Addressing the

Exploitation of Children in Scavenging

(Waste Picking): a Thematic Evaluation
of Action on Child Labour

A Thematic Evaluation

International
Programme on
the Elimination
of Child Labour
(IPEC)
Addressing the Exploitation of Children in Scavenging (Waste
Picking): a Thematic Evaluation on Action on Child Labour

A global report for the ILO

Geneva, October 2004

A Thematic evaluation by independent Evaluators

Copyright © International Labour Organization 2004

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ISBN softcover: 92-2-116661-9

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First published 2004

Cover photograph: J. Anschütz

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PREFACE

This report is part of a series of thematic evaluations that ILO/IPEC, often in collaboration with other
ILO departments, are carrying out as part of building the knowledge base on action against child
labour, particular on the type of action that works and why.

The intention is for the outcome of this report to be used for further development of programming
guidelines, strategies and models of intervention, particular on how child labour can be an integral
issue in small scale mining programmes and projects.

This report is prepared by independent evaluators1 based on Terms of Reference developed by

ILO/IPEC. It has been reviewed by outside stakeholders concerned with the issue.

The opinions and recommendations included in this report are those of the authors of the report,
although the views of the stakeholders involved in the review are reflected. In general the content of
the report does not necessarily reflect the views of ILO or any other organization involved in the
project.

The thematic evaluation process was managed by the Hazardous Work unit of ILO/IPEC and
ILO/SEED (InFocus Programme on Boosting Employment Through Small Enterprise Development)
with support by ILO-IPEC’s Design, Evaluation and Documentation Section (DED) on evaluation
methodology.

Funding for this thematic evaluation was provided by the United States Department of Labor. This report does
not necessarily reflect the views or policies of the United States Department of labor nor does mention of trade
names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the United States Government.

1
Justine Anschütz, Anne Scheinberg and Arnold van de Klundert

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

FOREWORD BY INDEPENDENT EVALUATORS .............................................................iii

ACRONYMS .....................................................................................................................viii

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................... 1

1.1 Background to this document..................................................................................... 1
1.2 Partners, countries and cities involved in the assessment .......................................... 1
1.3 Structure of the report ................................................................................................ 2

CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK................. 3

2.1 Introduction ................................................................................................................ 3
2.2 Definitions used.......................................................................................................... 3
2.3 Approaches to child labour ........................................................................................ 4
2.4 The approaches used by the ILO................................................................................ 5
2.5 The concept of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management ...................................... 6
2.6 Research methods and field work .............................................................................. 9
2.7 Summary and conclusions........................................................................................ 15

CHAPTER 3 THE RESEARCH CONTEXT .................................................................... 16

3.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 16
3.2 Characteristics of the cities ...................................................................................... 16
3.3 The background of scavengers (waste pickers)........................................................ 17
3.4 Child labour and scavenging (waste picking) .......................................................... 19
3.5 Economic development and scavenging (waste picking) ........................................ 20
3.6 Solid waste management policies and scavenging (waste picking) ......................... 21
3.7 Research and monitoring.......................................................................................... 23
3.8 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 23

CHAPTER 4 TARGET GROUPS AND STAKEHOLDERS ........................................... 24

4.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 24
4.2 Target groups............................................................................................................ 24
4.3 Differentiating between target groups...................................................................... 25
4.4 Participation of target groups in projects ................................................................. 26
4.5 Cooperation with other agencies .............................................................................. 28
4.6 Failing institutional memories.................................................................................. 30
4.7 Funding..................................................................................................................... 31
4.8 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 31

CHAPTER 5 OBJECTIVES, INTERVENTIONS AND RESULTS ................................ 32

5.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 32
5.2 Objectives and focus of the projects ........................................................................ 32
5.3 Interventions............................................................................................................. 33
5.4 Approaches used in the projects studied .................................................................. 37
5.5 Results ...................................................................................................................... 38
5.6 Are the projects studied successful?......................................................................... 42
5.7 Is there one model approach?................................................................................... 42
5.8 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 43

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CHAPTER 6 IDENTIFYING POSSIBLE GOOD PRACTICES ..................................... 44
6.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................. 44
6.2 Health, social services and nutrition for adult waste pickers and children .............. 44
6.3 Formal or non-formal education of adult and child waste pickers........................... 45
6.4 Income generation and alternative employment ...................................................... 46
6.5 Raising the status of the work of waste pickers ....................................................... 47
6.6 Awareness-raising of the general public .................................................................. 48
6.7 Institutionalisation and formalisation....................................................................... 48
6.8 Integrating waste pickers with the formal solid waste management
system in the city...................................................................................................... 49
6.9 Linking with the private sector................................................................................. 51
6.10 Conclusion................................................................................................................ 52

CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS ...................................... 53

7.1 Conclusions .............................................................................................................. 53
7.2 Recommendations .................................................................................................... 55
7.3 Issues for further analysis......................................................................................... 55

ANNEXES

ANNEX 1 Literature references .................................................................................... 56

ANNEX 2 Analytical framework .................................................................................. 60
ANNEX 3 Contact details projects and resource persons ............................................. 73
ANNEX 4 Tables comparing projects ........................................................................... 78

TABLES

TABLE 1 Definitions used ............................................................................................. 3

TABLE 2 The relation between ISWM aspects and approaches towards child
labour in scavenging (waste picking) ............................................................ 9
TABLE 3 Projects in Asia, Africa and Europe studied in detail for this
Thematic Evaluation .................................................................................... 11
TABLE 4 Projects in Latin America included in the Thematic
Evaluation by IPES ...................................................................................... 12
TABLE 5 Characteristics of cities and numbers of scavengers (waste pickers) .......... 14
TABLE 6 Target groups of the projects studied in Asia/Africa/Europe ...................... 21
TABLE 7 Target groups of the projects studied in Latin America .............................. 21
TABLE 8 Interventions to reduce child labour ............................................................ 31
TABLE 9 Approaches taken by the projects studied.................................................... 36
TABLE 10 Interventions of ILO/IPEC projects with child scavengers
(waste pickers) ............................................................................................. 37
TABLE 11 Objectives and results of projects studied.................................................... 39

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 FIGURES

FIGURE 1 The Concept of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management ......................... 7

FIGURE 2 The informal waste sector in an average city in the South .......................... 16

BOX

BOX 1 Examples of income share of child scavengers (waste pickers) .................. 18

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FOREWORD BY INDEPENDENT EVALUATORS

Last May the International Labour Organisation (ILO) asked WASTE, Advisers on Urban
Environment and Development, to carry out an evaluation of ILO and non-ILO projects
working on child labour and scavenging (waste picking).2 The results of this Thematic
Evaluation are presented in this document.

WASTE is a Dutch not-for-profit organisation with a background in waste management,

working with low-income groups, micro and small-scale enterprises and improvement of the
urban environment since 1982. WASTE has managed a number of international projects in
waste management and sanitation, supporting and promoting integrated sustainable waste
management, community participation, capacity building, South-South technology transfer
and exchange of experiences.

For this assignment WASTE collaborated with a number of researchers in the field, without
whom we could not have accomplished it. Therefore we would like to acknowledge here the
work of Anselm Rosario and his team from Mythri in India, Noemi Stanev, Ralph Veraart and
Ciprian Popovici in Romania, Marjan Duursma in Tanzania, Hossam Aziz in Egypt, and
Margreet Barkhof in Thailand.

We would also like to thank Chea Pyden from the Vulnerable Children Assistance
Organisation in Cambodia, Frans van Dijk from Regional Office for South East Asia of Terre
des Hommes, Menno Gibson from Terre des Hommes Netherlands, Jolande Dekker and Eva
de Groot from CORDAID for providing information on their respective projects on child
labour and scavenging (waste picking). Regarding the Philippines, the assistance of Albin
Salamat and Dolora Cardeno from ERDA-SABANA as well as Nida Lavador from the ILO
Office in Manila has added valuable insights. Special thanks go to Dr. Christine Furedy from
York University, Toronto, Canada, Dr. Laila Iskander from Community and Institutional
Development in Egypt, and Cecilia Castro from IPES, Peru for information provided and for
their critical review of this report.

We are very grateful for all the people, including but not limited to waste pickers, child waste
pickers, project staff, resource persons, local governments, private companies, who have been
so kind to answer our questions or the questions of our local partners.

Finally, we would like to extend our gratitude to the staff of ILO, in particular Susan Gunn,
Florencio Gudino, Peter Wichmand, Kees van der Ree, Phan Thuy, Frans Roselaers, Caspar
Merkle and their colleagues for their constructive criticism during the process of carrying out
the Thematic Evaluation and developing this report.

2
It is one of the suggestions of this report that the term “waste picking” rather than “scavenging” is to be used.
These two terms are therefore either used interchangeably or meant to refer to the other when used.

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ACRONYMS

AGCCD Association of Garbage Collectors for Community

Development
AIDS Acquired Immuno-Deficiency Syndrome
APE Association for the Protection of the Environment
CID Community and Institutional Development
CORDAID Catholic Organisation for Relief and Development AID
DFID Department for International Development
ERDA-SABANA Educational Research and Development Assistance
Foundation
EQI Environmental Quality International
FSCC Foundation for Slum Child Care
GTZ Deutsche Gesellschaft für Technische Zusammenarbeit
(German Technical Assistance)
ILO International Labour Organisation
IPEC International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labour (ILO)
IPES Promoción del Desarollo Sostenible
ISWM Integrated Sustainable Waste Management
MSE Micro and Small-scale enterprise
NGOs Non-governmental organisations
SEED Small Enterprise Employment Development (ILO)
SWM Solid Waste Management
UN United Nations
UNICEF United Nations Children's Fund
WASTE Advisers on Urban Environment and Development
WFCL Worst Forms of Child Labour
VCAO Vulnerable Children Assistance Organisation

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CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to this document

Stark images of children rummaging in garbage heaps around the world have always touched
the hearts of people who see it. Quite a few development organisations are therefore somehow
involved in relieving or reducing child labour in scavenging. These efforts meet with varying
degrees of success. This report is concerned with the efforts of development organisations to
reduce child labour in scavenging and their effects.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is worldwide a major player in addressing child
labour issues, including child labour in scavenging. They have implemented a range of
projects that attempt to reduce child labour in scavenging in countries in Latin America,
Africa and especially Asia. In 2002 the ILO was financing and supporting 19 projects directly
focusing on child scavengers and 50 projects dealing with broader groups of child workers
including child scavengers (ILO, 2002).

In May 2004, the ILO asked WASTE, Advisers on Urban Environment and Development to
evaluate the effect of projects that address child labour in scavenging as part of building the
knowledge base on what works and identifying the models of intervention. This would be
based on an extensive desk review carried out by ILO/IPEC3, which suggested to ILO staff
that the existing approaches and interventions to address child labour in scavenging need
readjustment.

The purpose of this Evaluation is to provide guidance to the ILO, especially the collaborating
departments and constituents, on how best to address the exploitation of children in this
sector. The Thematic Evaluation is designed to critically assess what has been learned about
scavenging and about various approaches to addressing the problem of child labour in relation
to scavenging. In this way lessons learnt and potential good practices that can be replicated
elsewhere could be identified. The Thematic Evaluation was carried out in the period June–
September 2004. In parallel with this Evaluation, IPES in Peru carried out a regional thematic
evaluation of projects on child labour and scavenging in Latin America.

1.2 Partners, countries and cities involved in the assessment

This Thematic Evaluation includes studies in nine countries in four different continents: Latin
America, Africa, Asia and (Eastern) Europe.

The information was drawn from various projects carried out in this sector by the
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) of the ILO, as well as
from similar efforts of other agencies, institutions, and the governments. Fourteen projects in
nine countries have been included in the Thematic Evaluation. An in-depth assessment was
done in five countries, including field visits. These countries were: Egypt, India, Tanzania,
Romania and Thailand. A further four projects in other countries were studied more in-depth
via email and phone interviews as well as review of secondary resources. These were projects
in the Philippines, Cambodia, Indonesia and Kenya. Out of the total of 14 projects, the ILO
had supported three projects at some stage (Philippines, Kenya and Tanzania).4

3
International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour
4
Tables 3 and 4 in Chapter 2 provide basic details on othese projects.

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The preliminary results of the Thematic Evaluation in Latin America by IPES, Peru have been
included as much as possible into this final synthesis report. Further information and desk
studies were collected from a range of other countries and included in the overall assessment.

The five evaluative studies or country/regional reports that served as background reports for
this report, and which was specifically done as part of this thematic evaluation, are available
on the ILO website (www.ilo.org/childlabour).5

1.3 Structure of the report

The report has the following structure:

After this introductory chapter, Chapter 2 describes the methodological and theoretical
framework, including a number of definitions and common approaches used to address child
labour and scavenging. It also explains the concept and assessment methodology of Integrated
Sustainable Waste Management (ISWM), a concept developed by WASTE. Finally it
describes the research methods used.

Chapter 3 gives a description of the research context: the cities where the projects are located,
the position of scavengers in these cities, and the situation of child labour in scavenging in
these particular locations. It also pays attention to the effect of solid waste management
policies and economic developments on scavenging and child labour. The implications for
projects addressing child labour in scavenging are highlighted.

Chapter 4 explores the role waste pickers and their children play in projects that are designed
for them. It looks at target groups, their position as stakeholders and their participation in
projects addressing child labour in scavenging. In addition, cooperation with other agencies
and stakeholders and funding issues will be dealt with.

Chapter 5 provides an overview of the objectives, interventions and results of the projects studied.
It looks for the ideal approach.

Chapter 6 analyses specific interventions and identifies successful and less successful practices
in these interventions. It also looks at the conditions under which certain interventions work.

Finally Chapter 7 summarises the conclusions and recommendations.

The Annexes provide references, the analytical framework used for the Thematic Evaluation,
a list with contacts of projects and resource persons and tables comparing the projects.6

5
Also available on WASTE website www.waste.nl
6
On a separate CD-rom a range of photographs is collected of the various projects and scavenging children in
general.

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CHAPTER 2 METHODOLOGICAL AND THEORETICAL
FRAMEWORK
2.1 Introduction

This chapter presents the methodological and theoretical framework of the Thematic
Evaluation. It considers:
♦ Definitions
♦ Approaches used by development organisations to address the issue of child labour
and scavenging
♦ Concept of ISWM
♦ Research methods and fieldwork

2.2 Definitions used

Since terms and definitions vary from country to country and organisation to organisation, it
is useful to define how terms are used in this report. They are listed in Table 1.

