In fight against Child Labour, Dutch gov’t commits €35 million
The Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs committed 35 million euros to a program committed to bringing an end to child labor Work: No Child's Business, the Ministry announced at a symposium in The Hague celebrating the 15 year anniversary of development aid organization Hivos' department Stop Child Labor, Hivos said in a press statement.
Stop Child Labor, UNICEF Netherlands, and Save the Children formed an alliance for the program Work: No Child's Business. The program, which will launch in the summer of this year, will focus on reducing, and hopefully ending, child labor in six countries where this issue is prevalent - Côte d’Ivoire, India, Jordan, Mali, Uganda and Vietnam.
"This is indeed a unique opportunity to work together", said Sofie Ovaa, Hivos' program manager for Stop Child Labor, expressing her gratitude for the Dutch government's support. "In this alliance we will bring together our expertise and experience, which will allow us to scale up action against child labor. This will impact the lives of thousands more families and children, and will bring social economic development in their communities and beyond."
According to Hivos, almost one in every 10 children between the ages of 5 and 17 in the world is currently involved in child labor. The alliance of the three aid organizations, working with local communities, schools, governments, civil society organizations, trade unions and private sectors, will work to ensure that children are not used as workers so that they can enjoy their rights to education and decent work when they are old enough.
The alliance will focus on sectors known to use child labor - mining, garment and textiles, natural stone, cocoa, and informal or domestic work - as well as on the communities in which child workers live. The main goal is to get children in specific geographic areas out of child labor and into school, and creating a safe environment for children, with better access to social services.
