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IREWOC
NEWSLETTER
JUNE 2009
IREWOC
(International Research on Working Children) is an
independent research institute with a focus on policy
relevant research on working children, street children
and children who are, in general, excluded from
mainstream childhood development.The
foundation was initiated in 1992; its director Professor
Dr. Kristoffel Lieten is a professor of Child Labour at
the University of Amsterdam and the International
Institute of Social History.
IREWOC
studies child labour from a child rights’ perspective in
accordance with the principles of the ILO and UN
Conventions. Research, to date, has involved the worst
forms of child labour, rural labour, trafficking, basic
education, street children, agency and participation,
and children’s organizations.
IREWOC
specializes in problem analysis on the basis of
intensive anthropological fieldwork, benchmark surveys
and impact studies. IREWOC has also developed a
successful practical and theoretical module on child
research capacity training, designed to strengthen
research capacity in developing countries. More
information can be found on
www.irewoc.nl or
contact IREWOC through
info@irewoc.nl
In
this Newsletter:
Current Projects
Conferences, Workshops and Lectures
New Publications
Farewells
Current Projects
I.
Worst Forms of Child Labour in Asia
January 2008 – November
2009
Researchers: Afke de
Groot, Anna Ensing, Nanna Baum
Project
Director:
Kristoffel Lieten
This project is funded by
Plan Netherlands
Afke de Groot has returned from her second and last phase of fieldwork
for the “Worst Forms of Child Labour in Asia” project in Nepal. From February to July 2008 she conducted
research on children working in the brick kiln sector
and as porters at fruit and vegetable markets in the
Kathmandu Valley.
From November 2008 to
February 2009 Afke studied children working in
restaurants in Kathmandu. She also visited rural
settlements, from where many children (seasonally)
migrate to urban areas in search of work, where she
talked to the families of these working children. She is
now working on an inclusive report, which is expected to
be published on the IREWOC website in the course of this
year.
Anna
Ensing has
completed her fieldwork in Bangladesh, where she
studied the working conditions of children in the
leather sector (June - September 2008) and the
conditions of working girls in Dhaka (January – April
2009). The findings are now being processed. The report
is expected to be published in the course of this
year.
The
research on child labour in the leather sector examines
the various segments of the leather production chain in
which children are found to be working, the tasks these
children perform and the working and living conditions
of the working children. The report is available for
download from the Publications page of the IREWOC
website.
[link to report]
In
September of this year, labour hygienist Mariette de
Graaf, with support of the Nederlandse Vereniging
van Arbeidsdeskundigen (NVvA), will carry out research
on specific health consequences for children working in
the leather sector in Dhaka.
In
2008, Nanna Baum conducted an in-depth research
on the “Quality of Life of Child Domestic Workers in
Bangladesh”, for her MA thesis Child Rights at the
University of Amsterdam. Now, working with IREWOC, she
has just completed a follow-up research on “Supply
mechanisms of Child Domestic Workers” in three different
rural areas. This
type of research on child domestic workers is novel and
places this group of child labourers in a social
context. Child domestic workers’ priority concern was
their emotional suffering, rather than physical abuse.
Research on the supply side, brought to the surface the
reasons why child domestic workers fail to express their
suffering. This inability obstructs protection
strategies by their immediate surrounding. As a
consequence, these girls are the primary victims of
multiple abuses and experience long-term consequences.
The report on child domestic workers will be finished in
the autumn of this year.The
analysis is valuable for the development of successful
strategies for interventions. So far, the public
knowledge regarding the emotional deprivations of these
children has been limited and partial, so too have the
supply mechanisms.
II. Street Children
June 2009 – June 2010
Researchers: Talinay
Strehl, Luisa Quiroz, Anna Ensing
Project
Director:
Kristoffel Lieten
IREWOC
has recently commenced a new research project on street
children in Peru. Local organizations have
expressed the need to update the information about this
specific group of children. A qualitative comparative
research between Lima and Cusco will be conducted by
IREWOC researcher Talinay Strehl. She will spend
two months in each city communicating with the children,
their families, NGO workers etc., looking for answers to
important questions concerning the situation of the
children, especially regarding their experiences with
interventions implemented in their name.
The
research project also includes a quantitative component.
Twenty local researches will carry out a survey
among more than 2000 street children in Lima and Cusco
by means of questionnaires. The quantitative data will
provide a strong base on which to analyze the
anthropological material. In April 2010 the research
findings will form the basis of a stakeholder workshop
on this issue.This
research is funded by Cordaid and Plan. Depending on
future funding, research on street children will take
place in other cities across the world as well.
Applications for funds with some organisations have
reached an advanced stage. Any parties interested in
becoming involved should contact us.
III.
Violence Against Girls in Kenya
August 2009 - July 2011
Ratan Khasnabis,
Sharmistha Banerjee, Nanna Baum, Kristoffel Lieten
In
February, the Dutch Minister for Development Aid gave
the go ahead for the project “Fighting Violence to
Ensure Education for All". IREWOC is taking part in this
project, in alliance with DCI/ECPAT, ICDI, Child Helpline
International, Plan Nederland and Plan Kenya.
Worldwide, there are still at least 75 million children
out of school and many who do attend school drop out
before successfully finishing primary education. One of
the reasons for not attending school is violence:
violence at home, violence at school and violence at
work. Violence is destructive to the child’s proper
development and to the protective functioning of the
family in general.
Starting in August 2009, and lasting for a period of 3
years, a sector-wide program will start, aimed at
children between 7 and 15 years, their parents,
teachers, counsellors and community leaders in the
poorest communities in the capital Nairobi (Nairobi
West, East and North) and in the Kwale coastal districts
(Kwale, Kinango and Msambweni) of Kenya. This
sector-wide approach is based on the recommendations
made by the UN Special Representative, Paulo Sergio
Pinheiro, in his UN Study on violence against children.
IREWOC’s responsibility shall consist of conducting
benchmark research at the start and mid-point of the
project, as well as the impact study. The supporting
research will provide valid data on the child-(un)friendliness
in two of the basic child-oriented institutions (the
family and the school) and on the (changing) attitudes
which people have regarding violence towards children.
It will also stimulate sector-wide cooperation between
state-actors and non-state actors in Kenya, evaluating
best practice experiences and recommending practices on
the basis of ethnographic insights in family life,
school life and community norms and values.
The aim
of the IREWOC research on violence against children in
Kenya is threefold:
1. To
provide relevant ethnographic data on the open and
hidden lives of children.
2. To
study the specific incidence of violence in the various
domains and to subsequently study the changes brought
about by the intervention.
3. To
train local researchers in research techniques and
research sensitivities and build a local reservoir of
knowledge.
A
kick-off meeting in which the details of the project and
the cooperation between the different partners were
agreed upon, took place in Kwale district in mid-April
2009.
Read the report here >>>
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Conferences, Workshops and Lectures
IREWOC
staff delivered lectures and presentations at the
Institute of Social Studies, The Hague (13 Nov 2008), at
the Minor programme on Education in developing
countries, University of Twente (27 November 2008), at
the interdisciplinary conference African Children in
Focus at Leiden (18/19 September), various lectures as
well as research supervision at the international MA
Child Rights course at the University of Amsterdam
(September-December 2008) and in the module on bonded
labour at the Anthropology Department of the University
of Amsterdam (January – July 2009). IREWOC continued to
participate as a member in the working group on Violence
against children.
Unfortunately, the conference and workshop on the
Gender Dimensions of the Worst Forms of Child Labour,
which was to be held in The Hague on 25 and 26th June, in cooperation with ILO-IPEC, had to be cancelled
because of unforeseen organisational issues. Both
organizations will now take the lead in Round Table
discussions on Research and Child Labour at the major
conference Children’s Rights at a Crossroads, which will
be held in Addis Ababa (30th November-2nd December) and at which the contribution of research to
the realization of child rights will be the focus of
attention.
[open the flyer]
ILO-IPEC has published, on
the occasion of the World Day against Child Labour 2009,
a report focusing on girls and child labour. The report,
‘Give girls a chance - Tackling child labour, a key
to the future’(http://www.ilo.org/ipecinfo/product/viewProduct.do?productId=10290)
is intended to bring home to readers the particular
vulnerability of girls. It presents important new
statistics on certain aspects of the work done by girls
– for example, in unpaid household services. While there
is little difference in the involvement of boys and
girls in economic activity in general, the report
suggests that girls work significantly more than boys in
household chores and as a result often jeopardise their
schooling.
