E. Children subject to exploitation and the worst forms of child labour

Figure 88

Ministry of employment and social security

Ministry of employment and social security contribution tocombatting child labour

349. 
     El Salvador adopted the following measures with the aim of eradicating child labour in the country and effectively complying with the commitments it assumed on ratification of ILO Convention 182:
     
     1. 
        In 2000, El Salvador become one of the first countries in the world to ratify ILO Convention 182 of 1999 concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour;
        
     2. 
        The government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ILO on 13 June 1996 and renewed this on 25 November 2009. In this it ratified its national commitment against child labour and laid the bases for receiving technical cooperation to help devise a National Plan against Child Labour;
        
     3. 
        The Government Plan drawn up by the President Elías Antonio Saca included a commitment to “pursue efforts to eradicate child labour” within the area of Social and Family Reinforcement;
        
     4. 
        A participative effort by the entire country made it possible to devise and launch a National Plan against the Worst Forms of Child Labour 2006-2009;
        
     5. 
        In 2002, a National Committee for the Eradication of the Worst Forms of Child Labour was set up by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, subsequently formalized by Executive Order No 66 of 16 June 2005,⁴⁹ and a Technical Committee was appointed to support the work of the National Committee for the Eradication of the Worst Forms of Child Labour;
        
     6. 
        The struggle against child labour was incorporated in the 2021 Education Plan from 2004;
        
     7. 
        On 18 February 2005, the Ministry of Agriculture and Livestock signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the ILO, , setting out new commitments by the El Salvador Government, most specifically relating to efforts to eradicate child labour in farming;
        
     8. 
        The Ministry of Employment and Social Security worked in cooperation with ILO-IPEC to implement programmes aimed at working children and their family groups. Funding of $ 370,000 was allocated to measures in vocational training and other areas;
        
     9. 
        A permanent form on child labour was developed and incorporated into the Multipurpose Household Survey (EHPM). In 2001, at the request of ILO-IPEC, a special form on child labour was developed within the EHPM. The General Directorate for Statistics and Censuses of the Ministry of the Economy subsequently incorporated it as a permanent form from 2005;
        
     10. 
         Child labour variables were permanently incorporated into the Ministry of Education’s School Enrolment Census from 2004;
         
     11. 
         Workbooks were developed for fourth, fifth and sixth grade elementary school pupils to prompt them to reflect on the special conditions of children working in the country. A total of 3,000 exercise books were delivered;
         
     12. 
         Training courses were developed for teachers on catering for the educational needs of working children;
         
     13. 
         35 local and municipal committees were set up for monitoring child labour, mainly in the municipalities of Sonsonate, Jiquilisco, Usulután and Jucuarán;
         
     14. 
         Micro-enterprise initiatives were fostered in communities with the highest rates of child labour;
         
     15. 
         A Child Labour Unit was set up within the Ministry of Employment and Social Security on 25 November 2002, and also within the General Directorate of Statistics and Censuses;
         
     16. 
         Training courses on child labour were held by the Ministry of Employment and Social Security within the framework of institution-building. These were aimed at technical staff from various public institutions that make up the Technical Committee for the Eradication of the Worst Forms of Child Labour;
         
     17. 
         Communication and awareness campaigns on the subject of child labour were rolled out nationwide through the media and other channels, namely: posters, information leaflets and talks. This awareness gained force when the current Government entered office, in other words from 2004;
         
     18. 
         The Unit for the Eradication of Child Labour was reinforced by recruiting five technicians and also 10 employment inspectors who work full-time to combat child labour in its worst forms. This increase was made possible by a budget increase of $2.5 million allocated to the Ministry of Employment and Social Security in 2006. This was used to recruit a total of 106 new employment inspectors, including the 10 mentioned above. It is also important to emphasize that the 2006 recruitment campaign increased the total number of Ministry of Employment and Social Security inspectors to 159. All of them have been made aware of the issues and have received training in the care of minors affected by the scourge of child labour in its worst forms;
         
     19. 
         Government backup has been provided to non-governmental organisations implementing projects to encourage them to adopt procedures and strategies for the eradication of child labour;
         
     20. 
         A working party against the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents has led to greater openness and a multi-institutional approach. This was set up on 1 November 2004 and on 31 October 2006 an agreement was signed to extend its operation for a further two years;
         
     21. 
         Greater national and international coordination has been achieved to combat trafficking and other crimes against children and adolescents;
         
     22. 
         Support has been given to the work of the Ministry of Education in its efforts to cater for the special educational needs of the working student population through direct action programmes with education as their main thrust. The project is also being implemented to set up a total of 96 remedial classes that cater for 5,000 children rescued from high-risk jobs.
         
