Child labour organisations in Eastern Africa: still in the making

Source: Eldis (www.eldis.org)

Article: Child labour organisations in Eastern Africa: still in the making

*The following are excerpts from the aforementioned article:

An examination of child labour organiations in Ethiopia and Rwanda
Authors: G. Nimbona; K. Lieten
Publisher: Foundation for International Research on Working Children , 2007
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Do child labour organisations make sense as a best practice? This report is one in a series of studies based on the fieldwork carried out for a project on Child Labour Unions in 3 continents (Africa, Asia and Latin America), conducted by the Amsterdam Foundation for International Research on Working Children (IREWOC).

The research for this paper focuses primarily on organisations that are run by working children and youths themselves, in an attempt to assess their presumed positive effects on the development of these children. It touches upon the challenges that new associations, such as the African Movement of Working Children and Youth (AMWCY) in Ethiopia and Rwanda, are facing. Views were collected through participatory consultation with children themselves.

The authors’ findings include that the degree of organisation of working children in Ethiopia and Rwanda is still low. In Ethiopia, the multi-purpose community development project has not yet established base groups according to the AMWCY philosophy and methods. In Rwanda, such groups exist but are stagnated by a lack of activity and monitoring. The AMWCY partners select from the methods only those attributes that they find easy to put into practice; the right for light and limited work is, for example, not defended for children under 14. There is no attempt at “alternative education” and children are prepared for primary education and formal education only.

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