THIS week, I will revisit the subject of child labour in view of its importance, as well as the efforts that are being made by different interest groups to halt it.
My focus is on ARISE, which was launched in April 2013 in the tobacco-growing area of Kaoma District, in western Zambia.
Zambia faces a number of challenges that include widespread poverty, HIV/AIDS, and malnutrition.
The economic and social problems are more pronounced in rural areas, where children whose parents cannot afford to pay for education, find themselves in unfortunate situations of working on farms.
According to ARISE, Zambia has a substantial agriculture sector and tobacco is one of the country’s most valuable cash crops.
Child labour in Zambia is widespread, with most of it being unpaid family work, although some children work to generate an income for themselves or for their families.
Lack of access to education and child labour are closely linked. Many parents may have their children begin work because their nearest school is not accessible, affordable, or capable of providing good quality, relevant education.
Although enrolment has risen in recent years, availability has not kept up with demand, creating overcrowded classrooms and double, or even triple, shifts during the day, resulting in high student-to-teacher ratios and reduced hours of learning.
ARISE activities are operated in 12 communities that were selected on the basis of a number of criteria, including the absolute level of child labour, children’s vulnerability (often as a result of the impact of HIV/AIDS), the involvement of local leaders in their communities, and the communities’ willingness to provide support to, and take ownership of the activities.
ARISE was created and is managed by three partners namely International Labour Organisation (ILO), Japan Tobacco International (JTI), and Winrock International.
The partners work together, with each one of them using its experience and expertise to deliver results.
The issue of child labour has many root causes. These differ depending on the geographical location and the economic, cultural, and regulatory conditions.
Therefore, the solution is not simply to remove children from work, but to address the underlying root causes that allow child labour to exist and to ensure that children and their families have viable alternatives.
The partners in ARISE have a firm belief that the only way to achieve a long-lasting solution to the problem of child labour is through the integrated efforts and cooperation of multiple stakeholders.
“Our partnership therefore is a powerful proposition, uniting the different, yet complementary expertise, resources, and skills of the three founding partners,” states a document by the partners.
ARISE is funded by JTI, although all the three parties share responsibility for the programme strategy, its deployment, and decision-making.
The ILO focuses on policy-related activities and supporting community-based child labour monitoring systems, Winrock International on community and State-level actions, and JTI on its business and supporting ILO and Winrock with the programme’s daily implementation.
The governance structure of ARISE consists of a programme coordinating mechanism (PCM) operating at international and country levels, which is responsible for achieving the aims of the ARISE programme.
It is composed of three main entities, which include the International Advisory Committee (IAC), the programme coordinating team (PCT), and the country coordinating committees (CCC).
The IAC is a forum in which all three of the ARISE partners can raise issues and adjust direction, resources, and timing by consensus. There is a maximum of 10 members and it meets once per year.
The responsibilities of the IAC include monitoring the overall programme progress, promoting the effective coordination between the partners, advising on overall programme directions, and advising on communication strategy and activities.
The main role of the PCT is to liaise with the IAC and the CCC with a particular focus on programme outcomes.
It meets and communicates as regularly as is appropriate. The PCT is composed of four members who are the chair (JTI), a project manager (Winrock), and two desk officers from ILO.
The responsibilities of the PCT include coordinating and consolidating programme documents and work plans, coordinating programme monitoring and evaluation plans, and advising on strategic orientations to execute programme work plan and key programme indicators.
Other responsibilities are to review communication and progress reports and to share best practices.
The purpose of the CCC is to facilitate continuous communication and to keep local stakeholders informed about current activities.
The CCC also identifies additional opportunities for productive collaboration in each of the three countries in which ARISE operates namely, Brazil, Malawi and Zambia.
The composition of the CCC aims to be fully representative, each with three members. It meets monthly and depending on specific agendas, it may also be attended by other parties, for example farmer organisations.
Since the lack of access to education and child labour are closely linked, one of the key objectives of ARISE is to promote access to quality education for children, and to raise awareness of the need to eliminate child labour.
The ARISE programmes are guided by practical and on-the-ground experience. The partners work with local officials to raise awareness and to ensure that systems are in place to protect children from child labour.
ARISE also offers support to families and children in the form of scholarships and school supply kits.
The scholarship programmes and school supply kits increase the educational access and opportunity for vulnerable and marginalised families.
It is encouraging to learn about such ambitious programmes as the ones driven by ARISE because they are meant to give dignity to children in poor communities.
Dear readers, let us keep the link open as we share issues on labour and employment.
(This column is an initiative of the Ministry of Labour and Social Security. For comments or questions, email info@mlss.gov.zm or niza12001@yahoo.com)