NGOs to retrieve child workers

NGOs to retrieve child workers

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A full color poster bearing pictures of workplace safety for
children employed in the informal footwear sector and a bundle of
comics depicting a child who decides to continue schooling
instead of taking up work are among the tools that activists use
to deal with the issue.

Other approaches in retrieving child workers, particularly
those employed in high-risk workplaces, are more complicated
since social and financial aspects come into play.

"We have to work with all the stakeholders, from parents and
workshop owners to the authorities," Anton Waspo, an activist
working with child workers in footwear home industries in Ciomas,
Bogor, said on Wednesday.

Trying to provide a better option for some 575 identified
child workers -- out of an estimated 1,500 child workers -- in
Ciomas, non-governmental organization ELSPPAT set up an activity
center for both the children and their parents with the support
of the International Labor Organization (ILO).

Saung Sararea, the center, which was opened in June, offers
child workers a range of activities from reading books to
training programs.

"We are currently in the very early stages of retrieving these
children, trying to familiarize them with activities in the
center," said Anton.

He added that his priority was seeking better child labor
laws, however, in the short run providing working children with
other things to do and preventing more children from entering the
workforce were more feasible objectives.

Since some of the parents were forcing the children into jobs,
Anton said that they were also the target of the program.

"We are giving educational information on the negative impacts
of the work on their children and how to avoid them," he said.

Workshop owners are also receiving information on how to make
the workplace better in terms of health, he added.

So far, the activity has not come up against resistance from
either parents or workshop owners. "But this is only the first
step," Anton said.

ELSPPAT is also working with the local health agency to gage
the extent to which the hazardous chemicals in the glue used in
the factories has affected the children's health. "A local doctor
is currently carrying out physical examinations on the workers to
monitor their health," he said.

A previous approach used to retrieve child laborers in
Cibaduyut, West Java, succeeded in reducing the number from 1,046
in 1999 to 256 in 2003.

"The previous program succeeded in so much as it has been able
to raise the awareness of locals to monitor by themselves the
number of child workers as well as the workplace condition," said
Anton. "We hope that we can reach that level of success in
Ciomas."

Meanwhile, in Tasikmalaya, another activity center Griya Karya
Mandiri (GKM) is hoping to provide 281 child worker in the area
with alternative activities.

"Since we started in February, we have seen 25 children move
from their jobs to take up other activities," said GKM
coordinator Gumilar Mulya. (003)