Over 132 million children aged 5 to 14 work in agriculture - up to 70 per cent of all working children. In recognition of the fact that little or no progress has been made in eliminating child labour in agriculture, this year June 12 was designated the KYRGYZSTAN . The Project on Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing: about 3 000 children freed from work, the micro credits helping families to eke out
On December 23 2009 in Bishkek (Kyrgyzstan) took place the Working Group meeting on the elimination of child labour in tobacco growing. The meeting was attended by the representatives of agricultural workers and healthcare workers unions, Solidarity Center (AFL-CIO), Kyrgyz Tamekisi state joint-stock tobacco company, the representative of Kyrgyzstan Ombudsman’ office, NGO “Save The Children”, ILO/IPEC and IUF. The members of the Working Group have been briefed on the results of the second phase of the project and discussed the plans for the third phase.
The ECLT project (Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing) in Kyrgyzstan was launched in 2005 in Alabuka district of Jalalabad region and in No’okat district of Osh region of the country. Its purpose is to create a sustainable mechanism for eliminating child labour in tobacco growing. The work has been underway to raise awareness across the local communities about the negative effect of work on children and grant micro credits to raise the level of livelihoods for the families, as poverty has been one of the key drivers of using child labour.
