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7 FOUNDATIONS TO ELIMINATE HAZARDOUS CHILD LABOR IN ECUADOR AND PANAMA

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7 Foundations to Eliminate Hazardous Child Labor in Ecuador and Panama

In response toDepartment of Labor

SGA 12-10

Project to Strengthen Policy and Enforcement to Combat Child Labor among vulnerable Populations in Ecuador and Panama

Prime Applicant: CARE EcuadorEl Nacional N 39 – 139 y El Telégrafo (Batán Bajo)Quito - Ecuador

Sub Partners: Save the Children Fundación Observatorio Social del Ecuador (FOSE)Fundación de Desarrollo Social de Panamá (FUNDESPA)

Amount Requested: US $3,500,000

Cost share: US $700,000

Contact Person:Fernando UndaProgram Director of CARE EcuadorRepresentative Country OfficeTel: 593 2 2253615 Fax: 593 2 2433069Email: [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]


a. ABSTRACT

“7 Foundations for Eliminating Hazardous Child Labor in Ecuador and Panama” is a

proposal developed by CARE in partnership with Save the Children, Fundación Observatorio

Social de Ecuador (FOSE), and the Fundación de Desarrollo Social de Panamá (FUNDESPA),

organizations specialized in developing and advocating for the implementation of public

policies and the enforcement of laws related to child labor, education, health, and the protection

of children and youth. This proposal is submitted in response to USDOL SGA12-10 calling for

projects to strengthen policy and enforcement to combat child labor among vulnerable

populations in Ecuador and Panama.

In response to the situation of child labor existing in rural areas that have high rates of poverty,

indigenous, Afro-descendant, and migrant populations, and people with disabilities, the

consortium is proposing to implement, over the next 4 years, a program to advocate for--and

strengthen the enforcement of--laws and policies to eliminate the worst forms of child labor

(WFCL) in the agricultural sector and other sectors in the rural areas of the provinces of

Sucumbios, Esmeraldas, Manabí, Zamora Chinchipe, Morona Santiago in Ecuador; and Darién,

Bocas del Toro and Colón and Panamá Oeste in Panama. The consortium will have an impact at

national and local levels by implementing the following 7 strategies, ensuring a focus on human

rights, inclusion, participation, ethnic diversity, and gender equality.

i) Strengthen enforcement legislation in Panama and Ecuador and improve the inspection

system that derives from legislative mandates, including updating the official lists of hazardous

child labor in each country, in a joint effort with the national child labor authorities (National

Council for the Eradication of Child Labor (CONEPTI ) and the Ministry of Labor in Ecuador;

the National Bureau of Child Labor, the National Council for the Eradication of Child Labor

(CETTIPAD) and the Ministry of Labor in Panama). ii) Strengthen youth safe employment

policies, protocols and commitments from public and private agencies, in consultation with

youth laborers, employers and government labor inspectors and local authorities. iii) Develop

national and local strategies to inform about hazardous child labor to mobilize the public around

issues pertaining to the WFCL through social alliances with stakeholders, and to enhance the

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capacity of youth and children’s organizations to lead local and national campaigns. iv)

Generate knowledge and support Child Labor Monitoring Systems (CLMS): The project will

produce special reports to identify the number and types of child laborers involved in the WFCL

in selected provinces, with data disaggregated by age and sex; provide inputs to update the

official lists of the WFCL in each country; research the nexus between child labor and

disability; produce quarterly reports based on data from the CLMS in each country, fed by the

local monitoring committees; and document best practices in policy formulation and

enforcement. v) Develop and implement protocols, policies and laws to respond to the identified

links between child labor and disability, at the national level. Guidelines will be designed and

implemented in close collaboration with a range of stakeholders including labor inspectors,

employers, child protection organizations, the justice system, youth laborers and local

authorities. vi) Exchange information, knowledge and lessons learned among government

entities, justice administrators and NGOs in Ecuador and Panama, and other countries in the

region. vii) Mobilize and facilitate public participation and social oversight to promote

transparency and accountability for the policies and processes being implemented.

The project has a budget of $3,500,000 and a cost share contribution of 20% of the total budget

(US$ 700,000) to be provided by the participating organizations in the form of technical

advisors, vehicles, offices, and selected activities.

Consortium members have held a series of meetings to ensure that the project design is in

alignment with official child labor eradication plans and other processes underway in Ecuador

and Panama. Preliminary agreements were signed with the Ministry of Labor, CONEPTI, the

Coordinating Ministry of Social Development, the Office of the Vice President of the Republic,

Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Andean Region of Ecuador (ECUARUNARI), the

Awa Federation, the National Council of People with Disabilities, the Attorney General’s Office

and the Council of Citizen Participation and Social Control in Ecuador; and the Ministry of

Labor, the Office of the First Lady, CETIPATT, the Comptroller’s Office, National Secretary

for Children, Youth and Family (SENNIAF), the Office of the Public Prosecutor, and National

Council of Private Enterprise (CONEP) in Panama.

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b. TABLE OF CONTENTS

a. ABSTRACT……..…………………………………………………………………………… ii

b. TABLE OF CONTENTS ..…...………………………………………………………………iv

c. PROJECT DESIGN NARRATIVE……………………………………………………………1

1. BACKGROUND……………………………………………………………………………..1

2. PROJECT DESIGN AND STRATEGY……….…………………………………………………4

3. ORGANIZATION CAPACITY……...………………………………………………………..23

4. INTERNATIONAL AND U.S. GOVERNMENT GRANT AND/OR CONTRACT EXPERIENCE.…28

(a) Country Presence and Host Government Support………………………………………32

(b) Fiscal Oversight ….…………………………………………………………………….32

(c) Key Personnel ..…………………………………………………………………………37

(d) Project management Plan……………………………………………………………….41

d. ANNEXES (attached separately)

Annex A: Logic Model

Annex B: Work Plan

Annex C: Past Performance Table

Annex D: Project Management Organization Chart

Annex E: Personnel Descriptions, Resumes, and Letters of Commitment

Annex F: Documentation of Country Presence and Host Government Support

Annex G: Audit Reports

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c. PROJECT DESIGN NARRATIVE

1. BACKGROUND

According to the 2012 Census of Population and Housing1, 13% of Ecuador’s children,

representing 479,979 Ecuadorian girls and boys aged 5 to 17, are engaged in some form of

labor. Of these, 160,000 are between 5 and 14 years of age. The provinces with the highest

proportion of child laborers, poor households, indigenous and Afro-descendant populations,

domestic workers, children with disabilities and households affected by migratory flows are the

provinces of Esmeraldas, Manabi, Sucumbios, Zamora, and Morona2.

In Panama, according the 2000 Child Labor Survey, 12.2% of children and adolescents aged 10

to 17 are engaged in child labor; that is, more than 60,000 young people in this age group are

economically active or working in Panama3. There are more economically active boys than

girls; however the vast majority of domestic workers in other people’s homes are girls and

young women, in the provinces of Darien, Colón, Panama Oeste and Bocas del Toro. While

household poverty is a predominant factor in the premature incorporation of children and youth

into the job market, there are other factors as well, such as: exclusion from the school system 4;

the hidden, unpaid work done primarily by girls in their own homes or in the homes of others;

and the evidence that the working conditions, especially in rural areas, are such that child labor

continues to be an important part of agricultural economies.

Both Ecuador and Panama have been creating an institutional and legal framework to reduce the

number of working girls and boys, and decreases have been registered in both countries thanks

to the implementation of policies to attend to the most excluded social groups through

conditional cash transfers to the poorest households, universal access to the educational system

(especially in Ecuador), gradual improvements in average household income, the

implementation of labor oversight mechanisms, advances in the regulatory frameworks

following the creation of the National Councils for the Eradication of Child Labor–CONEPTI in 1 INEC, CPV 2010.2 Refer to Table 1 of the annexes, prepared as a result of the Needs Assessment for the USDOL proposal. 3ILO-IPEC, National Survey on Child Labor in Panama, Report of Results. 2010. 4Around 300,000 adolescents are not in school, and of these, 71% are between 15 and 17. The provinces with a high proportion of indigenous and Afro-Ecuadorian populations, and border provinces, have the highest levels of adolescents not in school. Only 60% of adolescents in the country are in the proper grade level for their age, and a province-by-province analysis shows serious instances of exclusion in provinces with the most indigenous and Afro-descendant population. State of Children’s Rights. ODNA.

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Ecuador and CETIPPAT in Panama–and the enactment of plans of action which involve

institutions from the government, private sector and civil society.

An analysis of the gaps in the development and enforcement of legislation and policies to

combat the worst forms of child labor in rural areas reveals: i) Inadequate and unconsolidated

child labor inspection systems. In both countries the systems are perceived as intermittent, not

systematic and uncoordinated, focused above all on urban areas, with limited economic,

operational and technical resources, and with weak linkages with the entities responsible for

child protection and the administration of justice. Protocols need to be updated based on the

reality of working adolescents and children in rural areas. ii) Weak systems of information,

monitoring, learning and accountability, which limit the ability to follow up on the status of

children engaged in the WFCL and to access information by decision-makers, protection

entities, businesses or the public. The child labor information and monitoring systems depend

on isolated and unsustainable initiatives. iii) National and local legislation regarding teenage

workers needs specific responses on the worst forms, including domestic work, exploitation5,

and trafficking of young people of legal working age. In addition, it is urgent to consider the

linkages between the WFCL and social and educational exclusion, and physical, sexual,

emotional, and economic violence. iv) The problem of child labor and its connection to mobility

and disabilities continues to be invisible, not sufficiently understood by civil society,

government entities and the private sector. Also, there is no clear understanding of the reality of

the paid and unpaid domestic work done by girls and boys. v) The voice of working children

and adolescents is not taken into account; their interests and needs must be heard when making

decisions, especially at the local level.

