IN OBSERVANCE of World Day Against Child Labor 2021, the Department of Labor and Employment Quezon Provincial Office affirmed its commitment to continuing its efforts towards eliminating child labor in the province.
Some 50 parents of working children in Tagkawayan, Quezon are now ready to embark on livelihood projects made possible through the grant of Php 1.8-million DOLE Kabuhayan Program.
Tagkawayan Mayor Luis Oscar Eleazar said the livelihood assistance will help the families economically to minimize if not eradicate the prevalence of child labor at least in the municipality. The beneficiaries coming from various barangays will venture into sari-sari store, kakanin making, fishing, carinderia, bigasan, bakeshop, among others.
“LGU will help the beneficiaries to make their livelihoods flourish and reach financial stability because if they will become self-sufficient, their children will be able to continue with their studies and will no longer engage with any forms of child labor,” Mayor Eleazar said.
Another feature of the celebration was the signing of the Declaration of Support to the Campaign to End All Forms of Child Labor in Tagkawayan. The signing marks the commitment of stakeholders to effective measures to wipe out all forms of child labor and eliminate child labor.
It confirms the signatories' commitment to intensify their efforts in establishing mechanisms and measures that will contribute to the prevention, reduction, and elimination of any form of child labor.
The signing affirms engagement in all sectors of society to create enabling environment and eliminate child labor as well as promoting social dialogue and concerted action between the public and private sectors to eradicate child labor.
Kabuhayan Program is the DOLE’s contribution to the governments’ agenda that seeks to reduce poverty by providing the poor with much-needed economic assistance. We badly need these programs in Quezon. (AG)