Stop Child Labour in Agriculture: contribution to the prevention and elimination of child labour in Mexico, in particular, de WF in the agricultural sector, with special focus on indigenous children and child labour as a result of migration

Executive Summary Agriculture is one of the three most dangerous sectors in which to work at any age, along with construction and mining. In Mexico, approximately one-third of the total of 3.64 million workers aged 5 to 17 work in agriculture and its sub sectors. A significant proportion of these children are indigenous boys and girls. They are often involved, on a seasonal basis, in the planting and harvesting of different crops for national consumption and export. In many other instances, there is an internal migratory movement of people including children associated with agriculture. More than 1.5 million child workers do not attend school. In addition, low school attendance rates and high school drop-out rates are common among rural children, indigenous children and children of migrant workers. Forty per cent of the Mexican population lives in poverty due to insufficient income. Exacerbating this already high rate of poverty, Mexico is the worst hit country in Latin America by the current financial and economic crisis. Mexico is currently facing negative economic growth (estimated in 3.7%), 2.3 million unemployed persons and a significant level of underemployment. Mexico has ratified the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) in 2000, and the ILO Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No.169) in 1990. The country has not however, ratified the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No.138). The country does not have a National Steering Committee on Child Labour nor a national plan of action for the prevention and elimination of child labour; this situation limits the scope of national policy and actions against child labour. However, Mexico is one of the multiple countries in Latin America that has used extensive conditional cash transfer programmes in order to increase education among marginalized children, with a focus on girls’ enrolment. The Oportunidades conditional cash transfer programme reaches out to millions of girls and boys in the country. In this context, the Mexican authorities have expressed interest in preventing and eliminating child labour in agriculture as a part of a national and state strategy aimed at the agricultural sector. This project, only the second major intervention of ILO-IPEC in Mexico, will be targeted at two levels; namely the national level (mainly in Mexico Federal District) and the state level (in Chiapas, Michoacan, Sinaloa and Veracruz). The project strategy aims at: • increasing the knowledge base on child labour in the agricultural sector in Mexico; • strengthening the legal, institutional and policy framework for the prevention and elimination of child labour, particularly the worst forms in agriculture; • mainstreaming child labour concerns into workers’ and employers’ agendas and relevant social dialogue forums; • reinforcing strategies to raise awareness among social partners, other key stakeholders and the civil society, to mobilize action against child labour; • enhancing the capacities of social partners and other key stakeholders to effectively fight against child labour; and • implementing direct action programmes to pilot test child labour prevention, protection and removal strategies, and document them so that they can be included in broader policy frameworks and replicated elsewhere. The project strategy will also include strong educational (provision of basic education and vocational training) and income-generation alternatives components. The provision of services to project beneficiaries will be linked to government social programmes, including Oportunidades. Employers’ and workers’ organizations, civil society partners, and other international organizations and specialised agencies will play a major role in project development and implementation. The project will apply gender-sensitive and gender-specific priorities, taking into account the context and situation of the states where direct action interventions will be carried out. Activi

Project symbol

MEX/09/50/USA

Admin unit

CO-Mexico

Start date

30/09/2009

End date

28/02/2014

Total allocation

4750000

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

4593366

Development Partners

USA, United States Department of Labor, Bureau for International Labor Affairs, Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking

Country/Countries

Mexico

Outcomes

Child Labour