Tanzania and Philippines: Successful direct action programmes on Child domestic labour

The plight of girls in Tanzania

In the United Republic of Tanzania, discrimination against girls in terms of the work they are expected to do in the home and their exclusion from family inheritance is having the effect of making them actively seek domestic service work.

Tanzania ratified the ILO Minimum Age Convention in 1998 and is now implementing its provisions using IPEC-trained labour inspectors. With IPEC support, the Ministry of Labour child labour unit had developed a coherent, realistic and implementable child labour policy by end-1999. The IPEC-supported programme in the United Republic of Tanzania addresses the dangers of entering domestic service while also taking into consideration the fact that remaining at home implies abuse and a strong likelihood of education being withheld.

TAMWA

A Tanzanian association of women journalists and lawyers, known as TAMWA, has taken the lead in the prevention campaign for child domestic workers, as a result of the growing number of girls under 14 recruited from rural areas to work in the major urban centres, such as Dar-es-Salaam, Arusha and Mwanza. TAMWA has to date reached 4,500 girls in six locations.

TAMWA operates centres at the points where the girls are recruited, contacts them on their arrival in the cities and provides basic assistance to them. Women domestic workers help by offering support and guidance to the girls. TAMWA also carries out awareness-raising campaigns in the media and conducts village seminars for parents and community leaders; these have contributed to a sharp decline in recruitment.

The Tanzania Federation of Trade Unions has also formulated a package of interventions against child domestic labour and in one region of the country its actions reduced recruitment by 65-70 per cent over a five month period in 13 villages.

Visayan Forum, Manila

In the Philippines, a particularly successful project is being carried out by Visayan Forum, a national NGO. Facing the problem of being unable to make contact with child domestic workers in their place of work, Visayan Forum has organized a scheme known as Luneta Park Activities' at Luneta Park in Manila, where the child domestics congregate on Sundays. This has proved to be an effective method of providing direct services. It has even led to the creation of an Association of Household Workers.

Launched with IPEC support, the project has achieved the following results:

n children have been assisted in leaving abusive working conditions and reunited with their families or relatives
n basic needs of child domestic workers, such as temporary shelter, medical care, legal assistance, counseling and schooling expenses have been provided on a regular basis
n children have been educated to support their peers and negotiate better working conditions
n many children have gained leadership skills and have taken part in advocacy and awareness-raising programmes, resulting in improved practice by employers.

Since 1997, Visayan Forum has provided services to 1,500 child domestic workers and has expanded operations to three more cities, reaching some 2,000 more children.

Visayan Forum has also organized consultations with the domestics themselves human rights groups and legal practitioners to map out a common strategy to lobby for the adoption of a proposed House Helper Act.

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