Advocacy in Cambodia: Increasing Democratic ... - Pact Cambodia

come together to discuss problems and formulate
recommendations. This represents a rare example
of efforts to organize groups around those who are
affected by policies (or lack of policies) so that they
can have a voice in policy formulation.
In Battambang, a network of 24 NGOs called
the Child Rights Protection Network collects
information relating to the situation of children
and passes this information to NGOCRC for
inclusion in NGOCRC reports.
Child Labor
In the mid-1990s, two important reports
were published about child labor in Cambodia, a
qualitative report prepared by the Asian-American
Fee Labour Institute (AAFLI) and a quantitative
report prepared by the
International Labour
Organization/International
Program on Elimination of
Child Labour (ILO/IPEC).
These reports helped draw
national attention to the
problem of child labor. In 1997,
the ILO/IPEC formed a national
coordination committee to plan
and coordinate a national plan
of action against child labor and
strengthen the Ministry of
Labor (MOSALVY). Since then,
the ILO/IPEC has organized
occasional meetings and
provided training in the area of child’s rights,
including increasing advocacy skills (case
management and negotiation), and ways to
combat prostitution.
In early 1998, a Global March Against Child
Labor was organized in Cambodia and
coordinated by LICADHO. The march was
initiated by the International Secretariat of the
Global March based in India, and represented an
international movement to support development
of a new UN convention for the elimination of the
worst forms of child labor. The objectives were to
provide input into a draft for the new UN
convention and to use the input to advocate with
various stakeholders involved in child labor, such
as trade unions, employers, and the general public.
The core group for this activity eventually evolved
into a NGO, the
In 1999, 5,000 children from
16 provinces participated in a
Global Children’s march from
the Olympic Stadium to the
Independence Monument,
where the Prime Minister
awaited them.
Children picking through
garbage heaps looking for
recyclables. Kampot province,
2002.
Committee on
the Rights of the
Child.
Since 2000,
MOSALVY has
maintained a
subcommittee on
Child Labor that
meets every two months and which is chaired by
the Minister. Government agencies, unions, and
NGOs participate in this committee, which
coordinates anti-child labor activities and
approves proposals funded by the ILO. Last year
the subcommittee approved a proposal from the
Ministry of Planning to conduct research on child
labor, a study that has since been completed.
From Awareness Raising to Community
Action
World Vision International (WVI) and
LICADHO were among the first NGOs to work on
child labor issues, though currently a number of
other organizations are implementing effective
programs to protect children from child labor and
the NGO Child Labor Network
was established in December
2001. WVI works mainly with
children in garbage dumps and
on problems of trafficking/child
abuse. LICADHO established a
provincial child’s rights
network, which this section
examines more closely as
LICADHO’s work is an excellent
example of moving from
awareness raising to
community action.
To create an effective child
labor network, LICADHO starts
off with workshops for
provincial officials and NGO staff. Officials include
labor inspectors and officers from the
departments of Social Affairs, Education, and
Women’s Affairs, who are asked to identify
districts and communes that have high rates of
child labor. LICADHO then offers workshops for
commune and district officials from those
identified areas. These workshops are followed by
workshops for parents and concerned community
members, and finally by workshops for child
laborers themselves, such as the vendors at the
temples of Angkor Wat and children working in
the salt mines of Kampot. LICADHO follows up
with two to three monthly meetings with
participants, in which original curriculum is
reviewed and new topics are discussed. The
bringing together of participants for a series of
activities rather than one single workshop is
considered an important factor in making
children’s issues a priority for workshop
participants.
During the series of workshops, LICADHO
asks participants to select representatives to
attend the monthly provincial network meetings.
Representatives include two children, two to four
Case Studies
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