Presentation from international meeting on children's work and child labour hosted by the Africa Child Policy Forum, Organisation for Social Science Research in Eastern and Southern Africa, and Young Lives in Addis Ababa, 20-21 March 2014

1. Children and Work: Save the Children Perspective
By Magdalene Muoki- Save the Children - Kenya
20th -21st March 2014, Addis Ababa

2. Outline
• SC Perspective on children and work
• SC Geographical footprint
• Kenya Experience: ChP: Policy, programmes
and practice
– Strategies and key achievements
– Kenya’s legislations/policies
– Challenges
– Lessons Learnt

3. Children and Work
• Priority focus area for Save the Children’s child
protection work
• Guided by the UN Convention on the Rights of the
Child (UNCRC) the best interests of the child
principle, the ‘do no harm’ and the involvement of
children themselves
• Employs a holistic and integrated approach –
combining expertise from various sectors- education,
livelihood, health, CRG
• Overall goal of achieving healthy, educated and
empowered citizens

4. What is Decent ChildWork?
• participation in work that does not affect children
health and personal development or interfere with their
schooling
• Work that contribute to children’s development and to
the welfare of their families.
• provide children with skills and experience that help to
prepare them to be productive members of society
during their adult life.

5. What is HarmfulWork?
• Article 32 of the UNCRC which states: States Parties
recognize the right of the child to be protected from
economic exploitation and from performing any work
that is likely to be harmful or to interfere with the child’s
education, or to be harmful to the child’s health or
physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.”

6. SC Geographical footprints
Countries of focus for SC include, but not limited to
•Africa: Burkina Faso, Niger, Cote d'Ivoire,
Mali,Togo, Benin, Malawi, Ethiopia, Kenya,
Uganda, Rwanda
• Latin America and Caribbean: Mexico,
Nicaragua, Bolivia, El Salvador, Paraguay,
Peru, Dominican Republic, Honduras, Brazil
• Asia: Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, India, Fiji, Cambodia,
Thailand
• Middle East and Eurasia: Bosnia , Herzegovina, Montenegro,
Serbia, Egypt, Jordan

7. ChP: Policy, programmes and practice
Kenya Experience
 Children Lead the Way (CLW) program in Kenya targets
children working in khat (miraa) farms, quarries, domestic
work, water vending, coffee farms and scrap metal business
The Program aims
 to empower working girls, boys and youth to become
engaged citizens and access dignified work
 to protect children from exploitative, hazardous and worst
forms of child labour through prevention and withdrawal
and referral services

8. Children Lead theWay Program aims to ………
 to build the capacity of communities and structures to
protect children from getting into harmful work and
protect the rights of working children
 to advocate and engage with the government,
CSOs, children, to identify policy gaps and
review policies to support and protect children

9. Children Participation Strategies and Key Achievements
• Informing children about their rights and teach
them life-skills that contribute to their self-
confidence and resilience to resist exploitation
o child rights and life skills training for children
o Importantly children are taught on their rights to
education and play
o Children are informed about the existing support
structures within the communities and reporting
channels in case of abuse and exploitation

10. Strategies and Key Achievements…….
• Establishment and support child led
groups/organizations and peer to peer
methodologies
o SC has been supporting the African Movement of
Working Children andYouth
o Organizations/ groups for children and youth
engaged in work are successful forum
o 24 working children groups (WCGs)- 2 registered
with the MLSS&S
o Linkage of the groups to the Children
Assemblies/Parliament

11. Strategies and Key Achievements…….
o Peer education has been a key component and
CRCs in target schools are taking active role in
advocating for their rights and protecting their
peers from harmful work

12. Strategies and Key Achievements…….
• Building working children’s capacity to raise their
voice to influence national policies and practices
through collective actions
o A good example is the Kenya’s Child Labour Policy
o Formation of the Government led technical
committee
o Memoranda prepared by children to policy makers
o Key principles: child participation, best interest of the
child and decent work incorporated in the policy
o List of hazardous work developed with children’s input
o Consultation with children in the UNCRC reporting
(3rd, 4th and 5th report), Basic Education Act
formulation, Children’s Act (currently under review)

13. Strategies and Key Achievements…….
o Children involved in research studies and feedback on
recommendations sought- (baseline, Miraa study)
o Quarterly meetings with children and policy makers

14. ChildrenVoices
“Who said every work we do is bad? I have educated myself and
am now in form four in a good secondary school. My parents
passed on when i was a young boy; If it were not for the work i have
done for the last 6 years, i will be useless and on the streets
begging” (17 year old boy- garbage collection)
“Crushing stones is difficult, i hurt my fingers everyday, no one
seems to care here but if I left this work I would not get money to
buy food ” – 15 year old
“Nothing about us and for us without us” (13 year old boy) during
a children consultative meeting with policy makers)

16. Existing Policies/Laws related to child work/labour
• The Constitution of Kenya 2010 -53. (1) Every child has
the right––(d) to be protected from abuse, neglect, harmful
cultural practices, all forms of violence, inhuman treatment
and punishment, and hazardous or exploitative labour;
• Children’s Act 2001
• Social Protection Act- (OVC CT)
• Sexual Offences Act 2006
• Basic Education Act- age 16
• Employment Act 2007 – minimum age 16
• Tourism Act
• Counter Trafficking in Persons Act (2010)

17. Challenges
• Widespread cultural acceptance of work as part of
children’s socialization – hence exposing children to
unnoticed hazards
• High household poverty levels
• Non functional child protection structures (DCLCs,
AACs) to protect working children and those at risk of
entering into harmful work
• Dragging of the policy enactment (Devolved
government)- advocacy- right timing-right targets-right
packaging of key messages

18. Lessons Learnt
The multifaceted nature of child work calls for
•multi-level and multiple approaches (Policy & Legislative;
Action programs, functional child work monitoring and
referral system at national, county and community levels )
•Multiple approach that addresses the pull and push
factors to harmful work, including demand for (cheap)
labour, challenges in education system, household
circumstances etc

19. Lessons Learnt ……………
• Kenyan Government portrays some commitment
towards eliminating harmful work. However this
commitment is less translated into substantive
budgeting, programming, which have become advocacy
issues for CLW program.
• Partnerships, coalitions and harnessing of key messages
go a long away in fighting harmful child work.
• Children participation and specifically working
children has had a significant positive impact on our
own efforts.

20. Thank you! Asanteni!