RI, ILO to tackle worst forms of child labor<\/p>\n
Leony Aurora, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
The International Labor Organization (ILO) will launch on
\nThursday a support program to assist the first phase of
\nIndonesia's national plan of action to tackle the worst forms of
\nchild labor.<\/p>\n
Immediate targets of this program will be children involved in
\ndrug trafficking, prostitution, offshore fishing, mining and the
\nfootwear sector, director for operations of ILO's International
\nProgram on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC), Guy Thijs,
\nsaid on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"We will link child labor eradication with other development
\nefforts, including education and poverty alleviation,\" he said.<\/p>\n
The chief technical adviser of the ILO Jakarta office, Patrick
\nQuinn, said the support program would last for four years, with
\nsome US$4 million of funds involved to finance, among other
\nactivities, public awareness enhancement, advocacy, capacity
\nbuilding and promotion of labor concerns in national and local
\npolicies.<\/p>\n
The ILO has estimated that some four million children below
\nthe age of 18 in the country are involved in employment deemed to
\nbe dangerous. There is no official data on the number of child
\nlaborers here.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is the first Asian country to ratify ILO Convention
\n182, which requires the eradication of 20 of the worst forms of
\nchild labor within 20 years. A national action committee was set
\nup in 2001 and a 20-year national plan was established under
\nPresidential Decree No. 59\/2002.<\/p>\n
Its main focus for the first five years is increasing public
\nawareness, problem mapping and the establishment of concrete
\nprograms for the eradication of child labor.<\/p>\n
\"The administrations, central and provincial, hold the central
\nrole. We will only be the catalyst,\" said Thijs. Provincial
\ncommittees are expected to be set up soon.<\/p>\n
Pilot projects have been conducted since December 1999 to
\ndemonstrate that work without child labor is possible. The
\nprojects, to end in July, involve children working on fishing
\nplatforms in North Sumatra and children in the footwear industry
\nin Cibaduyut, Bandung.<\/p>\n
\"When we started, there were 1,100 children working in
\nCibaduyut. Our latest survey in February showed that there were
\nonly 58,\" said Anna Engblom of the ILO, who is in charge of the
\nprojects.<\/p>\n
Awareness raising and collaboration with all stakeholders,
\nincluding local administrations, non-governmental organizations,
\nlocal communities and the children's parents, contributed much to
\nthe Cibaduyut project's success, she said.<\/p>\n
Provincial committees are expected to duplicate such projects,
\nusing the models that already have been tried.<\/p>\n
In cooperation with a number of universities in the country,
\nthe ILO-IPEC has also embarked on a rapid assessment to collect
\ndata. They have done surveys to map out children involved in drug
\ntrafficking in Jakarta, prostitution across Java, offshore
\nfishing in North Sumatra, the footwear sector in West Java and
\nmining in East Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
The assessment of the footwear industry in West Java, for
\nexample, has found two areas with a high percentage of child
\nlabor, in Ciomas and Tasikmalaya. An estimated 9,000 children are
\nworking in these areas.<\/p>",
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