World Day Against Child Labour 2022

Worst Forms of Child Labour

In 2020, a report by the US Department of Labor found that, in Nepal, approximately 286,000 children are working for pay. In addition, of the 34,338 individuals subject to forced labour, an estimated 17% of children. These children are often either enslaved, separated from their families, exposed to serious hazards, abuse, exploitation and illnesses and/or left to fend for themselves on the streets of large cities, often at a very early age.

Whilst child labour takes many different forms, a priority is to eliminate without delay the worst forms of child labour, as defined by Article 3 of ILO Convention No. 182 . In our effort to address this issue, ChildHope UK and partner Voice of Children are leading a child-focused and child-led action research programme ‘CLARISSA’ in Nepal to understand the push and pull factors, business dynamics and impact of COVID-19 on child labourers and business as a whole within the Adult Entertainment Sector.

CLARISSA

Our aim is to build a strong evidence base and generate innovative solutions for children and young people subject to the WFCL (Worst Forms of Child Labour) to contribute to a decrease in the number of children in the WFCL. The programme design responds to the weak evidence base of what drives children into the WFCL and the lack of novel solutions that build on children’s and other stakeholders’ perspectives and experiences.

Through this programme, we are supporting intervention for which we are forming Action Research Groups among children and young people to analyse the dynamics which push them into exploitative situations and identify practical solutions. We anticipate this will generate innovative thinking around safety and security, resilience, access to services, rescue and rehabilitation, education, governance and enforcement.

Funded by the Foreign and Commonwealth Development Office, Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-Eastern Asia (CLARISSA) is a consortium programme led by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), Brighton UK in partnerships with ChildHope UK, Consortium for Street Children and Terre Des Hommes in Nepal and Bangladesh.