In order to respond to these gaps, a consortium of organizations has been established, led by

CARE, with installed capacities and experience in both countries, to work on 7 “foundations” or

components that when implemented in an integral fashion will contribute substantially to the

reduction of child labor in Ecuador and Panama: i) Strengthening policies and legislation,

especially the labor inspection system in both countries, which includes the design of protocols

5 Including deficient occupational health conditions that could generate or exacerbate disabilities.

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and training for the implementers in public institutions as well as legislative and regulatory

proposals to ensure coherence with ILO Conventions 138 and 182, and to avoid any

arbitrariness in their enforcement in the rural areas of Esmeraldas, Sucumbios, Manabi, Zamora

and Morona in Ecuador, and Panama Oeste, Darien, Colon and Bocas del Toro in Panama. With

the piloting of protocols and training programs carried out in the provinces, the project will

strengthen the policy framework through new policies or through the modification of existing

ones. ii) Based on the reports of the monitoring system, the project will support the definition of

legislation, protocols and protection mechanisms for safe youth employment in conjunction

with local governments and key stakeholders. iii) National and local awareness-raising

campaigns will be undertaken by the project together with the Ministry of Labor initiative in

Ecuador and the Road Map initiative in Panama, building on the impact and effectiveness of

initiatives previously implemented or currently under way. iv) The project will promote the

generation of knowledge and support of the implementation of child labor monitoring systems

(CLMS), with the participation of civil society organizations in the target regions. v) Based on

reports and studies done in the provinces, the project will design protocols and legislation that

will address the links between child labor and disabilities at the national level. vi) The project

will promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences among the provinces and national

institutions in and between both countries through seminars, visits and virtual mechanisms.

Finally, vii) the project will develop mechanisms for citizen participation (including that of

working children) and social oversight to guarantee effective transparency and accountability of

the policies implemented.

The project is structured within the context of the National Plan for the Progressive Eradication

of Child Labor in Ecuador and the Road Map in Panama in consultation with both governments

and founded in their disposition to exchange lessons and experiences, will enrich and sustain

efforts within the region to address the WFCL and contribute to their eradication.

1. PROJECT DESIGN AND STRATEGY

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“7 Foundations to Eliminate Hazardous Child Labor in Ecuador and Panama” proposes a

strategy of intervention that is based on an analysis of the following key factors in Ecuador and

Panama: a) gaps in national and international legislation and regulations dealing with child

labor; b) the economic, social and cultural contexts which maintain and reproduce hazardous

child labor; c) the opportunities for working in local and national territories in coordination with

social organizations, government entities and the private sector; d) the feasibility of engaging

with and supporting national programs, policies and projects; e) the availability of proven

methodologies to use, or the possibility of generating alternative methodologies, which can lead

to the revision and creation, with broad based participation from social stakeholders, of policies

intended to eliminate hazardous child labor; and, f) intervention and advocacy options for civil

society, including children and working children.

The intervention strategy that will guide the project includes the following key elements:

Qualitative and quantitative research on the “state of the art” of the legislation about

hazardous child labor in Panama and Ecuador, to provide broader understanding of the

issue by government, civil society and private parties. The research studies will seek to

fully explore the specificities of child labor among Afro-descendant, indigenous and

migrant populations. Child labor in agriculture, selected non-agricultural sectors, and

domestic services will be emphasized. At the same time, the linkages between child labor,

migration, and the presence of members with disabilities in families living in poverty and

extreme poverty will be explored. The research will be done with an action-reflection-

action approach and will contribute inputs to the process of policy design, the enforcement

of existing policies or the elimination of policies that jeopardize the human rights of

children and adolescents.

Creation and/or strengthening of national and local opportunities for dialogue and

consensus-building in the areas of intervention. These opportunities will set the stage for

agreements between national government entities, local governments, the private sector,

social organizations and representatives of working children and adolescents in relation to

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policies, strategies and actions carried out in the area of child labor from a human rights-

based, inclusive approach with a focus on gender equality.

The formulation of new and reformed legislation and regulations through citizen

participation and consensus building among decision-makers, child protection entities,

families, and representatives of children and adolescent laborers. These proposals will be

shared through a sustained strategy of awareness-rising, education, information and

communication.

Implementation of local pilot projects based on the legal instruments identified as key to the

eradication of hazardous child labor, leading to verification and potential modification of

the instruments by measuring their effectiveness.

Knowledge managemen t promoted through the identification of successful practices in

Latin America and the Caribbean for the protection of children and adolescents engaged in

hazardous child labor. A comparative study will be carried out among selected Latin

American countries to determine the relative success of legislative actions relating to child

labor, including measures in place for the protection of adolescent laborers and the

eradication of the WFCL.

Coordination and sharing of information with the USDOL educational and livelihood

services companion initiative for children involved in hazardous child labor, to support the

formulation of policies with practical evidence on reentry into the school system and the

provision of educational and livelihoods services.

Confirmation of the importance of education and child-based, holistic approaches to

eliminating child labor. A focus on policy strengthening and enforcement must not mask

the unalterable reality that a lack of quality education alternatives is one of the principal

causes of child labor. Quality education, which will be on the project’s policy study and

reform agenda, should be seen by policy-makers as one key component of child protection

since through school, children can learn skills that will help them build resilience and break

the circle of poverty. One outcome of this project will be to develop a discourse that is

constructive for children, affirms their right to education, recognizes their participation and

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role in their families and communities, and supports a positive vision of empowered

children in their community.

The project will implement 7 key programmatic components in a coordinated way to close the

gaps identified by the consortium6 and to create policy and legislative frameworks that will

effectively contribute to the eradication of child labor in Ecuador and Panama. The actions

proposed for implementing these components, which are integrated and mutually supporting,

are described in detail below.

1. Strengthen institutional capacity and policies to combat child labor in Ecuador and

Panama with an emphasis on improving the inspection system and the legislation

governing that system. The project will begin by consolidating coordination mechanisms

among key stakeholders at the national and provincial levels in each country. For Ecuador,

national coordination will be fostered through the establishment of a Steering Committee

comprising the Ministry of Labor (MRL), the Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion

(MIES), the Ministry of Education, the Coordinating Ministry of Social Development, the

National Prosecutor’s Office (for administration of justice issues), the Vice Presidency of the

Republic and the Ministry of Health7. The Panamanian Committee will be set-up with the

Ministry of Labor and Employment (MITRADEL), the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of

Social Development, and the Office of the First Lady. At the municipal and provincial levels in

both countries, consensus-building forums will be held with members of local government and

organizations representing indigenous, Afro-descendant, migrant, and disabled populations,

with which the consortium has already established contact and signed agreements.

Representatives of the Ministries on the National Steering Committees will also be invited to

participate in order to strengthen linkages between national and local coordination systems.

6 The gap analysis was done using as inputs data from interviews and consultations with key informants in the governments of Ecuador and Panama and civil society organizations in the two countries with extensive experience in children’s rights and child labor. It was also based on the national and international experience of CARE, Save the Children, the Social Observatory Foundation of Ecuador and FUNDESPA (Panama). 7 We have been informed in meetings with people from the Vice President’s office that the responsibilities for providing direct services and protection for people with disabilities will be transferred in the coming months to the Ministry of Health.

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During the first year the project will facilitate a series of participatory assessments (with central

government entities, local governments, public agencies, civil society and the private sector) in

the selected provinces (5 provinces in Ecuador and 4 in Panama: 2 assessments during the first

2 years and 2 during the last 2 years of the project). The assessments will focus on the progress

made in the national plan to combat child labor and the identification of the WFCL in each

country. They will focus specifically on work performed by children and adolescents in the

agriculture sector, while maintaining a general overview of other economic sectors in rural areas

(including agro-industry, fisheries, forestry, tourism and domestic work). They will also

evaluate the capacity of the child labor inspection system to conduct inspections and enforce

labor laws across the different sectors within the target provinces.

Based on the results of the participatory assessment, the project will design and implement a

training program for key participants in the child labor inspection system: Labor Inspectors,

Justice Administrators and Judges, community organizations, and child protection agencies

(such as the National Council of Children and Adolescents in Ecuador). Modules will be

developed for each stakeholder in a way that can be replicated nationwide in other geographic

areas in accordance with the institutions that are part of the inspection system. The training will

include modules on the legislative framework (including national and international laws and

regulations on the comprehensive protection of children and on eradicating child labor, such as

ILO Conventions 138 and 182), risks facing working youth, techniques for mitigating risks and

protecting working youth, and practices and techniques that promote developing capacities to

formulate protocols.

Called “Rights restoration pathways”, the protocols for withdrawal, protection and sanction

will be designed in accordance with the conditions of each province, using the findings of the

participatory assessment. Analyzing and reforming policies with the stakeholders themselves,

and especially with the administrators of the inspection system and the justice system, will

create the possibility of ensuring the enforcement of policies and regulations and the prevention

of the re-victimization of exploited children. Protocol guidelines will be developed as part of the

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training of key stakeholders, and in accordance with international ILO standards as well as

national norms, will be designed to withdraw child laborers from the WFCL.

The project will support the formation and training of local Child Labor Monitoring

Committees, composed of local authorities, labor inspectors, child protection organizations, and

organizations of employers, indigenous, Afro-descendants, and migrant populations, and people

with disabilities in each province. Through the Monitoring Committees, the project will

facilitate the participatory design of the Rights restoration pathways, involving children and

adolescents. These pathways will include agreements to collaborate and exchange

methodologies and information with the entities in charge of protection services and the

administration of justice, in order to ensure the effective protection of rights; the follow-up with

each child and family in the design of a “life plan” addressing children’s education and health

care, attention to disabilities, economic development, right to education, and other areas

depending on each case; and the identification of those who benefit from hazardous child labor.

Mechanisms will be created for the referral of employers to educate them on the risks of child

labor and how to mitigate those risks.

The project will work with youth laborers in developing safe labor guidelines that will be used

during planned training events. In this way, the project will work directly with young workers to

enhance their protection and their resilient capacities. As part of this strategy, the project will

allocate a local support fund to carry out inspections, document and withdraw children from the

WFCL, and to refer cases to the justice system. The fund will serve to test a fundraising model

that leverages resources from other public and private organizations. CARE has experience in

this area: in 2008 it secured commitments from local governments to implement educational

programs by providing seed funds.8

The project will document and compile paradigmatic cases discerned from the application of the

pathways, in order to learn from them and to use them to advocate for modifications to the

existing legislation at the local and national levels.

8 Proyecto SOY, Cayambe y Pedro Moncayo. 2008.

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During the last two years of the project, proposals will be developed based on the

implementation of the local plans and rights restoration pathways to recommend modifications

of national legislation and regulations to eradicate hazardous child labor in Ecuador and

Panama. These recommendations will include updating and unifying the official list of the

WFCL, the harmonizing of the Labor Code and the Criminal Code in Ecuador, and updating the

Labor Code in Panama.

