When engaged in child labour, children are deprived of learning and are often exposed to a multitude of physical and psychological harms. South Asia is home to approximately 664 million children, the largest population of children in any one region in the world. Failing to address child labour in the region will continue to push many vulnerable and marginalised children into a vicious cycle of intergenerational poverty.
For the past five years, the ILO, UNICEF (Regional Office for South Asia and the Innocenti- Global Office of Research and Foresight), and a civil society consortium led by the Institute of Development Studies have been working on an FCDO–funded Child Labour Programme in South Asia. These organisations focused on different countries, exploring and acting on different dimensions of child labour and complementary solution areas, and using a broad range of methods.
Common messages
As our collective efforts draw to a close in June 2024, programme partners have been sharing their results and deliberating on the findings, lessons learned and way forward. In January 2024, partners met in Kathmandu to identify common ground and messages, and also issues where further work may be needed to advance the common purpose of ending child labour, including its worst forms. Despite some differences, we emerged from the programme with a common set of messages and priorities for a road map for South Asian efforts to end child labour:
1. Actively integrating children’s voices and agency into interventions through participatory processes is critical for the elimination of child labour and the promotion of children’s rights.
2. There is also a need to directly engage with communities to enable the elimination of child labour. This includes working children, parents, health workers, schools, local businesses etc.
3. Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labour and sustainably withdrawing children from them must be a priority. This is also an entry point to addressing the wider issue of child labour.
4. Much greater emphasis should be put on child labour in small businesses in the informal sector, and local and domestic markets, and to understand the economics of small businesses.
5. The CLARISSA social protection pilot highlighted that universal and unconditional cash transfers combined with case work and support for community action is an effective combination. It is also key that cash transfers are of adequate amount to cover foregone earning from child labour beyond schooling costs.
6. A greater emphasis on universal health coverage should be a priority in the alleviation of child labour. Child labour is often triggered by health crises. Families can often manage day to day poverty, but cannot cope with the major financial implications of the loss of an income earner and or huge medical expenses, and the loans that almost inevitably follow. The only choice in these circumstances is often for the child to work.
7. The role of the education sector in the elimination of child labour needs to be amplified. Progress in education has gone hand in hand with reductions in child labour. In various contexts, stagnation in progress is evident in both child labour reduction and education participation. Many children are also combining schooling with work. Programmes which improve the affordability of schooling (e.g., scholarships), or schooling reforms that extend the duration of compulsory schooling or the duration of the school day can contribute to preventing and reducing child labour, provided schools offer quality education.
8. It is important to understand and not lose sight of the gender dimensions of child labour that often make children most vulnerable. Many gender dimensions of child labour are invisible and often not captured in child labour statistics. Children are often socialized to accept deeply entrenched social norms by which girls are more likely to be heavily engaged in household chores or participate in paid domestic work. Girls’ education and future employment opportunities are also curtailed by prospects of child marriage.
9. It is important not to stigmatize child labour, but rather focus on taking action in response to it. There is a need to use the evidence and findings from different programmes so that countries understand the issue, and are willing to take progressive action to address it.
About the South Asia Regional Child Labour Programme
The Child Labour Action-Research-Innovation in South and South East Asia programme (CLARISSA)
CLARISSA was implemented by a civil society consortium led by the Institute of Development Studies and included Terre des Hommes, Child Hope, CSC, Grambangla, CWISH and Voices of Children. The programme focused on Worst Forms of Child Labour in the Leather Sector in Dhaka, Bangladesh and in the Adult Entertainment Sector in Kathmandu, Nepal.
It aimed (a) to generate deep knowledge about the dynamics of WFCL (through participatory and qualitative research), and (b) to generate and model innovative change processes (through 25 action research groups). It built in participatory monitoring and evaluation processes, and supported a social protection pilot in Dhaka which combined universal and unconditional cash transfers with casework support and community mobilisation. The programme was designed to implement child centred, participatory, and systemic change processes at scale. To read the research and evaluation reports go to clarissa.global . For an immersive experience of children’s lives go to www.hardlabour.info.
UNICEF INNOCENTI
A UNICEF INNOCENTI research focused programme exploring ways to strengthen the association between education and child labour reduction. Few studies have looked at the impact of educational programmes on child work and labour. The project focused geographically on India (Bihar and Telangana) and Bangladesh, and worked with regional knowledge partners including Population Council India, Young Lives India, and Economic Research Group Bangladesh. Outputs have provided a landscaping of secondary data and research on the interlinkages between child labour and education and mapping educational strategies, and generated primary and secondary research to identify effective and scalable educational strategies to address child labour in South Asia.
International Labour Organisation (ILO)
The Asia Regional Child labour (ARC) Project implemented by the International Labour Organisation operated in Bangladesh, India, Myanmar, Nepal and Pakistan. Its overall purpose was to build capacities of the countries in reducing vulnerability to child labour and enhance the protection of children from exploitation. Its comprised: a component on Research and Advocacy which both produced official statistics on child labour and qualitative studies; a component on Policy Strengthening which enhanced existing child labour policies and enforcement mechanisms and supported National Plans of Action to be updated and implemented; and a component on Holistic Community Interventions which developed models of addressing child labour on the ground through local government structures, trade unions and business groups, supply chain actors, community associations, children’s clubs, youth organizations and schools.
The ‘Child Labour: Exploitation of Children in South Asia Programme’ (CLECSAP)
CLECSAP was a five-year programme, implemented by UNICEF ROSA, UNICEF India and UNICEF Pakistan. Its vision was to protect children from economic exploitation, including those affected by disability and those who are on the move. CLECSAP aimed to achieve this by (a) supporting child labour programming with solid evidence generation at country and regional level; (b) strengthening existing child protection structures and mechanisms through capacity development and a systems approach; and (c) engaging with community members and community-based mechanisms to prevent and respond to child labour.
