IREWOC NEWSLETTER

February 2010    

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

Some indicators suggest that the position of children in the world has improved over the last decade, at least in a number of countries. Other indicators, however, are less optimistic and show that the financial crisis, political decisions and natural disasters have caused a setback.

The need for detailed knowledge thus remains paramount. IREWOC, at the beginning of this new decade, will continue to partner with other child-centred organizations in the attempt to provide the necessary knowledge.

IREWOC has just moved to the Child Rights Centre in Leiden (Het Kinderrechtenhuis), a national centre for information, communication and education on child rights. The Child Rights Centre will officially open its doors in May 2010. IREWOC’s new contact details are:

Hooglandse Kerkgracht 17-H
2312 HS Leiden
The Netherlands
Website: www.irewoc.nl; http://www.kinderrechtenhuis.nl
E-mail: info@irewoc.nl
Tel#: +31 (0)71 5122883

Current Projects
Conferences, Workshops and Lectures
New Publications
Other News  

Current Projects 

Worst Forms of Child Labour in Asia:
January 2008-March 2010; Kristoffel Lieten; Afke de Groot, Anna Ensing, Nanna Baum
(Funded by Plan Netherlands)

Afke de Groot conducted fieldwork in Kathmandu, Nepal, where she focused on three particular sectors in which the involvement of children can be found: brick kilns, restaurants and tea-stalls, fruit and vegetable markets. She also visited villages in rural Sindhuli, from where many children (seasonally) migrate to urban areas in search of work. The inclusive report on Nepal is expected to be published on the IREWOC website in a few months time.

In addition to Afke, two students of the international MA Child Rights Course at the University of Amsterdam (Eowyn Castle and Marieke Haitsma) are presently finalising their studies on food sellers and restaurant workers in Kathmandu.

Anna Ensing has completed her fieldwork reports on child labour in Bangladesh. 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 first report was published in 2009 and additional research has recently been carried out by Mariette de Graaf, with support of the Nederlandse Vereniging van Arbeidsdeskundigen. Mariette de Graaf focused specifically on the health consequences for children working in the leather sector in Dhaka.

The report on the leather sector presents important findings, including data relevant to the discussion on combating child labour with trade-related measures. The findings indicate that child labour in export-oriented factories has seriously been reduced, but that it is next to impossible to differentiate between the products from these factories and those from the informal workshops and home-based production, where child labour remains abundant.

The second report on Bangladesh addresses girls working in informal industries at home, girls working in the streets and girls working in formal industries such as garment factories. It shows how working girls in Dhaka suffer a triple burden because they are young, poor and female. The report reveals that, after the outcry in the early 1990s about child labour in the garments industry, and the resulting trade boycott, girls below the age of 14 are no longer found in the export-oriented factories, but the adolescent girls still working there, do so under harsh circumstances, which nevertheless classify them as child labourers under ILO norms.

Both research reports have been published and are available on the IREWOC website:

Go to the IREWOC research report page>>>

Nanna Baum conducted a follow-up research on ‘Supply mechanisms of Child Domestic Workers’ in three different rural areas in Bangladesh. Nanna is currently finalizing two chapters for the upcoming book on child labour in Bangladesh. The chapters summarize two of her field studies on child domestic labour in Bangladesh.
‘Girl Domestics in Dhaka: Betrayal of Trust’ discusses children’s emotional grievances as the consequence of neglect. Children, from age 5 onwards, have to work very long hours under very strenuous conditions, but even worse, in the perception of the children, is the inhumane treatment they receive. Many studies have documented the quantitative aspects of child domestic labour, but this study adds important insights from the real life experience of the child domestic labourers themselves.
‘Supply of Girl Domestics: A Matter of Semi-Feudal Relations’ looks into the dependency relations between rich and poor, and parent’s motives and considerations when sending their daughters to work in another household. It reveals the mechanism of semi-feudal dependence and poverty that feeds into the vast army of child domestics, possibly 200.000 in Dhaka alone.

On Thursday March 11th 2010, IREWOC will be presenting the results of this project in Leiden. Summaries of the reports will then be made available to participants and through the website.

The term ‘street children’ was introduced by UNESCO after World War II, but it was not until 1979, the International Year of the Child, that it became more commonly used. A distinction was made between children of the street and children on the street. The distinction is based on the extent to which the children have contact with their families. In reality, boundaries between different groups of street children are not that obvious, and many children fall between the categories. Characteristics vary between different street children and good policy should be based on a better knowledge of the differences between them.
Street children were a focus of attention in the 1990s, both in intervention strategies and in research. That interest has unfortunately weakened in the previous decade, even though the problem has increased.
By researching this phenomenon, IREWOC hopes to rekindle interest and to generate new insights.
IREWOC commenced a new research project on Street Children in Peru in 2009, which includes a quantitative section (mapping the population of street children) and a qualitative section (looking into the needs of the children and existing intervention strategies).  With more financial support, IREWOC hopes to extend the research into African and Asian cities.

Talinay Strehl is finalizing her second and last fieldwork period in Peru. After having studied street children in Cusco, she is now investigating the situation, the needs and wishes of street children in Lima, and the different interventions designed for this specific group of children. Her research in Peru confirms that exclusive distinctions between children on and of the streets are difficult to make. In both cities street children are highly marginalized from mainstream society, and have no access to basic education or health care. While the local governments try to remove them from the city’s streets through a violent policy of “social cleansing”, NGOs and religious organisations follow a policy of ‘asistencialismo’. Unfortunately, through their regular food and clothes distributions they in fact facilitate street life, making it hard for the children to break the vicious circle of drug abuse, prostitution and criminality.

In November, Anna Ensing and Talinay Strehl, together with local partners, conducted training workshops in Lima and Cusco, and coordinated a major survey of street children. After the training workshop, 18 local researchers carried out a survey among a total of 1200 street children in Cusco and Lima. By using questionnaires, they gathered data on the background of the children on the streets, the reasons for being on the streets and their needs and desires. The documentation will provide unique information and an overall view of the magnitude of the street child and child labour problem, filling the void which has existed since the early 1990’s.

A workshop on this issue will be organized during the month of June. More information will follow; those interested may contact anna@irewoc.nl

Violence Against Girls in Kenya
August 2009 - July 2011; Ratan Khasnabis, Sharmistha Banerjee, Nanna Baum, Kristoffel Lieten

In February, the Minister for Development Aid gave the go ahead to the project “Fighting Violence to Ensure Education for All". IREWOC participates in this project in an alliance including DCI/ECPAT, ICDI, Child Helpline International, Plan Nederland and Plan Kenya. The programme aims to fight violence against girls in the poorest communities in the capital Nairobi and in the Kwale coastal districts of Kenya. IREWOC will be conducting the benchmark research at the start and mid-point of the project, as well as the impact study.

In September, professor Lieten trained 12 local researchers in research techniques and research sensitivities. Nanna Baum, together with the colleagues from the University of Kolkatta, professor Khasnabis and Sharmistha Banerjee, facilitated the survey logistics in Nairobi and collaborated with Plan Kenya to coordinate the initial phase of the quantitative benchmark research. Between October and December 2009, 600 questionnaires were collected in Nairobi and Kwale district and the process of analysis is now in progress. The outcome will provide important insights into the extent of violence.

In February Nanna Baum, in cooperation with Katalin Gal, will conduct and coordinate a three month’s qualitative research on violence against children in Nairobi and Kwale. They will each spend 1 week in about twenty schools. During a short training they will provide children with the necessary skills to collect information on the multiple forms of violence from their peers. A total of 500 case studies will be collected. These will be supplemented by information collected from adults. It will be a unique project of participatory research, in which the dynamics of the information gathering will depend on the commitment and agency of the school girls themselves.

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Conferences and meetings

From the 30th of November to the 2nd of December 2009, Childwatch International, The African Child Policy Forum (ACPF) and the UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre organized a conference in Addis Ababa: Children’s Rights at a crossroads. A Global Conference on Research and Child Rights
The conference was an opportunity to engage the relevant actors in reflection and dialogue for a better and more relevant knowledge base for future child rights strategies. To facilitate this dialogue, fourteen round tables were organised. Each round table had a limited number of short presentations to set the background and direction for the discussions.
The discussions will be summarised and presented in an outcome document to be published soon, which presents clear and specific recommendations to what policy makers, UN agencies, academic institutions, development agencies and NGOs should do to promote child rights strategies based on solid evidence.

IREWOC was invited to organise the round table on child labour, in cooperation with the ILO. The round table was moderated by IREWOC board member Mr. Frans Röselaers. Presenters were Prof. Hugh Hindman, Prof. Peter Dorman and Prof. Ana Lucia Kassouf.

The Round Table submitted five main recommendations to the Conference:

1. There is an urgent need for more qualitative and quantitative research on child labour in agriculture and rural settings, in the informal economy including street trades and with a special focus on the health risks and related effects on children.

2. We urge the adoption of more collaborative research frameworks reflecting local, regional and cultural dimensions not only in data collection and analysis, but also in setting the goals and conceptual foundations of the research projects themselves. This is particularly relevant to research on child labour, where differences on how the problem is viewed, including by children, may hamper common understanding and joint action.

3. In this connection, it is recommended that research should give priority attention to those children exposed to the worst conditions and the especially vulnerable, including the increasing population of orphans and displaced, disabled and “idle” children, with the goal of reaching those who are hardest to reach and thus least likely to avoid or escape exploitation and abuse.

4. It is recommended that historiographic research be intensified and its findings more widely disseminated in order to inform present-day policy makers and advocates of the lessons that can be learned from history, including (a) the relationship between child labour, poverty, social values, education and social protection; (b) the policy options and their impact on child labour; and (c) the obstacles and resistance to change. This research should, as much as possible, be extended beyond Western experience to incorporate the experiences of other political and cultural traditions.

5. As a labour problem, child labour has both a supply side and a demand side. While recognizing the crucial role of child labour supply, we see the need for more research on the demand side. We should seek greater knowledge and understanding of the conditions influencing the demand for child, as opposed to adult, workers, including the organization of labour and product markets, the form and environment of enterprises, the technologies adopted where children are found working, systems of work organization, and the relative costs and productivity of children and adults.

On November 5th 2009 Afke de Groot attended the Expert-meeting on Child Labour and Education organised by the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Afke de Groot shared her views based on recent IREWOC studies. The seminar consisted of contributions of representatives of the Dutch government, the European Commission, national and international NGOs, labour unions, academia, the private sector, and international organizations such as ILO/IPEC, UCW, and UNICEF. In her contribution, Afke De Groot, highlighted three aspects:

(1) Poverty remains an important factor for children being out of school and children working. Even though many poor households do indeed send their children to school, these deprived households are extremely vulnerable for sudden crises, such as a death or illness, and their children are most likely to drop out of school and turn to labour. These circumstances of poverty cannot be changed by educational policies or poverty-sensitive programmes alone. What is needed is a multi-sector approach. A social security system should be part of education planning, and implementations of such measures should go hand in hand with monitoring. The variables to take into account are not poverty and gender, but the specific conditions of gender and poverty which lead to a higher degree of vulnerability.

(2) Quality and accessibility of the education system itself. Parents - given their severely limited resources - consider schooling as an investment rather than a basic right or need. Therefore, the perceived benefits of schooling need to weigh up against the opportunity costs. Policy should also include creating income-opportunities and forms of education that are linked to skill enabling capacities.

(3) The importance of ECCD (Early childhood care for development) in keeping children away from an environment of work. From an early age children are brought up in an environment/culture of work. When children are very small they already join the parents to the work premises. Consequently, once they have reached the age of 9 or 10, and when there is no immediate or smooth transition to further education, it is not a big step for the child to leave school and enter the workforce, as they are already accustomed to this environment. Hence, expanding ECCD-facilities provides opportunities for keeping children from work at a later age.

Participants formulated recommendations, of which the most important was to strengthen the lobby for the mainstreaming of hard-to-reach children and child labour issues in national education plans of education partner countries, by for example:

(1) Improvement of quality and relevance of education and (vocational) training

(2) Support for flexible formal school systems and programmes for transitional second chance education, which promote the inclusion of all children

(3) Support for early childhood development initiatives

(4) Developing closer working relationships between partners in the area of child labour, education and related areas

The recommendations were presented to the Dutch Minister for Development Cooperation Mr. Bert Koenders.  

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New Publications

G.K. Lieten Child Labour and Child Rights. Dhaka: University Press, 2009 (194 pp.). ISBN 978 984 8815 05 2

The book addresses various issues related to child-based policies. Ever since the UN adoption of the CRC, child labour and child rights have become an action slogan for many NGO's, the ILO has formulated new policies and international attention is given through many governmental initiatives. This book uses anthropological, economic and politcal approaches to analyse the situation, and draws on field work conducted in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Topics related to the most marginalized children of the world include agency, the universality of rights, rights versus needs, the definitions and causes of child labour, and child labour and education. The publication also looks at the impact of globalisation and the various policy options, including child labour unions and trade related measures.
The book is academic yet accessible in style, and will benefit university courses as well as child-centred organizations. It combines a discussion on theoretical insights and policy instruments with the reality in the field and thus offers scope for a more practical understanding of interventions which would benefit the most marginalized children.

Hard copies can be ordered from info@irewoc.nl (€ 18, including postage)

Ensing, A. (2010) A Triple Burden: Young, Poor and Female. Working Girls in the Homes and Streets of Dhaka ISBN 978-90-79078-23-3

Van den Berge, M. (2009) A Comparison of Child Labour in Traditional and Commercial Agriculture ISBN 978-90-79078-22-6

Anna Ensing (2010) ‘Werkende meisjes meest gediscrimineerd’ Updaid: Nieuws over ontwikkelingssamenwerking en ontwikkelingslanden. 27 januari 2010.
http://www.updaid.nl/vrouwen-kinderen/werkende-meisjes-meest-gediscrimineerd/#more-13077

The publication by Peter Lang (Bern) of the major study on Child Labour’s Global Past, which contains approximately 30 articles on the history of child labour in the various corners of the world (edited by Kristoffel Lieten and Elise van Nederveen Meerkerk) is expected in the summer of 2010. 

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Other News

IREWOC has just moved to the Child Rights Centre in Leiden (Het Kinderrechtenhuis), a national centre for information, communication and education on child rights. The Child Rights Centre will officially open its doors in May 2010. IREWOC’s new contact details are:

Hooglandse Kerkgracht 17-H
2312 HS Leiden
The Netherlands
Website: www.irewoc.nl; http://www.kinderrechtenhuis.nl
E-mail: info@irewoc.nl
Tel#: +31 (0)71 5122883

2 Dutch-language interviews with IREWOC Director Kristoffel Lieten:

‘De Heilzame Weg tegen Kinderarbeid.’ Terre Magazine 4, December 2009, pp. 6-9

Read the article>>>

‘Kinderarbeid bestaat nog steeds.’ Vakblad voor Woninginrichting, June 2009, pp. 12-14; followed by a discussion in the same magazine in August 2009.

Read article June 2009>>>

Read article August 2009>>>

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