2. Strengthen youth safe employment policies, protocols and commitments from public

and private agencies. In order to help adolescents of legal working age involved in the WFCL

transition to safe employment, the project will form relationships–based on those which

consortium members already have locally and nationally–with employers and their associations

from the agriculture, agro-industrial, tourism, and other sectors to monitor the situation of

working youth, update regulations regarding the WFCL in these sectors, and design and put into

practice strategies and protocols that can contribute to ensuring decent and safe jobs for young

people of legal working age. The private initiatives will be acknowledged publicly to promote

positive change to existing cultural patterns in the region and to enhance the sustainability of

appropriate practices in the areas of occupational health, training, and protection for youth being

implemented by private companies. The project will also promote the public recognition of

these practices by public institutions.

The project will conduct various studies in order to expand knowledge on the situation of young

workers and occupational risk factors. This will include a special report on disabilities

associated with the participation of adolescents of legal working age in dangerous or hazard

labor in Ecuador (see also Component 5 below). This study will constitute the initial baseline

for identifying occupational risk factors for young people old enough to work in each project

site.

The project will develop protocols to provide adequate working conditions in terms of

occupational health and safety to adolescents of working age in the agriculture and agro-

industrial, tourism and services sectors in the target provinces, taking into account the official

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list of the WFCL in each country. The protocols will be based on the recommendations of the

special report. Also, proposed policies will be offered for attending to the needs of adolescents

who are obliged to work because of their social and family situation (for example, disabilities in

the household), such as the granting of loans for self-employment, cooperatives of young

workers, and formal and non-formal alternative education programs, all directed to reduce the

vulnerability of adolescent laborers.

With these inputs, the project will develop a technical training program in coordination with the

respective governments, targeting employers, labor inspectors, child and adolescent protection

entities and adolescents themselves. The program will include information about the legislation

that restricts the participation of young people in certain tasks, limits the number of working

hours, establishes minimum working conditions, and addresses the risk factors that can cause

mortality or disability among adolescents.

The project will facilitate workshops and technical meetings in each location, to create advisory

and local Child Labor Monitoring Committees that will include businesspeople. The objective

of these committees will be to visit the worksites and ensure that the adolescents of legal

working age are working in safe and healthy conditions (leading to the development of safe

youth labor guidelines), and that they are also able to attend school or training institutes. The

project will also design and disseminate self-care guidelines for youth laborers with their

participation.

In each province, the project will support the strengthening of existing information systems, led

by local governments and/or public entities, to record and monitor the social, educational, health

and occupational conditions of working youth. The information system will facilitate the

monitoring of the protection services that they have access to, and the occupational conditions

of adolescent laborers.

In addition, the project will support publicized agreements with employers and associations to

comply with occupational health and safety guidelines and legislation, and to launch corporate

social responsibility initiatives to reduce the vulnerability of adolescent workers. To

complement these public advocacy efforts, the project will begin to present annual awards to

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recognize corporate social responsibility initiatives in each country aimed at putting into

practice the safe youth employment guidelines, eliminating occupational risks, and provide

livelihoods, educational services and occupational training to working adolescents. It is hoped

that at the end of the project, this annual award will be administered by the national anti-child

labor committees in each country.

The project will also support the dissemination of official strategies for youth employment in

rural areas.

3. National and local awareness-raising to inform and mobilize communities against the

worst forms of child labor. The project will design national awareness-raising and

communication strategies in consultation with public sector institutions responsible for child

labor, and based on analysis of the effectiveness of current strategies. The strategies will

encompass national and local campaigns to educate and inform target groups on child labor and

its worst forms, from a human rights-based, inclusive approach with a focus on gender equality.

The campaigns will be aimed at civil society, government entities and the private sector, to

highlight the economic, social, political and cultural advantages of a country in which all boys

and girls have access to, remain in, and complete a quality educational program, and the risks

associated with child labor.

The awareness-raising and communication strategies will be based on an assessment of

knowledge, attitudes and practices, and will offer opportunities for consultation and feedback

from children and youth, as well as indigenous, Afro-descendant, migrant population and

disability organizations or representatives of these groups. The inputs provided by these

stakeholders will be fundamental to ensuring that the outreach efforts are relevant to local

communities. Messages will specifically be developed in local languages, and conveyed using

audiovisual methods to reach all groups including those with lower levels of literacy. The

communication strategy will be linked to the systematic gathering of information and

quantitative and qualitative research undertaken by the project. In general, the awareness-raising

strategy will be aimed at forming a social alliance that mobilizes children and youth, families,

communities, public entities, companies and trade associations around the issue of child labor.

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The project’s strategy is to facilitate information that is appropriate and relevant to each actor,

and to establish spaces for dialogue in which those actors can build a shared vision about the

need to combat the WFCL, in order to foster positive changes in their occupational and social

situation.

The awareness-raising strategy in each location will be targeted differently to municipal

authorities and parish or community boards in order to make them partners in the struggle

against the WFCL; to local civil society organizations, emphasizing the responsibility that

parents have to prevent hazardous child labor; to employers and their associations, ensuring

their commitment and social responsibility to vulnerable children and adolescents; to the

administrators of justice, regarding the need to ensure enforcement of the law to penalize labor-

related exploitation and to restore the rights of victims.

In addition, messages will be developed in each location aimed at highlighting the risk factors

which cause the most vulnerability among children and adolescents and that push them to

engage in the WFCL (the existence of disabilities in their homes, violence, dropping out of

school), in order to generate a favorable context in which to put in place policies and inter-

sectoral cooperation to provide comprehensive protection and eradicate the WFCL.

The awareness-raising strategy will include public events, outreach campaigns, the signing of

commitments, and public debates among key stakeholders, accompanied by the production of

informational material derived from the studies and assessments conducted by the project.

The strategy will have a media component; based on the best practices of the consortium

members, meetings and awareness-raising workshops will be held with journalists and

communicators in order to provide inputs for reports and programs intended to publicize the

WFCL, particularly in the project’s target communities.

In addition, the project will design and manage a website that will be linked to the other

components and will provide updated information about the actions and research carried out by

the project, to complement the direct outreach efforts; and will organize assemblies and

seminars to share best practices and report on the progress made in each location in eradicating

hazardous child labor in the targeted areas of Ecuador and Panama.

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4. Generating knowledge and supporting the child labor monitoring systems

All project actions described below will have the common purpose to enhance the Child Labor

Monitoring Systems in Ecuador and Panama. The project will establish agreements with

national governments, the Institutes of Statistics in both countries, and the protection networks,

with the objective of enhancing the national child labor monitoring system and activating it at

the local levels. In implementing this component, the role of the Ecuadorean Observatorio

Social (FOSE) is key, since it is the only specialized entity in this area. FOSE is committed to

supporting pre-existing observation systems in Panama. From the second year of project

implementation a system for the registration and monitoring of social, educational, health and

occupational conditions of the working adolescents will produce quarterly reports. The quarterly

reports will provide key stakeholders with timely information to develop actions to protect child

laborers.

In its various components the project will generate and disseminate studies and information to

influence the definition of policies, protocols and standards that address child labor, as well as

to generate knowledge to be used to build the capacity of key stakeholders to address the

phenomenon. Thus, the project will:

With local stakeholders and the leadership of local governments, conduct participatory

assessments in each location about the advances made in the National Plan to combat

child labor and about the WFCL, with an emphasis on agricultural and other types of

work in rural areas. Outcomes of this participatory assessment will support the update

of official lists of the worst form of child labor in each county.

Prepare, in a participatory manner, the content and modules of the training program,

validated and tailored by key participants in the child labor inspection system:

inspectors, administrators of justice, employers, protection agencies, and volunteers

from local organizations;

Prepare the content of labor and disability inspection protocols.

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As a result of the actions of the local child labor monitoring committees, disseminate

the content of the evaluations of the implementation of the Rights Restitution Pathways,

and issue proposals to reform local and national child labor legislation and regulations,

Provide technical and financial assistance to local governments to produce the reports

from the information systems on the registration and monitoring of social, educational,

health and occupational conditions of the working adolescents managed by each

municipality9,

Prepare in a participatory manner (especially with organizations of indigenous, Afro-

descendants, migrant and people with disabilities, plus child-led organizations) an

assessment in each province of knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding the WFCL,

its connection to disability, the impact that the campaigns promoted by national public

institutions have on those populations, and recommendations for the project’s

awareness-raising, information, communication and education strategy.

Disseminate the content of the recommendations and conclusions in public

accountability events hosted by the Child Labor Monitoring committees of each

location.

Prepare, document and disseminate the special report on risk factors and disability

among child laborers, in order to expand knowledge about the risks and effects of

hazardous child labor on the health and capacities of children engaged in the worst

forms. This study will be done during the first year of the project as a complement to

the initial situation assessments, and will be enriched with the project’s annual reports

on the impact of the project’s actions in each country.

Finally, the project will document best practices at the national and municipal level

related to coordination with government entities in the implementation and enforcement

of policies and legislation to reduce child labor among excluded or vulnerable

populations.

9 Respecting the criteria of reliability and public accessibility for planning and decision-making.

14


In order to conduct the studies, the project will facilitate the intervention of experts and

specialists in the different fields, in consultation with national and local government entities that

have responsibilities in this area, as well as civil society organizations. There will be multiple

forums for consultation and dialogue to establish the terms of reference, collect key information,

process it, and produce the indicated reports and studies, so that they, from the beginning, are

appropriated by the key stakeholders, and therefore, the recommendations are accepted and put

into practice.

5. Development and implementation of protocols, legislation and regulations to address the

linkages between child labor and disabilities at the national level. There are two theories

about the linkages between child labor and disabilities10, which will be explored through

research during this project. The first is the commonly held assumption that child labor

increases the risk of girls and boys acquiring a disability due to exposure to hazardous work,

and the second is that children with disabilities, or who belong to households which include

people with disabilities, are more likely to enter into child labor.

In order to optimize resources and ensure adequate impact, the project will undertake research

into these issues and the overall linkage between child labor and disabilities, with a view to

developing specific protocols and legislation dealing with disability issues, integrating efforts

among the different project components. Thus, the diagnostic assessment done in each province

on dangerous and WFCL in rural areas will highlight the likely connections with disabilities and

will necessarily generate recommendations regarding the protocols for withdrawing children

from the WFCL (Component 1, for the child labor inspection system) and at the same time, will

generate safe working conditions for youth (component 2, safe youth employment), while

preventing disabilities or attending to those disabilities caused as a result of child labor

(component 5, disabilities and child labor).

