labor; and HIV/AIDS as well as education in fragile states. The Working Group also made recommendations on the implementation, particularly at the country level, of the Global Action Plan, a blueprint for coordinating the efforts of the EFA convening agencies such as UNICEF, UNDP, UNFPA and the World Bank.
The Working Group “is now an established annual forum for debating emerging concerns and taking stock of important trends and developments related to EFA,” Koïchiro Matsuura, UNESCO Director-General, said during the opening of the meeting.
The Working Group provides technical guidance and information exchange between all EFA partners. It is composed of government representatives, regional bodies, bilateral and multilateral donor agencies and non-governmental organizations, and is chaired by UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Education, Mr. Peter Smith. The working group agreed on the following at the end of the meeting:
- abolition of school fees can serve as a “trigger” of additional reforms aiming at raising educational quality;
- establishment of the Global Task Force on EFA and Child Labor can be a new mechanism to eliminate child labor and enable countries to move rapid progress towards achieving EFA and particularly addressing the gender parity issues with the launch of the special programme for child domestic labor, recognizing that millions of girls are trapped in domestic labor;
- education in fragile states, requires simultaneous action for short-term recovery work and longer-term effort to rebuild the state and its institutions;
- all stakeholders should adopt a comprehensive package of reforms and gender sensitive education to address the HIV & AIDS epidemic.
EFA only hope for millions of child laborers to freedom and security
Welcoming the establishment of Global Task Force on child labor and education Mr. Kailash Satyarthi termed it as one of the most promising developments towards addressing the inter-linkages around poverty, education and child labor. The Global Task Force on Child Labor and Education which was launched during the Beijing Round Table in November 2005 with the fullest blessings and support of UNESCO’s leadership was termed by him as a demonstration of collective will of inter-governmental agencies and global civil society, to fight illiteracy and child labor simultaneously.
Mr. Satyarthi was the keynote speaker in the EFA working group Session on Reaching the EFA Goals: Overcoming Child Labor to achieve EFA hosted by UNESCO in Paris during July 19-21, Working Group meeting.
He congratulated the UNESCO Director General Mr. Matsuura and ADG Mr. Peter Smith for their consideration of including a full session dedicated in the all important EFA Working Group meeting in Paris on July 19th, 2006. He said that, “Education is not an individual but an inter-sectoral issue. Education for All, is one of the four critical, closely interrelated processes affecting the future of our world, especially our children. The others are poverty, child labor and insecurity.”
He said that education is no longer a power tool in the hands of few, but it is freedom, liberty, development, life and future for millions who are trapped in servitude, trafficking, forced beggary, domestic labor, prostitution and child soldiers. Free quality education for all is the key to social justice, equity, protection of childhood and combating poverty.
The Task Force is a partnership to mobilize political will and momentum towards mainstreaming the issue of child labor in national and international policy frameworks contributing to the EFA objectives and MDG’s . The task force is to be viewed essentially as helping build an enabling environment for countries that aim to achieve EFA and child labor elimination.
He announced the launch of the two activities being launched by the Task Force as the joint initiatives. First a comprehensive and integrated programme on Child Domestic Labor and education to liberate millions of child domestic laborers will be launched. Secondly it proposes to work for integration of child labor first and foremost in the PRSP source book which is the guiding tool for the countries to design their strategies. PRSP source book now in its current form pays little explicit attention to child labor.
The other speakers in the session were Secretaries of Education from Morocco and Turkey who explained the special programmes launched by them to eliminate child laborers with the support of the Ministries of Education, Labor and Social Security.
Other Speakers included Government of Jordan which shared the progress in school attendance in his country with the launch of social support policy that includes school nutrition programme rescuing thousands of children from work. The Government of Indonesia informed that they have around 2.4 million child laborers and asked the support of the international community to deal with the problem.
Making an important intervention the Government of Brazil informed the participants that Brazilian Government has accepted the invitation to be a member of the Global Task Force on child labor and education. They also informed that Government of Brazil has given financial support to ILO-IPEC for South-South exchange programme to carry forward the success achieved in Brazil for learning, dissemination and experimental launch in select countries. The Brazilian Government welcomed the launch of the Task Force but reminded that it is important that the GTF coordinates with EFA Secretariat to assess country by country the need for practical methods to address child laborers special needs and facilitate financial and technical assistance to the most needy countries that face serious challenge in meeting their obligations towards achieving education for all. He said that FTI Secretariat is also required to take specific steps in this direction.
