In support to children’s rights, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) will pilot test the implementation of the Strategic Helpdesks for Information, Education, Livelihood and other Developmental Interventions (SHIELD) against child labor.

​DSWD will launch the project today, January 12.

The SHIELD project aims to strengthen the capacity of local government units (LGUs) in the prevention and elimination of the worst forms of child labor.

DSWD will pilot-test this project in Regions CALABARZON, V, and VIII for two years, starting this year. These regions have been identified as high risk areas for deep-sea fishing, mining, quarrying, agriculture, and major sources of child domestic workers.

DSWD Secretary Judy M. Taguiwalo said, “Even though various sectors have been campaigning against child labor for decades, it continues to be a problem and annually, the number of child workers continues to increase. Many work in palm plantations, in the mining industry, as unpaid labor for sweatshops and family and community-based backyard industries.

Based on the 2011 survey on children conducted by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), around 5.492 million children aged 5-17 are already working, with 54.5% of whom are working in hazardous work environment.

“Many children work in farmlands, plantations, mines, pyrotechnics industry, and as domestic workers. Agriculture also remains to be the sector where most child laborers can be found,” Sec. Taguiwalo added.

There are already existing standards against child labor as issued by the International Labor Organization and provisions of RA 9231 (An Act Providing For The Elimination Of The Worst Forms Of Child Labor And Affording Stronger Protection For The Working Child, Amending For This Purpose Republic Act No. 7610, As Amended, Otherwise Known As The “Special Protection Of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation And Discrimination Act). She said that can be used as guidelines to analyze the conditions of child workers.

According to the DSWD Listahanan database, there are 85,570 child laborers recorded in the agriculture sector, which is the highest number.  This was followed by the number of children working in construction, manufacturing, deep-sea fishing, domestic work, and mining.

Under SHIELD,   the DSWD will help LGUs   to establish a functional Local Child Labor Local Registration System and a Barangay Help Desk.  SHIELD will also capacitate LGUs to develop effective advocacy and capacity-building strategies.

The local registry will develop a database system to identify who and where child laborers are in the community. It will also be used to set a mechanism for referral and monitoring of cases, especially those that reveal the worst forms of child labor.

In the meantime, the Barangay Help Desk will provide a one-stop shop kind of service, as well as facilitate rescue operations when necessary.

“This problem on child labor continues as this is anchored on poverty.  As long as the number of poor family’s increases, the number of children forced to work to augment the income of their families’ meager incomes will also increase.  It is our duty to protect these children, and show that the state cares for their welfare,” Sec. Taguiwalo emphasized.

She stressed, however, that the DSWD cannot do the work alone.

“The LGUs must be equipped to eliminate the incidence of children engaging in hazardous work in their respective jurisdictions. The community must work to protect and care for their children. We also hope that civil society groups will also extend their helping hand to our government agencies and communities.   Maging bahagi tayo sa pagbibigay ng maagap at mapagkalingang serbisyo para sa ating mga kabataan,” the Secretary said.

Project SHIELD will be implemented in partnership with the Local Government Units (LGUs), Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) and other Government Agencies such as Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG),  Department of Education (DepEd),  Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC) and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). #