5.5M Pinoy kids trapped in child labor –EU ambassador

There are 5.5 million children engaged in labor in the Philippines, majority of them trapped in the “worst forms” of hard work, an European Union official said Wednesday.

"There is certainly a lot of work and challenges ahead as there are still 5.5 million Filipino children engaged in child labor, with 3 million of them trapped in the worst forms of labor," EU Ambassador Guy Ledoux said during the Forum on Ending the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Philippines.

Despite this number, Ledoux said the Philippine government's efforts to eradicate child labor is “encouraging.”

"I note that there is now in place a 'Convergence Program against Child Labor' which aims to create child labor-free communities by harmonizing the support systems at the local level," he said.

According to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the convergence program is the four-year project "H.E.L.P. M.E.," which stands for health, education, livelihood, and prevention, protection, and prosecution for H.E.L.P., while M.E. means  monitoring and evaluation.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Dimapilis-Baldoz said the program is a community-based approach against child labor to be implemented from 2013 to 2016.

During the event, EU-funded local partner Ecumenical Institute for Labor Education and Research Inc. shared their findings on children working for hazard-prone industries like mining and plantations and its impact on their social, mental, and physical well-being.

Quidan Kaisahan, another local partner, also reported how to address child labor through engaging local authorities with Negros province as the case study.

Aside from funding ongoing research projects on child labor, the EU would continue its financial support to the country's poverty alleviation programs and other reform efforts, Ledoux said.

"I would like to mention the ongoing EU support to the Philippine government's overall poverty
alleviation and justice system reform efforts. This includes the EU's support to the health sector (access to universal health care system including for indigenous peoples – € 30 M), anti-corruption agenda (public finance management) and justice sector (through the Access to Justice Programme EPJUST 2 – € 10 M),” he said.

Ledoux, citing the International Labour Organization, noted the decline of child labor incidence worldwide.

"From approximately 226 million in 2000, the latest figures show that the incidence of children engaged in labor went down to 168 million, which equals to a 74% reduction. Even more encouraging is the fact that the fastest decline rate has been recorded in the most harmful areas of work: from 171 million affected children, it is now down to 85 million," he said.   —Trisha Macas/KBK, GMA News