Moving Towards a Child Labor-Free Jordan

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Country
Project Duration
December 2010
-
August 2016
Funding and Year
FY
2010
: USD
4,040,000

Equip the government and other stakeholders with tools needed to eliminate all worst forms of child labor in Jordan.

The Problem

In Jordan, children, mostly boys, engage in a variety of dangerous occupations that have been classified by the Government of Jordan as hazardous child labor. These occupations include work in auto maintenance and repair, vocational trades (such as blacksmiths, electricians, battery technicians, plumbers), agriculture, fishing, mining, manufacturing, electricity, gas, and water sectors, construction (carpenters, painters), hotels and restaurants, transport and storage, street work, and begging. Some children also work as street peddlers in the tourism industries of Petra and the Dead Sea regions. 

Our Strategy

Intermediate objectives accomplished:

  • Conducted a nationwide Child Labor Survey (NCLS), including Syrian refugee children
  • Advised relevant UN and NGO actors on the issue of child protection within the Syrian refugee population
  • Expanded the National Framework on Child Labor to all 12 Jordanian Governorates: a network for coordinating action to combat child labor at national and district levels and link child laborers and their families to educational and social services
  • Enhanced capacity of the Ministry of Labor’s Child Labor Unit
  • Supported the Ministry of Social Affairs establishing a new Child Labor Unit
  • Provided reports on child labor trends, including specific aspects of child labor in Jordan, to inform policy and guide direct government action;
  • Mainstreamed the elimination of child labor and the promotion of youth employment into the national development policy frameworks.
  • Elevated the National Child Labor Committee (NCLC) and Task Force to a national inter-ministerial body for the protection of children;
  • Operationalized Child Labor Monitoring (CLM) referral systems through the mapping of service providers and linking to District CLM Committees and databases;
  • Held regional meeting for sharing research and best practices that included officials from Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, West Bank, Tunisia, and Yemen.

Targets:

This project will undertake direct policy interventions with the Government of Jordan. Child laborers, children at risk of becoming child laborers and their families are indirect target beneficiaries under this project.

Grantee:
International Labor Organization (ILO)
Contact Information:
(202) 693-4843 / Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT)
Tags:
Child Labor
Capacity Building