Evaluation Learnings Search

Learning Description

PAR project: A persuasive and propositional approach helps to raise awareness on child labor issues and engage stakeholders in the project. It is important to approach the sensitization tasks from a positive perspective, highlighting what is allowed under the law rather than solely focusing on what is not allowed. Changing emphasis from prohibition to proposition, highlighting what youth in rural areas can do as opposed to what they are prohibited from doing and appealing to health and safety issues to differentiate what constitutes training and what is detrimental to the healthy development of children and adolescents, can be an effective strategy for engaging stakeholders, particularly those who may be resistant to addressing child labor issues. Some stakeholders are willing to defend the formative value of working at an early age or to deny the presence of child labor if they feel threatened by new initiatives. However, they may be more open to challenging their customs if they recognize that real risks are involved and that the project is helping to identify those risks.

Learning Description

PAR project: A Civil Society Orgaization (CSO) with relevant and proven expertise in the field of child labor can play a decisive role in developing and generating stakeholder support for solutions to prevent and combat child labor at the local and sectoral level. Provincial and local governments have shown a willingness to work with non-state actors on the issue of child labor. Alliances of this nature allow for flexibility in the use of resources, foster innovation, encourage adaptation, and promote opportunities for expansion and replication of best practices.

Learning Description

PAR project: Taking a collaborative approach to the development of the Comprehensive Monitoring & Evaluation Plan (CMEP) resulted in a well balanced product that is synchronized with the work plan and project structure. The PAR team saw development of the CMEP as an important moment to review the results framework and codify data collection mechanisms. This exercise provided valuable information for the implementation strategy. Staff must undertake development of the CMEP with a realistic and practical perspective. The endeavor must not absorb excessive time or resources and must not compromise the implementation of the work plan. PAR met these conditions: Desarrollo y Autogestion (DyA) andthe United States Department of Labor (USDOL) established an agile and pragmatic relationship, finding a judicious balance between the resources used and the quality of the final product.

Learning Description

PAR project: Consistent commitment to promoting internal and external dialogue resulted in strong collaboration and joint problem solving. The promotion of dialogue among the labor, education, and social development sectors and among stakeholders from the private, public, and civil society domains served to raise awareness about child labor issues, provide a safe space for dialogue and debate, identify Lessoned, and ultimately promote change around child labor.

Learning Description

PAR project: Constructing processes from existing local resources ensures alignment with local contexts and promotes sustainability. Even when local institutions and programs have significant weaknesses, seeking to strengthen those programs represents an investment in the future and keeps efforts aligned with local priorities and needs.

Learning Description

PAR project: Empowering local Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) to advocate and influence policy enhances interaction between public institutions and non-state actors. In the case of Misiones, the support provided to the local CSO partner helped Sueño para Misiones become a credible and influential stakeholder on a number of issues in the province

Learning Description

PAR project: Establishing digital service points to support children and youth to stay connected to school during the COVID-19 pandemic facilitated sustained engagement with both school and the program. By collaborating with partners to set up digital services and provide educational support for families with limited connectivity, the project continued to engage with youth through the COVID-19 pandemic. Stakeholders saw the combination of connectivity support and academic support as an added value for families, who therefore were drawn to stay connected to the project.

Learning Description

OFFSIDE project: Effective implementation of national plans and policies requires the development of the capacities of the bodies closest to the problem. As noted for PAR in Section 6.3, the existence of national plans and policies does not guarantee effective application at the provincial or sector level. In the case of OFFSIDE, it is important to highlight the strategic approach to partner with institutions that have a high and continuous presence in the province is a good strategy to progress in the effective implementation of child labor eradication policies. This strategy helps the national policies to trickle down into the provinces.

Learning Description

OFFSIDE project: Creating participatory management structures, such as the monitoring committee, provided benefits to the project in terms of management and performance. Bringing together a wide range of stakeholders increases the possibility of incorporating the partners’ expertise, ensuring contextual adaptations, replicating experiences, and enhancing the stakeholders’ ownership. The project monitoring committee strengthened the relationships among and involvement of project key actors, in particular the labor unions, and represented an efficient tool to build mutual trust.

Learning Description

OFFSIDE project: The current public health crisis and economic situation have affected the capacity of stakeholders, particularly those at the provincial level, to push forward changes around child labor issues. These situation constraints are compounded by the usual capacity and coordination challenges at the provincial level. OFFSIDE might need to reassess expectations and adjusting strategies in accordance with these conditions.