Wednesday, November 07, 2007 Child labor program starts to bear fruits By Bong Garcia
STAKEHOLDERS and program implementers of the Child Labor program trooped to Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay Province to deliver early Christmas goodies to 75 child workers from Katipunan and Payao towns of the province.
Headed by Bureau of Women and Young Workers Director Chita Cilindro, the group distributed last week United Nations International Children Emergency Fund (Unicef) school bags, each containing umbrellas, raincoats, and other needed school supplies.
Cilindro said the long term program to eliminate child workers has started to bear fruit. The program is dubbed as Project Angel Tree.
She disclosed that a recent survey on the number of child workers aged 15 to 17 indicated a steady decline of 9.1 percent in 2003-2004 and 8.3 percent between the years 2004 to 2005.
Given this development, duty-bearers are aimed to transform the lives of child workers through progressive elimination using preventive and protective strategies.
Cilindro said these will include gender responsiveness, cultural sensitivity, sustainable development, child and youth participation, and inter-agency collaboration.
“One feature of the program, as evidenced by the launching of Project Angel Tree, is the production of alternative educational modules developed by the Department of Education,” Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) Regional Director Carlos Boteros said.
“This is inclusive of tutorial services to be rendered by volunteer students from various schools who will want to get into partnership with the Dole,” Boteros added.
He said it would be more meaningful if we elicit increased community participation instead of relying on international agencies as financiers.
In this way, we build local champions and contribute to the formation of social capital to help child workers develop a sense of self-worth and empowerment, according to Boteros.