The project proposes to conduct the research into the relationship between child labor and

disability in Ecuador, in order to strengthen policies and enforcement capacity to reduce child

10 See ILO, “Facts on Disability and Child Labour”, July 2011.

15


labor. The study will be conducted in partnership with the entity responsible for the protection

of people with disabilities in Ecuador. It is expected that research findings will contribute to:

Identify the number of children and adolescents who are working in each province

and their relationship with disabilities. That is, identify children who: i) work

because they have a disability; ii) come from households with disabled people

which obliges them to work; iii) have acquired a disability as a result of work

activities, and iv) are exposed to working conditions which could cause or

exacerbate a disability. The research will also identify disabled children working in

the private sector.

Based on this study, develop proposals for regulations to protect older children

from hazardous work (linked with the component on Safe Youth Employment)

Develop guidance for employers of children with disabilities.

Strengthen existing guidelines for labor inspectors to assist them in determining

when children are working under conditions that could exacerbate current

disabilities or create future disabilities,

Develop guidelines for protecting children with disabilities through the Rights

Restitution Pathways, preventing them from working, or protecting them from

exploitation.

Develop awareness-raising messages and materials on the risks of hazardous child

labor and promoting inclusive education, health-care and vocational skills training,

targeted at parents/caregivers and education workers (linked with the component on

Raising Awareness).

The project will present the results and recommendations of the study to CONEPTI and

CETIPPAT as an input so that both national committees can issue resolutions to ensure that

employers can prevent or adequately attend to disabilities among working adolescents; and so

that Labor Inspectors have the tools necessary to detect the linkages between hazardous child

16


labor and disabilities11, and can refer cases to the protection agencies and relevant service

providers (including but not limited to health services).

6. Exchange of lessons among government entities, justice officers and NGOs in Ecuador

and Panama. Based on the installed capacity and wealth of experience of the different

organizations which make up the consortium, as well as the geographic and cultural diversity

that the project encompasses, the exchange of lessons learned will be a key component in the

project. To carry out the exchanges of knowledge and experience, virtual media will be used, as

well as meetings and workshops between the technical and leadership teams of the project, and

with civil society organizations, monitoring committees, children and youth participating in the

project; all of this will provide an opportunity to monitor and record progress and to strengthen

advocacy efforts and strengthen project accountability.

In fact, this component, together with the awareness-raising and knowledge management

components, will be aimed at identifying, documenting and disseminating best practices and

lessons learned regarding successful strategies, methodologies, and actions that can be

replicated, scaled up and offered as inputs for the amendment and/or formulation of public

policies at the local and national levels.

The project will install and operate a website to document and report on the activities taking

place in the provinces, and in this way, to contribute to policy advocacy efforts at the regional

and national levels. It will also be a source for consulting information and knowledge produced

by the project. The website will come online in the third month of project execution, providing

initial information about the situation assessments carried out. Gradually, the site will

incorporate recommendations for guides and protocols, the training modules, and at the end of

the second year, it will facilitate queries and reports from the information systems on adolescent

workers.

The website will be interactive and will include links to the websites of all of the member

organizations of the consortium, public institutions that are part of the national Steering

11 That is, there are cases of children who are exploited at work or at risk of being exploited because they have a disability, someone in their household is disabled, or children performing tasks which could cause or exacerbate a disability.

17


Committees, and local entities that are members of the

Child Labor Monitoring Committees, as well as the social organizations with which cooperation

agreements are established. Its design will be sufficiently flexible to adapt to the information

requirements of the various stakeholders. Management of the website will be in accordance with

organizational child safeguarding policies, with particular consideration to the protection of

children associated with the project.

During the third year of the project, a Latin American Seminar on Innovative Policies to

Combat Child Labor will be held in Ecuador, co-sponsored by the office of the Vice President

of the Republic (or the entity responsible for protecting people with disabilities at that time), in

order to exchange information about best practices, lessons learned and to define

recommendations and long-term commitments. The seminar will include the participation of

government entities, the private sector and grassroots social organizations in both countries.

During the seminar, the project will present the conclusions of the special report on risk and

disability factors for working children, based on the experience of the two years of

implementation, as well as the protocols and guidelines developed with key stakeholders to

prevent and respond to disabilities among adolescent workers; and to restore the rights of (or

provide comprehensive protection to) children affected by disabilities12 who are engaged in the

WFCL.

The project will also convene quarterly technical meetings to exchange information with local

coordinators and key stakeholders in each country, to unify methodologies and approaches,

coordinate efforts, and support the monitoring of the program.

In order to strengthen the south-south cooperation between Panama and Ecuador, the project

will facilitate virtual meetings and establish virtual linkages with other organizations that are

implementing anti-child labor initiatives in other Latin American and Caribbean countries,

promoting the exchange of information, methodologies and experiences. This will also support

12. That is, children who are in one of the following categories: they are forced to work even though they have a disability, someone in their household is disabled, or they have acquired disabilities due to their working conditions.

18


the awareness-raising component. The project will provide special attention to sharing

experiences from Brazil and Chile, due to their notable advances in child labor eradication.

Some topics to be addressed by the participants in these exchanges will be: general results of the

initial assessment; proposals for safe youth employment and the reduction of vulnerabilities

among young people; the linkages between hazardous child labor and disabilities; a comparative

analysis of protocols and guidelines for various stakeholders: inspectors, protection agencies,

administrators of justice, businesspeople, and local monitoring committees; conversations with

organizations of people with disabilities, Afro-descendants and indigenous groups, and children

and youth organizations that do advocacy and lobbying, and mutual support for outreach and

mobilization efforts. The project will promote regular virtual meetings between actors in

Panama and Ecuador, at least every two months, as well a face-to-face exchange meeting of

good practices and lessons learnt, among project technical teams in Ecuador and Panamá.

7. Citizen participation and social oversight to guarantee the effective accountability for

the policies implemented. The consortium agrees with the principles of transparency and

accountability that govern the global development policy of the United States, and based on

agreements initiated with public agencies, grassroots, and social organizations in each country,

and particularly with the Council of Citizen Participation and Social Control of Ecuador, the

consortium proposes to hold throughout the life of the project a series of workshops, regular

meetings, and assemblies to promote citizen participation (including children) from a human

rights-based, inclusive approach with a focus on gender equality, incorporating the various

actors related to hazardous child labor in rural areas. For this purpose, the project will support

opportunities for the meaningful participation of children and adolescents including regular

consultations during which information is shared and feedback is requested during focus group

discussions, interviews and other confidential mechanisms.

Furthermore, the project will generate and maintain local and national alliances composed of

public, private and social stakeholders, to ensure their commitment to the elimination of

hazardous child labor, to provide safe working conditions for young people, to strengthen the

child protection networks, and effectively enforce the corresponding policies and laws.

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Once a year the project will report on and provide accountability regarding its work and the

progress made to these social alliances; and at the same time, it will support the organization of

local assemblies to be held to present the reports produced by the child labor monitoring system,

the impact of the prevention, protection and rights restoration programs, and to make proposals

for improvements.13 The Assembly and the accountability events will be held in accordance

with the guidelines and agreements reached with social organizations with whom the project is

interested in promoting advocacy and lobbying efforts over the long term, in order to ensure the

sustainability of these actions.

Beneficiaries

The project is intended to strengthen the capacities of the national government and local

governments of Ecuador and Panama in the targeted provinces.

Based on the assesment, adjustment and enforcement of laws and regulations on child labor and

disabilities in the selected provinces, the project aspires to create conditions conducive to

providing comprehensive protection and rescuing children from the WFCL, as well as

guaranteeing decent working conditions to prevent and adequately attend to disabilities in the

employment of youth of legal working age, primarily those who belong to migrant, Afro-

descendant and indigenous households.

The project will also benefit 8 of the most vulnerable areas in both countries by piloting action

plans to enforce the legislation and policies developed. The action plans will involve

government agencies (from the sectors of education, health, labor, disabilities, protection), the

private sector, citizens(including children), and grassroots organizations of people with

disabilities, migrant, Afro-descendants and indigenous groups, and people committed to

exercise social control and oversight to ensure compliance with the laws and policies, and in

general, will benefit the population of those provinces through outreach and awareness-raising

efforts. The actions of a national scope are designed with a focus on sustainability, so that the

contributions made by the project to the different government entities can be replicated in other

areas of the country, and their scale and impact increased. 13 CARE Peru and CARE Bolivia have developed tools and instruments to provide accountability for their projects, which will be revised and adapted to the Ecuadorian and Panamanian contexts.

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Geographic location

The project will be implemented in Ecuador and Panama. Some of the activities will be national

in scope, while others will concentrate on provinces identified as priorities. The target provinces

have been selected because they have a higher than average proportion of households in

poverty, migrants and refugees, a greater presence of indigenous and Afro-descendant

population, high rates of hazardous labor, and children with disabilities. In addition, in each

province the viability of implementing the project was assessed based on the presence of the

organizations which make up the consortium as well as the political will and commitment of

key public and private actors, which will allow the CLMS to be established and placed in

operation. A final factor in site selection was the presence of a minimum threshold of social

organizations with which the project could initiate a process of social auditing of the

enforcement of the legislation or regulations in question.

To prioritize the areas of intervention in Ecuador, in the process of designing the proposal, the

consortium consulted with key stakeholders at the national and provincial levels. Table 1

contains the results of the analysis of existing information in Ecuador. It shows the percentages

of refugee14 households, poverty, working children, working Afro-descendant children and

indigenous children, girls doing domestic work, migrant population, and children and

adolescents with disabilities. The average of these percentages was weighted in all of the

provinces, and points were added for the presence of consortium organizations and the installed

capacity to do policy advocacy, as well as the viability of implementing the project. The

viability was understood as the relationships established with and interest and commitment of

public and private actors related to the issue in each province, and the accessibility of the

province. Based on the scores assigned, 5 of the country’s 24 provinces were prioritized. In the

provinces of Esmeraldas, Sucumbios, Manabi, Zamora Chinchipe and Morona Santiago, all of

the project components will be carried out during the four years of the life of the project.

14 In 2008, Ecuador was the second largest recipient of refugees in the world, and the largest in South America (with close to 500,000 people in refugee situations and 60,000 legally recognized refugees as a result of the implementation of the Expanded Refugee program and policies intended to identify Colombians living in the country in need of international protection). Report on the Convention of Migrant Workers and their Families, Quito, 2009.