     23. 
         During 2005 and 2006, a degree course in child labour was developed for university lecturers. The course was taken by 25 lecturers and administrators from the Universidad Pedagógica de El Salvador.
         
     24. 
         The Solidarity Network programme was set up to care for the education and health of poor families in the country’s most deprived municipalities.⁵⁰
         
350. 
     In 2005, the Government of El Salvador also began to deploy its “Opportunities Plan”, which includes a set of social programmes designed to significantly reduce extreme poverty, strengthen the infrastructure of the poorest municipalities and extend the network of basic services in terms of coverage and quality. The programmes involved in the plan include “Solidarity Network” and “Microloans for Comprehensive Development”, designed to offer direct benefit to 100,000 families from the poorest municipalities in the country. It is hoped that this venture will help to rescue children working in the worst forms of child labour because one condition of the scheme is that financial transfers cannot be made directly to families unless children in the beneficiary household are enrolled at school and attending regularly.
     
351. 
     One of the main achievements over this period was the preparation and publication of the “National Plan for the Eradication of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in El Salvador 2006-2009”, which was launched in September 2006. The plan takes the form of a strategic public management tool designed to guide national efforts to eradicate the worst forms of child labour.⁵¹ As the plan is implemented, it will help to comply with the undertakings assumed by El Salvador, in line with the contents of the White Paper, to guarantee that nationally produced goods and services will be untainted by child labour. The plan constitutes a State tool of public policy to guide the efforts of all institutions that make up the National Committee for the Eradication of the Worst Forms of Child Labour. As a sign of their good intent, the institutions participating in the National Committee have already allowed for the implementation of National Plan undertakings in their operational plans and they are drawing up action plans for the activities that each will carry out during 2007. In order to ensure that the measures will be sustainable, the Plan also seeks to guarantee the necessary financial, physical, human, methodological and technological resources for the implementing institutions to ensure that they are appropriate and sufficient to increase the coverage and quality of services aiming to eradicate the worst forms of child labour. The mission of the 2006-2009 National Plan is as follows: to be the key instrument for guiding measures that will rid the country of the worst forms of child labour; a country where children can develop holistically, plan their futures and be offered tangible opportunities for making their plans come true. The National Plan contains seven strategic areas of action: reinforcement of the legal framework; institution-building; educational facilities; health care, recreation, culture and sport; increasing income and communication and social awareness. All these contain specific goals and the governmental department responsible for each area, with the relevant timing milestones.⁵²
     
352. 
     In its capacity as coordinator of the National Committee for the Eradication of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, the Ministry of Employment and Social Security, with the contribution of ILO-IPEC, is carrying out a set of direct action plans that as we have seen take a holistic approach. These have become strategic areas of action of the National Plan for the Eradication of the Worst Forms of Child Labour.
     
353. 
     Note that assistance has also been given to the parents of children benefiting from the Child Labour Eradication projects to ensure support for the projects. The figures shown in the tables below therefore reflect the number of measures delivered to the children and also to the parents of those children, with services offering vocational training, income generation, literacy training, medical checkups, etc. It should be clarified that out of the total of 93,639 people and 7,098 children included in the tables, one child and one parent may have benefited from more than one service. In other words, these tables reflect the number of beneficiaries per service and are not an objective indication of the number of children or parents. Information is also given on direct action programmes and the total numbers of children and adolescents benefiting from those programmes.
     

Figure 89

Services offered to benefiting children
(October 2003-March 2007)

Figure 90

Ministry of Employment and Social Security

Services offered to parents of benefiting children and adolescents

(October 2003-March 2007)

Type of service	Total	Male	Female
Total	7,098	2,053	5,045
Vocational training	2,223	980	1,243
Income generation	375	30	345
Literacy training	928	337	591
Medical checks	816	259	557
Other services	2,756	447	2,309

Source: Child Labour Eradication Unit. Ministry of Employment and Social Security

Figure 91

Projects delivered during stage 1 of the ILO-IPEC limited duration programme (2002-2006)

Project name

Gradual eradication of child labour in the sugarcane sector within the municipalities of Zacatecoluca, San Vicente, Tecoluca and Verapaz, (OEF)	Sugar cane	Paracentral	2,073
Eradication of hazardous child labour in sugarcane production within the municipalities of Aguilares, El Paisnal, Nejapa, Guazapa and Suchitoto (FUNDAZUCAR)	Sugar cane	North	2,036
Gradual eradication of child labour in the fisheries sector within the municipalities of San Dionisio, Jucuarán y Usulután (OEF)	Fisheries	East	1,910
Eradication of the worst forms of child labour in sugarcane growing in the Department of Sonsonate, municipalities: Nahulingo, Izalco, San Julián, Armenia, CuisN’ahuatl and Sonsonate (FUSAL)	Sugar cane	West	1,858
Eradication of the worst forms of child labour: fisheries, Usulután (FUSAL)	Fisheries	East	1,542
Institution-building project for the prevention, investigation and prosecution of commercial sexual exploitation crimes against minors (National Civil Police (PNC)) (San Salvador).	Commercial sexual exploitation	Central	Institution-building
Helping to eradicate the worst forms of child labour (COMUS), Usulután.	Fisheries	East	70
Preventing commercial sexual exploitation in the city of San Salvador. (CONAMUS)	Commercial sexual exploitation	Central	200
Care for and withdrawal of victims of commercial sexual exploitation in the city of San Miguel. (PADECOMSM)	Commercial sexual exploitation	East	32
Preventing the phenomenon of child commercial sexual exploitation in the urban area of the city of San Miguel. (ISNA)	Commercial sexual exploitation	East	Institution-building
Eradication of child labour in Barranca Honda refuse tip in the municipality of Chalchuapa, department of Santa Ana. (Fundación Nehemías)	Refuse tips	West	40
Care for children in situations of child commercial sexual exploitation in the municipality of San Salvador and its surroundings (ISDEMU)	Commercial sexual exploitation	Central	35
Gradual eradication of child labour in the waste sector within the municipalities of San Luis Talpa, department of La Paz (OEF, El Salvador).	Refuse tips	Paracentral	90
Gradual eradication of child labour in the Usulután markets. (CRS)	Markets	East
Gradual eradication of child labour in the waste sector within the municipality of Tecoluca, department of San Vicente. (OEF, El Salvador).	Refuse tips	Paracentral	68
Eradication of child labour in the sugarcane sector in the municipality of Chalchuapa, department of La Paz. (OEF, El Salvador).	Refuse tips	West	169

Source: IPEC-ILO, El Salvador.

354. 
     During the development of Direct Action Projects within the framework of stage one of the Limited Duration Programme (above table), the Ministry of Employment and Social Security worked with the Implementing Agencies through its Unit for the Eradication of Child Labour (UETI) in order to achieve institutional coordination and reach out to the people who benefit from such projects. These coordination measures included the following:
     
     1. 
        Visits to the project location. Unit technicians visited the direct action projects in order to work and offer the institutional services of the Ministry of Employment and Social Security in addition to the government services offered by Members of the National Committee for the Eradication of the Worst Forms of Child Labour;
        
     2. 
        Institutional backup to NGOs: to stimulate the appropriation of procedures and strategies for the eradication of child labour. Discussions and workshops were run with the participation of ILO-IPEC;
        
     3. 
        Talks with the target communities. The UETI coordinated activities with the Implementing Agencies as part of its aim of socialising the National Plan for the Eradication of the Worst Forms of Child Labour;
        
     4. 
        Celebrations for the International Day of the Child. During October 2006, the UETI, in conjunction with FUNDAZUCAR, held celebrations for the International Day of the Child in various schools at national level, with cultural, sports and recreational activities.
        
355. 
     The Ministry of Employment and Social Security runs a training programme for Employment Inspectors with the aim of increasing the efficacy and efficiency of institutional action. The topics covered include, for example, gender equality, combating the commercial sexual exploitation of children and adolescents and systems for inspecting employment and discrimination at work.
     
356. 
     Annex XXII sets out the topics covered in the “Continuing Development Programme for Inspectors” throughout the period 2004–2007 and the number of officials benefiting from the scheme.
     

Directory: english -> bodies -> crc -> docs -> AdvanceVersions
docs -> Consideration of reports submitted by states parties
bodies -> United Nations E/C. 12/Prt/4
bodies -> United Nations cerd/C/mex/16-17
bodies -> Advance unedited version
bodies -> -
bodies -> List of issues prepared by the committee to be considered during the examination of the second periodic report of Qatar (cat/C/qat/2)
bodies -> Advanced unedited version
AdvanceVersions -> United kingdom overseas territories and crown dependencies summary reports

Download 3.27 Mb.

Share with your friends: