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.

Soft good-faith micro credits were granted to the poorer farmers, who united into groups of 5 to 8 families. In 2009, a total of 40 such mutual-aid groups received micro credits. This accounted for 280 families. Each family received 300 US dollars at 10% interest rate per annum, whereas commercial banks offered credits at 28% interest rate per annum. The main condition for getting the micro credit was – NOT to use child labour. The micro credits were granted to the mutual-aid groups, not to individual families. This led to a collective responsibility of the farmers and made sure that all credits would be repaid. The members of the mutual-aid groups controlled each other, that no member uses child labour so the team would not be denied the loan. When any group member fails to harvest on time, the other participants help the member using the ashar method, when all members harvest first one land plot then move to the other member’s plot and so on.

Since 2005, a total of 2,932 children (of which 47% are girls), aged 6 to 18, representing 956 of the families covered by the micro credits project, were withdrawn from tobacco fields. In 2009, of the 280 families that took part on the project, 109 families finally walked over the poverty line and 171 families improved its economical situation, passing from the category of ‘extremely poor’ to the category of ‘poor’.

All the mutual-aid groups that received micro credits create additionally their own savings and make monthly deposits. The groups with the smallest funds have saved 200 US dollars whereas the groups that embarked on the project from the very beginning have accumulated up to 3,500 US dollars of cash. Members of two mutual-aid groups – 20 people – set up an agricultural cooperative farm called Kut Keldi. They plan to pool together their funds, attract investment, buy agricultural machines to work the fields and reduce manual labour needs.

In the districts covered by the project, on the urge of farmers and social workers, people began creating associations of families, which work under the same principles under which the mutual-aid groups do. They also create their own funds for a joint activity and for improving the living standards. And what is important, these people have realized how harmful the work for children could be and stopped using their children for labour.

Members of Working Group also discussed the plan of activities for the third phase of the project and the involvement of mass media in the work on eliminating child labour.

Girls work is often hidden from the outside world as they work in home-based workshops, small-scale farmers, domestic work or are trafficked for prostitution. They are often subjected to brutal treatment and sexual abuse. Usually, daughters have more duties in their own household then the sons do. About two thirds of girls aged 5-14 work in agriculture and about 20 million are employed in manufacturing producing footballs, hand-rolled cigarettes, toys, garments, etc. ILO estimates at leas 1.8 million children worldwide are exploited in pornography and commercial sex.

HIV/AIDS epidemic leave many children without parents who have to enter the labour market prematurely. UNAIDS estimates that 12 million children under 18 years old lost one or both parents in sub-Saharan Africa.

On June 12, “Haba na Haba” Band of young musicians from Kenya, who developed their musical skills within the ILO-IPEC Programme, opened the special Session of the ILC that has marked the WDACL and the tenths anniversary of the ILO Convention No. 182.

Stop, stop Child Labour!

We want education!

No more tools in tiny hands - we want books, we want toys!

Go, go – Global March!

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But, we recognise special measures should be taken in Uzbekistan in regard to government mobilisation of children for cotton picking.

IUF supports the call of the Workers Group spokesperson in the ILO debate on the forced labour report that the Government should follow the example of the Government of Brazil and acknowledge the existence of forced labour thus opening the door for supportive action by the international community. One solution would be the replacement of forced child labour by unemployed adults who receive fair wages and have decent working conditions.
Forced labour is unacceptable!

The full text of IUF EECA representative presentation is available here

This backs up earlier findings of the 2006 Millenium Development Goal (MDGs) Report which stated that whilst progress is being made in improving access to primary education, there are disparities in progress, and that the poorest, often those in rural areas, were being left behind. The report stated that “High rates of poverty in rural areas limit educational opportunities because of demands for children’s labour, low levels of parental education and lack of access to good quality schooling”.

Working in rural schools is more difficult than teaching in urban areas, mainly because of poor living and working conditions. This can be de-motivating. Consequently rural schools have fewer qualified and experienced teachers, and teacher turnover is high. (24 countries of 176 countries with data have more than 40 pupils per teacher, 20 of which are in sub-Saharan Africa (2008). Pupil/teacher ratios (PTR) above 40:1 usually mean that countries have too few teachers, that teachers are overstretched, and that the quality of teaching and learning suffers. The 2007 report says that consideration should be given to incentives that attract teachers to rural areas.

