Public Education Campaigns about Child Labor
IIECL staff worked with various media sources to assist them with coverage of stories for news and documentaries regarding child labor, both within the United States and abroad. One such story recently aired on the NBC news program in Los Angeles that addressed child labor in agriculture in the northern export plantations in Mexico. Another documentary, Stolen Childhoods, received financial support from IIECL to help with the financing of the documentary. This documentary has been featured on Oprah and at a recent United Nations meeting on the Convention of the Rights of the Child.
Child Labor Research Activity
IIECL staff are working with EnCompass, a women-owned firm that is under contract to provide technical assistance to the US Department of Labor. IIECL’s staff are assisting EnCompass with the identification of qualified in-country consultants to perform data collection activities. This activity requires researching to identify qualified individuals with expertise in child labor, experience conducting data collection, and have effective communication and writing skills. In an effort to build in-country capacity, IIECL staff are looking to identify persons who are residents and native of the targeted countries. The countries include: Bhutan, Central African Republic, Chad, Djibouti, Georgia, India, Nigeria, Russia, and Solomon Islands. IIECL staff are accepting CVs of qualified consultants. Individuals meeting these qualifications and who would like to be added to IIECL’s database of child labor consultants, please forward your CVs, contact information for three references (including international donors, government and NGO officials), and the daily consulting rate in USD to Diane@endchildlabor.org.
Additionally, IIECL staff may be involved in early 2005 with the conduct of baseline studies in four East African countries (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Ethiopia). IIECL is looking to identify in-country researchers with expertise in conducting baseline studies, who are effective writers, speak and write English, and have an understanding of child labor issues in their respective home country. Individuals who meet these qualifications and are interested in being considered, please forward your CV to Diane@endchildlabor.org.
Youth Mini-Grant Initiative
IIECL’s Board of Directors and staff have recognize that there is so much more that needs to be done to meet the level of unmet needs involving child labor problems in developing and developed nations. As a result, IIECL has initiated its “Education Works” program to provide small mini-grants to NGOs and youth groups working to promote prevention, rescue and education programs for children and out-of-school youth caught up in abusive and exploitative child labor. These mini-grants allow small organizations and groups providing direct services to child laborers to address unmet needs at the community level.
Financial support for these projects is being sought to help IIECL achieve its goals of providing, not only technical, but financial assistance as well. IIECL has received numerous proposals for technical and financial support from child labor service providers in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the US as well. Although IIECL has limited funds available at this time, IIECL has awarded three mini-grants for the following projects in 2003-2004:
Stolen Childhoods (video production project): This grant was awarded to Galen Films to assist with the final production costs related to the development, production and distribution of the film on child labor worldwide entitled, “Stolen Childhood.” For more information on the film, to obtain copies and learn more, click here.
Viewing Child Labor Through a Child’s Eyes (photography project): This project provides children with disposable cameras to document and record the child labor that they see within their communities. Ms. Emily Sanders will be conducting an education project with child laborers for the purpose of education and prevention of child labor in a targeted community. She will be responsible for the outreach and identification of the children participating in the project; establishing a baseline of information about the knowledge, attitudes and practice of the children at the onset of the project; distributing and collecting cameras and processing the photographs taken by the children; and working with the children to present their photographs and help educate other children about child labor.
Photo Book on Child Labor (photography): This grant was awarded to David Parker, M.D., who has traveled worldwide taking photographs of children involved in the worst forms of child labor. He is preparing his book for publication that will be a compilation of his photographs over the years.
Take a look at the “How you can help!” section of our website for more details on how you can be a part of intervening and saving the lives of children caught in the worst forms of child labor worlwide.