Signing of MOU on elimination of Child Labor set

CATARMAN, Northern Samar, Sept. 15 (PIA) -– Key agencies of the province of Northern Samar led by the Provincial Government and International Labor Organization-International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) will finally engage into a written agreement to signify and capture the collective commitment of each representation in eliminating child labour as well as outline the specific roles each one will play in addressing child labor in the area.

Northern Samar is one of the four provinces in the Philippines to be the recipient of the International Labour Organization-International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO-IPEC) on its new project that seeks to reduce the worst forms of child labor by as much as 75%.

According to Mr. Giovanni Soledad, ILO-IPEC Project Manager, the ILO-IPEC is ready to provide direct services to child labourers and their families in the province of Northern Samar in partnership with various agencies. Recognizing the intervention of stakeholders, this alone will not be enough, and considering the resource and time limitation, ILO-IPEC cannot cover the whole area of the province, hence, convergence of services of various government and non-government agencies is needed to address the complex issues on child labor. Soledad said.

As stated in the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), the agencies and ILO are bound together with a common vision of protecting the rights and welfare of children who are the future of the Philippine nation.

Specifically, various government, civil society, private sector and workers’ organizations and institutions in the province of Northern Samar affirmed to commit resources and assumed responsibilities in order to complement with the ILO-IPEC Project to ensure that child laborers and at-risk children, especially those identified by the ILO-IPEC commissioned baseline survey, will be removed and prevented from conditions that are harmful to their proper development and the rights of these children to education and development are fully upheld.

IPEC on the other hand, aimed at promoting conditions which would enable the participating States to progressively regulate, restrict and prohibit child labor with the view to bringing about full observance of international labor standards on minimum age for admission to employment and taking immediate action to abolish the worst forms of child labor.

Further, the signatories of the agreement shall pursue the mandate of the Constitution which provides: “The State recognizes the vital role of the youth in nation building and shall promote and protect their physical, moral, spiritual, intellectual and social well-being.”

And finally, the signatories likewise seeks to contribute to the fulfilment of the country’s obligations to protect children from economic exploitation and from performance of work that is likely to be hazardous or be an interference to their education, health, physical, mental, spiritual, moral and social development.

The signing of Multi-Partite Memorandum of Understanding will be held at Ibabao Hall, 3rd Floor Provincial Capitol, Catarman, Northern Samar, today, September 15, 2011 at 2:00PM.

Expected to grace the event are: Governor Paul R. Daza; Vice Governor Ramp Nielsen Uy; Catarman Mayor Rolando Carpio; DOLE Regional Director Atty. Forter Puguon; Mr. Giovanni Soledad, ILO-IPEC Program Manager; Mr. Lawrence Jeff Johnson, ILO Country Director; IPEC and heads of partner agencies. (AND/PIA8-Northern Samar)