The needs of girl children have to be addressed. Their brothers often get priority for attending school and girls are expected to help in the fields or go into domestic service. In 2005, a UNESCO/UNICEF survey found that in Africa about 50% of urban boys complete grade 7, but only 7% of rural girls. Again, too few female teachers, who are important role models for girls to stay in school, is a problem especially for rural education.

To mark WDACL 2008, EI and IUF have agreed to a plan of work which will focus on:

• Awareness raising about child labor in rural communities, including with teachers;

• Building local level links between teachers' unions and agricultural workers unions;

• Campaigning and lobbying governments to improve rural education.

Some work has already been done. In Kyrgyzstan, the Agricultural Workers Union works together with the Teachers Union on the elimination of child labour in agriculture. Teachers monitor the school attendance during harvest and organise meetings with parents, where they inform them about the negative effects of labour on children’s health and schooling.

EI and IUF welcome the conclusions of this year's ILC discussion on rural employment for poverty reduction which state that public policy should provide access to quality, compulsory, free basic public education. Further, the report recognises that quality education is the key tool in eliminating child labour.

The union delegation was able to observe some agricultural operations in the cane fields of independent farmers who supply the mill. At a farm in Kelowe, four children, aged 10-12, have been seen cutting cane; and several others, even younger, hanging around in the fields.

One main reason given by the workers for the children's presence was that some of them have finished elementary school and their families have no money to pay for high school; therefore they have no other option than to work in the cane fields. Some other said that they help their families, and one of them was an orphan of father and mother who looks after his younger siblings. One of the boys said he gives some of the money he earns (about USD 60 per month) to his parents.

The cane-cutting operations have been outsourced by the South Nyanza Sugar Company, which by legislation is prevented from doing anything else than milling cane. The outsourcing practices have worsened working conditions considerably, and, even when the cutters cut cane green and the work is heavier than with burned cane, they receive nothing in terms of protective equipment or tools for the job. Workers talk about "before" and "now". "Now," with the outsourced operations, they get no clothing, no cane-knife, no boots, no hats… nothing. Not even drinking water is distributed to them, they said. They bring water from home, and when it's gone… it's gone.

Workers complain that the agreement between the contractor and the sugar company gives the former a certain amount of money to pay them, from which he takes a cut. When asked if first aid is, one cutter said: "there is nothing of that sort." They even have to buy their own cane-knife. And, the one which they can afford is not the best tool for cutting cane!

The delegation has visited also the living conditions of cane cutters in Owiro camp that showed to be extremely poor. A member of the company management staff, who guided the visit, explained that the company has no responsibility to ensure some decent living conditions as the cutting operations are outsourced.
The camp has also a poor-equipped room which functions as a pre- elementary school for kids.

Mainly, the unions attempted to influence the situation in Kyrgyzstan, where tobacco is the main agricultural crop. Having gained positive results in Osh and Dzhalalabad regions, unions and tobacco companies of the region noticed the trend of migration of Kyrgyz farmers with their families to Kazakhstan. Their children migrate with them and start working there. The situation was considered by ILO/IPEC experts, and it was recognized that it was a migration of child labour that demanded new forms of international and social partnership of all parties interested in comprehensive decision of the problem.

The participants in the meeting noted that child labour is intolerable at all the stages of tobacco growing and processing. It was outlined that further discussions are necessary to develop co-operation between unions and the company; to consider the experience of tripartite Working group on llimination of child labour in tobacco growing in Kyrgyz Republic; to create, with the assistance of ECLT expertise and ILO, an economic and social mechanism providing that tobacco sector is completely child labour-free.

The signatories are committed to eliminate worst forms of child labour by 2015 and total eradication of child labour by 2020. They also agreed to promote strategies and programmes to improve the living conditions in the countryside, to eliminate the gap between urban and rural education and promote opportunities for young people to work in agriculture.

They also circulated the letter to all CC.OO. unions throughout Nestle Spain urging them to take similar actions.

Download the letter

The partner organisations commit to combine efforts and work on joint plans and projects that would discourage the use of child labour in the rural area and would guarantee children a happy life.

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