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The ECLT Foundation works directly with communities in 6 countries.

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Brighter Futures in Mozambique

In Mozambique, 1 in 5 children is in child labour, doing work that puts their health, safety, education and development at risk. Since 2013, ECLT’s projects in Mozambique have helped over 10,000 children and 14,000 adults learn about child labour, safer farming, saving and loaning, improve nutrition and have access to better schools. Building from these successes, ECLT has launched a new project with International Development Entreprise (iDE) and Fundaçao Apoio Amigo (FAA) to reach a further 32,000 community members over the next 3 years.

Over half of the population in Mozambique live on less than USD 1.90 per day and nearly 52% of children do not complete primary education. ECLT continues to work collaboratively to fight child labour in Mozambique, focusing on solutions and supporting the National Action Plan against the Worst Forms of Child Labour. Our new project takes a holistic approach to the root causes of child labour, including a focus on helping rural children, farmers and families access quality education and improve incomes in the Nkhame locality, Angonia district, and Tete province, where children have been identified to be at particular risk of child labour. Some of the planned interventions include:

Quality education for every child

Improving school infrastructure, facilities and materials will encourage children to join or stay in school. Better learning environments with toilets, water, electricity, and enough staff and space to cater to all the students is essential to keeping kids in schools and out of fields. Training in child-centred teaching methods and materials will boost numeracy and literacy rates, meaning that more children will have basic skills by the end of primary school. Improving education not only helps keep children out of child labour, it also provides them with the tools to access better job opportunities when they’re older, breaking the cycle of poverty.

A better living for farmers and families

Increasing ways to earn a living amongst parents and community members means that they can afford to send their children to school. By learning to save and pooling resources for loans, rural communities can become more financially stable and are in a better position to respond to financial strains such as poor harvest, illness, or natural disasters. Loaning and saving also give community members access to capital that they need to venture into other income generating activities and even start their own businesses.

Supporting communities & social services

Working with the Government of Mozambique and implementing partners iDE and FAA, ECLT’s new project will continue to support Community Child Protection Committees to identify, withdraw and monitor children how have been involved in, or at risk of, child labour. Community leaders, teachers and representatives of local media will be trained on child labour awareness and will organise and take part in awareness raising campaigns.

Stong national policies against child labour

ECLT continues to engage in direct consultation with the Ministry of Labour Employment & social Security, the Ministry of Agriculture, trade unions, the ILO, and companies for a sustainable and coordinate response to child labour. Supporting the development and implementation of strong national policy against child labour, in line with international norms and standards, help to extend the reach and the impact of ECLT’s work far beyond the areas and time periods of our projects.

ECLT’s project in Mozambique continues our commitment to collaborative solutions focusing on root causes of child labour. Working closely with our implementing partners, local leaders, community members, and children themselves, ECLT promotes local ownership to the programmes in order to promote long-lasting, positive change to rural communities.