FEAST OR FAMINE

To operationalise community involvement to monitor child labour in India, using a democratic framework of local self-government institutions, the municipalities and the panchayats, Village Education Committees (VEC) and in the urban areas Ward Education Committees (WEC) were to be strengthened to function as the child labour monitoring teams. They were to especially monitor the enrolment and retention of children in schools after they were removed from exploitative labour. A designated community worker, employed by the district, was to facilitate the meetings of these committees. The child labour rehabilitation plans were to be prepared in each village or ward. The VEC/WEC members and members of the Parent Teacher Associations (PTA) were sensitized in respect of the special needs and concerns regarding child labour through special modules. However, when assessed by an independent evaluation specialist, the issue of child labour was not a priority for the VEC/WEC. In Tamil Nadu wh...

In India, child labourers in the 9-13 age range that are withdrawn from work by government National Child Labour Projects (NCLP) or through projects such as the INDUS Project, implemented by the government of India, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the United States Department of Labor (USDOL) are enrolled in Transitional Education Centres (TEC). While the 5-8 year old child workers can be mainstreamed directly into the government’s formal school system, the 9-13 year olds may never have attended school before, or have been out-of-school for some period of time and may not have accessed the Ministry of Education’s bridging initiatives within their districts - the Education Guaranteed Scheme (EGIS) or Alternative Innovative Education (AIE). Children in this age group that have been withdrawn from hazardous work may have access to the NCLP special schools, devised under the Ministry of Labour and Employment mandate to provide non-formal education initiatives as a pa...

I was part of a three-person team to conduct an evaluation of child labour in India in January and February 2009. The concern for child labour is a part of India’s welfare state approach. The 2001 Census indicated that there were 12.6 million economically active children with a workforce participation rate of 5%, down from the 1991 figures of 13.6 million. The reduction has been found to have primarily occurred in rural areas, while in the urban areas it has shown a somewhat rising trend, particularly in 2004-2005. It is also noteworthy that during the last ten years the number of working children in the younger age group of 5-9 years has declined sharply from 1.27 million in 1993-1994 to 0.35 million in 2004-05 according to the government’s report of the National Child Labour Project. Based on the 1991 Census data, six states had the highest incidences of child labour: Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka. These six states accoun...

Aid agencies in West and North Darfur, Sudan, reported that nutrition rates worsened in 2008, and subsequently malnutrition rates rose. Most of the malnourished were children between the ages of 12 and 29 months. The area is desert for eight months of the year, with four months of rain from June to September. In the long, dry season, the soft sand makes transport difficult. In the rainy period, roads are often cut off for days due to flooding. In 2008, there were floods in July and August. The local economy depends almost exclusively on agriculture and animal husbandry. Low moisture crops such as millet, sorghum, sesame, and okra generally survive the harsh conditions. Women have, on average, six pregnancies during their life time. In general, 4% of all pregnancies miscarry and 9% of offspring die in the first year of life. Water is transported in jerry cans from local wadis – water holes. Few communities have hand pumps on wells, boreholes, or elevated tanks. The aid ...