Author: Tanja Brok
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”I have a dream”
My name is Belaynesh Molla. I live in Amhara National Regional State, South Gondar zone of Estie Woreda at Mekane-Eyesus kebele. I am 17 years old and attending grade 8 at Tejibara Primary School. I am the fifth child of my parents. My parents are economically very poor to fulfill my educational expenses and they…
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Freeing children from child labour
Child labour interferes with children’s right to education. Many factors result in child labour, including poverty, social norms, lack of decent work for parents and deficiencies in the school system. Some children then opt to work either to help put food on the table in their household or simply for their own survival. Here are…
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Remedial classes and child rights clubs
In supporting education and preventing child labour in Chigudu zone, strategic interventions like remedial classes and child rights clubs have achieved a positive impact on the lives of learners and communities as a whole, as we can see from the following examples. In response to the challenge of children at risk of dropping out of…
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20 years Stop Child Labour: Malawi
The following stories present successes from Chigudu zone, Dowa district Malawi. It showcases the importance of the involvement of community leaders such as village heads, teachers and parents in a child labour free zone (CLFZ) approach. In addition, it describes the strategic interventions of a child labour free zone and illustrates this with the example…
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Involving community leaders in establishing a child labour free zone
In the fight against child labour, community leaders play an important role in mobilising resources, raising child labour awareness and enforcing bylaws. This story highlights the impactful role of social dialogue in involving community leaders such as village heads, school governors and headteachers in implementing a child labour free zone (CLFZ) approach, focusing on sensitisation,…
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The women and children of N’Goron and Teriyabougou
With support from the WNCB programme, the women of Korodougou commune, Bla district, Ségou region, set up a women’s group in 2020. A WNCB grant of CFA 250,000 (West African CFA francs) (about EUR 380) enabled them to start undertaking income-generating activities. Within the larger Korodougou commune group, women living in the communities of N’Goron…
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20 years Stop Child Labour: Mali
The Work: No Child’s Business (WNCB) programme contributes to global efforts to end all forms of child labour and to ensure that children and youth enjoy their right to quality education and to (future) decent work (1). Save the Children Netherlands, UNICEF Netherlands and the Stop Child Labour coalition lead the WNCB alliance. The two…
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Kalilou’s story
Kalilou Bouaré is a child who lives with a disability that affects his right foot. He is currently enrolled in 6th grade at the basic school in his native commune of Kazangasso, Bla district, Ségou region. However, Kalilou did not always have the opportunity to go to school. Due to his disability, his parents thought…
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Woudé’s story
“My name is Woudé Balde. I was born on 20 October 2005 in Dioumana, a village 2 km from Thiéty, the commune’s administrative centre. I go to Lycée Alpha Molo Baldé in Kolda and am general secretary of the girls’ club in my village. After passing the BFEM [brevet de fin d’études moyennes or middle…
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Mariatou’s story
Mariatou Diallo is a 15-year-old 5th grade student at Gadapara middle school in Kolda city, southern Senegal. Mariatou comes from a vulnerable family. Her parents didn’t care about the civil status of their children and have never registered Mariatou and her younger brothers with the civil authorities. Mariatou was at risk of remaining without an…
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20 years Stop Child Labour: Senegal
Of these three stories from Senegal, two feature girls who have benefited from the ENDA Jeunesse Action Senegal programme ‘A l’école en toute sérénité’, funded by the Dutch children’s organization Kinderpostzegels (1). The third story describes how another girl’s opportunities were transformed by ‘Her Choice’ (2).
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A. has been a victim of child labor from 2013 to 2015. He is now a student medical laboratory technology
A. was a one-month-old baby when his parents divorced in 2001. His mother went back to live with his maternal grandmother. Two months later, his mother married another man, she abandoned A. to his grandmother. She took care of him until he joined primary school at the age of 5. People in the community didn’t…
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Mothers defending children rights
Introduction The two stories here describe mothers who have taken active roles in anti-child-labour project work in their communities supported by the Ugandan NGO CEFORD (1). The first story is written by Okaya John Bosco, Team leader of Community Empowerment for Rural Development (CEFORD) and the second story is compiled by Masika Jennipher (CLLO). “Mama…
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Parents also gain when child labour ends
Parents have gained as adults from the campaign to stop child labour, and their children have thrived as a result. In these two stories, each parent changed their minds about education during implementation of the Stop Child Labour project in Erussi subcounty, Nebbi district, northwest Uganda, by the Uganda National Teachers’ Union (UNATU) and the…
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Children’s and young people’s stories
These five stories concern four children and one young adult in Uganda who were out of school, and in most cases forced into child labour. For each one, anti-child-labour interventions and campaigns involving NGOs, teachers’ unions and the local community helped them chart a new course in life. These stories offer inspiration for children and…
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Ending child labour in Busia district
How to end child labour globally is a constant discussion without always having precise answers. But at a local level in the eastern border district of Busia, Uganda (an area of small-scale, artisanal and informal gold mines), the NGO Environmental Women in Action for Development (EWAD) has simplified the question of ending child labour, based…
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20 years Stop Child Labour: Uganda
The stories underneath originate from several organizations. The stories present different voices from Uganda concerned with child labour such as community mobilizers, parents, and former child labourers.
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Parents Embracing Inclusive Education.