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TABLE 1. PRIORITIZATION OF PROVINCES IN ECUADOR

In Panama, the geographical areas were scored based on the information gathered on site,

USDOL’S preferences, and FUNDESPA’s knowledge of the country. The provinces of Darién,

Colón, Bocas del Toro and Panama Oeste were prioritized. The latter province contains a

significant percentage of indigenous people in situations of mobility. Given the installed

institutional capacity in Panama, the project will address advocacy efforts working at the

national level for all four years. Advocacy efforts will be carried out at the level of the national

authorities of Panama, and they will be progressively piloted in the four priority areas of

intervention (provinces of Panama Oeste, Darrien, Colón and Boca del Toro). The result of this

process is reflected in Table No. 2.

TABLE 2. PRIORITIZATION OF PROVINCES IN PANAMA

The geographical selection will be validated with the base line study outcomes. However, it is

important to mention the technical criteria for project sites selection. The consortium also took

22

Provinces in Ecuador ScoresZamora Chinchipe 30Sucumbios 29Carchi 28Manabí 27Morona Santiago 27Esmeraldas 26Azuay 24El Oro 24Pichincha 24Imbabura 23Orellana 23Santa Elena 23Cañar 22Cotopaxi 22Loja 22Tungurahua 22Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas 22Bolívar 20Guayas 20Los Ríos 19Chimborazo 18Napo 18Pastaza 17Galápagos 13

Distribution of Child Laborers Aged 5 to 18 Years, 2010 & Project Target PopulationLocations/Provinces Total Population 5 to 18 Years Child Laborers % of Coverage Target Benef.1. Darien 48.378 12.869 914 80 7312. Colón 241.928 64.353 4.569 30 1.3713. Bocas del Toro 125.461 33.373 2.369 30 7114. Indigenous Areas 166.748 44.355 3.149 40 1.260Total 582.515 154.949 11.001 4.072Source: INEC Panama 2010.


into account the suitability of the provincial environment for policy enforcement in provinces

where agricultural economies predominated along with the presence of non-agricultural sectors,

migration, trafficking in persons, poverty, persons with disabilities, and indigenous and afro

descendant populations in Panama and Ecuador. The selection will also allow piloting

experiences for future scaling-up at the national level.

2. ORGANIZATIONAL CAPACITY

The consortium presenting the project “7 Foundations for the Elimination of Child Labor” is

made up of four organizations that have a broad background and full capacity to implement the

proposed actions. Each partner makes a significant contribution to the consortium, in

accordance with its capacity and previous experience, as detailed below.

CARE has worked in Ecuador since 1962, and continues working in the country under the

Basic Institutional Cooperation Agreement of February 27, 2010, which is valid through the

year 2015. Its goal in the region is to make a significant impact on poverty and social injustice

by the year 2015 (in accordance with the Millennium Declaration and Millennium Development

Goals). CARE focuses its work on two determiners of poverty: discrimination and public

policies, either inadequate or poorly-implemented. CARE in Ecuador expects to contribute

significantly to achieving Ecuador’s Millennium Development Objectives and the National Plan

for “Buen Vivir” (literally “Good Living”, meaning harmonious coexistence among people and

the natural environment). Its work is based on the strategic programming lines of humanitarian

aid and integrated risk management; climate change; sexual and reproductive health, maternal

and neonatal health; economic development and sustainable livelihoods, gender equality,

empowerment and inclusion. CARE’s activities are focused on exercising human rights and the

basic strategies they employ are: i) lobbying/advocacy in public policies; ii) educational

programs; and iii) generating sustainable, scale-replicable models. At the local, regional and

national levels, in coordination with governmental and non-governmental organizations, CARE

carries out activities aimed at developing public policies which will guarantee the rights of

children and adolescents excluded from the educational system and involved in the labor

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market. Toward that end, CARE takes a holistic approach to its activities in education, health,

economic development, livelihoods, and generating mechanisms for participation and exercising

rights.

Since 2002, CARE Ecuador has prioritized its work in education and public policies. Important

initiatives have been developed in close coordination with the Ministry of Education, generating

replicable models of inclusive, relevant and quality education. Key partners in the

implementation of CARE Ecuador’s education strategy have been the Secretariat of

Intercultural Education, Provincial Hispanic Education Departments, the National Directorate of

Intercultural Bilingual Education, Provincial Departments of Intercultural Bilingual Education,

national and provincial grassroots and indigenous movements and organizations; UNICEF,

UNESCO, Plan International, the Salesian Polytechnic University, FLACSO, and the Simon

Bolivar Andean University, among others. CARE has the broad-based institutional

competencies needed efficiently to carry out educational and advocacy projects in intercultural

contexts.

Save the Children - SAVE THE CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL, ECUADOR has been in

Ecuador for more than 8 years. It is a member of the worldwide movement, SAVE THE

CHILDREN INTERNATIONAL, which is made up of 30 member organizations, working in

more than 120 countries around the world. SAVE promotes children’s rights to survival,

protection, development and participation. In Ecuador, the organization has had a collaboration

agreement with the Technical Secretariat of International Cooperation since October of 2012.

SAVE is one of the most widely-recognized organizations in Ecuador because of their work on

childhood issues. They have led projects for advocacy/lobbying in public policies, as well as

building or strengthening protection systems for children and adolescents. The organization is

currently carrying out 11 projects, all centered on guaranteeing the wellbeing of children in

highly vulnerable situations due to mobility and/or trafficking. The project is especially focused

on the areas along Ecuador’s north and south borders and in the Amazon, specifically, in the

provinces of Esmeraldas, Loja, El Oro, Zamora Chinchipe, Pichincha, Sucumbios, Carchi,

Azuay, and Guayas where they provide direct interventions to more than 20,000 children.

24


Through these projects, SAVE promotes participation, protection, and access to education for

children, and eradication of child labor. Their work is focused on children in situations of

migration, trafficking, smuggling, and the worst forms of child labor.

The SOCIAL OBSERVATORY OF ECUADOR FOUNDATION (FOSE for its Spanish

initials) was founded in November 2001 as a nonprofit organization and its by-laws were

approved by the Ministry of Social Welfare, through ministerial decree No. 0250 on November

28, 2001. Its objective is to undertake empirical research and information on the social situation

in Ecuador and other countries with special emphasis on aspects related to social inequalities

and child rights. FOSE seeks to promote the production and effective use of information for

academic research, analysis, policy formulation and training.

Its main experience during recent years is summarized as follows:

Design and implementation of the Children and Adolescents’ Rights Observatory in

Ecuador made up of civil society leaders and UNICEF, Plan International and Save the

Children. From 2001 to 2012, the Observatory advocated with high-level decision

makers for the implementation of policies in favor of children and adolescents. Its novel

design led to requests for advice in the creation of similar observatories in the

Dominican Republic and Bolivia.

Seventy-four investigations undertaken to monitor the compliance status of the rights of

children and adolescents in 22 provinces of the country (2005), 44 cantons of Ecuador,

studies on the northern border, Afro-Ecuadorian children, indigenous children, refugees

and forced migration. This research was integrated into the Ecuadorian Social

Indicators System (SIISE), 2010, and the National Institute of Statistics and Census, and

led to advocacy processes with the Coordinating Ministry of Social Policy and the

Ministry of Social Inclusion.

The creation of the Children and Adolescents’ Rights Compliance Index to establish

permanent monitoring of child rights from 2002 to the present. The measure was

25


implemented by UNICEF globally15, and the Observatory provided technical support to

create the index with UNICEF Mexico.

Technical support for the study of the situation of children and adolescents in Aruba,

Curacao and Sint Maarten, El Salvador between 2010-2012, gathering qualitative

information from civil society and the state, and assessing the fulfillment of the rights of

children and adolescents, the legal basis of protection, social policy funding and the

existence of a system of protection for children and adolescents with UNICEF and the

governments of Aruba, Curacao, Sint Maarten and El Salvador.

Design, implementation and processing of the First National Civil Society Survey on

the compliance with the Rights of Children and Adolescents in 2010, monitoring the

government’s Social Agenda for Children and Adolescents 2006-2010, and public

presentation of results to the Social Inclusion Minister, Executive Secretary of the

Council for Children and Adolescents, Coordinating Minister of Social Affairs.

FOSE has also conducted special reports on child labor in Lago Agrio (Northern Border),

Guayaquil, Quito, Portoviejo (Manabi); a census and case studies of child and adolescent

workers in Guayaquil, Esmeraldas, Manta and Santo Domingo de los Tsáchilas (2009) for the

Ministry of Coastal Areas, Ministry of Social Inclusion, National Institute for Children and

Families, Cantonal Councils of Guayaquil, Esmeraldas and Manta; and research about Children

working in markets in the city of Quito in 2009. Considering the capacity and experience of the

FOSE Foundation, it is planned that they will manage the monitoring system and the

educational/information distribution component of the project.

FUNDESPA, Fundación de Desarrollo Sostenible de Panamá (Sustainable Development

Foundation of Panama) is a non-profit organization registered in the Public Registry of Panama

in 1993. It was created for the purpose of contributing to improving the quality of life of the

people of Panama, with emphasis on children and adolescents in rural areas. Currently, its work

includes three basic areas: a) community participation in the conservation and management of

natural resources; b) development of technical capacities in environmental management from a

15See UNICEF’s State of the World's Children "Excluded and Invisible", p 70

26


human rights perspective; and c) prevention and eradication of the worst forms of child labor,

with an emphasis on agricultural work.

FUNDESPA is one of 21 civil society organizations actively participating in the preparation of

the “Roadmap for Making Panama a Country Free of Child Labor and its Worst Forms” and is a

member of the CETIPPAT (Commission for Elimination of Child Labor and Protection of

Adolescent Workers). The interventions promoted by FUNDESPA are carried out in close

collaboration with, and under the policies established by, the DIRETIPPAT (Directorate for

Elimination of Child Labor and Protection of Adolescent Workers). The organization has

participated in preparing examinations of and reports about the enforcement of the Convention

on the Rights of Children. It has participated in executing and evaluating the National Plan for

Eradication of Child Labor and Protection of Adolescent Workers, 2007-2011 and provided

supplies for designing the National Scholarship Program for Eradication of Child Labor,

through the Institute for Training and Development of Human Resources (IFARHU). It has

received financing from the Kingdom of the Netherlands for child labor eradication through

educational access in communities of Panama Oeste, focused on the worst forms - fishing and

sexual exploitation.

