IREWOC Research Reports

The reports may be cited, printed and distributed freely, as long as all authors and IREWOC are mentioned clearly.

Project: Child Labour in the Netherlands

January 2011 - January 2012
Researchers: Talinay Strehl & Sarah de Vos
Project Director: Kristoffel Lieten
This project is funded by Stichting Utopa

IREWOC recently completed its research project on child labour in the Netherlands. A quantitative research was conducted by IREWOC researchers Talinay Strehl and Sarah de Vos among more than 2500 school children (12-15 years old), from 31 different schools throughout the country. Moreover, this research project included a qualitative component: 205 of the working children were interviewed by the researchers about their experiences with and perspectives on work. The result is an overview of paid and unpaid work done by children in the Netherlands, whether allowed by law or not.

read the report here (in Dutch)>>>>

The Worst Forms of Child Labour in Asia

January 2008 - March 2010

In spite of the breakthrough of Convention 182, the focus on the worst forms of child labour has been waning. Research indicates that the majority of NGOs work with children who perform light activities for only a few hours a day, which are actually tolerated under the ILO convention 182 norms. At the same time this relative absence of action is paralleled by a lack of information. Vast sectors are structurally overlooked and understudied. Additionally the qualitative material is very poor, excluding the perspectives of the child labourers and their parents.

IREWOC previously conducted this project in Latin America (see below). It was then expanded into Asia. Afke de Groot studied children in brick kilns, restaurants, and those working as porters in Nepal. Anna Ensing studied children working in the leather sector and the conditions of working girls in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The research reports will be added here as they become available.

Hazardous Child Labour in the Leather Sector of Dhaka, Bangladesh - by Anna Ensing

Girls in the Garment Sector in Tirupur, India

In 1989, the UN adopted the Child Rights Convention. The bottom line of the Convention is that children all over the world should avail of the same rights. This, many scholars in the western countries have argued, again amounts to the imposition of western values on the entire world. Such an imposition has been done under the garb of universalism, the relativists claim.
This study examines the relation between reality and desires of girls working in the garment industry. It describes their daily routines, their social relations, their work experience and their dreams. These are placed within the discussion of a universal versus a local childhood. Based on fieldwork findings, the argument is challenged that child labourers desire a culturally-defined childhood over the universal childhood. It appears that in Tirupur, where so many of our garments are made, the principles of the CRC do not seem to be imposed by purely western values. The girls in this study may indeed come from traditional backgrounds, but long for change and are positive about their future.

Please read the report, written by Froukje Gaasterland (2009):
Being a Good Girl: The construction of childhood in Tirupur, India

Rural Child Labour in Andean Countries

May 2008 - February 2009
Marten van den Berge, Laura Baas

According to its global report The End of Child Labour: Within Reach, the ILO estimates that 218 million children in the world work, of which 126 million in hazardous working conditions. SIMPOC/ILO estimates that 69% percent of all working children work in agriculture. In Latin-America 5.7 million children are involved in child labour, and again, the majority work in rural areas (70%). Although rural child labour in many Latin-American countries has been the subject of research and policy measures, the Andean region, which is one of the poorest regions of Latin-America, has been mostly overlooked.

IREWOC therefore conducted a research project in two Andean counties, Bolivia and Peru, in 2008. In each country, child labour on small family farms was compared with child labour on commercial plantations. The main research population included the children engaged in rural forms of child labour, their parents and (N)GO staff working with this target group. The research has produced knowledge on rural child labour informed by ground reality that looks beyond quantitative numbers, and which identifies the (context) specific needs of the children and their caretakers. The research explored the different forms of rural child labour and documented the opinions of the children, caretakers and development workers on the possible solutions to the problems.

This project was financed by the Dutch Ministry of Social Affairs and Employment and PLAN Netherlands.

Please download our summary report here>>> Rural Child Labour in Andean Countries: problems and solutions

Child Labour in Guaraní Communities in Bolivia- by Laura Baas

Child Labour on Sugar Cane Plantations in Bolivia- by Laura Baas

Rural Child Labour in Peru. A comparison of child labour in traditional and commercial agriculture - by Marten van den Berge

The Worst Forms of Child Labour in Latin America

September 2006 - May 2008
Marten van den Berge, Anna Ensing, Luisa Quiroz, Laura Baas

To tackle this lack of information and contribute to policy making in the field of child protection, the IREWOC Foundation started an action-based research in September 2006 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Latin America. Research questions were designed to accommodate policy making by first mapping the ground reality of child labourers and their families and to subsequently identify best practices of governmental and nongovernmental organisations in this field. A special focus within the research is on the relation between the worst forms of child labour and education.