Government of India informed the participants that it has launched the largest programme launched anywhere in the world to provide mid day meals to the children in the schools to attract and improve school attendance.
Important interventions were made from the Secretary, Government of Bangladesh about the programmes launched for girls and cash incentives offered to them as a modest compensation from loss of work.
The representative of the African Union mentioned that countries like Ethiopia need special programmes to compensate the loss of work for the families if the children have to attend full time schools.
The representative from ANCEFA, a large African NGO spoke on the need for special financial and technical support to the African Countries in combating child labor if the EFA goals have to be realized by 2015.
Government of Mexico informed about the cash transfer, el becas— which entitles money for the parents of children who attend school and was successful. The cash incentive progressively increases when the child continues to join secondary schooling. He informed that cash transfer programme is efficient-in keeping girls at schools. It has diminished child labor. However he cautioned that cash transfer does not improve the achievement of children and identified the need to further explore on this experience.
The Secretary, Education, Government of Kenya said that the cause of child labor is poverty and in addition the expenses of attending school are high. In some communities, children’s income is critical. For children to attend school, we have to taken several measures…as a government considers child labor is a challenge, we have enhanced school feeding programs. He informed that Kenya requires special assistance to take further steps in ensuring child laborers can attend full time schools. This requires strong partnership with the international community.
The representative of the Government of Nigeria cautioned that approaches like addressing child labor separately within the EFA can risk attention to close to 11 million children that are out of schools in Nigeria, amongst which not all are child laborers. She cautioned that it is important to focus on PRSP’s and to see the core reasons for the prevalence of child labor and its link to the macro economic policies pursued by the IMF and World Bank that has forced the countries to structural adjustments impacting negatively on social sector programmes. She also cautioned that the debt servicing by the poor countries to the international financial institutions takes a heavy toll on their resources. There is a urgent need to have a wider perspective to the prescriptions that are affecting the fiscal management of several countries like Nigeria.
The representative of Sweden wanted to know the time frame of the GTF and if the functions of the GTF are research, advocacy. Mr. Kari Tapiola, Deputy Director General, ILO informed that the time frame of the GTF is until 2015 and that the Secretariat of the GTF is located at ILO, Geneva and it will be rotating every three years between various UN agencies. He also said that the agenda of the GTF is research, advocacy and facilitating support to specific countries on demand.
Chrisna Widyawati: Young leader emerges from Yogya earthquake
July 31, 2006
Adisti Sukma Sawitri
The Jakarta Post
When 16-year-old Chrisna Widyawati realized that her house had been destroyed in the recent Yogyakarta earthquake, she could not help crying. However, she quickly recovered after finding that her parents and older sister were safe.
After helping her parents to salvage their remaining belongings, and setting up temporary tents, she got on her motorcycle with a friend and went to the worst-hit area in Bantul regency, a two-hour ride from her ruined house in Sleman.
"I couldn't stand just sitting in my camp when I knew more child victims were suffering in Bantul," she told The Jakarta Post after receiving a 2006 Indonesian Young Leaders Award at the office of the State Minister for Women's Empowerment.
Chrisna, who participates in karang taruna (a local youth group), Merapi Children Forum and other extracurricular activities, received the award for her contribution to taking care of child victims in her neighborhood in Turi subdistrict, Sleman, and disaster-ridden Bantul.
The 5.9-magnitude earthquake destroyed thousands of homes in Yogyakarta and parts of Central Java on May 27, killing more than 5,700 and leaving at least 340,000 homeless.
Many child survivors suffered trauma in the earthquake. Some were even abandoned by their parents who were also traumatized.
"I still remember holding a trembling five-year-old girl who had been left by her mother when the earthquake occurred," she said.
"When a disaster comes, people hardly think about other people, even those they love; they think only of themselves," she said.
Chrisna, a 10th-grader at the time of the earthquake, gathered her friends and organized them to provide clothing, food and tents, as well as counseling for children at survivor camps.