Table 1. Definitions used

Term Definition
Child A person of 0-18 year old
Youth A person of 12-18 year old
Child labour ♦ Any economic activities undertaken by children up till 12
years
♦ Any work by children of 12 to 15 years that is not considered
‘light’ and takes more than a few hours a week
♦ Any work by children of 15 to 18 years old that is classified
as hazardous7
Scavenging (waste picking) Manual sorting and picking of recyclable/reusable materials from
mixed wastes at legal and illegal landfills, dumpsites, street bins and
piles, transfer points, as well as waste collection trucks
Formal education Education in officially registered and recognised schools either public
or privately owned, using an established curriculum.
Non-formal education Interventions to enable older children to ‘catch’ up with their peers
who began their schooling at the appropriate age. It includes for
example literacy and numeric skills. The idea is often to prepare
children to go to ‘normal schools’ (formal education) later on.
Vocational training Training providing practical, technical skills for older children,
usually 12-18 years old, who have already acquired functional
literacy and numeric skills.
Participatory Target groups have a say in decisions taken in the project, and/or they
work as paid staff for the organisation and/or the organisation’s
activities are grown out of actions of the local community.
Semi-participatory Target groups work as volunteers in the project, often on a temporary
basis, and/or they have minor influence on the decision-making in the
project.
Non-participatory Target groups are not consulted or only consulted, but not given any
feedback on the results of the consultations, and/or they do not have
influence on the decision-making in the project.

7
Definition used by the ILO

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2.3 Approaches to child labour

Development projects and programmes that attempt to address child labour in scavenging use
various approaches, related to their objectives and to their view of child labour and of
scavenging. Three kinds of approaches to reducing child labour in general can be
distinguished:

♦ Welfare-based approach
♦ Development-oriented approach
♦ Rights-based approach

In the context of waste management it is useful to add one additional approach to improve the
conditions of scavengers and to indirectly address child labour: the system-oriented approach.

2.3.1 Welfare-based approach

The welfare-based approach is oriented towards improving the working and living conditions
of the scavengers and relieving their daily needs and problems. In this approach the general
perception of scavengers and their children is that they poor people who need to be helped.
This approach does not include changing the status quo.

Examples of interventions related to a ‘welfare-based’ approach are:

♦ Providing sanitary, washing and healthcare facilities

♦ Provision of protective gear
♦ Organising recreational activities for children
♦ Provision of housing for families

2.3.2 Development-oriented approach

The development-oriented approach is directed towards developing the future potential of

individuals and to give them the necessary physical and financial means as well as
educational opportunities. In the development-oriented approach the general perception of
scavengers and their children is that they are poor people whose capacities need to be
strengthened and who should get a chance to develop themselves.

Examples of interventions related to a ‘development-oriented’ approach are:

♦ Provision of day care facilities
♦ Informal/formal education and vocational training
♦ Alternative employment, credit provision and income generation

2.3.3 The rights-based approach

The rights-based approach aims at creating more political room for the scavengers and at
changing and strengthening their position as a group in society. A first step in this is giving
them a voice and making them visible. In the rights-based approach scavengers (or the poor)
are perceived as people whose existence should be acknowledged and who have a right to a
better life.

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Examples of interventions related to a ‘rights-based’ approach are:
♦ Organisation, lobby and stimulating political participation, for example organisation
of scavengers into cooperatives to reduce the influence of middlemen and improve
their income
♦ Awareness raising on child labour in communities
♦ Legal reform and improved enforcement of labour legislation

Legal reform could refer to labour conditions such as: working hours, minimum age,
minimum wage, occupational health (noise, safety), health insurance, and the like.

2.3.4 The system-oriented approach

Based on the Thematic Evaluation and the analysis made by IPES for Latin America,
WASTE proposes that a fourth approach should be added regarding child labour and
scavenging, i.e. an approach focusing on scavenging as part of the solid waste management
(SWM) system, summarised as the ‘system-oriented approach’.

The objective of the system-oriented approach is to change the solid waste management
system in such as way as to incorporate waste pickers, usually through formalising their
activities and by linking them up with other (formal) stakeholders such as the local
government or the private sector.

Examples of interventions related to a ‘system-based’ approach are:

♦ Set up separation at source and selective collection systems and involve waste pickers
in these systems
♦ Establish separate sorting areas at landfills where waste pickers can collect materials
without the risk of being overrun by trucks
♦ Involving waste pickers in the formulation of municipal and national SWM policies

This ‘system-oriented’ approach usually has an indirect effect on child labour, in the sense
that interventions aimed at incorporating scavengers in the SWM system means enhancing the
income of scavenger families and thus creating more favourable conditions for sending their
children to school.

It has to be added that many projects combine elements of these approaches. Therefore they
could also be called ‘themes’ or ‘strands’. However, usually a project has an emphasis on one
of these approaches.

2.4 The approaches used by the ILO

The current mix of approaches of the ILO to child labour can be summarised as follows:8:

♦ Prevention strategies include efforts aimed at strengthening legislation and

enforcement, improving educational opportunities and carrying out other
enhancements to make the education system accessible and attractive to all boys and
girls, raising household income, and increasing awareness of the consequences of the
Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL).

8
Based on the content of Time Bound Programmes to eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labour, www.ilo.org.

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 ♦ Rehabilitation includes, principally, the provision of health and counselling services
as well as gender-sensitive educational and skills training opportunities for children
withdrawn from child labour.
♦ Protection from exploitation and hazardous work involves legislation and
enforcement of labour standards and improvements in working conditions.

Broadly speaking, the measures can be grouped under two categories: “upstream” measures
aimed at creating an enabling environment for the elimination of the WFCL, and
“downstream” direct interventions targeted at population groups or economic sectors where
WFCL are prevalent.

This is the ideal approach mix of the ILO. As the ILO Desk review of child labour and
scavenging projects (ILO, 2002) shows, in practice many projects focus on a more limited set
of interventions.

2.5 The concept of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management

Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (ISWM) is a concept developed by WASTE in

cooperation with its partners in the South over the years since 1995. The ISWM concept
promotes the understanding that waste management encompasses a complex system of actors
and activities with different interests and priorities that require proper management and
coordination and an integrated approach at all levels. A model of the concept is shown in
Figure 1.

The reason why the ISWM concept is introduced here is that at the beginning of the Thematic
Evaluation the research team had the impression that the approaches used in projects
addressing child labour in scavenging were limited to certain types of interventions and were
not connected with the solid waste management system at large. Therefore it was proposed to
use the ISWM concept as a framework for the Thematic Evaluation. Analytical questions
related to the ISWM concept were included in the analytical framework (see Annex 2).

The ISWM concept recognises three important dimensions in waste management:

stakeholders, waste system elements and sustainability aspects.

2.5.1 Stakeholders, the first ISWM dimension

ISWM is, first and foremost, about participation of stakeholders. A stakeholder is a person or
organisation that has a stake, an interest in - in this case- waste management. A number of key
stakeholders are listed in Figure 1. The municipality, with its general responsibility for urban
cleanliness and the citizens who use the system, are (almost) always stakeholders in waste
management. But other stakeholders differ in each city, so they need to be identified in the
local context and often also grouped according to their interests. Stakeholders by definition
have different roles and interests in relation to waste management; the challenge of the ISWM
process is to get them to agree to co-operate for a common purpose, that of improving the
waste system. In addition, the stakeholders in a particular city or region share a common
social and geographic context and may be bound together by other systems in addition to
solid waste9.

9
For example: clan, caste, ethnicity, professional affiliation, religion, school or university background,
commercial relationship, kinship, sport.

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Figure 1: The Concept of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management

Source: van de Klundert & Anschütz, 2001

2.5.2 Waste system elements, the second ISWM dimension

The waste system elements are sometimes referred to as the technical components of waste
management. Most waste system elements are also stages in the (back end of the) life cycle of
materials. This life cycling or flow of materials begins with extraction of natural resources
and continues through processing, production and consumption stage towards final treatment
and disposal.

Waste system elements refer to how solid waste is handled and where it ends up. Particularly
this last has important environmental implications and for this reason a number of national
environmental ministries have taken the idea of a waste management hierarchy as an
operational policy guideline. The hierarchy is also a cornerstone of the ISWM approach and
gives priority to waste prevention, minimisation, recycling and other forms of recovery of
materials. Only when this is not possible is ‘pure’ disposal allowed.

It makes a difference whether local governments use the waste management hierarchy as a
point of departure or not. If they do not use it, they usually consider a ‘clean city’ the main

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target of their solid waste management policy10. Scavengers are in this context nuisances that
hamper waste collection and disposal. However, if they take the waste management hierarchy
as a point of departure for their policies, they will more easily consider waste a resource and
they will be more inclined to support initiatives and actors that are involved in reuse,
recycling and recovery, including scavengers.

2.5.3 The third dimension: ISWM aspects

Within ISWM the third dimension consists of six sustainability aspects, or lenses, through
which the existing waste system can be assessed and with which a new or expanded system
can be planned. The sustainability aspects, ranging from political-legal, to social-cultural,
institutional-organisational, technical-performance, environmental-health and financial-
economic, cover the range of factors influencing solid waste activities and, taken together,
predict or influence the sustainability of the entire system.

To date, ISWM is a flexible concept, which is both descriptive and normative. On the one
hand, the three ISWM dimensions, stakeholders, waste elements, and sustainability aspects
describe the basic parameters of any waste management system. Thus ISWM can be used as a
descriptive or analytic lens through which to organise urban waste information and with
which to describe urban waste systems. On the other hand, ISWM is a normative framework
for planning, assessment, and implementation.

Based on experience collected and documented over the last few years, it shows that only a
process which recognises and respects all of the dimensions of ISWM can truly be integrated,
sustainable, and, ultimately, successful.

2.5.4 Linking ISWM to the four approaches towards child labour in scavenging

The four approaches to reducing child labour in scavenging can be linked to the aspects of the
ISWM concept.

In its extreme form the welfare approach mainly focuses on social aspects (e.g. counselling,
drop-in centre) and, to a limited extent, health issues (e.g. providing healthcare and improving
working conditions). The development approach is concerned with social and economic
interventions such as education, credit and income generation. The rights-based approach
addresses political and institutional aspects of child labour in scavenging (forming of
organisations and lobbying), while the system-oriented approach usually incorporates
technical, environmental, political and institutional aspects: it tries to change the equipment
and operation of the collection and sorting system (technical aspect), to increase the recycling
rate (environmental aspect), and to improve the position of waste pickers by giving them a
formal role as a cooperative or individual entrepreneur (political and institutional aspects).

Thus the system approach comprises the largest variety of ISWM aspects. Table 2
summarises the relation between ISWM aspects and the four approaches.

10
In practice this often means clean streets in the higher income areas and the business district.

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a Thematic Evaluation of Action on Child Labour, October 2004
 Table 2. The relation between ISWM aspects and approaches towards
child labour in scavenging

Approach/ISWM Socio- Health Financial- Institutional Political Environmental Technical

aspects cultural economic

Welfare

Development

Rights

System

As mentioned in 2.3.4, individual projects can be composed of a mix of interventions,

incorporating various aspects.

2.6 Research methods and field work

In total 14 projects were studied in detail in three continents: Asia, Africa and Europe.
Besides, the results of the Thematic Evaluation on child labour and scavenging prepared by
IPES for Latin America in June/July 2004 were included in this analysis (Price & Castro,
2004).

2.6.1 Development of analytical framework and selection of projects

As a start the research team at WASTE developed an analytical framework,

This analytical framework was reviewed by a number of local researchers and resource
persons as well as the ILO/IPEC. The analytical framework was developed to guide the
Thematic Evaluation and the fieldwork in the five countries.

Regarding the selection of projects, the ILO suggested to include the (formerly) ILO-funded
projects in the Philippines and Tanzania.

Based on its professional contacts and an Internet search, WASTE identified a number of
non-ILO projects, from which 11 projects were selected in Egypt, Romania, Thailand, India,
Cambodia, and Indonesia. An additional IPEC-funded project in Kenya was included as
WASTE had personal contacts with the implementing agency (Undugu Society). Criteria used
for selecting these projects were:

♦ Directly linked to child labour and scavenging

♦ Availability of (sufficient) written information
♦ Access to contact persons
♦ Covering a variety of experiences and interventions as well as regions

The five countries selected for fieldwork were Tanzania, Egypt, Romania, Thailand, and
India. They were selected based on:
♦ Availability of local researchers
♦ Access to the projects and their contact persons

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Table 3 gives a list of the projects with some details. The project acronyms are used in tables
later in this report. The projects studied in the Latin America study are listed in Table 4.

2.6.2 Collection of data

The research methods used included desk study and review of secondary resources as well as
fieldwork, using a range of Participatory Rapid Appraisal (PRA) methods. Secondary
resources included annual reports and other project documents, scientific articles and reports,
articles in the press, project evaluations, etc.

The fieldwork comprised the following methods:

♦ Semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions with resource persons, local
government, staff of private landfill companies, project staff, scavengers, and children
♦ Observation
♦ Review of secondary resources

Resource persons included NGO practitioners, researchers in universities, and consultants.

Scavengers and children involved in the projects were interviewed as well as some who did
not participate.

In consultation with WASTE a number of local researchers carried out the field work, based
on the analytical framework.

In addition, semi-structured email and telephone interviews were conducted with contact
persons in the projects in the Philippines, Kenya and Cambodia.

The Regional Thematic Evaluation in Latin America carried out by IPES used a combination
of review of secondary resources, email and telephone interviews.

2.6.3 Analysis, review and reporting

The local researchers produced evaluative field studies based on the fieldwork, which were
reviewed by WASTE and revised accordingly.

The information collected through various means was then summarised in tables to obtain
insight into the relations between the data, emerging issues and trends.

The results of the desk review on IPEC interventions with child scavengers carried out by the
ILO in 2002 were also included in the analysis.

Preliminary results were presented to and discussed with the ILO beginning of August 2004.

ILO staff, the local researchers and a number of resource persons knowledgeable about waste
picking reviewed the draft report. An e-meeting was also organised to exchange views on
some crucial issues and to review conclusions and recommendations presented in the
synthesis report.

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 Table 3. Projects in Asia, Africa and Europe studied in detail for this Thematic Evaluation

Project Location Name of organisation Main funding sources Year of start project Current Budget11
acronym managing the project Status
1. PHIL Quezon city, SABANA-ERDA ILO/IPEC; Vlaams International 1989 Ongoing US$ 200,000
Philippines Centre (Belgium); Japanese and ILO support: 1989-1992 (1989-1993)
French NGOs, UNESCO, Save the Partly self-
Children; Private sector financing
2. TANZ Dar Es Salaam, Solid Waste Management UNDP 1998-2001 (SWMP) Completed US$ 221,000
Tanzania Programme (SWMP) ILO 2001-2003 (SWMP) (1998-2001)
Employment Creation in DfID-UK US$ 60,000
Municipal Service Delivery in (2001-2003)
Eastern Africa 200412 Ongoing US$ 1,4 million13
(2003-2006)
3. EGYP 1 Cairo, Egypt APE, CID DANIDA; Kema (Finland); Comité 1988 (rag recycling) Ongoing Self-financing
Catholique contre la Faim; Les 1994 (paper recycling) Ongoing Self-financing
Amis de Soeur Emanuelle; Private
sector; Various charities
4. EGYP 2 Cairo, Egypt AGCCD, CID, EQI Ford Foundation; Oxfam (UK); Les 2000 Ongoing Partly self-
Amis de Soeur Emanuelle; financing
UNESCO; Private sector
5. ROMA 1 Cluj Napoca, Romania Cluj County School Médecins sans Frontières; Open 1996 Ongoing US$ 89,500
Inspectorate Society Foundation; Wassdas (1995-present)
Foundation

6. ROMA 2 Cluj Napoca, Romania Cluj County Commission for EU, provincial government 2002 Ongoing € 179,000
the Protection of Children’s (2003-2007)
Rights
7. ROMA 3 Cluj Napoca, Romania Foundation for Helping US and Dutch NGOs 1997 Ongoing € 57,000 (since
Families 1997) and several
one-time donations
8. THAI 1 Bangkok, Thailand FSCC Private donations; Royal family; 1993 Ongoing NA
Government; Bernard van Leer
Foundation (Netherlands)

11
Budget information is only indicative: usually several (complementing) projects are financed by various donors at different moments in time, which makes it difficult to
provide a full overview.
12
Employment Creation in Municipal Service Delivery in Eastern Africa
13
For several cities in 3 countries: Tanzania, Uganda and Kenya
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 Project Location Name of organisation Main funding sources Year of start project Current Budget11
acronym managing the project Status
9. THAI 2 Baan Donyong in Ubon Community Committee of Government; Private sector; Private 1998 Ongoing NA
Ratchatani, Thailand Baan Donyong donations
10. INDIA 1 Bangalore, India Mythri Child Relief and You (national 1998 Ongoing NA
NGO)
11. INDIA 2 Kolkatta, India Tiljala Shed (FOCUS) Misereor (Germany) 1998 Ongoing NA
12. CAMB Phnom Penh, VCAO Terre des Hommes 1994 Ongoing € 72,114
Cambodia (Germany/Netherlands) ; ASSIST TdH support: since 2000 (2001-2003)
Japan € 65,790
(2003-2005)
13. INDO Jakarta, Indonesia Institut Sosial Jakarta, Bureau CORDAID (Netherlands) 1974 € 164,815
for Waste picker Advocacy CORDAID support: (2000-2003)
1992-2003 Completed
14. KENY Nairobi, Kenya Undugu Society Kenya, IPEC IPEC/ILO 1979 US$ 71,275
IPEC support: 2001-2005 Ongoing (2001-2003)
US$ 80,000
(2003-2005)
Source: Evaluative field studies and project documentation, 2004

Table 4. Projects in Latin America included in the Thematic Evaluation by IPES

Country City Name of the project Funding Year of Current Budget

start Status
project
Argentina Rosario Sorting programme and waste picker cooperatives GTZ, Munici- 2000 Ongoing NA
pality of
Rosario
Buenos Aires Urban waste pickers and recyclers programme (PRU) Municipality 2002 Ongoing Self-financing
of Bs. Aires
Brazil Sao Bernardo do Social promotion of waste pickers in the disposal site of Alvarenga UNICEF, Mu- 1998 Ongoing Partly self-
Campo nicipality of financing
Sao Bernardo
Belo Horizonte ASMARE cooperative Pastoral da 1988 Ongoing Partly self-
Rua, Caritas, financing
LIFE,
Municipality
of Belo
Horizonte
Sao Paulo COOPAMARE (paper pickers cooperative) Organización 1986 Ongoing Self-financing
de Auxilio
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 Country City Name of the project Funding Year of Current Budget
start Status
project
Fraterno,
Municipality
of Sao Paulo
1. Porto Alegre Association of recyclers in the disposal site in Porto Alegre Municipality 1991 Ongoing Self-financing
of Porto
Alegre
2. National Campaign ‘Lixo e cidadanía’ (Waste and citizenship) UNICEF, 1998 Ongoing Partly self-
Ministerio de financing
Medio
Ambiente,
CAIXA,
FUNASA,
Missao
Criança,
SEDU, SEAS
Ministerio
Público
Federal
3. Colombia Meddelín RECUPERAR (cooperative) Empresas 1983 Ongoing Self-financing
Varias de
Medellín,
4. National (ANR) ANR (National association of recyclers) Fundación 1986 Ongoing Partly self-
Social, financing
NOVIB, Red
de Solidaridad
Social, Fondo
para la Acción
Ambiental,
Embajada
Holandesa
5. Ecuador Sto. Domingo de Elimination of child labour in the disposal site of Sto. Domingo de ILO/IPEC 2001-2002 Completed US$ 115,000
los Colorados los Colorados
6. El Salvador Santa Ana Elimination of child labour in the disposal site of Camones ILO/IPEC 2000-2001 Completed US$ 111,100

7. Mexico Mexico DF Waste sorting and recycling plants in the metropolitan zone of GTZ, 1997 Ongoing NA
Mexico Valley Secretaria de
Ecología del
Estado de
Mexico

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 Country City Name of the project Funding Year of Current Budget
start Status
project
8. Nicaragua Managua Elimination of child labour in La Chureca/Acahualinca ILO/IPEC 2001-2004 Completed US$ 1,133,830

9. Peru Lima Waste picker cooperatives in El Zapallal MISEREOR, 1989-1993 Completed 18,000
Municipality
of Lima
10. Uruguay Montevideo Labour education agreements and SWM micro SWM enterprises, San IDB, 1999 Ongoing Partly self-
Vicente organisation Municipality financing
of Montevideo
Source: Regional Thematic Evaluation of Child Labour and Waste picking Projects, commissioned by ILO, carried out by J. Price and C. Castro, 2004.

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2.7 Summary and conclusions

Four main approaches to address the issue of child labour and scavenging can be
distinguished: the welfare, development, rights-based and system-oriented approach.

The concept of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management, developed by WASTE through its
years of experience with waste management provides the theoretical framework for this
evaluation.

A range of research methods was used, combining fieldwork and desk study.

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CHAPTER 3 THE RESEARCH CONTEXT

3.1 Introduction

This chapter describes the research context: i.e. the cities where the projects are located, the
position of scavengers in these cities, and the situation of child labour in scavenging in these
particular locations. It also pays attention to the effect of solid waste management policies and
economic developments on scavenging and child labour. The implications for projects
addressing child labour in scavenging are highlighted.

