US embassy cable - 05MANILA1897

UNCLAS MANILA 001897 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR EAP/PMBS, DRL/IL, DRL/CRA, G/TIP 
LABOR FOR ILAB 
SEOUL FOR POL/C ERIC JOHN 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PREL, PGOV, ELAB, PHUM, ECON, RP 
SUBJECT:  COMBATING CHILD LABOR IN THE PHILIPPINES 
 
REF: A. MANILA 0971 
 
-    B. 04 MANILA 4072 
-    C. 04 MANILA 0962 
 
1.  (U) Two DOL-funded programs in the Philippines (as well 
as elsewhere in the region) are now focused on combating 
child labor.  According to the GRP, over four million 
children are currently forced to work full time.  Of these, 
2.4 million are working in hazardous jobs such as mining, 
deep-sea fishing, and pyrotechnic manufacturing, as well as 
the commercial sex trade.  Some children also fall victim to 
trafficking in persons (TIP).  Details of the projects 
follow: 
 
-- Community-based Innovations to Reduce Child Labor through 
Education (CIRCLE) Project:  This USD 5 million initiative 
is the newest USG effort to combat child labor worldwide. 
The project has an emphasis on preventing the worst forms of 
labor that endanger and/or degrade children.  Winrock 
International, a U.S.-based NGO, is the main partner 
coordinating this regional effort, which includes mini- 
projects in Bangladesh, Cambodia, India, Nepal, Pakistan, 
and Vietnam as well as the Philippines.  Winrock is working 
through local NGOs and community-based organizations in 
order to strengthen national and local institutions.  The 
projects also seek to improve the host country's formal and 
non-formal educational systems so that children attend 
school and are not forced to work; 
 
-- ABK (first three letters of the Filipino alphabet) 
Initiative:  The International Labor Organization's 
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO- 
IPEC) administers this USD 5 million project in coordination 
here with World Vision and the Philippine Departments of 
Labor and Employment and of Education.  The program provides 
books, uniforms, and educational stipends to former child 
laborers, allowing them to return to school.  In addition, 
it offers livelihood programs to parents to make up for lost 
income from their children's labor.  Other foci include 
strengthening national policies to discourage child labor, 
raising awareness of child labor, and promoting the 
sustainability of anti-child labor programs run by schools 
and government.  The ABK Initiative began in 2003, when ILO- 
IPEC began to identify children engaged in the worst forms 
of child labor.  The first group of beneficiaries enrolled 
in school in 2004.  More children will leave the work force 
and (re-)enter school when classes resume in June.  The 
program is slated to continue through 2007. 
 
2.  (U) Labatt spoke at the opening ceremony of CIRCLE 
Project on April 11 and Laboff addressed its Filipino 
partners on April 14.  On April 20, Laboff spoke at the 
first annual meeting of the ABK Initiative Child Labor 
Congress.  Major media organizations attended the events, 
providing newspaper and television coverage that highlighted 
USG support. 
 
3.  (U) Next Steps:  Mission will monitor the progress of 
both projects closely through meetings with partners and 
site visits.  Mission will identify additional projects to 
support the USG's goal of reducing the incidence of child 
labor, a serious problem in the Philippines.  We will also 
seek to establish some new child-specific components in USG- 
funded anti-TIP programs. 
 
RICCIARDONE