Achieving Reduction of Child Labour in Support of Education (ARISE) Project.

Background: The ARISE project is funded by Japan Tobacco International (JTI) and implemented in collaboration with ILO, Winrock International, the Government, social partners, and tobacco growing communities with the overall goal of eliminating and preventing incidences of child labour through various programmes implemented in Nkeyema and Kaoma Districts. The project implemented under ILO-IPEC was based on three pillars which include: Economic, Socio-Cultural and Regulatory pillar. The economic pillar seeks to address the root causes of poverty, improve the working conditions and empowering tobacco-growing communities (IGAs, capital investments, basic literacy, and numeracy and business entrepreneurial skills). The socio-cultural pillar seeks to raise awareness and behavioural change, mobilize the communities to combat child labour and increase access to quality education for children. The regulatory pillar which is the third pillar, seeks to enhance regulatory and policy frameworks and improve awareness on these instruments and implement more effective policies in relation to the reduction of child labour. Jesus Cares Ministries has continued to partner with the International Labour Organisation (ILO) under the ARISE II (2016-2018) after the successful implementation of the ARISE I project in Kaoma and Nkeyema Districts from 2014-15.

Achievement and Impact: The project has been able to successfully setup and strengthen the capacity of community and district structures to coordinate child labour programmes. A total of 6 Community Child Labour Committees and District Child Labour Committee was established and empowered and coordinate all child labour programmes in the two districts. Under this project, JCM and its partners withdrew a total of 864 children from hazardous child labour in tobacco farms and other forms of child labour. On the other hand, over 4,200 children across the two districts were prevented from going into child labour through mentorship on life skills and education support for that at risk of dropping out of school. There has also been mindset change from negative practices that perpetuates child labour and this has been achieved through awareness campaigns, more than 14,234 community members have been sensitized and educated on child labour issues. Poverty being one of the main cause of child labour, JCM under this project has been able to economically empower a total of 723 households with a total savings of K96,032. This has been achieved by improving their livelihood through skills development, linkages to agribusiness opportunities, community savings group and entrepreneurial mentorship.