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Last updated April 2008
Child Labor in Africa

In Africa, the agricultural sector is home to the vast majority of working children. Although data on the child labor problem in Africa is very limited, studies and empirical data show that agriculture work far exceeds any other form of economic activity employing children. Therefore it is largely a rural phenomenon, although urban centers also have a significant concentration of child labor. According to World Bank estimates, 70% of the population lives in rural areas and in poor living conditions. Agriculture employs about 70% of the population, while economic growth barely meets the targets for reducing poverty.

According to ILO/IPEC reports, more than 218 million children around the world are involved in child labor, with over 49.3 million in Sub-Saharan Africa alone. The majority of countries in Africa have ratified Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Convention 138 on the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, but significant efforts still need to be made, and commitments to action taken a step further. Even within the limited documentation on Africa, children continue to be trafficked, used as domestic servants and involved in prostitution, armed conflicts, street peddling, and on agricultural plantations.

The 12 countries covered by the CIRCLE project have all ratified Convention 182; and 11 of the 12 have ratified Convention 138.

Implementation

In Africa, the CIRCLE project was implemented in partnership with local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) registered and located in:

  • Côte d’Ivoire
  • Ghana
  • Kenya
  • Ethiopia
  • Mali
  • Morocco
  • Senegal
  • Malawi
  • Sierra Leone

 

CIRCLE projects were expected to contribute to one of the objectives outlined by the US Department of Labor, which included:

  • Strengthen formal and non-formal education systems that enable working children and those at risk to attend school and provide data on enrollment, persistence, transition and completion of school programs;
  • Raise awareness of the importance of education for all children and the hazards of child labor and mobilize a wide array of actors to improve and expand education infrastructures;
  • Strengthen national and local institutions and policies to address education and child labor; and
  • Ensure sustainability of efforts.
Award Cycles

CIRCLE has had three sub-contract cycles. The amount of the sub-contracts varied in funding levels, from small sub-contracts of $10,000 to large sub-contracts up to $100,000 USD. The implementation periods range from 6 to 24 months.

CIRCLE also awarded very small Urgent Action Contracts (UACs) on a rolling competitive basis. UACs varied in amounts from $1,000 to $5,000 for periods of 1 to 3 months.

 

The CLASSE Pilot Project
Under CIRCLE, Winrock has implemented a pilot project, Child Labor Alternatives through Sustainable Systems in Education (CLASSE) in Mali and Côte d'Ivoire (CI), West Africa. CLASSE addressed training and educational alternatives for children engaged in harmful work or at risk of harmful work through initiatives to enhance community schools; and public awareness campaigns to promote the value of education and inform of the hazards and risks of child labor. The project developed a combined formal and informal program into an existing community school and involved training of teachers in use of alternative curricula; mentoring of youth; vocational education including quality farming practices and food processing, job-links programs; and community focus groups. The project also worked to convene government representatives and local officials for dialogue and enforcement of policies to provide alternatives to child labor through education. CLASSE provided data on school enrollment and completion as well as spotlight stories and emerging best practices content to the CIRCLE project.

Winrock has received additional financial support for the CLASSE Project in Côte d’Ivoire, from the World Cocoa Foundation (WCF) http://www.worldcocoa.org); Mars, Inc., the Norwegian Association of Chocolate Manufacturers through the WCF, Cloetta Fazer, RC Purdy, partners for strengthening vocational programs, including agroforestry, in community schools in Côte d’Ivoire. Activities including microcredit for scholarships and technology transfer for improving natural resource management and diversification in cocoa growing areas.

For information about the CLASSE project, please contact Jason Befus at circle@winrock.org.