Drawn from the Global CIRCLE Projects

Winrock International has launched the publication of Best Practices in Preventing and Eliminating Child Labor through Education, a document that captures and richly weaves together the best practices of over eighty international non-governmental organizations to prevent and eliminate child labor around the world.

Winrock International’s recently concluded CIRCLE project aimed to prevent or reduce child labor through education by identifying, promoting, and supporting innovative, locally developed, and community based projects.  CIRCLE was a global subcontracts project that funded over 100 community based NGOs in 24 countries around the world since 2002.  The project goal was to promote and document the best practices of innovative, community-based projects that successfully addressed the reduction or elimination of child labor, especially the worst forms, through formal and non-formal education.  CIRCLE has withdrawn or prevented over 24,000 children from child labor and has impacted thousands more through public awareness, advocacy, and training activities.

Best Practice Methodology and Structure
CIRCLE used a peer review approach, through the analyses of over 150 expert volunteers, based on six criteria: effectiveness, reliability, sustainability, innovation, educational relevance, and stakeholder involvement to inform the best practices document. The Best Practices document contains 8 thematic chapters: project design, awareness raising, policy and advocacy, formal and non-formal education, vocational education and life skills, peer education, child labor monitoring, and data collection.  The document is written as a “how to” for practitioners in child labor.  Each chapter contains  sections on the definition, project design, examples from CIRCLE NGOs, enabling environment, sustainability, and challenges.

Website and access to the Publication
The Best Practices publication and CD is being disseminated widely through mailing and through mini-launches in country sites. The documents are also posted on the dynamic   Circle website at http://circle.winrock.org in English, French, and Spanish and downloadable by chapter.

Roundtables and Mini-Launches
Winrock hosted a pre-launch Roundtable on Best Practices and Knowledge sharing in order to take stock of past achievements and trends and push the “tipping Point” of collective impact of preventing and eliminating child labor through integrated and coherent knowledge management approaches. Participating in the Roundtable were representatives from the US Department of Labor, Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB), Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor, and Human Trafficking (OCFT); The International Labor Organization, Washington, DC office; International organizations and local organizations from four CIRCLE countries (Ecuador; Nepal; the Philippines, and Malawi). Results of the Roundtable were the interest and commitment to establishing a joint stakeholder group to coordinate and lead ongoing discussions in the field of knowledge management on the reduction, prevention and elimination of child labor, particularly its worst forms, and to set clear, targets in terms of strategy, resources, and a framework to facilitate capacity-building between international and national NGOs to support exchanges and networking in this field and to facilitate access to a proposed internet portal that will be accessible to and serve the best interests of national and local NGOs. In May and June Winrock CIRCLE coordinated with CIRCLE NGOs to host mini-launches in Bolivia, Ecuador, Ghana, Philippines, Mali, and Nepal.

Purpose and Dissemination of Best Practice Document
The purpose is to inform and inspire individuals and organizations working to end the exploitation of children, to promote educational opportunities for all children, and to support their personal and social development through a fulfilled, safe, and happy childhood.  The Best Practices document is available electronically and in print  Winrock would  like to disseminate this document to as many people interested in child labor as possible.  If you have any questions or would like a copy, please contact Vicki Walker (vwalker@winrock.org) or Jason Befus (jbefus@winrock.org).

Funding for CIRCLE is provided by the US Department of Labor under Cooperative Agreements E-K-9-2-0048 and E-K-9-4-0005.