February 2006. The Child Care Foundation (CCF), a Winrock CIRCLE partner in Pakistan, aims to improve the living conditions of at-risk and working children by utilizing community-based approaches to strengthen formal and transitional education systems.

CCF focuses much of its efforts on raising awareness of the consequences of child labor in local communities. CCF has targeted 200 parents and over 10,000 community members through outreach and advocacy programs, and is well underway to achieving results. CCF has launched special campaigns, called Literacy Walks, for working children, their parents, contractors, students, teachers and other stakeholders. The walks are arranged once a month, during which, participants hold meetings with the other working children, parents and contractors to discuss the importance of education and leveraging civil society support to reduce child labor.

There have been many benefits to the community as a result of these walks: stakeholders have worked to end problems regarding punctuality and regularity of students in school; teachers have been identifying school related issues in meetings and creating solutions for parents. Now community members monitor schools and solve their own problems locally. Their solutions are accepted by others in the community because they are seen as home-grown and relevant. This work has changed the lives and lifestyles of many people in Pakistan.

Funding provided by the United States Department of Labor under cooperative agreements E-9-K-2-0048 and E-9-K-4-0005.
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