The report also calls for
more research. It states (p.69): “This report has
provided an overview of many of the issues surrounding
child labour among girls. To support further policy and
programme development, the knowledge base relating to
the work of girls needs to be strengthened. This should
include an in-depth analysis of the various aspects of
child labour among girls, as well as of the relationship
between child labour and the challenges facing
adolescent girls in the labour market.”
In
March, a Research Capacity Training Workshop was
conducted in Dhaka, Bangladesh. Similar workshops will
be held in Addis Ababa and Nairobi during the month of
August. In Dhaka, local researchers and NGO staff were
instructed in conducting research with working children.
Read the report here>>>
In
Indonesia, official numbers of child labourers are
relatively low. Nevertheless, scattered, and somewhat
outdated sources mention considerable numbers of
children and teenagers who are working in agriculture,
fisheries, in street trade, and in the entertainment
industry. Many of these youngsters are dropouts who
failed to continue education after elementary school and
come from poor families. Typically, child labour in
Indonesia tends to be somewhat hidden from the public,
publicly underestimated, and poorly documented.
In an
attempt to fill this gap, Irewoc and Plan Indonesia have
started a research project on the study of child labour
in Indonesia. This research takes a contextual approach
oriented on the understanding of the causes, mechanisms
and conditions of child labour in Indonesia. A team of
ten – mostly young – researchers study the lives and
works of children in both urban and rural contexts in
Indonesia. (From 13-27th August 2008 IREWOC
organised a successful Child Labour Research Capacity
Training Workshop in Bogor, Indonesia in cooperation
with Plan International, Dr. Gerben Nooteboom of the
University of Amsterdam and Prof. Pujo Semedi of the
University of Yogyakarta. During this two-week-workshop
fourteen enthusiastic participants were introduced to
the theoretical insights in the child rights and child
labour discussion, and the practice of doing research on
and with children. All participants formulated a
research proposal of which ten were accepted for
implementation.)
In
April 2009, at the Gajah Mada University in Yogyakarta,
Pujo Semedi and Gerben Nooteboom from the University of
Amsterdam, organised a workshop to discuss initial
research results. In this three-day meeting, case
studies from factory workers in Tanggerang, seashell
peelers in Jakarta, street sellers in Bandung, asphalt
collectors in Java, female domestic workers in
Yogyakarta, gold miners and oil palm workers in
Kalimantan, and street children in Papua and Timor were
discussed at length. A historical study, on the rise and
demise of working children at a Javanese tea plantation,
has been written by the organisers.
From
this initial meeting, some early conclusions can be
drawn. Although in general the percentages of
working children in the sectors studied are low (2 to 5
percent), children are found at many places, in many
sectors and some of them are working under dangerous and
harmful conditions (asphalt collection, gold mining,
diving). In all sectors studied, some of the worst forms
of child labour, as described by the ILO, were found. In
general, more often boys than girls are working and boys
tend to drop out from school at an earlier age. In
seashell peeling, the Tanggerang recycling factories, in
domestic work, and in the entertainment industry, girls
are the dominant workers.
In
January 2010, the final results of these studies will be
presented at the Plan-Irewoc-organised workshop on
child labour in Indonesia. This workshop will take
place in Jakarta. The aim of the project is to publish
two books afterwards; one in Indonesian and one in
English.
Scholars and policy
makers with an interest in the workshop can contact
IREWOC through
info@irewoc.nl
On June
17th, in collaboration with bachelor students
from the University of Amsterdam, IREWOC organized a
panel discussion on policies regarding child labour.
In the panel, Kon Kelei (ambassador of War Child),
Margriet Kuster (MinBuZa), Lucien Stöpler (Terre des
Hommes), Peter de Ruiter (Photographer and author of
A world for children), Thilly de Boer (ICCO & Kerk
in Actie) and Gerard Oonk (Landelijke India Wekgroep)
participated. Themes that were discussed, among others,
were practical solutions to the worst forms of child
labour, current western policies to ban child labour
worldwide and the idea of a boycott of child made
products.