Her father's position as a Yogyakarta city police officer made it easier to search for contacts for food and shelter before outside aid reached the area.
A week after the quake she also persuaded her classmates at her school in Yogyakarta to skip school for two days and help Bantul survivors.
Her "misbehavior" was prompted by the school administration's strict adherence to normal classroom hours even after the earthquake, leaving no time to help victims, some of whom were students' friends and relatives.
Chrisna and her friends felt restless while studying in class, as their hearts and minds went out to the child survivors who still needed their help.
"We made our teachers extremely angry. Fortunately, the school did not punish us. Instead, they changed the school hours, so we had only half-day schooling after that," she said. Students could, with a clear conscience, use the spare time to help the children at the camps.
Her volunteer work with child earthquake victims was a courageous postscript to her advocacy for children's rights in her community.
She started advocacy activities two years ago after attending the National Children's Congress in Yogyakarta, sponsored by the National Commission for Child Protection.
Immediately afterward she realized that she was already concerned about child rights. It was just that her activities were more individual than group-oriented.
The determined girl soon started the Merapi Children's Forum in Turi, focusing on protecting and preventing children living near Mount Merapi volcano from engaging in harmful activities, such as playing too close to ravines, smoking or using drugs.
Located only about 20 kilometers away from the summit of Merapi, Turi has some steep ravines that are dangerous for children. Many went missing after playing there.
"Parents here do not pay too much attention to their children. They let them play anywhere they want, although sometimes this endangers the children's lives," she said.
She and her friends teach children to fly kites, play hide and seek, and other games in safe places, to keep them from playing near the dangerous ravines.
The forum also educates the children on how to react whenever Merapi erupts.
The children are well aware that if thick, hot gaseous clouds, known locally as wedhus gembel ("shaggy sheep"), begin moving swiftly toward their village, they must go to the subdistrict office and board a truck to take them to a safer place.
However, the forum has never focused too closely on the danger of volcanoes because there is generally ample warning before a large eruption.
In the wake of the recent quake, many children were left abandoned by their parents at unhygienic camps. The Health Ministry has reported that some 700 people, including minors, are suffering from respiratory infections and diarrhea in the camps.
Seeing the poor hygiene at the camps, and children left for days without bathing, Chrisna and her friends installed water tanks with the help of the administration, to hose down the children in impromptu shower sessions.
"My friends and I came up with the idea because it would take a long time to bathe dozens of small children there. So we sprayed them with water because it was faster and easier for us -- as well as more fun for them," she said.
She and two of her friends could clean up to 20 children in a single session. Enjoying the spray, children who had hated bathing previously, now eagerly wait their turn.
Chrisna, the youngest in her family, said her love of children was because she does not have any younger brothers or sisters.
"My mother always said that she had had enough of taking care of me and my sister who always gave her headaches," she said, laughing.
With her love of children, she dreams of becoming a child psychologist. She said that many children become depressed as a result of the authoritarian approach to teaching.
Chrisna said the main problem faced by most children in Indonesia was the lack of participation in setting the rules that were applied to them.
She cited as an example that school regulations forbid children to wear shoes of any color other than black more than two days a week, which was illogical.
"I don't understand the logic for that regulation and my school never told me why. Lack of participation in drawing up regulations can make children rebellious sometimes," she said.
The plight of domestic child workers
M. Shamsur Rabb Khan, Editor, Consumer Unity & Trust Society (CUTS) in Jaipur, India
July 29, 2006
"Last night I got a thrashing, my master dragged me by my hair into the yard, and belabored me with a shoe-maker's stirrup because while I was rocking his brat in its cradle, I unfortunately fell asleep." -- Nine-year-old Vanka Zhukov in "Vanka" by Anton P. Chekov
Tiny hands working in hotels, polishing shoes at bust stops or railway stations, selling almonds in railway compartment or carrying loads in the markets are a common sight in India and other developing countries. They represent chained childhood. They are the among the 200 million child laborers worldwide, according to Global Report to the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work. The same report says that with 127.3 million in total, the Asia-Pacific region harbors the largest number of child workers.
