Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Shrimp and Seafood Processing Areas in Thailand

Targets:

This project targets 7,500 children for prevention and withdrawal from the worst forms of child labor (5,000 for prevention and 2,500 for withdrawal) through provision of education, training, other services. The project also targets 3,000 households for employment, income generating, financial advisory, and social protection services. The primary sector of focus is the shrimp and seafood processing industry. The project will work in three provinces: Samut Sakhon, Surat Thani and Songkla. 

Project Objectives:

To eliminate child labor in shrimp producing and processing areas in Thailand while ensuring decent working conditions throughout the industry. 

Intermediate objectives include:

• Policy and implementation frameworks strengthened to protect the rights of Thai, migrant and stateless children in relation to labor, education, employment and social protection.
• Enterprises across the shrimp industry supply chain comply with national labor laws, with special emphasis on child labor and forced labor, and institute good practices in working conditions.
• Area-based education, social protection, and livelihood services provided to migrant and Thai children and their families in targeted shrimp industry areas. 

Summary of Activities:

• Strengthen provision of child labor prevention within labor, education and social protection policy
• Enhance government capacity to implement and enforce labor protection policy
• Improve labor migration management reflecting increased protection of migrant workers and industry labor demand
• Enhance knowledge management on the prevalence of child labor nationally and in the shrimp and seafood industry locations
• Strengthen social partners’ and civil society advocacy on child labor and forced labor issues in the shrimp and seafood industry
• Establish credible child labor monitoring system for the industry supply chain and progressively apply in target provinces
• Implement models of good practice with regard to decent work and production in supply chain enterprises
• Establish models for formalizing small and household level shrimp processing units
• Raise awareness of all labor standards among employer federations and shrimp industry associations
• Increase capacity of trade unions, migrant worker associations and young worker associations to advocate for prevention of child labor and forced labor and decent work conditions in the shrimp industry
• Share Thailand’s model of decent work and improved production in the shrimp industry nationally and internationally
• Implement area-based child labor monitoring and referral system in target provinces
• Enhance access of migrant and Thai children to quality education services
• Develop, implement, and document models of social protection, community support services and legal services for migrant and Thai workers
• Implement and document demonstration initiatives promoting the provision of decent work for older working children and livelihood security for Thai and migrant families
• Increase awareness of children and families of child rights and child labor in target provinces and localities