The Mombasa government has expressed its commitment to addressing the most pressing issues in child labor in the county.
Consequently, the county public administration department, will enforce and implement all the aspects articulated in the Mombasa Call to Action against Child Labor.
This includes developing enabling laws and policies as well as supporting implementation programmes to build the capacity of the county government and stakeholders to address child labor, forced labor and trafficking of persons.
International Labour Organization (ILO) Deputy Regional Director Coffi Agossou said that the Mombasa Call to Action 2024 is a significant commitment to addressing the most pressing issues in child labor in the county.
The initiative speaks to among others, all the priority areas under the Duban Call to Action 2022, which is a global blueprint on addressing child labor.
The Mombasa Policy on the Elimination of Child Labor, which is currently under development is likely to be a key tool in supporting the development of key structures and programmes for effectively addressing child labor in the country.
Agossou said ILO through the CAPSA project will continue to provide technical and financial support to the Mombasa county government to develop the Mombasa County Policy on the elimination of child labor.
He said the project will be the country’s first standalone county level policy on child labor.
He added that the organization will also provide support to the county to establish a sub-committee on child labor, which will be anchored to the statutory County Children’s Advisory Committee.
“This will entrench the sub-committee as a policy making, enforcement and implementation and monitoring framework on child labor at the county government level,” he said.
He noted that the county government will also be able to develop the County of Mombasa Service Provider’s Directory of Stakeholders on Child labor and Referral pathways guide for Mombasa County.
“These two will be useful tools that I expect to support better coordination among service providers and provide useful information to the community, victims of child labor and human trafficking as well as survivors needing care and basic services for survival, development, and protection,” said Agossou.
The director said that child labour is a key issue, where more than 600 million children are in child labor, with 85 percent of them working in the agricultural set up and 38.5 million of children working in hazardous situations.
He noted that ILO appreciates the county’s effort in the fight against child labor, urging the governor and his team to implement the call for action in ending child labor.
“ILO will continue supporting the county in order to implement the policy, we will provide capacity building for the committee; provide tools in terms of guidelines, directives for the stakeholders to eliminate child labor. We will also work on data collection on developing the programme in order to implement the call with concrete action, and mobilize resources in aid to tackle this issue,” he said.
Mombasa County Secretary Jeizan Farook said that the county is steadfast in ensuring they support efforts in eliminating child labor.
Farook said they have collaborated with ILO and the Mombasa County Assembly in areas they discussed and agreed upon in terms of creating appropriate policies that will tackle the menace.
He said they have agreed to tackle about ten arrears which have already been documented waiting for the implementation.
These include the call to develop county policies, regulations, and legislation to eliminate child labor by 2024, while ensuring all children have access to free, compulsory, quality education and vocational training.
This also involves addressing harmful cultural practices strengthen data-driven, evidence-based programmes to prevent child labor, among others.
The county secretary noted that the county government is committed to expanding social protection schemes to support vulnerable households including those with disabilities or victims of gender-based violence.
Farook said they will foster multi-stakeholder collaboration to prevent the worst forms of child labor by promoting decent work for adults and youth.
“Through the Mombasa yangu programme, over 3000 youth have benefitted from skilled jobs within the county. We have also enrolled voluntary programmes to school going children during the holidays for children in primary and secondary schools,” he said.
He noted that they will do quite a number of sensitization at the headquarters and sub county level for sub-county administrators and enforcement officers to be able to be vigilant towards the elimination of child labor.
By Chari Suche