Also, we might have happened to come across small hands sweeping the floors or washing utensils or carrying household goods or serving tea to the guests within households. They are certainly child domestic workers or what ILO calls, 'helping hands'. Do these small children work according to rules or labor laws or as per the 'orders' of the employers? Do they get paid according to the rules or labor laws? Certainly not. There are thousands of such child domestic workers employed as maids, cooks, cleaners, gardeners, child-minders, and general house-helps all over India. The problem is undoubtedly enormous.
A UNICEF report on the status of the World's Children 2006 states that in India, which has the largest number of working children, 17 percent of workers are under the age of 15 and girls aged 12 to 15 are the preferred choice of 90 percent of employing households. In some cases, young children are forced to work for long hours for low pay and in dangerous conditions (Convention No. 182).
The International Labor Organization (ILO) has estimated that 250 million children between the ages of five and fourteen work in developing countries -- at least 120 million on a full time basis. Sixty-one percent of these are in Asia, 32 percent in Africa, and 7.0 percent in Latin America. Most working children in rural areas are found in agriculture; many children work as domestic helps; urban children work in trade and services, with fewer in manufacturing and construction.
Child domestic workers -- lonely sufferers are nearly invisible among child laborers. They work alone in individual households, hidden from public scrutiny, their lives controlled by their employers or masters. Child domestics, mostly girls, work long hours for a meager pay. Many have no opportunity to go to school, or are forced to drop out because of the precarious economic conditions of their families. Above all, they may be fired for small infractions, losing not only their jobs, but their place of residence as well. It is also amongst the least regulated and most poorly remunerated profession in our country.
The children -- especially girls working within the households as domestic helps, face various types of physical, mental and sexual abuses, as a large number of girls enter this unorganized sector. Girls are seen as natural domestic workers, seemingly trained at home in doing housework. These children are under the exclusive control of their employers and have little or no freedom, which leads to harmful effects on their psyche and health. In 1989, the ILO stated, "Youngsters working as household domestic servant may be the most vulnerable and exploited children of all, and most difficult to protect."
Sometimes, violence can be criminal and includes physical assault or injury -- hitting, beating, shoving, etc., sexual abuse -- forced sexual activity, or stalking. A study on human trafficking says India is fast becoming a hotspot for child-sex tourism.
The study sponsored by the National Human Rights Commission said, "In India, the abuse of both male and female children by tourists has acquired serious dimensions." The 748-page study called "Trafficking in Women and Children in India," also said "unlike Sri Lanka and Thailand, this problem has not been seriously tackled or discussed openly in India and has remained more or less shrouded in secrecy, making the likelihood of child abusers being caught and punished very low.
The ILO estimates that more girls work as domestics than in any other form of child labor. Yet they have received little attention, and even less protection. Government laws often exclude domestic workers from basic labor rights, labor ministries rarely monitor or investigate conditions of work in private households, and few programs addressing child labor include child domestics.
The rescue of hundreds of child laborers in Delhi and Mumbai recently once again highlighted the scale of this violation of child rights. In November 2005, over 500 minors working in "inhuman" conditions were freed after a raid on 50 embroidery units in east Delhi. A few months before that, police rescued 465 children working in exploitative conditions in industrial units located in the congested Madanpura locality in central Mumbai.
The Supreme Court of India on February 2, 2006, while adjudicating on Public Interest litigation concerning 'Child Labor', the Honorable Judges stated that 200 million children in the age group of 6 to 14 'almost are engaged in child labor and are out of the school'. It is shameful to state that these millions of children who are 'out of school' are 'forced to do manual work.'
The Supreme Court ruling is contradictory to the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA), which is initiated for achieving universal elementary education (UEE) in a time bound manner, as mandated by 86th amendment to the Constitution of India making fee and compulsory education to the children of 6-14 years age group, a fundamental right. SSA is being implemented in partnership with State Governments to cover the entire country and address the needs of 192 million children in 1.1 million habitations.
Although the constitution of India prohibits the employment of any child under the age of 14 years and Child Labor (Prohibition & Regulation) Act, 1986, prohibits child labor, the geographical expanse and population make it very difficult to keep a track of all the households engaging children as domestic helps against paltry wages. The absence of official sources or data, actually limits a realistic assessment of the magnitude and nature of the problem.
