Combat Child labour in Domestic Work and the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Addressing education and qualification gaps and facilitating socio-economic integration of vulnerable children through promotion of decent jobs.

Haiti is one of the poorest countries in the world, with around three-quarters of its population either unemployed or trying to make ends meet in the informal economy. Young people under the age of 25 represent around 57% of the population, while nearly 60 per cent of people aged 20-24 years are unemployed . There is currently a missing link for vocational training for youths and their access to the labour market, while unemployed or under-employed young men and women often find themselves victims of violence and social exclusion. The child labour situation in Haiti is also of grave concern. Children in the country are often engaged in the worst forms of child labour, most commonly in domestic work. Many children are in domestic work at an age below the minimum age in Haiti, 14 years; the face very difficult working and living conditions, and are deprived of basic necessities and access to education, which further compromises their chances of future prospects. The result of this under-employment and inadequate earnings is the existence of a large number of “working poor’’ and working children. Therefore, there is an urgent need to improve access to education and the labour market, as it is essential for the foundation of socio-economic development and democracy in Haiti. ILO and partners are currently implementing interventions in Port au Prince and vulnerable rural areas with a specific focus on child labour elimination, accelerated and state certified vocational training and enterprise promotion for vulnerable youths. Today, it is of utmost importance to support national constituents in their efforts to address this problem in a comprehensive manner, involving all key public, private and associative partners. In doing so, the project will take full advantage of ILO’s expertise related to policy design, capacity building and direct interventions targeting vulnerable children, women and men in Haiti. The project’s overall objective is to contribute to the elimination of child labour in domestic work and the socio-economic integration of children at risk of child labour by addressing education and qualification gaps, and the protection of young domestic workers of legal working age. The project will support the withdrawal of child domestic workers and from the worst forms of child labour, and provide them with access to accelerated educational programs and certified vocational trainings and a professional experience (as an intern, an apprenticeship, or regular worker, for children from 14 to 17 years old). The project activities consist of 4 components: 1) withdrawing children from child labour in domestic work and providing access to accelerated education, 2) mutually reinforcing interventions: accelerated training programs and job placement services, 3) awareness-raising on child labour in domestic work and on the need to protect young domestic workers of legal working age, and 4) institutional strengthening. The cornerstone of the project’s strategy for sustainability is to seek to integrate the project’s activities in the existing institutions of the country. Only through strengthening permanent institutions, which will remain after the project has ended is it possible to ensure sustained impact of the project’s activities. Thus, in the part related to skills development for youth employment, the project will ensure that activity results are embedded in existing institutions for vocational training, for the models developed to remain and seeking a multiplier effect through the training of trainers. The project will work with national and international workers’ and employers’ organizations to seek to strengthen the institutional capacity of the Haitian social partners in preventing and combating child labour better and more effectively. In order to maximize the impact of the project and to replicate in the future the good practices implemented, a systemization guide will be produced and edited by ILO team, following

Project symbol

HAI/14/04/NOR

Admin unit

DWT/CO-San Jose

Start date

01/01/2015

End date

30/09/2017

Total allocation

1370113

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

1369570

Development Partners

Norway, Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Country/Countries

Haiti

Outcomes

Protection of workers from unacceptable forms of work