Work and Labour – HEART

Better jobs and livelihoods for young people in Africa – a spotlight on demand

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 12:36:35 +0000

If young people in Africa are to find jobs, policies must focus on creating many more opportunities for young people to gain work. The key problem is not an inappropriate supply of young people’s labour to labour markets, but an insufficient demand for what young people have, or could have, to offer. The policy focus on youth employment arises from concerns around violence and missed economic opportunities, but “youth” are a poorly defined and heterogeneous demographic. What is clear from numerous empirical studies on young people’s engagement with work in Africa is that they do not generally lack the skills or education to work, nor are idle by choice. Young Africans are better educated than ever before and actively seeking jobs. As policymakers increasingly recognise, the provision of opportunities to work is the main challenge. New and more effective policy directions are needed to create and reimagine livelihood opportunities in environments in which paid work remains limited. Sustainably addressing youth un/underemployment in Africa depends on rethinking employment in favour of demand-oriented policies that create more jobs (as well as rethinking welfare systems and trade policies), rather than focusing on producing ever better job-seekers. ]]>

Youth employment & citizenship: problematising theories of change

Thu, 12 Apr 2018 05:59:27 +0000

In recent years, funding for youth employment interventions has rapidly increased. However, there is limited to no evidence that interventions that build skills and knowledge lead to sustained employment and increased earnings. There is also no evidence that youth employment interventions have positive impact on peace and stability, or can lead to youth empowerment in a broader sense. This calls for revisiting the dominant assumptions and theories of change that underpin existing interventions. This Emerging Issues report is based on a review of existing meta-analysis studies on the impact of youth employment interventions as well as qualitative research on the experiences of youth. It argues for more clarity of purpose of different youth interventions and to diversify theories of change to be responsive to different political and economic contexts. Existing theories of change can be enhanced by adopting ideas and approaches for strengthening youth active citizenship.

The current world population is the youngest it has ever been with 1.8 billion people in the 10–24 age group. The figures have spurred enthusiasm about the potential demographic dividend that will possibly accelerate economic growth. However, almost 43% of the global youth labour workforce is either unemployed or working but still living in poverty, which means there may not be a demographic dividend. This realisation has driven interventions that seek to get large numbers of youth into formal employment or become productive citizens in other ways. At the same time, large youth populations are presented as a ‘ticking time bomb’. Un/underemployed youth are considered a major security risk, especially in urban areas, and more recently, unemployed and disaffected youth have become associated with youth recruitment to extremist groups. It is thus not surprising that youth employment interventions have gained immense popularity in the last two decades and that they are needed to serve economic as well as security
purposes, such as countering violent extremism.

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Lessons learned from youth employment programmes in developing countries

Tue, 27 Mar 2018 09:00:02 +0000

Youth employment programmes are varied but meta-analysis and systematic reviews of impact assessments of these programmes indicate that some interventions have an overall positive effect on employment and earnings. Assessments of programmes which support youth job creation in the private sector find that larger businesses are more likely to generate jobs than micro-enterprises. In general, the youth employment strategy must be aligned with the scope for structural change in the economy: demand-side initiatives are appropriate in sub-Saharan Africa where most economies have limited potential for structural change in the short to medium term. Youth employment programmes should balance support for small and medium enterprises which are expected to create jobs with livelihoods initiatives which enable youth to become self-employed in the agricultural or informal sectors.

Only a few studies of youth employment programmes disaggregate the findings by gender and these find that interventions do not help women to overcome social barriers to entering the labour force. Women generally derive less benefit from youth employment programmes than men. Female entrepreneurs benefit more from programmes which combine training with finance. The evidence base on the impact of youth employment programmes is limited relative to the number of programmes which have been implemented.

Much of the evidence from developing countries comes from Latin America and there are few rigorous assessments of programmes in
sub-Saharan Africa. Many interventions are not assessed using rigorous experimental design methodologies which are necessary to demonstrate impact. There is a lack of reliable information on the types of interventions which have been tried and the effectiveness of the programmes which were implemented.

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Modern slavery within the tea industry in Bangladesh

Mon, 19 Mar 2018 14:09:15 +0000

The main factor driving modern slavery within the tea industry in Bangladesh is the extreme marginalisation of tea garden workers, who are mostly descendants of migrants from India, by wider society. Social and economic exclusion mean workers have no alternative to working under highly exploitative conditions in the tea industry.

The review found considerable literature on the working conditions of tea workers, but little on the wider context of their position in society, attention to the plight of tea workers in policy-making, or the macro-economic and political pressures to sustain modern slavery in Bangladesh’s tea gardens.

Women suffer particularly in the tea sector in Bangladesh. The majority of tea pickers – who spend over eight hours each day picking leaves – are women. Typical men’s jobs include working in factories, as supervisors and as security guards. The review found nothing specifically about persons with disabilities in the tea industry in Bangladesh.

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Interventions to combat modern slavery

Tue, 23 Jan 2018 13:26:55 +0000

This report details findings from evaluations of a range of interventions to combat modern slavery. While there are three broad areas of efforts to tackle modern slavery – prevention, protection and prosecution – the main focus to date has been on prevention and, to a lesser extent, protection; prosecution has received far less attention. The literature indicates that interventions have generally proven to have limited effectiveness.

Various evaluations highlight the need for information campaigns to target specific groups and advocate action rather than simply raising awareness. They also call for protection measures to be targeted, and linked to interventions in health, education, social protection and livelihoods. A number of evaluations suggest that legislation banning trafficking, child labour, etc. can be counterproductive: more stress should be put on improving labour and working conditions.

Modern slavery is very broad-ranging in scope, covering forced and bonded labour, child labour, sex trafficking, human trafficking and so on. Rather than considering interventions under each type of modern slavery, this review categorises interventions into the following:

prevention – aimed at raising public awareness of modern slavery and its risks;
protection – aimed at empowering victims and helping them rebuild their lives;
prosecution – to support implementation of legislation on modern slavery.1

Some programmes are cross-cutting, with interventions focused on two or more categories (of prevention, protection and prosecution). Findings from such cross-cutting programmes are given under the most appropriate category.

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Interventions to support victims of modern slavery

Tue, 23 Jan 2018 11:19:30 +0000

This review found few evaluations of interventions to support victims of modern slavery, even though there is recognition of the need for support services. While there is little evidence on effectiveness of interventions, the literature highlights the importance of victim-centred, holistic (multi-disciplinary) approaches to supporting victims. There is strong consensus in the literature on the importance of providing support to victims of modern slavery (University of Liverpool, 2017; Robjant, 2016; Sun-Suon, nd).

Many will have experienced physical violence, psychological abuse and even sexual abuse. The conditions they suffer from can include anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, sexually transmitted infections, unwanted pregnancies and abortions, physical ill-health and malnourishment.

Mental health issues are particularly significant, especially in children. ‘Even if the physical wounds have been healed, it is still a long process to help the victims regain their dignity and the confidence to make choices and move forward with their lives. It is therefore crucial …to ensure that the rights, needs and requests of the victims are recognised’ (Sun-Suon, nd: 26). In the absence of suitable support, victims are at heightened risk of becoming slaves again/being re-trafficked (University of Liverpool, 2017).

This review drew on a mixture of academic and grey literature. Significant information was found on provision of services (or lack of it) to survivors of modern slavery in the UK (as well as some other developed countries), but far less on developing countries. Some of the literature made specific reference to the needs of women, but much was gender-blind or focused on the needs of men. Nothing was found from the perspective of persons with disabilities.

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Overview of child labour in the artisanal and small-scale mining sector in Asia and Africa

Thu, 23 Nov 2017 15:55:53 +0000

This rapid review synthesises data from academic, policy, and NGO sources on child labour in the artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM) sector in Asia and Africa. ASM refers to small groups engaged in low-cost, low-tech, labour-intensive excavation and processing of minerals. Therefore, a clear distinction can be made between industrial and large-scale (usually licensed) mining on the one hand, and artisanal and small-scale (often unlicensed) mining on the other. Small-scale mining also includes all lower segments of mining (both non-mechanised and mechanised) that are not conventional industrial mining operations.

It is difficult to make estimates on the number of children working in mines due to a lack of clear data on the topic and the lack of uniformed definitions on what constitutes child labour. Moreover, ASM is by definition informal and often illegal, thus practitioners operate in secret making research difficult. However, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) estimates that there are more than one million children working in ASM, with the number increasing with the deagrarianisation of large areas in Africa and Asia.

The data on supply chains in ASM is limited and it is difficult to credibly assess when minerals involving child labour make it into Europe. Due to the informal and often illegal nature of ASM they have a longer, more complicated, supply chain where responsibility and traceability is lost along the way. However, there are a range of organisations – such as Fairtrade, Fairmined, OECD, and the Responsible Jewellery Council – that offer certification that guarantees that the entire supply chain is audited and free of elements such as child labour.

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Prevalence and impacts of child labour in agriculture

Thu, 16 Nov 2017 14:39:39 +0000

This exploratory rapid review finds that child labour in agriculture is a global issue, with the agricultural sector accounting for the majority of child labourers. Across regions and countries agriculture is usually the main sector for children’s economic activity. However, there is considerable variation in the prevalence of child labour between and within countries. Agricultural child labour is mainly unpaid work on smallholder family farms, but is also found on commercial farms and plantations as well as through forced and trafficked child labour. Child labour is involved in crop production, livestock (including herding) and forestry as well as fishing and aquaculture.