In 2009, FUNDESPA promoted a country diagnosis of the educational situation in Panama. It

was part of the team promoting the “Public-Private Alliance: toward a government educational

policy.” These actions gave rise to the “Letter on Educational Transformation in Panama”

issued by Panama’s National Education Council (CONACED), which became a guide for

confronting education problems in Panama. FUNDESPA is a founding member of the

Childhood and Adolescence Rights Observatory and provides follow-up to the implementation

of the CDN recommendations to Panama. FUNDESPA maintains a close relationship of

cooperation with indigenous social organizations and has broad experience working in

Panama’s prioritized areas.

3. INTERNATIONAL AND U.S. GOVERNMENT AND/OR CONTRACT EXPERIENCE

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The following is a brief summary of the main projects that CARE Ecuador has implemented

around child labor, inclusion and advocacy for law and public policies enforcement:

Inclusive Spaces of Educational Quality (ELICE), with a budget of US $3,701,231 implemented

in the Provinces of Pichincha, Tungurahua, Chimborazo, Loja, El Oro, Guayas, Manabí,

Esmeraldas, Morona Santiago, between March 2007 and January 2010, funded by the

Ecuadorian Debt Swap Program with Spain. The project was implemented in partnership with

CCF, KNH, CENAISE-CESA, CRS-SAVE THE CHILDREN UK, TDH, in coordination with

the Ministry of Education. The program benefited 254 schools, 25,400 children and 1,824

teachers, significantly contributing to the access and permanence of girls, boys and adolescents

in quality education programs. ELICE built, under the leadership of the Ministry of Education, a

model of territorial education management with civil society participation. The basic elements

of ELICE´s model were included in the draft Education Act submitted by the Ministry of

Education to the National Assembly, as part of the restructuring of its territorial management

model.

“Supporting Our Children: Combating Child Labor and Guaranteeing Children’s Future through

Education” (SOY!), with a total budget of US $3.0 million, funded by USDOL and

implemented by a consortium led by CRS, within which CARE administered US$ 666,320. The

project was carried out between 2004 and 2008, in areas of high concentration of child labor, in

flower and banana plantations in the Pichincha, Cotopaxi, Guayas, El Oro and Los Rios

provinces. Other members of the consortium were Save the Children UK, the Ecuadorian

Episcopal Conference and the Wong Foundation. The project provided education, health and

livelihood services to 10,538 children and adolescents so as to prevent them from engaging in

the worst forms of child labor, and withdrew 903 children from hazardous child labor. The

project used innovative methodologies to ensure that children had access to and could complete

school. The project also managed to expand coverage in eighth, ninth, tenth grades and senior

high school, and piloted the Self-Learning System (SAT System), as a reliable program for

reinserting adolescents into the educational system. Finally, the project led the design of local

28


education-related public policies and the strengthening of the municipal integrated protection

systems, to guarantee and restore the rights of excluded children.

Quality Education for Life (EDUCAVIDA), with a budget of US $500,000, in the Cantons of

Puyango, Pindal and Zapotillo, in Loja Province, between 2002 and 2007, financed by private

donors, in coordination with the Ministry of Education and the Loja Education Department.

This initiative directly benefitted 280 girls, 310 boys and 36 teachers, while reporting additional

impact through public policy advocacy. EDUCAVIDA was a demonstrative model of

education, actively involving children, families and communities in the educational processes

and adapting curriculums to Ecuadorian diverse local contexts. The curricular adaptation

contributed to improve teaching and learning processes.

As an organization, CARE is strongly committed to the development of gender transformative

models and processes in the communities we work in. CARE’s initiatives aim at the

empowerment of women and girls through changes in socio-cultural norms and the engagement

of men and boys through community dialogue and participatory analysis. CARE, as an

international organization, has significant experience at the worldwide level, as well as in the

region of Latin America and the Caribbean, with integrated methodological models for

providing educational services and livelihoods, as well as advocacy and lobbying for policies on

the local, national and regional levels to ensure compliance with the rights of children and

adolescents. Notable among those activities are the initiatives carried out in Peru, Bolivia and

Central America, including in the latter sub-region the USDOL-funded “Primero Aprendo”

[First, I Learn] Project. CARE’s institutional experience at the worldwide level will be useful in

our present initiative.

The most recent projects of Save the Children in Ecuador are: “Convenios” [Agreements] 2007

and 2010, financed by the Spanish and European Union Cooperation, through which they have

implemented, and are in process of transferring to the government, the Protocols for Integrated

Childhood Services, the Childhood Protocols, the Protocols for Restitution of the rights of

children in conditions of sexual tourism exploitation, and the Protocol for Services for migrant

29


children. SAVE is one of the promoter organizations of the “Red Nacional Antitrata” [National

Anti-trafficking Network], which produced the network’s Bi-National Protocol for receiving

and the restitution of children victims of trafficking in Ecuador and Peru. As a member of

Ecuador’s Childhood and Adolescence Rights Observatory, they have produced publications

and carried out investigations, including “The State of Child and Adolescent Rights in Ecuador,

1990-2011”; and “Childhood and Borders,” based on their experience working directly with

those populations.

Currently, Save the Children and the NGO “Desarrollo y Autogestión” (DYA) are jointly

carrying out the project “Ecuador without Child Labor,” financed by the European Union, in

five provinces of Ecuador, aimed toward educational inclusion using models of accelerated

primary education. Save the Children maintains a presence in the provinces of Pichincha,

Guayas, El Oro, Esmeraldas, Sucumbios, and Zamora Chinchipe, and works in collaboration

with the Latin American Radio Education Association (ALER), the Ecuadorian Consortium of

Non-Governmental Organizations for Family and Childhood (CONFIE), the Jesuit Services for

Refugees and Migrants (SJRM), and with more than 25 local partners. These include local

governments, service centers for disabled persons, child services councils in various

municipalities and cantons, youth associations, and research centers. All this attests to SAVE’s

capacity to implement programs and projects for eradication of child labor in Ecuador.

Between 2008 and 2009, FUNDESPA carried out the “Programa de Acción Directa” (PAD)

[Direct Action Program] for the progressive elimination of dangerous child labor under the

framework of the OIT-IPEC initiative in the Chorrera District communities in Panama province.

This program achieved educational reinsertion and retention of child workers by providing

educational services, alternative pedagogical methods, educational incentives and integrated

health care services. It also helped families develop economic and livelihood alternatives.

FUNDESPA developed a strategy of individual follow-up and support for children socially at-

risk because of their insertion or potential insertion in the worst forms of child labor.

Since 2009, FUNDESPA has been part of the Pro-Niño Program, funded by the Telefonica

Movistar Foundation, providing social support for the progressive removal of children from

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work situations. The program’s integrated model includes: improving educational services;

applying information technology; communicating about educational alternatives; improving

school infrastructure; strengthening life skills; providing nutritional supplements, textbooks,

school supplies, stipends, and uniforms; health care and disease prevention services; generating

spaces for play, sports, recreational and cultural activities; supporting family protection and

special protection when necessary; technical assistance for preparing business plans and/or

microfinance alternatives; and providing seed capital for parents’ or guardians’ projects or

micro-enterprises. Based on this experience, the organization has helped other private

companies establish their own social responsibility strategies.

a. Country Presence and Host Government Support

The following table summarizes geographical coverage and the nature of government support

for each of the consortium members.

Organization Presence in Ecuador/ Panamá Government Support

CARE National level, Zamora, Manabí, Morona, and Sucumbios. Very good relationship with grassroots social movements and organizations, indigenous organizations, teachers’ groups in Ecuador and initial contacts in Panama.

Close relationship with the Ministry of Education, MIES, and the Coordinating Ministry of Social Development; Member of the Forum of Foreign Non-Governmental Organizations; Social Contract for Education.

SAVE THE CHILDREN

National Level, Esmeraldas, Sucumbíos (Northern border). Very good relationship with grassroots movements and social organizations, indigenous and afro-descendant organizations, the radio broadcasting association, and the National Anti-Trafficking Network.

Coordinating Ministry of Social Development, Ministry of Labor Relations, Childhood and Adolescence Council, Ministry of Economic and Social Inclusion, Ministry of Education, Ministry of the Interior, local governments.

FOSE National Presence, experience in information gathering and specialized studies throughout the country.

National Institute of Statistics and Census, CONEPTI, and the Ministries of Economic and Social Inclusion, of Health, of Education, and of Labor Relations, and the United Nations System.

FUNDESPA National level, Panama, Darien, Colon, Bocas del Toro. Links with community organizations and schools as well as municipal governments.

Member of CETIPPAT, experience with advocacy in the Roadmap, preparation of reports and examinations regarding dangerous child labor. Collaboration with the DIRETIPPAT. Member of the

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Childhood Rights Observatory of Panama.

b. Fiscal Oversight

CARE highly values the financial resources obtained from its donors to perform project

activities. CARE has established policies and procedures formulated to comply with

Generally Accepted Accounting Principles, applicable OMB Circulars, and applicable

FAR/AIDAR regulations for non-profits on grants, cooperative agreements, and

contracts. CARE has established planning, monitoring, reporting, and auditing systems

to ensure that the restrictions placed on the use of resources provided by its various

donors and contributors are identified and addressed. CARE’s financial records and

operations undergo rigorous audits by CARE’s Internal Audit Department and by

external auditors, Ernst & Young. CARE’s financial policies take the following into

account: i) international accounting standards; ii) the legal regulations and procedures in

place in the countries of intervention; iii) the policies and procedures of donor entities;

and iv) internal control policies. CARE’s internal control policies are guided by

policies in the areas of financial management; procurement; subgrant management; and

human resources. These are also complemented by internal audits in each country as

well as donor audits which further contribute in strengthening its systems. Other

donors that CARE Ecuador works with are European Union, DIPECHO and USAID-

OFDA, CARE in Ecuador also maintains ongoing coordination with the Ministry of

Economy and Finance, the Internal Revenue Service and the Technical Secretariat of

International Cooperation. This has helped CARE to recover the Value Added Tax

(VAT) it pays on a timely basis, and to avoid difficulties with the country’s financial

control system. In addition, CARE has designated a delegate who is in constant contact

with the Financial Control Unit of Ecuador.

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While financial management and compliance are of critical importance to CARE, our

A-133 audit reports has identified deficiencies in our internal control environment. In

the past four years, CARE has taken far-reaching measures at all levels in the

organization and invested significant amounts of resources to upgrade its internal

control environment. As of June 2011, CARE has continued to deliver significant

improvement including reducing its questioned costs by 40% from FY 2010. Among the

changes that CARE has implemented globally are the following:

Re-created the position of the Chief Operating Officer and realigned CARE’s

Executive Management Team which improved oversight of CARE’s operations

at the highest level.

Focused the scope of the Chief Financial Officer role and is currently staffed

with an experienced finance professional having more than 20 years’ experience

in the international development sector.

Established a cadre of Deputy Regional Directors for Program Support (DRD

PS) in each of CARE’s five regions. The DRD PS supervise and provide

compliance support to country offices and provide strengthened, high quality

financial, administrative and management support.

Established a six-person Donor Compliance and Assurance Unit that enhanced

CARE’s ability to oversee grants and sub grants worldwide.

Enhanced training on CARE polices in finance, procurement and compliance.

Trainings were held in Amman, Bangkok, Lusaka, Cairo and Atlanta. CARE

HQ teams plan further regular trainings to ensure awareness and understanding

of CARE’s and donors’ policies and requirements and assure that staff is

updated with skills and tools to ensure effective control over and efficient use of

financial resources.

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Utilization of proactive HQ compliance verifications, strengthening oversight on

compliance activities in certain areas at the country office level.

CARE has also made substantial progress in strengthening its systems and ensured that

they are in place and functioning to address specific internal control and compliance

weaknesses. Among these system improvements are the following:

Personnel activity reporting policy and requirements were revised in July, 2008,

ensuring higher levels of reporting and ensuring compliance with applicable

requirements.

Shared cost policy has been fully implemented. Country office methodologies

subjected to quarterly regional management and headquarters scrutiny to ensure

compliance with policies.

Organization-wide procurement policies were revised and rolled out globally

accompanied by training and other compliance resources. Streamlined HQ

procurement manual that provides compliance/efficient procurement.

Sub agreement management policy has been updated to strengthen guidance on

sub recipient monitoring and risk assessment

CARE’s compliance excellence will further accelerate with the implementation

of Pamodzi financial system. With its new Control Framework, it is expected to

provide assessment of risks and controls on automated as well as manual

processes related to finance and grants and contracts management. PAMODZI

includes two systems: i) Adaptive Planning, designed to carry out the financial

planning for each project and ii) People Soft, CARE’s financial accounting

system which allows for more robust financial monitoring and grant

management with its web based capabilities, more efficient approval process and

built in controls.

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Among the activities considered in “7 Foundations” is an initial workshop to address the

financial management policies required by USDOL, and the most recent regulations of

Ecuador and Panama in terms of reporting international cooperation funds.

Participating in this initial workshop will be the directors, financial managers and

financial analysts that the partner organizations have assigned to this project. As a

result of this initial workshop, an Accompaniment Plan will be designed for each

organization, which, as needed, will include training and backstopping on the

administrative-financial management of the resources provided and the related reporting

mechanisms.

Before beginning to distribute disbursements to the partner organizations, a Partnership

Agreement will be signed, which includes the annual plan of activities and the budget

required to implement that plan. Quarterly transfers will be made, upon approval by the

Project Director and the CARE financial manager. New disbursements will only be

made provided that the previous ones have been fully complied with, to the satisfaction

of the financial analyst based on her administrative and accounting reviews.

It should be noted that one of CARE’s organizational principles is transparency. This

principle is expressed through annual accountability exercises, which include the

administration of finances, aimed at national and local government entities, donors,

beneficiaries and partner and allied organizations. In this sense, a methodology has

been developed which links the objectives of the initiatives, the actions carried out,

resources executed and results achieved.

Financial Management

Financial management will ensure that the project uses the resources allocated in an

efficient and reasonable manner. It will involve the review, approval and oversight on

how project funds are spent to ensure that expenses are reasonable, necessary and in

accordance with the project activities, follows the relevant fiscal policies, donor

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regulations and consortium members’ systems and procedures. More specifically,

financial management of each consortium members will include regular reviews of

actual activity against the approved budget. Reviews will ensure financial activities are

appropriate and correct, transactions are assigned to the correct accounts, approvals

were obtained, and adequate documentation maintained. Management reports will be

reviewed regularly by key administrators, coordinators, and department executives. As

part of its subgrant management, CARE will also require a periodic submission of

financial reports from each partner’s, conduct site visits as necessary and require an

annual submission of audit reports if appropriate. CARE will also ensure that required

financial reports are submitted to DOL and approvals are obtained as necessary and

provided in the regulations.

c. Key Personnel

Project Director: Sara Oviedo - has a BA degree in Sociology and Political Science from the

Central University in Ecuador and a post graduate degree in Training in Youth and Society in

the Latin American Faculty of Social Sciences, FLACSO. Mrs. Oviedo has over 25 years of

experience in participating and contributing to various National Movements in Ecuador,

specializing in children and adolescents rights. She has made important contributions to the

organization of the Indigenous National Movement, the National Women’s Movement, the

organization and strengthening of child development services in Ecuador, the construction of the

National Children and Adolescent Protection System, as well as the strengthening of the Inter

American Children’s Institute. Mrs. Oviedo currently serves as the Ecuadorian representative to

the Inter-American Children’s Institute; she was the Chairperson of the Leadership Council of

the Inter American Children’s Institute, from October 2006 to October 2008, facilitating

meetings for Brazil, Mexico, Uruguay, Colombia, Canada, Peru, and Panamá. Mrs. Oviedo

served as the National Executive Secretary for the National Council for Children and

Adolescents of Ecuador, from 2004 to October 2012; she directed and supervised the structuring

of the National Council for Children and Adolescents in Ecuador; implementing child

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protection and development policies for Ecuador and the county commitments to the UN

Conventions on children’s rights; promoting civil society participation in children and

adolescents regulatory developments (Penal Code, Labor Code, Regulations of the Children and

Adolescents Code, laws about hazardous child labor), and promoted the structuring of the

Children and Adolescents National Integral Protection System, leading to the enforcement of

215 Cantonal Councils for Children and Adolescents, 131 Rights Protection Boards, 483

Community Defenders and 92 Advisory Councils of Children and Adolescents in Ecuador.

Mrs. Oviedo has broad capacity in building links with other agencies, such as the National

Judicial Council, National Police Department for Children, Ombudsman, and Attorney General

of Ecuador. Mrs. Oviedo promoted the definition of the public policy of integrated protection of

children and adolescents, supporting enforcement and adequate monitoring of public policies

for child integral protection. Mrs. Oviedo was the General Coordinator of the design of the Ten-

Year Plan for the Comprehensive Protection of Children and Adolescents, between 2003 and

2004. She has submitted a letter of commitment to work with CARE.

Labor Inspection and Labor Law Enforcement Specialist: Lorena Dávalos has worked in

legal management of public institutions dedicated to social development issues and protection

of rights of women and children for over 10 years. She specializes in child and adolescent rights

and has a unique and in-depth understanding on Ecuadorian child labor issues. Over the past

eight years, Ms. Dávalos has worked at the National Council for Children and Adolescents

(CNNA), an agency specializing in the comprehensive protection of child and adolescents’

rights, supporting processes concerning defense, enforcement, protection, and restitution of

children’s rights, relating generally to those of survival, development, protection, and

participation. The elimination of child labor has been a fundamental component of her work at

CNNA, where programs focusing on child labor in landfills, abattoirs, and markets have been

prioritized and have shown positive results for the children of Ecuador. As legal advisor of

CNNA she coordinated with the Ministry of Labor Relations and local authorities to implement

inspections in landfills to eradicate child labor. In addition, she has helped to prepare legal

instruments in order to implement processes to eliminate child labor. She has developed public

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policy advisory briefs to advise the CNNA on child labor law; monitored child labor rights in

the judicial, legislative, administrative institutions; and coordinated with government and

private sector institutions at the national and local level regarding the protection of rights of

children and adolescents. Ms. Davalos has submitted a letter of commitment to work with Save

the Children.

Child Labor and Social Protection Policy Specialist: Alexandra Moncada - Architect,

specialist in gender issues, public policy and management, local development, and citizen

participation, with 20 years of experience working in international and national organizations in

the field of mobilization of resources, protection of and attention to human rights and vulnerable

groups, including children and adolescents, women victims of violence, migrants and persons

needing international protection, and others. Has worked in Ecuador, Venezuela, Dominican

Republic, Colombia and Spain, in programs for protection of vulnerable populations; has

professional experience directing programs for GIZ, Plan International, and Catholic Relief

Services, and has collaborated as a consultant with CARE, Save the Children, and Child Fund;

In the public sector in Ecuador, Ms. Moncada was Director of Social Inclusion of the City of

Quito - specializing in disabilities; was Undersecretary of Human Rights of the Ministry of

Justice and Human Rights, and Technical Coordinator for the Council on Citizen Participation

and Social Control; was Director of Project SOY!, financed by USDOL, and implemented by

the consortium led by CRS, for the eradication of child labor on flower and banana plantations

in Ecuador; is a member of several collectives and social networks involved in protection of

women victims of violence, trafficking for sexual exploitation, refuge or migration, and human

rights in Ecuador. She has submitted a letter of commitment to work with CARE.

Monitoring and Evaluation Officer – Margarita Velasco Abad: Margarita Velasco Abad,

researcher and university professor, is a specialist with 15 years experience designing

monitoring and evaluation indicators for public policies in both child and adolescent rights as

well as health policy in Ecuador, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Uruguay, Argentina,

Bolivia, Peru, Chile, Venezuela, Sint Maarten, Curacao and Aruba. This expertise is united with

38


advocacy for policies and actions fulfilling the rights of children. For over a decade, her primary

work with monitoring and evaluation indicators has been with the Child and Adolescent Rights’

Observatory. She published in May 2012 an analysis of 22 years of the Convention on the

Rights of the Child.

