DOLE, ILO unit join hands to reduce child labor

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) has partnered with the International Labor Organization-International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) for a project aimed at reducing child labor in the country by 75 percent.

Labor Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz said the number of working children aged five to 17 years in the country went down seven percent from 2005 to 2008.

She said, however, that there is still scarce data on the number of children engaged in the worst kind of child labor. 

The project, called “Strengthening National Capacities to Support the Philippine Program Against Child Labors Vision of a Child Labor-Free Philippines,” also includes the conduct of a survey to update the data on child labor in the country. 

Labor statistics showed that child labor is most rampant in the provinces of Quezon, Masbate, Northern Samar and Bukidnon.

DOLE targets to eliminate the worst forms of child labor by 2016.