Oyirwoth James is a 9-year-old primary one pupil of Kaya primary school in Paidha sub-county Zombo district. Together with his parents, he lives in Theyau village in Kaya parish. He said that his parents (both mother and father) are drunkards who fight every time over simple things due to some misunderstandings. Above all, they would…
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Two girls freed from child labour
G.M.’s story G.M. is 16 years old and comes from Ségué, a village in Banh department, Loroum province, northwest Burkina Faso. Because of terrorist attacks, G.M.’s family moved to the town of Banh. Given the precarious conditions and poverty in which the family lived, her father went to seek work in the gold mines of…
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Over 400 children return to school thanks to education union project against child labour
A Comprehensive Approach to Awareness and Training STEB’s project focuses on training and awareness-raising activities involving teachers, school principals, and local authorities. They were trained on children’s rights, the definition of child labour, and ways to raise awareness about the importance of education. STEB President Remy Nsengiyumva noted that many parents underestimate the harm of…
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20 years Stop Child Labour: Burundi
The following story takes place in Gihanga, a commune in Burundi. Over 400 children have returned to school thanks to an anti-child labor initiative by the Union of Education Workers of Burundi (STEB), supported by Education International, the AOb, Mondiaal FNV and the GEW Fair Childhood Foundation. Launched in January 2024, the project has successfully…
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Raising awareness is the key to combating child labour
FESEN’s pilot project began in 2019 with training for teachers, school management committees and community leaders. A main element of the training is the distinction between prohibited child labour and socialising work. The latter does not interfere negatively with a child’s schooling, health or personal development. These training sessions open the eyes of teachers and…
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20 years Stop Child Labour: Togo
In Sotouboua prefecture, central Togo, children’s agricultural and domestic work is the main activity that hinders their schooling. In response, the Togolese education trade union federation FESEN is undertaking a pilot project in Sotouboua with international partners (Education International, the Dutch education union AOb, international solidarity and support organisation Mondiaal FNV and the GEW Fair…
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20 years Stop Child Labour: Burkina Faso
The Association des Jeunes pour le Bien-être Familial (AJBF) in Ouahigouya city, northern Burkina Faso, is an association that works to promote health, education, humanitarian action and human rights, particularly for children. It runs a transit centre in Ouahigouya for children in difficult circumstances, supported by the Dutch children’s charity Kinderpostzegels. The two girls featured in…
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Supporting mothers and their children
Mulu Tesema’s Story “My name is Mulu Tesema Zeleke, and I live in a small town called Mekane Eyesus in the South Gondar zone of Amhara regional state. I work as a daily labourer and am a mother to two daughters and two sons. Unfortunately, due to my financial difficulties, it has been a struggle…
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20 years Stop Child Labour: Ethiopia
Wabe Children’s Aid and Training (WCAT) is a charity in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, supported by the Dutch children’s organization Kinderpostzegels. WCAT works to alleviate the socioeconomic and environmental problems of vulnerable children, youth, women and other community members and to transform their lives by empowering them to become productive and responsible citizens free from poverty…
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20 years Stop Child Labour: Ghana
This story of two former fisher-boys in Ghana, Jonani and Freeman, shows how, once rescued from child labour, both became positive influences in their community. This highlights the broader impact of supporting children, which extends beyond their own lives to benefit the people around them. The story was told by Andrews Addoquaye Tagoe during an…
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From child fisher-boys to community role models
Jonani and Freeman were fisher-boys who were discovered in one of the earlier projects against child labour in Ghana. They used to work together on a boat on Lake Volta, the largest artificial lake globally and home to a sizeable fishing industry. The boys worked long days, starting as early as 4:00 a.m., and in…
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Achieving child labour free zones: interview with R. Venkat Reddy of the MV Foundation, India
“MV Foundation considers any child who is not in school to be a child labourer, irrespective of the work he or she does. It firmly believes that every child not in school can become a potential student and every child in school can be a child labourer, if he or she drops out of school.’’…
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20 years Stop Child Labour: India
The following story is an interview with R. Venkat Reddy, the National Convenor of the Organisation, MV Foundation based in Hyderabad, South India. Rense Hermans & Nathan Schouten interviewed Venkat online in February 2024. The interview was part of a story-gathering project Rense & Nathan have undertaken in a range of countries during recent months…
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20 years Stop Child Labour: Stories
The Stop Child Labour (SCL) coalition is proud to celebrate 20 years of collaboration with many organizations worldwide, all dedicated to protecting children from child labour and ensuring their right to education. Through the establishment of Child Labour Free Zones (CLFZ), communities take active measures to prevent children from being involved in child labour. To…
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12 June 2024 World Day Against Child Labour
On the 12th of June is the World Day Against Child Labour. Every year, Stop Child Labour celebrates the work that has been done to eliminate child labour and calls attention to the work that still needs to be done. We must protect children’s rights. We all agree that children should not be working; they…
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SCL partner Andrews Addoquaye Tagoe receives 2024 Iqbal Masih Award
We want to congratulate Andrews Addoquaye Tagoe for receiving the 2024 Iqbal Masih Award on June 5th. “This award indicates that our work in rural communities using the CLFZ approach through the area-based approach is yielding results, even in challenging conditions,” To eradicate all forms of child labour we need to work together, it is…
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Loly’s story
Loly Dia is an 11-year-old girl in Senegal and the child of divorced parents. When Loly’s mother won custody of her, she fled with her to Dakar, the capital. However, without a job, her mother was unable to send Loly to school, and Loly was forced to abandon her education. Loly, her mother and grandmother…