Mrs. Velasco leads the Social Observatory of Ecuador Foundation (FOSE) and is the

coordinator for evaluation and analysis of the status of the rights of children, adolescents and

women in Ecuador, Aruba, Curacao, and Saint Maarten. She has important experience in

advocacy with public institutions, such as the National Institute for Census, that led to national

research on child labor included in the 2010 National Census. She created the Childhood

Information System (SI Niñez) that builds rights approach indicators to monitor the status of

children and adolescents in the country, gathering all information produced by the government

and NGOs.

d. Other Professional Personnel

The project plans to work with a team at the territorial level to carry out the operational aspects

of the project, comprised of the following team:

Territorial Coordinators: These will be in charge of the territorial coordination of the

implementation of project strategies and activities, will generate alliances with local authorities,

secure commitments from local authorities to create or enforce legislation and policies, will be

responsible for strengthening local alliances with government authorities, civil society

organizations, private companies and the media, in order to implement the pilot initiatives that

emerge from the identification of the possible local public policies. They will assess the local

situation and how hazardous child labor fits in, in order to define the advocacy efforts to be

carried out in the target areas. The coordinators will guarantee that the implementation of public

policies in the eradication of child labor takes gender and human rights issues into account.

Technical Staff: These team members will be in charge of strengthening the community

organization processes, consolidating networks of protection and restoration of the rights of

children and adolescents working or at risk of working, promote the formulation of local

39


regulations and raise awareness about the issue. They will be responsible for leading efforts to

empower and ensure the participation of children and adolescents engaged in or at risk of child

labor in making decisions that affect them. Special emphasis will be placed on identifying local

children’s rights protection and restoration policies that respond to the specific needs and

problems faced by girls.

Both the coordinators and the technical staff are in the process of being recruited; there are

position profiles defined with the technical and social qualifications needed to ensure the high

quality results proposed by this project.

e. Project Management Plan

The management framework of the 7 Foundations project is designed to ensure the fulfillment

of project objectives and facilitate the exchange and enrichment of experiences of the members

of the consortium and their local partners. The design of the Management Plan is based on the

good practices developed by the consortium of organizations that were in charge of the

implementation of the SOY! Project in Ecuador. The consortium members will both work

through local associations and implement activities directly. The local partners include: the

Government of Ecuador, the Government of Panama, the Coordinating Ministry of Social

Development, Labor Relations, Education, Health, and the Office of the Vice President and the

Attorney General’s Office in Ecuador; and the Office of the First Lady, the Ministry of Labor,

the National Secretariat of Children and Adolescents in Panama, the Management Committee of

the ILO/IPEC project in each country, the autonomous decentralized governments of the

provinces of Manabi, Sucumbios, Esmeraldas, Zamora, and Morona in Ecuador; the

municipalities of Darién, Panama Oeste, Boca del Toro and Colón in Panama. In addition to the

coordinated work of these partners, strategic alliances and collaboration will be established

nationally and locally with CONEPTI and CETIPATT, the National Human Rights

Observatories of Ecuador and Panama, agricultural, agro-industrial, and ,tourism networks, and

private sector enterprises present in the rural areas of the selected provinces, as well as

grassroots organizations, primarily the organizations of disabled, indigenous and Afro-

40


descendant people in all of the target areas. An illustrative project management chart can be

found in Annex D.

7 Foundations proposes a tiered project management framework structured around four levels:

1) Policy-strategic level. Overall governance of the project will be in the hands of a

Steering Committee in each country composed of representatives from the government

entities in each country who have responsibility for the approval and implementation of

public policy related to hazardous child labor. The Steering Committees will provide

the strategic guidelines on priorities for policies and advocacy mechanisms, taking into

account the specific political and social contexts of Panama and Ecuador. They will be

in charge of providing feedback on the reports submitted by the project though the

Project Director and they will approve semi-annual progress reports prior to submission

to the USDOL. They will be the primary space for dialogue and consensus-building.

The Steering Committees will also be one of the key spaces where the project provides

accountability for its actions. In this way, the project will be aligned with the country

priorities reflected in the policies, programs, projects and legislation in place in Ecuador

and Panama.

2) Advisory level. The project will establish an Advisory Committee composed of the

national directors of the organizations that make up the consortium. Its responsibility

will be to guarantee that the project maintains a strategic perspective in line with

international and national laws and conventions on child labor that Ecuador and Panama

have signed. It will also be a forum for analyzing the social and political contexts of

each country, and how the project should be implemented given these realities. At this

level, the semi-annual reports to be submitted to the donor will be vetted prior to

approval by the Steering Committees. It will also provide recommendations for carrying

out the processes of accountability to national and local governmental and social

stakeholders. One of its basic responsibilities will be to verify and guarantee the

progress and compliance with performance and outcome indicators. The CARE director

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will be the link between this Advisory Committee and the Steering Committee at the

policy-strategic level. In addition to coordinating the overall management of the

program, an important role of the Advisory Team will be to participate and collaborate

with the existing forums and platforms at the national level that work on the issues of

child labor, children’s rights, and education, such as CONEPTI in Ecuador and

CETIPPAT in Panama

3) Technical and operational planning level : A Senior Project Management Team will be

formed by the Project Director, the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer, the Child Labor

and Social Protection Policy Specialist and the Labor Inspection and Labor Law

Enforcement Specialist, and the Coordinators of the territories in which the policy

strengthening and advocacy actions will be implemented. This is the primary team

responsible for project implementation, and to this end will develop alliances with

governmental and non-governmental organizations and civil society groups. It will

establish and participate in forums for dialogue and consensus-building. It will also

promote the unification of strategic and methodological criteria for policy reform and

advocacy. It will be responsible for the annual operational planning of the project, based

on its logical model and logical framework. It will also be responsible for building

capacities in the operational team and local partners in all of the project’s target

provinces, and will be responsible for the technical aspects of the studies and reports to

be produced during the project. The operations team will coordinate the development

and execution of the technical methodologies and program interventions at the local

level. This group will report to the Advisory Committee, and will in turn consider its

suggestions in the implementation process. It will also document the experiences,

strengths and weaknesses that arise in the work of the operational teams, and will

collect information and lessons learned from successful child labor eradication

experiences nationally and internationally. Finally, this level will provide the

methodological guidelines to guarantee that the project is implemented from a

perspective that emphasizes human rights and gender equity. Each coordinator will

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have thorough knowledge of the local population in situations of exclusion and the

status of policies to protect them, and it will have the capacity to dialogue with all local

stakeholders.

4) Operational level . At the local operational level, technical staff, employed by either the

implementing consortium member or by NGO sub-grantees, will come together to form

territorial Technical Teams. The technical teams will be responsible for putting the

strategies and methodologies into operation on the ground. They will work to form

networks around the issue of child labor prevention and eradication, and will provide

feedback and inputs from their local policy reform and advocacy experiences to the

central team responsible for national advocacy. They will generate local alliances with

decision-makers and civil society organizations related to child labor, migration,

indigenous and afro-descendant populations, persons with disabilities, among others,

and will provide accountability to local stakeholders. They will be responsible for

knowledge management and documenting lessons learned at the local level which will

serve as the basis for scaling up child labor eradication and policy reform advocacy

models. The operational team in each province will include a specialist in the area of

human rights for child laborers. Where possible, these specialists will be employees of

consortium organizations with the skills necessary to assist children and adolescents in

preventing exploitation and reclaiming their rights.

The geographic coverage of the project reflects the institutional capacity of the consortium

members in each country, and will be distributed as follows: CARE will lead activities in

Sucumbios, Morona, and Manabi; Save the Children will be in charge of Esmeraldas and

Zamora. FUNDESPA will be responsible for the provinces of Panama Oeste and Darién during

the first two years, and Colón and Boca del Toro in the final two years of the project. Given its

experience and expertise, the Social Observatory of Ecuador Foundation will be in charge of the

monitoring, evaluation, and knowledge management components of the project.

The Country Representative for CARE in Ecuador and Panama will have the task of officially

43


representing the consortium in national outreach and awareness-raising campaigns, and will be

the spokesperson for the program with the media. He will also be the official contact person

with the governmental agencies: ministries, the Office of the Vice President and the Embassies

of the United States in Ecuador and Panama. Each member of the consortium will handle its

own local relationships with the media with respect to their individual interventions.

Each of the members of the consortium has signed a memorandum of understanding with

CARE, reflecting their commitment to fulfill the following roles:

SAVE THE CHILDREN

Hold the key personnel position of Labor Inspection and Labor Law Enforcement

Specialist, who will be a senior member of the Project Steering Committee

In Ecuador, serve as the lead partner in Zamora Chinchipe and Esmeraldas. To ensure

coordination and management of these Provinces, CARE, Save the Children and FUNDESPA

will hire one Area Coordinator (a senior member of the project) and no less than one Project

Coordinator, and one Administrative/Financial Assistant.

In Panama, the Labor Inspection and Law Enforcement Specialist based in Ecuador will

provide technical assistance (TA), guidance, and program quality monitoring to relevant project

activities through regular TA/ monitoring trips as well as through remote Ecuador-based

support.

The Sub-recipient will provide short-term technical assistance (STTA) and backstopping

from technical advisors at its home office through remote support as well as in-country STTA

trips.

FUNDACION OBSERVATORIO SOCIAL DEL ECUADOR FOSE

Design and implement the project’s M&E system.

Design and provide technical assistance to local governments for implementing the

information system on child labor and its worst forms.

Design and implement a diagnostic assessment of knowledge, attitudes and practices in the

5 target provinces regarding the worst forms of CL

Develop a baseline to identify Occupational Risk Factors for Child Labor, based on the

44


assessment done in the project’s target provinces.

Research the impacts of child labor on the health and disabilities of working children.

Prepare a special report related to the rates of morbidity, mortality, and disabilities

associated with the participation of boys, girls and adolescents in hazardous work.

Promote the exchange of experiences between Ecuador and Panama

Consolidate project reports.

Disseminate relevant data on child labor at the local and regional level, generating public

debates.

FUNDESPA

Consolidate spaces of policy consensus-building and inter-institutional coordination for the

implementation of the Program in Panama.

Conduct a participatory evaluation of the progress to date of the Plan to Combat Child

Labor in Panama.

Design and implement a training program for the officials responsible for guaranteeing the

enforcement of criminal sanctions for the worst forms of child labor, and provide training and

raise awareness among civil society organizations, communities, and the public and private

sector.

Design local plans (local roadmaps) to provide protection to child laborers and to penalize

exploiters in Panama.

Conduct inspections in identified sectors, document and rescue child laborers, refer cases

to the justice system.

Lobby for legislative changes and in the Constitution and Labor Code of Panama.

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