Based on partnerships and former research experience, IREWOC chose to conduct this research on the Latin American continent. Research was carried out in Bolivia, Peru and Guatemala. The selected sectors were mining, commercial agriculture, markets and waste collecting. Within these sectors NGOs working on the worst forms of child labour will be evaluated as to make an inventory of best practices.

The research results were presented to a selection of policy makers and members of the press, on Thursday 22nd May 2008, in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Please download our summary report here>>>The Worst Forms of Child Labour in Latin America: Identification and Policy Options

The Spanish version of this report can be downloaded here>>> Las Peores Formas de Trabajo Infantil en America Latina: Identificacion y Opciones Estrategicas

The individual country reports will not be published in hard copy, but can be downloaded here>>>>
Child Labour in the Mining Sector of Peru
Child Labour in the Urban Sectors of Peru
Child Labour in Mining and Quarrying in Cajamarca, Peru
Child Labour in the Mining Sector of Bolivia
Child Labour in the Sugar Cane Harvest in Bolivia
Child Labour and Quarrying in Guatemala
Child Labour in the Coffee Sector of Guatemala

The results of the fieldwork were presented at local meetings prior to the finalization of the summary report. Concise recordings of these procedures are included in the summary report.

Deprived Children and Education

January 2006 - November 2007
Afke de Groot, Albertine de Lange, Heike Roschanski

In January 2006 Irewoc started a child-based research project on deprived children and education in which the focus is on the realities of the children and their parents. This study aims to deepen the understanding as to why many children do not go to school by collecting insights from the source. Are the reasons economic, cultural or are they related to the relevance and quality of education? Detailed anthropological fieldwork was carried out in areas with alarming figures regarding non-schooling and illiteracy in Africa (Burkina Faso, Ethiopia, Ghana and Kenya), South Asia (Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh).

The Summary Report of the main findings from the seven country reports is available here>>>
Education in Rural Areas: Obstacles and Relevance

This summary report is also available in hard copy; please send your order to

The country reports will not be published in hard copy, but can be downloaded here>>>>
Burkina Faso
Ethiopia
Ghana
Kenya
Nepal
Pakistan

Working Children: Unionisation and Participation

Marten van den Berge, Godefroid Nimbona, Heike Roschanski

This study was conducted in Peru, Bolivia, Senegal, India, Ethiopia, Kenya and Rwanda. The principal objective was to analyse how working children in selected developing countries are organised, and how, by their participation/non-participation in organised movements, they have effected changes in their working circumstances, in their self-esteem and in their prospects. Positive outcomes have been claimed by the child labour unions and by their protagonists. This research aimed to establish whether the lofty ideals are realised, and whether or not such unions contribute to condoning and legitimising child labour.

Country reports can be downloaded here >>>
Peru
Bolivia
India
West Africa
East Africa

Hard copies of the country reports can be ordered from

Child Labour Migration and Trafficking in Burkina Faso’s South-Eastern Cotton Sector

Albertine de Lange
2006

This study contributes to the understanding of African child labour migration, including child trafficking, a type of child labour migration whereby children are actively recruited and transported by adults. Both practices often lead to exploitation of children and especially child trafficking is currently receiving growing attention as a serious violation of children’s rights.
In this study, explanations for the occurrence and persistence of child labour migration were investigated by looking both at the child catchment area, i.e. communities and families that are affected by the phenomenon, and on the farms where the children are being employed.
The focus of this study was on rural-rural child labour migration, which generally involves the migration (including trafficking) of rural children to commercial cotton plantations elsewhere.

Read the report "Going to Kompienga">>>

Studying Child Labour. Policy implications of child-centred research

IREWOC
2005

IREWOC staff presented their findings from three projects completed in the past year. The projects involved the themes of education, child agency and participation in the context of organised working children, and child labour migration and trafficking.

Read the report>>>

Children as Agents in Development

Individual Country Reports:

Vietnam: Children and Development in Vietnam, by Le Thi Quy
Central America: The Child Participation Approach of Plan International: Childpro and Child Media in Central America, by Ingrid Stegeman
El Salvador and Honduras: Transcripts of Childpro and Child Media Events in El Salvador and Honduras, by Ingrid Stegeman
Bolivia: Niños Estudiantes Trabajadores en Bolivia: Sector Urbano-Rural, by David LLanos Layme y Antonio Moreno Valdivia (Spanish version)
Nicaragua: Situacion de la Ninez y Perspectivas de Desarrollo Humano en Nicaragua, by Dr. Luis Serra y Marcia Castillo S. Ph. D. (Cand.) (Spanish version)

The synopsis of the final report Children As Agents In Development is available in English.