TECL II
TECL Implementation Plan: Swaziland
The programme Towards the Elimination of worst forms of Child Labour adopted a four-stage plan that would culminate in the finalisation of a national programme of action on child labour that had the support of the Swaziland Government and major stakeholders.
Stage 1 involved the setting up of the country secretariat, the establishment of the Programme Advisory Committee on Child Labour (PACC) and the convening of a strategic planning workshop.
Stage 2 focused on scoping and design of specific projects and selecting the rapid assessment studies to be conducted. The secretariat and the PACC played a key role in determining these priorities and leading the process of formulating a country-specific plan.
Stage 3 was a period of implementation of selected projects, self-evaluation and further planning in the light of the evaluation process.
Stage 4 centred on final evaluation, including self-evaluation and planning for continuation, plus the sharing of best practices and lessons learnt among partners in the sub-region.
Nature of interventions
The projects identified for implementation during stages 3 and 4 were organised into four main streams of activity.
Stream 1: Building knowledge on worst forms of child labour
Rapid assessment studies focused on the following:
- Children used by adults to commit crime (CUBAC). The study would establish the nature and extent of the practice as well as examining the social context and policy environment.
- Child trafficking with a focus on domestic work and commercial agriculture. Once again the aim was to determine the size and nature of the problem and to analyse the context and the policy environment.
- Commercial sexual exploitation of children. Once again the goal was to define the problem more clearly and understand the social context and policy environment.
Stream 2: Strengthening consultation on child labour
This was to focus on the review of available data and the legal and policy analysis undertaken during the initial scoping study in 2003. The purpose was to prepare a comprehensive, up-to-date discussion document on child labour that would serve as a tool to engage stakeholders and utilise their expertise to develop an even more informed overview.
Stream 3: Formulating a programme of action
The Swaziland PACC committed itself to formulating an Action Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour. This stream would focus on a broad consultation process with adults and children to identify key child labour concerns in various parts of the country and to discuss action steps. The process produced the first draft of the Action Programme. A second draft would form the basis of negotiations with key Ministries and a final draft would be put forward for consideration and adoption in the third quarter of 2007.
Stream 4: Sharing of experience and best practice
The exchange of information and experience was to occur not only across the country but also with other countries in the region.
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