The
panel agrees that solid primary education world wide is
the only structural answer to the exploitation of
children on the labour market. Oonk and De Ruiter argue
that through the spread of knowledge children will be
able to fight for their rights. De Ruiter: “For
instance, if a child knows how to read and count he will
notice his underpayment and take action against it.”
De Boer says that the abolishing of child labour and the
right to education should not only be implemented by
law, but also normatively on the local level. It must
become normal for parents to send their children to
school instead of letting them work. Kelei estimated
that not only primary education, but also the presence
of secondary education is of importance for the
development of a country.
The panel members agree upon
the fact that not only the quantity but also the quality
of current education should be improved to offer an
alternative to child labour. The
students also asked the panel what they think of
Minister Verhagen’s positive attitude towards a boycott
of products made by children. Although the panel expects
difficulties in controlling the whole production chain
of a product, Stöpler and De Ruiter argue that the
boycott will function mainly as a means of political
pressure to force companies towards production
transparency. Besides being a political instrument
Kuster postulates that the boycott will bring concrete
results like better working conditions. It is important
that together with a boycott, alternatives like
education will be offered to child labourers. Policy has
to focus on structural interventions to alleviate
poverty. De Boer nevertheless doesn’t see a boycott of
child-made products as a solid solution to child labour,
because the problem will shift to the informal or
non-export sector in which 95 % of the child labour is
found.
Back to top >>>
New Publications
IREWOC Publications
Baas,
L. & Van den Berge, M. (2009) Rural Child Labour
in Andean Countries: problems and solutions. Amsterdam: IREWOC. ISBN: 978-90-79078-18-9
Baas,
L. (2009) Child Labour on Sugar Cane Plantations
in Bolivia. A Worst Form of Child Labour. Amsterdam: IREWOC. ISBN: 978-90-79078-20-2
Ensing,
A. (2009) Hazardous Child Labour in the Leather
Sector of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Amsterdam: IREWOC.
ISBN: 978-90-79078-21-9
Gaasterland, F. M. (2009)
Being a Good Girl. The construction of childhood in
Tirupur, India.
Amsterdam: IREWOC.
ISBN: 978-90-79078-19-6
Other
Publications
Laura Baas: “Bolivia: kinderarbeid en toch naar school”.
Noticias (29 September 2008)
http://www.noticias.nl/achtergrond_artikel.php?id=2052
Kristoffel Lieten: “Child Labour versus child work.
All work and no play”. The Broker, No 10, October
2008: 17-19 (www.thebrokeronline.eu)
Afke De Groot en
Kristoffel Lieten: “Primary Education, Lagging
Behind”. IIAS Newsletter, Special issue on Pakistan, Autumn 2008: 8-9.
http://www.iias.nl/nl/49/IIAS_NL49_0809.pdf
Anna Ensing (2008)
‘Kinderarbeid in Latijns Amerika. “Ik zou mijn eigen
kinderen later niet dit werk laten doen”.’ In:
Tijdschrift voor de Rechten van het Kind. December 2008.
18de jaargang. Nummer 4.
Laura Baas, Marten
van den Berge, Anna Ensing, Luisa Quiroz (2009) ‘Onderwijs als tovermiddel. Kanttekeningen bij de
bestrijding van kinderarbeid.’ In: LA Chispa.
Magazine over Latijns Amerika en de Cariben. Mei 2009.
Nummer 342.
Anna Ensing (2009)
‘Leerproductie in Bangladesh veroorzaakt
milieuvervuiling en slechte arbeidsomstandigheden’
Op: Updaid. Nieuws over ontwikkelingssamenwerking en
ontwikkelingslanden (25 mei 2009)
http://www.updaid.nl/vrouwen-kinderen/leerproductie-in-bangladesh-veroorzaakt-milieuvervuiling-en-slechte-arbeidsomstandigheden/
“The
World of Child Labor. An Historical and Regional Survey”,
edited by Hugh Hindman, has been published in June 2009.
