NCLC sub groups gear up against child labor
by By Teresita D. del Rosario and Joselito D. Manabat

Volume V, Number I, June 2005 Issue

In a bid to address the issue of child labor in the country, the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) approved the creation of five (5) Sub-Groups of its Technical Working Group (TWG) in January 2003.  The five (5) TWG – Sub-Groups are:  Research, Law and Policy; Social Protection; Education; Capacity; and Economic Opportunities.

The sub-groups were strategically created to respond to the particular needs of child laborers.  To pursue this intention, each of the sub-groups, except the Sub-Group on Economic Opportunities, conducted organizational meetings to outline their activities.  The sub-groups’ regular meetings provided greater opportunities for various program partners to share their valuable contribution to the National Program Against Child Labor (NPACL).

Sub-group on research, law, and policy.  The Sub-group on research, law, and policy, chaired by the Institute for Labor Studies (ILS) and co-chaired by the Visayan Forum, has conducted two fora on child labor researches, which served as the Sub-group’s major activity.

In the first forum conducted on 23 March 2004, two researches on child labor were presented.  They were: Batangas Port in Focus:  A Research on Trafficking of Women and Children presented by Mr. Roland Pacis from the Visayan Forum; and Partnership and Child Labor:  A Case Study of the NPACL in the Philippines presented by Leilani Mendoza-Reynoso of the DOLE-Bureau of Rural Workers.

During the second forum conducted on 9 June 2004, the following researches on child labor were included: Caught in the Crossfire No More:  Criminalizing the Recruitment of Child Soldiers presented by Atty. Glenda Ramirez, South East Asia Coalition to Stop Child Soldiers: Preliminary Results of the TBP Baseline Survey on Domestic Work presented by Jerome Alcantara, Visayan Forum; and Assessment of the Safety, Health and Environment of Child Workers in the Footwear Industry in Biñan, Laguna presented by Dr. Regina Tan, Occupational Safety and Health Center.

The sub-group is currently finalizing its Memorandum of Agreement and the Research Agenda on Child Labor, 2004-2006.  In addition, the sub-group’s website, www.pids.gov.ph, has been developed through the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), to facilitate exchange of information regarding its various activities.

Sub-group on social protection.  Composed of 16 member-agencies, the Sub-Group on Social Protection is chaired by the Social Technology Bureau of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (STB-DSWD) and co-chaired by the Occupational Safety and Health Center.  To facilitate the access of child laborers to health, safety, and psychosocial services, the sub-group initially made an inventory of its existing programs against child labor and formulated its 2004 Action Plan.

Likewise, the sub-group drafted a proposal to establish a system for monitoring the implementation of policies and programs on health and safety, psychosocial welfare, and justice for child laborers.  This will be subjected to consultation before being finalized and presented to the NCLC for approval.

Education sub-group.  The Education Sub-Group (ESG) has been transformed into a venue for dynamic interchange of ideas, information, and resource sharing and collaborative undertakings.  Through regular and special meetings and the wonder of information technology, particularly the e-group (wfcl-educ@yahoogroups.com), ESG members could share news and issues on child labor and other topics concerning children in need of special protection.

Members are updated on the NPACL through regular feedback of member-agencies, including the DepEd, DOLE, ILO-IPEC, UNICEF, World Vision, Winrock International, and other agencies which report on their respective programs, projects, and activities.

The ESG put on the finishing touches to the Time-Bound Education Agenda adopted during the National Assessment and Action Planning Workshop on Education and Child Labor held in August 2003.  This Time-Bound Education Agenda is likewise an offshoot of the Child Labor and Education Agenda adopted by the Child Labor Education Task Force in September 2001.

Through the ESG, the country’s celebration for the Global Campaign on Education was integrated with the formation of the Philippine Network for the Week of Action, with the Education Network (E-Net) acting as the Secretariat.  Activities for the 2004 Global Campaign on Education, which had for its theme “Children Missing an Education,” included the DepEd’s Education Stakeholders Forum and exhibit, the National Biggest Ever Lobby held at the Batasang Pambansa, the “missing out map,” and a workshop for the children’s education agenda.

The National Child Labor Committee has also designated the ESG to be the National Advisory Committee (NAC) of the World Vision’s ABK (Education) Initiative.  In effect, a core group from within the ESG has been formed to function as the NAC.

The ESG draws its core membership from the Child Labor Education Task Force (CLETF).  The CLETF started as early as 1996 not as a formal organization but as a natural aggrupation of interest groups, mostly NGOs, who saw the urgency to do something about the problem of child labor and education.  The network later expanded to include government agencies, education-focused and women and child protection-centered NGOs; teachers’ associations and other workers’ groups, employers’ confederation, faith-based organizations, students and children’s associations.

To date, the ESG has 34 regular members, including seven government agencies.  The DepEd acts as the chair with ERDA as the co-chair.  The BWYW performs the Secretariat function.

Capacity Development Sub-Group.  The Capacity Development Sub-Group (CDS) has developed an inventory form on child labor programs, projects, and activities, as well as training needs.  This inventory form has been distributed to NPACL member-agencies.

The Inventory contains basic information on the agency; programs/ projects/ activities implemented on child labor and program areas that need strengthening; target groups and geographical sites; resources in terms of financial, human, facilities equipment, training materials; training courses conducted related to child labor; monitoring and evaluation including mechanisms for sustainability and existence of post evaluation on training activities; training issues and gaps; and areas that need strengthening through training.

The CDS is chaired by the DOLE Occupational Safety and Health Center and co-chaired by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.  Members include DOLE Institute for Labor Studies, Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, Federation of Free Workers, National Council of Social Development, Visayan Forum, Christian Action for Relief and Empowerment, Community Organization of the Philippine Enterprise Foundation, Open Heart Foundation, Ateneo Human Rights Center, and DOLE Bureau of Women and Young Workers, which acts as the CDS Secretariat.