23 February 2004, International Labour Organization (ILO)
It was in this context that the Project for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour in Small-Scale Traditional Mining in Colombia was designed and implemented as one of the direct intervention initiatives outlined in the Second National Plan. That project is the subject of this evaluation, which is designed to provide elements for analysis of the direct interventions aimed at withdrawing children from work in mining.
The initiative for addressing the problem of child labour in small-scale traditional mining arose in 1992, when Carbocol decided to take action to protect children working in mining. Later, with IPEC’s arrival in Colombia, bonds were established between the co-operation agency and the state mining company to move toward strategies to keep child labour from expanding. They worked together at first, but for reasons related to the availability of funds, the two institutions later began to carry out their interventions independently. As part of the programme implemented by IPEC, a final evaluation of the work begun by Carbocol and IPEC was done to identify the achievements, strengths and weaknesses of those processes. IPEC approached the UN - Observatory on Children at the National University of Colombia, which, as an independent academic institution, has accumulated a great deal of knowledge about the situation of children in the country, as well as experience in the evaluation of policies, plans, projects and programmes.
Researchers working in the area of child labour in the UN – Observatory on Children designed a participatory methodology that would reflect the various stakeholders’ views about the areas addressed by the national Project at the municipal, local and national levels. Because the project was formulated and implemented in a time frame of approximately two years, the researchers felt that using only interviews with the people involved, relying on their memory, could lead to biased results. This was controlled by comparing their comments with documents produced from the time the programme began until the time of the evaluation.
The information gathered was systematically documented an analysed according to categories established in the terms of reference drawn up by ILO/IPEC, with attention to the rights of children, gender and community participation.
