Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation. Making a better life for children in tobacco-growing communities. Join us.

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1 Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing Foundation Making a better life for children in tobacco-growing communities Join us.

2 It Happens Every Day Around the world, children are involved in dangerous and illegal work, with no foreseeable means to an end in sight. When children s rights are not These circumstances are at respected, when they don t play every day, in opposition to attend school, when their families children s fundamental rights, as don t have resources child outlined by the UN Convention labour can happen. Child labour on the Rights of the Child. in agriculture involves millions of Explicitly, children have the right children, and is still increasing in to be protected from exploitation some areas, including in tobacco and from harmful work. growing. In many countries, the social and political structures that Child labour jeopardizes those should protect children simply rights and prevents children from don t exist. getting an education, learning new skills, and preparing for their Children who work in agriculture futures. In Malawi, Tanzania, and in tobacco growing Mozambique, Uganda, and are vulnerable to health risks Kyrgyzstan alone, more than including green tobacco 1.7 million school-age children sickness. They often don t have are not in school. proper training or equipment to keep them safe. Health and Because it can lead to these safety standards designed to circumstances, child labour is safeguard adult workers aren t unacceptable. enough to protect children. A CHILD S RIGHT IS COMPROMISED whenever child labour takes place: a child s right to go to school, to play with friends, to have a dream for the future, and to be given opportunities to make that dream come true. Every Day, We Work to End It The ECLT Foundation strengthens communities, improves policies, and advances research so that tobacco-growing communities can benefit from agricultural farming while ensuring that their children are healthy, educated, safe from exploitation, and encouraged to reach their full potential. Only by addressing the root causes of child labour can we truly protect the rights of children. The ECLT Foundation addresses child labour at the start of the tobacco supply chain, where farmers may be opting for child labour because of poverty, lack of resources, and few alternatives for making a living. replicable programmes We fund programmes that provide schools, vocational training, labour-saving technologies, and many other community initiatives to keep children away from child labour and hazardous work. global policy & advocacy We champion the right of children to be free from work that is exploitive or harmful. research We shed light on the causes and effects of child labour in tobacco growing and the best ways of eradicating it. Our universal and never-waning practice and philosophy is: no child labour in tobacco growing. SO EVERY CHILD CAN LEARN AND THRIVE Tobacco-growing communities can be and should continue to be safe places where child labour laws are recognized and followed, and where children and young people can learn and thrive. We all share responsibility for making a better life for children in tobacco-growing areas. Together, we can do it.

3 stories of impact From around the world For more than a decade, the ECLT Foundation has been protecting children from child labour wherever tobacco is grown. Our programmes are constantly in action, our reach is worldwide, and our impact is measured with every family, every community, and every child who is now able to make a dream come true. Here are just a few of our stories. EDUCATION IN TANZANIA The project, which runs from July one of the deliverables of the ECLT improve their tobacco-growing Japhet beams with pride as he 2011 to December 2015, will directly Foundation s CLEAR project in operation. By selling potatoes, explains how he is combatting benefit 7,800 children and 2,330 Malawi, implemented to address corn, and dairy products, they child labour on tobacco farms adults through awareness-raising the challenges of hunger and generated more income, which in his area of Tanzania. As a and educational, social, and poverty that drive children into allowed them to add a room to member of his village child labour financial services. child labour. their house and buy coal for the committee, one of 20 created by fall. Most important, they were the ECLT Foundation s PROSPER BRICK STOVES IN MALAWI To date, more than 3,000 stoves able to remove their children from project, he is finding children who To Emelesi, a 42-year-old mother have been installed in just over child labour and invest in their are engaged in child labour and of four, a new brick stove means 2,600 households, and the overall livelihoods. Today, their oldest son is getting them enrolled in school. less time spent looking for firewood. CLEAR project will benefit 10,000 heading to college. The PROSPER project has trained And that gives her more time children and close to 5,000 adults. him to reach out to parents and to work in the field on her own, Since 2005, the ECLT Foundation community members, helping without calling on her children FINANCIAL SUPPORT has helped lift 1,645 families in them get resources so that they to help. This means her children IN KYRGYZSTAN Kyrgyzstan out of poverty. As of can take their children out of the are not engaged in child labour For Batma and Bekbolot, micro- the end of 2012, 2,542 families workforce and put them back into and are able to go to school credits from the ECLT Foundation including 7,467 children had school, where they belong. regularly. The specially designed provided money to diversify their received financial support. fuel-efficient brick stoves are just crops, purchase a cow, and a partnership of farmers, trade unions, and companies The ECLT Foundation leverages a unique partnership in order to find and eliminate the root causes of child labour in tobacco growing. Our board of directors represents the International Tobacco Growers Association; the International Union of Food, Agriculture, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco, and Allied Workers Association; and the major tobacco companies. The International Labour Organization (ILO) is a crucial advisor to the board and our work. Because of this strategic structure, we are uniquely positioned to address the root causes of child labour in tobacco growing and agriculture, and engage with others to mitigate the overarching issues that contribute to child labour, including poverty. THE WORDS OF EVERY CHILD Our eyes are tired of crying; our hearts are sick of dying Just remember you were a child once too We deserve a life; A life where we have no hazardous work to do; a life where we go to school every day From a poem by a Khwere Primary School student in Malawi

4 Daily Successes, a Decade of Progress Founded in 2001, the ECLT Foundation is an international leader, partner, and advocate in ensuring that policies are in place and enforced to protect children in tobacco-growing communities. As of the end of 2012, the ECLT Foundation had funded 19 projects in seven tobaccogrowing countries to end child labour. Among other results, these projects: Directly helped more than We provide farmers, government 22,000 children, withdrawing officials, local leaders, and many from child labour in companies with information tobacco growing and support to do what s right for children in tobacco-growing Made more than 105,000 communities. farmers, teachers, and other community leaders aware of We also initiate, lead, and fund the hazards of child labour in research and solutions surrounding tobacco growing key aspects of child labour in Built and rehabilitated more tobacco growing to bolster global than 100 classrooms and policies, corporate responsibility, vocational training facilities community practices, and local opportunities that allow children Provided financial support to to thrive wherever tobacco over 4,500 farmers to improve is grown. their livelihoods and stop the use of child labour JOINED IN A GLOBAL COMMITMENT Our work is anchored in conventions of the International Labour Organization, particularly those concerning minimum age of employment and the worst forms of child labour. This international alignment gives us a common reference point for engaging with governments, trade unions, and employers wherever we work. It also means our approach and programmes not only address child labour in tobacco growing, but contribute to the global fight against child labour overall. Join Us and Make Tomorrow Brighter The ECLT Foundation remains strong in our commitment to ensuring that children in tobacco-growing communities everywhere are healthy, educated, safe from exploitation, and encouraged to reach their full potential. Please join us. Stay informed Keep up to date about the ECLT Foundation s work and the vulnerable children and families who need our support. Raise awareness Share information about child labour in tobacco growing with your friends, family, and colleagues and encourage them to do the same. For more information and to sign up for our newsletter and follow us on social media, visit Together, we can address the problems that can lead to child labour at the beginning of the tobacco supply chain, help families succeed, and bolster communities and public systems to better protect children. Together, we can make a better life for children in tobacco-growing communities. WE BELIEVE... that parents want the very best opportunities for their children and that when we all work together, we can provide these opportunities.

5 Join us. ECLT Foundation 14 rue Jacques-Dalphin 1227 Carouge, Geneva Switzerland Telephone: