PROJECT DESCRIPTION

Child Domestic Work and Child Trafficking Network in Central and West Africa

In 2001/2 Anti-Slavery International ran a project with partner NGOs from Togo, Bénin, Niger, Ghana, Burkina Faso and Gabon to highlight the problems of child trafficking, particularly into domestic service, in Central and West Africa. The project brought together NGOs with significant experience of the issue in countries where it was already acknowledged (Togo, Bénin) and NGOs who had only recently become involved (Guinea) and in countries that did not see child domestic work as a problem (Burkina Faso, Niger). The project was successful in establishing the first network of NGOs in the region on this issue, producing an agreed set of standards and good practice, (Code of Conduct) for dissemination to those government bodies and organisations most concerned. In addition the project helped to raise awareness of the exploitation suffered by many children as child domestics within the region.

In August 2003, the network received funding from the Baring Foundation, for a project which seeks to strengthen the work of the NGOs by providing training and information on campaigning methods at the local, regional and international levels, as well as supporting advocacy work by raising awareness locally of the issues of child trafficking and the exploitation of children in domestic service within the region. Furthermore, the network enables partners to co-ordinate their work on a sub-regional basis and to call for action at this level. Child trafficking within the region occurs both within countries and across borders and it is essential that the governments concerned co-operate closely in seeking solutions to the illegal trafficking and in methods of dealing with the problems of returning children to their homes. The NGO network moreover aims to improve the capacity of the individual NGOs to advocate for the necessary improvements.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

· Increase in public interest and awareness of the exploitation faced by children in domestic work and the risks of child trafficking.

· Better implementation of local laws on child domestic work and child trafficking in the countries of the project. The use of local laws to protect children from exploitative and illegal forms of labour will be monitored along with the use of laws on child trafficking.

· To work towards the reduction in the levels of child trafficking within the region as assessed by the ILO and by local organisations. This will also be checked against the data previously gathered by the Anti-Slavery International project and the various reports issued by the IPEC programme of the ILO.

· Improvements to inter-governmental co-operation within the region on issues of child trafficking. Members of the network are monitoring this through their own contacts and Anti-Slavery International is also monitoring any changes.

· Enhancing children’s participation in the decision making process relating to child domestic work and child trafficking, particularly those who are directly affected.

· To improve the ability of the local NGOs to lobby for change across the region, particularly on issues of trafficking.

Anti-Slavery International’s role is to act as an adviser and to integrate the results and recommendations emanating from the network into its own campaigning and awareness raising activities.

PARTNERS

Enfants Solidaires d’Afrique et du Monde (ESAM), Benin

Groupe de Recherche-Action pour un Développement Endogène de la Femme Rurale du Burkina Faso (GRADE – FRB), Burkina Faso

Collectif des ONG Contre le Trafic des Enfants (COCTE), Gabon

The Africa Centre for Human Development, Ghana

Action Contre Exploitation de l’Enfant et la Femme (ACEEF), Guinea

Association de Lutte Contre le Organisation Pour le Travail des Travail des Enfants au Niger (ALTEN) Enfants au Niger (OPTEN-YARA), Niger

Association Mondiale pour les Orphelins et les Enfants Abandonnés (WAO-Afrique), Togo