3.2 Characteristics of the cities

Table 5 shows the general characteristics of the cities included in the Thematic Evaluation.
The data are derived from the evaluative field studies, resource persons and project
documentation.

Table 5. Characteristics of cities and numbers of scavengers

Country Project City Number of Character of Number of Number of

inhabitants the city scavengers scavenging
(in 2004, (estimate) children
often (estimate)
estimates)
Philippines PHIL Quezon city 2,2 million Capital city 13,000 on 1500 on
dumpsite only dumpsite
only
Tanzania TANZ Dar Es 2,5 million Capital city 600-700 50-100
Salaam
Egypt EGYP 1 Cairo 18 million Capital city 30-70,000 of Unknown,
and 2 which 5000 2500 street
street pickers pickers
Romania ROMA 1, Cluj Napoca 330,000 Medium-sized 800 dump 150-200
2 and 3 city pickers, 1000
street pickers
Thailand THAI 1 Bangkok >10 million Capital city NA NA
THAI 2 Baan - Village NA NA
Donyong in
Ubon
Ratchatani
India INDIA 1 Bangalore 6 million Large city, 12,000 NA
capital city of
State of
Karnataka
INDIA 2 Kolkatta 15 million Large city, 50,000 NA
capital city of
State of West
Bengal
Cambodia CAMB Phnom Penh 1.2 million Capital city 330 on 246 on
dumpsite only dumpsite
only
Indonesia INDO Jakarta 8 million Capital city NA NA
Kenya KENY Nairobi 3 million Capital city NA NA
Source: Evaluative field studies and project documents, 2004

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Cities where the interventions took place differ in size and character, but most are capital
cities. It is clear that much is unknown regarding numbers of scavengers and scavenging
children.

3.3 The background of scavengers

Scavengers play an important, but usually unrecognised role in many SWM systems in cities
in the South, especially in recycling, as formal separation at source and selective waste
collection are seldom well developed. Scavengers recover recyclable materials from street
bins, containers, communal collection sites, vacant lots, and final disposal sites. They sell
these to dealers and thus indirectly provide local industries with recycled feedstock.

The position of scavenging in the waste chain in an average city in the South is shown in
Figure 2.

Figure 2: The informal waste sector in an average city in the South

Households Dumpsite Businesses/Institutions

separation waste picking separation

Street pickers Itinerant waste buyers

waste picking collection

Small junkshops
separation/temporary
storage

Larger middlemen/junk shops

sorting/cleaning/compacting

Reuse industry Recycling industry

reuse recycling

Source: Adapted from Marchand, 1998

Large-scale waste picking is a phenomenon that arises from the conjunction of absolute
poverty with free (or very low cost) resources. Waste picking can be easily learnt and does
not require literacy; pickers are often actively recruited by waste traders who offer them loans
or even accommodation (Furedy, 1997).

Most waste pickers are poor, although they are not the poorest in the waste system and can
earn up to three times the minimum wage (see among others CID, 2001).

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They often suffer from bad labour conditions, especially when they work on landfills and
dumpsites. They face various risks and hazards, varying from occupational accidents to
chemical risks due to toxic substances at dumpsites, ergonomic and psychological problems
(van Eerd, 1996).

They live in very poor conditions, and suffer stigmatisation and exploitation because handling
waste materials is disdained by society at large (Furedy, 1997). Repression and harassment
are the most common official attitudes.

3.3.1 Migrants, Minorities, Foreigners, Low Castes, Refugees

From the Thematic Evaluation and the field studies it emerged that in most countries the
scavengers were migrants who had come from other cities or areas, which they fled because
of droughts, floods, losing husband or wife, etc. Other studies confirm this. Very often one
finds that an increase in the entry of poor rural migrants to cities is associated with an increase
in numbers of waste pickers (Furedy, 1997).

In many countries scavengers belong to minority groups. These can be religious minorities:
for example in Egypt the Coptic Christians used to make up the majority of waste collectors
and waste pickers, but this is now changing. They comprise now roughly half of the waste
collectors and pickers. In Kolkatta, India, the Muslim minority is over represented.

Also ethnic-cultural minorities can be found in the scavenging sector: in the whole of India
the ‘dalit’ (casteless) people are often involved in picking waste and emptying latrines. In
Romania and most of Eastern Europe the Rroma (gypsies) are the main group.

Sometimes they even belong to a different nationality: in Lebanon many scavengers are
Syrians and Palestinians. In Delhi, India, many scavengers come from Bangladesh, while in
Pakistan the proportion of Afghan refugees among scavengers was high.

A different nationality can pose problems like not speaking the main language, having no
access to social security or governmental jobs, etc.

3.3.2 Implications for projects

Because of their background as migrants many local governments see scavengers as

temporary residents and are not inclined to invest in them (or their children). As migrants or
foreigners, they are often unregistered or undocumented, and so do not have access to local
governmental allowances like social assistance or child support.

A recurring problem among scavengers is the fact that they do not have identity cards or birth
certificates. This makes it difficult for them to find regular employment, receive assistance
from the state, to vote, to buy and sell properties, etc. and for their children to enrol in
(formal) schools.

A number of the projects studied addressed these particular needs of the scavengers by
helping them with registration and obtaining birth certificates. These seemed useful
interventions.

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3.4 Child labour and scavenging

What does the involvement of children in waste picking look like?

Actually children are involved in various stages of the picking process. The most well-known
involvement is in picking on dumpsites, with their families or in groups with a leader or
recruited by a middleman. They can also be found picking in the streets, individually or in
groups. The most invisible involvement of children in this sector is in homes. While their
parents pick waste in the streets or collect it from households, children (and women) often
sort the mixed waste at home so that it can be sold.

Detailed information on numbers, age and gender of scavenging children was not available in
most cases, unless a comprehensive survey had been done, as was the case in some ILO
projects. Estimates of the numbers of scavenging for the cities in the review are shown in
Table 5.

Both boys and girls can be found scavenging, but girls are much less involved in street
picking. In Tanzania teenage boys clearly dominated dump and street picking (88%), and this
appears to be true in Kenya as well. The age of child scavengers ranges from 4-5 years to 18
years.

3.4.1 Earnings and share of family income

Scavenging children can contribute a considerable share of the family income. Their income
varies from 10 to 50% of an adult’s income, which makes it difficult to convince their parents
to let the children go to school. When they grow older, the children often increase the number
of hours they work and they tend to collect more valuable items; thus their income increases
accordingly.

Some examples from the field studies are shown in Box 1.

Box 1 Examples of income share of child scavengers

Kolkatta: Children earn 30-40% of family income

Cambodia: Children can earn 50% of an adult’s income (USD 1/day).

Egypt: Children can earn 30-50% of an adult’s income (1euro/day)

or provide unpaid labour, which saves the family the cost of
hiring someone from outside (girls mainly).

Philippines: Children can earn more at scavenging than do neighbourhood

adult factory workers working a ten-hour shift (Gunn &
Ostos, 1992).