This collection of more than 200 essays by scholars,
researchers, policy-makers and activists, provides an
overview of various dimensions of the child labour
problem in each region of the world, and on institutions
and organizations combating child labour. IREWOC has
contributed to this volume with essays on various
subjects and regions including theoretical issues and
specific entries on child labour in South Asia, China
and the Andes Region, on child labour unions in Africa
and India, and child trafficking in West and Central
Africa. Follow this link for more information on this
comprehensive encyclopaedia:
http://www.mesharpe.com/mall/resultsa.asp?Title=The+World+of+Child+Labor%3A+An+Historical+and+Regional+Survey
Work in Progress
The
publication by Peter Lang (Bern) of the major study on Child Labour’s Global Past (edited by Kristoffel
Lieten and Elise Nederveen), which contains 30 odd
articles on the history of child labour in the various
corners of the world, is expected in the fall of 2009.
Kristoffel Lieten and Afke de Groot are working on a
book on primary education in developing countries,
in which theory on education and development will
complement empirical data from seven country studies
gathered during the 2006-2007 IREWOC study “Deprived
Children and Education”. The book is expected to be
published in 2010.
Kristoffel Lieten and Luisa Quiroz are working on a
book on the worst forms of child labour in Latin America,
based on research findings of IREWOC research. It will
contain around 10 different studies on the worst forms
of child labour in urban and rural areas of Guatemala,
Peru and Bolivia. The project has been funded by the
Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and by various
Dutch-based NGO’s: Plan Netherlands, ICCO, Edukans,
Terre des Hommes, Kinderpostzegels. The book is expected
to be published in 2010.
Back to
top >>>
Farewells
Two
important IREWOC staff members have recently left IREWOC
and made place for two new researchers. To get an idea
of the experiences, knowledge and ideas that Marten van
den Berge and Luisa Quiroz acquired during their work at
IREWOC, newly arrived Nanna Baum and Talinay Strehl
interviewed them.
During her 2.5 years with
IREWOC, Luisa interacted closely with poor people and
children, policy makers in the Netherlands, as well as
national and local NGOs in Guatemala, Colombia and Peru.
One of the most important insights Luisa gained during
this time is the importance of close collaboration: “Child
labour is an issue with many local implications. Local
NGO’s know the situation and should therefore have an
important role in designing policies. Sometimes western
donor organizations impose an agenda without giving any
space to adapt it to the local circumstances.” Luisa
learned the most important lessons during the actual
periods of fieldwork. Narrowing the distance between
people you study and yourself is a unique and inspiring
experience: not only fruitful for the work, but also for
one’s personal development. Luisa’s new responsibilities
involve getting familiar with issues we find closer to
home; she is joining SHOP to guide and support
prostitutes who wish to change their lives.(http://www.shop-denhaag.nl/index.php)
Marten
van den Berge worked as a researcher for IREWOC for 8
years, but is now moving to Peru. Marten emphasizes that
he enjoyed doing fieldwork for IREWOC, especially the
profound contact with the people in the field and the
excitement he felt in trying to understand a complex
reality. During his participation in the Worst Forms of
Child Labour project, Marten realized that it is very
important to give the knowledge that we gain back to
local organizations in the field. At the end of the
project he and his colleagues organized a workshop for
the children, families, labour unions and local NGOs
that participated in the research in Guatemala, Peru and
Bolivia. “It was special and important to give them a
practical feedback, so that they can incorporate our
recommendations in their policy.”Marten
commented on minister Verhagen’s plan to boycott all
child-made products: “It is good that companies are
held responsible for their behaviour, but we should keep
the situation of the child labourers at the forefront.”
This means that together with a boycott direct
alternatives for child labourers should be offered by
grasping the reasons for their working behaviour. “For
example, if you close a factory which houses child
labourers, you should also negotiate for better salaries
for their parents to decrease the need for the children
to work.” The existence of the worst forms of child
labour is part of a world-wide problem of unequal power
structures and economic exploitation. We should always
look at the context in which child labour takes place.
This is one of the main reasons why Marten has decided
to move to Peru for an extended period of time. He will
be working on a project which will expand his focus to
the broader social movements that fight for a more just
world. We all
wish Marten and Luisa the best of luck!
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