The Consumer Utility and Trust Society (CUTS) International, in collaboration with Save the Children (UK), launched a unique project on Child Domestic Workers (CDWs) entitled, 'Hum Bhi Bachche Hain' -- We, too, are children in July 2005. The project aims to examine the issue closely and generate awareness about 'CDWs' through 34 selected schools in Jaipur city using a child-to-child approach aiming towards advocacy at the state level, involving various stakeholders to make it compulsory for all schools in the state to check and the government to prevent child domestic work.
Bangladesh has no less grim scenario: In 2002/03, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) conducted the second National Child Labor Survey (NCLS), which has been designed and conducted in the context of the commitments made by the government of Bangladesh, following the ratification of ILO Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention (No. 182) 1999. According to the survey, there are 4.9 million working children, 14.2 percent of the total 35.06 million children in the age group of five to 14 years. The total working child population between five and 17 years old is estimated at 7.9 million.
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Centre, Delhi, Bihar Governments to meet on child labor
July 29, 2006
New Delhi (PTI): With the maximum number of child workers in the national capital coming from Bihar, officials from the Centre and the two state governments would soon meet to chalk out a rehabilitation program for the children.
Giving the information while inaugurating a Transitional Education Centre for working children here, Delhi Labor Minister, Mangatram Singhal, said the Union Ministry of Labor would organize the meeting in the Patna.
"The Government of India and state governments of Delhi and Bihar will draw a comprehensive program for the rehabilitation of children who are compelled to work because of economic compulsions," Singhal said.
The Minister said Delhi Government wanted to make the capital a "no entry" zone for child labor and warned that strict prosecution measures would be initiated against those found employing children.
"On the other hand, the government will initiate steps to provide rehabilitation, of which education will be the core aspect, to such children who are compelled to work due to their economic misfortune," Singhal said.
The transitional education centre for children withdrawn from work, opened in Jahangirpuri area of the city, will be run by the NGO Kiran Deep Society for Women and Child Rights.
The Delhi Shops and Establishment Act, 1954 prohibits employment of children who have not completed their 12 years of age. The Factories Act, 1948 prohibits employment of children who are not yet 14-years-old.
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Ghana: Two million children engaged in child labor
July 25, 2006
GNA
Kumasi, July 25, GNA - About two million Ghanaian children are engaged in various forms of child labor, a Ghana Child Labor Survey has indicated.
Mr. Kwaku Kyei, Country Director of African Network for the Prevention and Protection Against Child Abuse and Neglect (ANPPCAN), Ghana, who announced this, said they were engaged in various sectors including commercial, agriculture, fishing, weaving, carving, truck pushing and pottery.
He was speaking at a stakeholders meeting to address the child labor situation in the Ashanti Region in Kumasi on Monday. Participants at the meeting organized by ANPPCAN were from Kwabre, Bosomtwe-Atwima-Kwanwoma, Amansie West and Obuasi municipality. Mr. Kyei said child labor was a growing phenomenon in developing countries and stressed that an estimated 218 million children were engaged in various forms of labor globally.
He said ANPPCAN Ghana, Child Labor Program focused on addressing among other issues, child labor in Ghana in general and in Ashanti Region in particular. Mr. Bernard Morara, Exchange Programs Officer in Kenya, hinted that the ANPPCAN project in Ghana targeted children aged between five and 17 years who were already involved in working various sector of the economy.
He said at the heart of the project was the withdrawal of children involved in child labor and re-integrating them into school and supporting them to remain in school.
Mr. Morara said ANPPCAN Ghana believed that by expanding educational opportunities, facilitating access and quality of education and training of children as well as mobilizing communities against child labor, would go a long way to minimize the problems in the targeted districts. He said statistics from the population census of 2000 showed that over 60,000 children of school-going-age failed to enroll in school in the targeted districts.
Mrs. Beatrice Prempeh, Amansie West District Director of Education in a contribution, said she was happy that the organization had come to the District to assist in solving child labor issues because a lot of the children were suffering from this social problem.
Miss Virginia Tyler, an American who works with Brass Casters in Kumasi, said children should not be allowed to work during school hours to the detriment of their proper development.
Mr. Emmanuel Anniboye, Kwabre District Director of the National Commission on Civic Education (NCCE), said child labor was rooted in the cultural practices and there was the need for stakeholders to look at it critically.
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