Tanzania: Younger children (6-12 years) earn 10-25%, while older

children (13-16 years) can earn half of an adult’s income
Source: Evaluative field studies and project documents, 2004

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3.4.2 Reasons why children are scavenging

There are various reasons why children work, and this is also the case with children working
as scavengers. The field studies mentioned the following reasons:

♦ poverty/family needs the additional income or needs the labour to reduce the use of
paid labour;
♦ parents are not able to provide for income (because of a background of violence,
gambling, alcoholism, disabilities);
♦ lack of skills/low education;
♦ lack of other income opportunities;
♦ lack of available and accessible schools;
♦ costs of school fees and/or school supplies such as uniforms, school materials, meals
♦ education is not relevant, of low quality, school is not a joyful and attractive place of
learning ;
♦ education is not considered important in the culture of the parents;
♦ scavenging is a way of life/Landfill is the medium of life/Lack of vision of an
alternative future;
♦ children are expected to participate in the work performed by the family;
♦ children are expected to contribute to family income/Feeling of responsibility towards
the family;
♦ acceptance of child labour, especially with children who are older than 15;
♦ children are very fast in picking waste/Agility to sort through waste; or
♦ day care is expensive/parents do not have another place to leave their children/absence
of safety nets in communities.

3.4.3 Implications for project interventions

Because children have different reasons to engage in scavenging, interventions should be

adapted to these locally defined reasons. In the Philippines the ERDA-SABANA project
(PHIL) was consultative, and as a result of the consultation, the project staff designed to
address all arguments used by parents and their children not to send their children to school.
This made the choices easier for the parents to understand.

3.5 Economic development and scavenging

General developments in the economy can have a vital impact on scavenging and, indirectly,
on child labour. In a number of areas studied it was mentioned that poverty and
unemployment in other sectors had direct consequences for the number of people scavenging.
Argentina is a very strong case in point. With the economic crisis there in 2001 many more
people turned to scavenging than before, even from middle class families. Children, who used
to go to school full time and enjoy their childhood, started scavenging with their parents
during the evening and night. The same thing happened in all of Eastern Europe with the fall
of state socialism in 1989: social safety net systems that had provided special workplaces and
guaranteed salaries for Roma ("gypsies") were dismantled, and so many turned to scavenging
in combination with other seasonal labour.

The reasons why adults were scavenging mentioned in the field studies included:

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 ♦ cannot find alternative employment (due to low level of education and/or
discrimination based on their cultural/ethnic background);
♦ high income, sometimes supplemental income to provide for immediate costs of
living; or
♦ relative freedom in determining working hours, working places, etc.

Although scavenging is the lowest paid work in the waste chain, all field studies confirmed
the fact that many scavengers earn more than the minimum wage, up to three times as much
in Latin America. Scavenging can thus be a way out of poverty for some poor families. It can
also provide women a chance to earn an independent income.

3.5.1 Implications for projects

Because incomes in scavenging are high and alternative employment difficult to find, projects
should pay attention to creating alternative sources of income and improving the economic
opportunities for scavengers. In addition, these activities should provide either more income
than scavenging or have other related benefits, like higher prestige, better working conditions,
etc.

Projects aiming to reduce child labour will always have to cope with external factors that
increase poverty and migration and thus increase the number of children becoming involved
in scavenging, almost immediately replacing the exiting children with new ones. Those
factors are difficult to influence as a project or local organisation. However, donors need to be
made aware of this aspect too and not focus exclusively on the numbers of scavenging
children as a measure for success.

3.6 Solid waste management policies and scavenging

In almost all projects studied the attitude of the government towards scavengers is one of
neglect and/or repression. The government and the general public generally treat scavengers
as criminals and outcasts, or they are seen as a social problem that other government
departments should deal with. The role of scavengers in resource recovery or as solid waste
managers is seldom recognised, and when this occurs, it is almost always as a consequence of
an international project-related intervention.

Consequently, scavenging is not generally recognised as being integrated in the formal SWM
system at all, even when it diverts substantial quantities of materials to recovery. It remains an
invisible and unrecognised activity. The economic value of scavenging to the SWM system
(amount of materials recycled, etc.) is also not known -- or even studied -- in most areas
studied.

Only in some Latin American cities and in India were scavengers considered stakeholders in
the SWM system, for example in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. This acknowledgement has usually
had a clear positive effect on both their incomes and on the position of child labour.
ILO/IPEC projects do not pay much attention to this aspect of improving the position of
scavengers and integrating them more into the SWM system. Only in Tanzania (TANZ) and
the Philippines (PHIL) were there limited attempts made in this direction.

In some areas studied local governments started to perceive waste more and more as a
resource and SWM not purely as a cleaning exercise. The importance of the waste
management hierarchy in SWM policies seemed also on the increase. However, this did not

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always lead to an improved position of the scavengers. Local governments in the study areas
tended to look at Europe and North America and copy their systems. A common response to
this phase of the modernisation process is to close the dump or upgrade it to become a
sanitary landfill. Rather than creating a new role for the scavengers in the modernised SWM
system, they are usually prohibited from having access, harassed, arrested, or driven out, with
the result that they are dispersed and start picking in the streets, and usually lose important
sources of income.

One way of understanding this trend is that until solid waste systems are modernised and
attention paid to the waste management hierarchy, waste is a common property resource, to
which anyone, including the poorest of the poor, can have access if they take the time and use
their own physical resources. One side-effect of the modernisation process is that the public
sector tends to claim the waste and define it as being the responsibility -- and property -- of
either public sector or private sector actors. This means that the legal status of the waste
changes, and it is no longer so available. Governments or private companies who now have
the responsibility or the access then enforce this new status, barring scavengers from taking
something which used to be open to anyone.

Participation of the national or international private sector was a clear trend perceived in the
areas studied. Usually privatisation meant lower incomes for scavengers, as the private
operators tend to "skim" the valuable materials from what has become "their" waste. For
example in Bangkok, Thailand, a private company received a concession to manage the
landfill and officially closed its access to scavengers. In practice, however, they were let in
and forced to sell their recovered materials to the private company who resold them for a
large profit. The incomes of the scavengers decreased since this private company took over
(THAI 1). Such practices have significant effects on child labour too, because when the
livelihoods of scavengers are in danger, they cannot afford to send their children to school.

3.6.1 Implications for projects

How can projects deal with these changes in official SWM policies? Most projects, including
the ILO/IPEC ones, did not know much about the SWM policies of the government. Their
activities seemed to be isolated from these policies. This means that project activities can be
disrupted suddenly, like in Indonesia where the government decided to ‘clean up the
dumpsite’ and dispersed the scavengers. The NGO had to stop altogether its activities with
scavengers, because they did not know where they went (INDO).

Therefore, as a general principle, it is important for projects addressing scavenging and child
labour in scavenging to build relations with the local, provincial and national government and
to attempt to influence their policies. This needs much effort in the field of dialogue and
negotiation. Smaller organisations have to cooperate with other, larger ones to make this
strategy work. Bangalore, India is a good example of how this can have positive effects for
waste pickers (and their children) (INDIA 1). Projects with waste pickers as selective waste
collectors were upscaled from localised experiments to city-wide large scale employment
within a private contract system through intensive work with the local government.

However, organisations that do not focus on waste pickers alone, but work with broader target
groups are at a disadvantage here. They are less inclined to keep track of governmental SWM
policies as they deal with many different types of child labour.

