Start date: 2014
End date: /
Project Categories:
Child Labour
Description:
Since 2014, the SNEC has been active in the development of child labour free zones in 59 villages situated in 6 communes. The SNEC has done so in collaboration with the NGOs Enda Mali, Alphalog, CAEB, or on its own.
Goals:
/
Activities:
Main activities:
- Production of training manuals on child labour issues,
- Training of 920 local teachers and union leaders on children rights, child labour, communication skills,child-centred pedagogy, Malian and international norms related to children rights,
- Village general assemblies,
- Setting up of village monitoring committees,
- Setting up of associations of mothers of pupils,
- Setting up of 80 anti-child labour clubs,
- Using the media to sensitize on child labour,
- Lobbying to better enforce the Malians laws and international conventions on child labour.
Results:
Among the main results: ,
- 1.100 children withdrawn from child labour and attending school ,
- Important reduction of the dropout rates in the schools targeted,
- Significant improvements in academic results,
- Snowball effect, whereby villages who have not benefited directly from the project have been inspired by the successes of neighboring villages who were included in the project, and started to pay attention to the struggle against child labour,
- A mementum for education: Village leaders are pushing everyone to send the children to school, adhoc local solutions are found to help the families who may not afford the school costs,
- More girls are supported to attend secondary schools (and are used as role models to inspire others). As part of the SNEC project, with the help of the associations of mothers of pupils, focal point teachers are talking the lead to prevent the early marriage/pregnancies, one of the main reasons leading the girls to dropout from school,
- Children (mostly girls) who have been sent (or who went by themselves) to Bamako to work (usually as maids) are brought back to their villages, before unexpected early pregnancies,
- The education union SNEC is strengthened (in terms of members, visibility, bargaining power) ,
- Issues related to child labour have been included in the official curriculum,
- Increased employment protection and respect for community teachers,
- Increased capacity to represent the interests of its members at communal level,
- Improved advocacy with education authorities at regional and national level.
Contact:
Samuel Grumiau (EI): samuel.grumiau@ei-ie.org
Funding:
GEW Fair Childhood Foundation, AOb, Mondiaal FNV, HIVOS
