Help combat child labor & human trafficking

There are still many children in our community who are victims of child labor; and many of them are involved in hazardous labor. Almost half of child labor in our community is from Angola. One in five children in the Ohangwena region (19.6%) is a child laborer, whilst prevalence in other regions such as Kavango West and East Zambezi Omushati and Oshana is Unkwown. This report highlights a community-based child rights education intervention implemented through the project, to address the problem.

The project contributed to a two percent increase in school enrolment and 1 per cent increase in entrepreneurship (which has been associated with a decrease in child labor trafficking and other victims, an equivalence of 35 learners 3 young women victims, seven months after implementation. The project has also contributed to United Nations Sustainable Development Goals five and 16 (promoting gender equality, facilitating human rights advancement and strengthening accountable institutions. It also provides project implementation strategies to support the efforts of anti-trafficking institutions to ASPOVC/Implementing Agency. In addition, it fosters awareness on the traumatic impact of child labor trafficking and a call to action for social workers to develop clinical interventions to support victims. It also addresses various limitations, implications, and future directions to the organization.

 Child labor trafficking remains one of the major forms of abuse against children in Namibia. There is currently unspecified number of children in Namibia between the ages of 5–17. Though child labor trafficking is prevalent in various ways in Namibia, the Agriculture community poses the greatest risk. This is partly due to a large number of children involved in hazardous agriculture and the risk of missing their relatives for far searching of employment.

Intervention Model

ASPOVC’s multi-preventive and community-wide intervention approach draws its implementation framework. The project looks at the child’s development within the context of the systems of relationships that form their environment. The project posits that the interaction between the child, their immediate family, school, and community environment steers their development Therefore, the ASPOVC project believes that applying an intervention for the child in addressing child labor and trafficking is insufficient until all systems and external factors that influence the child are included in the intervention.

Organization and the project focuses on influencing the child’s microsystems (immediate family), mesosystems (school and broader community environment), and macro systems (cultural and social values) by shifting social and cultural norms that create an enabling environment that facilitate the prevention child labor trafficking.

Project’s community-based approach is consistent with other projects that use ecological systems as a conceptual model to explain the importance of community partnership in advancing cultural cohesion that eventually promotes healthy youth outcomes such as school attendance and for self determination.

Evidence shows that child labour, forced labour and human trafficking in global supply chains can be traced to the interplay of three critical dimensions: (a) gaps in statutory legislation, enforcement and access to justice that create space for non-compliance; (b) socio-economic pressures facing individuals and workers; and (c) business conduct and overall business environment. These fundamental labour rights violations need to be understood as structural phenomena that require comprehensive policy responses.

To address the challenges of child labour, forced labour and human trafficking, tis project implements relevant standards and Conventions and enforcement of national laws and regulations that are of paramount importance. More efforts are needed by Organizations to support each other through technical cooperation and the exchange of experience.

The project is implementing programs that helps in mitigate the evil of child labour and human traffickings as follows:

1. The social service workforce - plays a core role in preventing and responding to labour rights violations and abuses, and removing children from child labour and people from forced labour and trafficking. (Strengthening the reach, calibre and funding of the social service workforce is crucial).

2.  Investments in child survival interventions and access to basic services such as nutrition, water, sanitation and hygiene, and health services - these needed to ensure children’s healthy development, and help break intergenerational cycles of poverty.

3. Stronger social protection systems to guarantee adequate standard of living, including social protection floors - these are necessary to offset the vulnerabilities that can push people into forced labour and human trafficking or that can oblige families to send their children to work as survival strategies.

4. Microfinance -this can help vulnerable families avoid falling victim to debt bondage, as access to the financial market through such schemes helps reduce their dependence on employers, recruiters and other moneylenders for loans. Access to credit also enables families to hedge against some of the risks they face.

In conclusion, the project is hardly reaching itts objectives due to unvailability of te needed funds.

• feeding.docx (DOCX)