There are more boys than girls in agricultural child labour, and both tend to start young, sometimes before 10 years old. Girls tend to combine agricultural and domestic duties, and their work is more invisible, while male adolescents are more likely to be in hazardous work in agriculture than their female peers. Children from poor households, ethnic minorities, migrants and families with HIV/AIDS or disabled members are particularly vulnerable to agricultural child labour.

Other drivers include agricultural dependency, social norms and a lack of higher returns to basic schooling. Almost 60 per cent of girls and boys (aged 5–17 years) in hazardous work are found in agriculture. Situations of heightened harm and danger include forced and trafficked child labour for agriculture as well as conflict and emergency situations. Nevertheless age-appropriate tasks can contribute to children’s well-being and development – in particular in rural contexts with a lack of returns to formal education, labour-intensive agricultural livelihoods and social acceptance of child labour.

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Modern slavery in the DRC

Fri, 08 Sep 2017 15:05:40 +0000

‘Modern slavery’ encompasses a variety of situations in which one person is forcibly controlled by one or more others for the purpose of exploitation (Cockayne, 2015). ‘Forced or compulsory labour’ is defined by the ILO Forced Labour Convention as ‘all work or service which is exacted from any person under the menace of any penalty and for which the said person has not offered himself voluntarily’. The means of coercion by the exploiter can be overt and observable (e.g. armed guards who prevent workers from leaving) or subtle and not immediately observable (e.g. confiscation of identity papers) (ILO, 2012).

In the case of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, the Global Slavery Index (GSI) 2016 reports that the estimated number of people living in modern slavery is 873,100 (rank 9 of 167 countries). This amounts to an estimated proportion in slavery of 1.130 percent (rank 6 of 167 countries). These estimates of prevalence are derived from a 2010 survey, published in JAMA, focused on sexual violence and other human rights violations in the conflict-affected North and South Kivu provinces and in Ituri. Drawing from this representative sample, ratios were adjusted to other parts of the country to reflect lower levels of conflict, in addition to any other necessary adjustments (K.B., expert comments).

There are various DRC studies that seek not to determine prevalence but to find the existence and indication of the scale of modern slavery.

The 2013 Free the Slaves study of South Kivu finds that 866 of the total sample of 931 persons interviewed across all three mining sites (93 percent) were enslaved in one of more types of slavery (Free the Slaves, 2013).
The 2011 Free the Slaves study of North Kivu finds that 40 percent of respondents interviewed in Bisie were found to be in confirmed situations of slavery (Free the Slaves, 2013).
The 2014 USAID study of South Kivu and North Katanga finds that 6.7 percent of survey respondents are or have been victims of trafficking (USAID, 2014).

Studies in the eastern DRC have identified six types of slavery: forced labour, debt bondage, peonage, sex slavery, forced marriage, and the enslavement of children (Bale, 2013; Free the Slaves, 2013; Free the Slaves, 2011). There can be overlap in the experiences of slavery. Women, for example, may be subject to sex slavery and debt bondage, concurrently.

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Child Domestic Work

Fri, 08 Sep 2017 09:49:45 +0000

The definition of Child Domestic Work (CDW) is contested. Whilst international law defines children as any person under the age of 18 years old, in some countries, the national minimum age to work can be as low as 14 years old. Furthermore, socio-cultural patterns and national level policies add an additional dimension to how CDW is viewed, measured and reported. Despite these variations, as an overview, child domestic work is a general reference to children’s work in the domestic work sector in the home of a third-party or employer.

The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) and UNICEF conventions provide the main framework for definitions. This Helpdesk Report discusses the following questions: What different approaches exist to defining child labour in domestic work? What data is available regarding the numbers of children and households that are involved in domestic child labour? How does the prevalence of domestic child labour differ across countries? What approaches of data collection methods have been used and what are the data limitations?

a) children 5 to 11 years of age that during the week preceding the survey did at least one hour of economic activity or at least 28 hours of domestic work, and;
b) children 12 to 14 years of age that during the week preceding the survey did at least 14 hours of economic activity or at least 42 hours of economic activity and domestic work combined

The ILO dominates the evidence base for research on child domestic workers with some research undertaken by interagency cooperation efforts such as UCW (which comprises of the ILO, UNICEF and the World Bank). For example, the definitions and approaches found in various papers and studies not undertaken by the ILO largely use the ILO’s definitions and its related conventions as a framework for their respective studies, and the most recent literature and statistics around child domestic labour are all ILO reports. Only the most recent reports and data will be referred to in this helpdesk report unless a significant trend was noted between data sets.

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