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The ILO could play an important role using its capacity and framework to raise awareness of
the government on the relation with child labour and to build government capacity and
influence SWM related policies among government at different levels (local, provincial and
national). They could probably make this an explicit part of their projects or a project in itself.

3.7 Research and monitoring

Research and monitoring are not common among the projects studied, and this makes both
evaluation and targeted interventions challenging and less effective. For example, the Desk
review of the ILO (2002) indicates that only 11 out of the 69 projects (16%) have research
and monitoring as listed activities.

In some cases the projects did not have data on numbers, ages and sex of scavengers, making
it impossible to draw inferences about family structure or the participation of children. A few
projects did not have any information on the background or reasons for children to be
involved in scavenging.

Reliable information was available when extensive surveys were conducted, which was
sometimes the case with ILO/IPEC projects that are carried out in the context of support to
broader, integrated Time Bound Programmes. The disadvantage of surveys is that they are
expensive and they only provide a snapshot. Also there was not sufficient information about
the survey methodology to evaluate the extent to which the methods and approaches biased
the responses, a general danger with surveys of poor people, and an especially large risk when
the target groups are informal or have a semi-legal status. A good alternative seems to be to
cooperate with an NGO that works in the field, especially when this has a drop-in centre at the
disposal site and keeps dossiers of waste pickers.

3.8 Conclusion

Information about the background and characteristics of (child) scavengers and reasons why
they scavenge is needed, which requires more efforts in research and monitoring. Reasons for
engaging in scavenging and not sending children to school need to be carefully studied.
Parents may have different reasons than children.

Projects (and their donors) need to keep track of economic developments and SWM policies
and should be aware of their effects on scavenging.

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CHAPTER 4 TARGET GROUPS AND STAKEHOLDERS
4.1 Introduction

This chapter explores the role waste pickers and their children play in projects that are
designed for them. It looks at target groups, their position as stakeholders and their
participation in projects addressing child labour in scavenging. In addition, cooperation with
other agencies and stakeholders and funding issues will be dealt with.

4.2 Target groups

The size of the target groups of the projects studied was highly variable and ranged from 60
children to 500 families (see Table 6).

Table 6. Target groups of the projects studied in Asia/Africa/Europe

Country Project No. of adults, children, families targeted
Philippines PHIL 500 children and their families
Tanzania TANZ 230 waste pickers
Egypt EGYP 1 70-80 girls and women a year
EGYP 2 60 boys a year
Romania ROMA 1 60 children a year
ROMA 2 45 children
ROMA 3 127 families (ca. 400 waste pickers)
Thailand THAI 1 55-60 children, 368 families
THAI 2 NA
India INDIA 1 159 child workers
211 street children
INDIA 2 200 families
Cambodia CAMB 80 children and families
Source: Evaluative field studies and project documents, 2004

For comparison, Table 7 provides the same figures for Latin America. Here especially the
national level initiatives in Brazil and Colombia target much high numbers of scavengers and
their children.
Table 7. Target groups of the projects studied in Latin America
Country City Target group

Argentina Rosario 245 waste pickers

Buenos Aires 7,200 waste pickers
Brazil Sao Bernardo do Campo 92 families, 176 children, 160 street pickers
Belo Horizonte (ASMARE) 383 waste pickers
Sao Paulo (COOPAMARE) 413 waste pickers
Porto Alegre (North dumpsite) 300 waste pickers and their families
National (UNICEF) 46,742 children
Colombia Medellín (RECUPERAR) 1,412
National (ANR) 5,135 waste pickers
Ecuador Sto. Domingo de los Colorados 106 children
El Salvador Santa Ana 99 children and 16 families
Mexico Mexico DF Not available
Nicaragua Managua 2,977 (Sept. 2003)
Peru Lima (cooperatives in El 150 waste pickers
Zapallal)
Uruguay Montevideo 35 waste pickers
Source: Price & Castro, 2004

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Target groups also diverged among the projects, but almost all projects studied in Asia, Africa
and Europe (13 out of 14) had a focus on children. They either targeted waste picking
children (7 projects, 50%) and/or a broader category such as street children, children of the
urban poor, children of abused women, etc. (9 projects, 64%).

The majority of the projects (9 out of 14 or 64%) targeted adults only when they were parents
of the children. Activities for parents in these projects usually did not relate to their
productive role or their economic activities, but only to their role as parents. This was also
true for the ILO/IPEC projects.

In a few cases (5 out of 14, 36%) there were separate activities set up for adults, usually credit
and income generation or building and strengthening an association of waste pickers. By
contrast, in the Latin American cases interventions for adults were much more common.

4.2.1 Implications for projects

Children -- in contrast to teenagers -- are not independent stakeholders or social or economic

actors. They cannot decide to go to school in defiance of the wishes of parents or other older
relatives (or even older siblings). Interventions for children alone cannot be expected to be
effective, and especially when they leave the parents out and do not change their attitudes
towards education nor improve their economic opportunities.

At the same time, adults are only part of the solution, and interventions aimed at children also
have to deal with the children as direct stakeholders (even if they are not independent).
Interventions for adults alone do not always have a positive effect on child labour, as
improving income alone does not guarantee that parents will send their children to school.
Therefore a combination of interventions for adults and children seems most appropriate.
Children are more open to change, but if the income situation for the parents does not change
structurally, little long-term effect on child labour can be expected.

4.3 Differentiating between target groups

Projects targeting only dump picking children (e.g. PHIL, ROMA1, 2 and 3, CAMB) or
children living in a particular picking community (EGYP1 and 2) seem more focused and
therefore more successful than projects targeting broad categories (e.g. street children,
children of the urban poor). For the latter it is also difficult to follow and influence SWM
policies of the government.

Street pickers and dump pickers need a different treatment. Child street pickers are usually
addressed together with other street children, as they share many characteristics; they are
highly mobile and difficult to gain access to. They need shelter and integration with their
families. Dump pickers on the other hand, are living in a relatively stable environment,
usually carry out the work with their parents, and are very much absorbed in that way of life.
Dump picking children are relatively easier to work with than street picking children.

Most projects targeted both boys and girls at the same time. Only a few projects focused
specifically on boys or girls, for example, the two projects in Egypt. They could adapt their
interventions to the specific conditions of the boys and the girls and made it therefore easier
for the children and the parents to send their children to training and education.

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In other cases it is not necessary to differentiate according to gender. For example in Romania
there seemed to be a more or less equal number of boys and girls, men and women were
involved in waste picking and their tasks were similar (Stanev, 2004).

4.3.1 Implications for projects

The definition of target groups and their needs should be based on information about the local
context, collected in a participatory way.

Based on this information, target groups can, for example, be differentiated according to:

♦ Type of work (e.g. street pickers versus dump pickers)

♦ Sex of the child
♦ Sex and age of the head of household
♦ Age and social grouping of the children

What seems to work well is that one NGO specialises in one category of children (e.g. street
pickers together with other street children) and another in working with the dumpsite
community and they refer children to each other, for example orphans on the dumpsite.

Depending on the local context, scavenging boys and girls may need different approaches, as
they often have different tasks in scavenging and at home. Boys tend to be more involved in
scavenging and derive more income from it, while girls tend to help more in the household.
They also face different work-related dangers. For example girls face more often the risk of
sexual abuse, in particular when they are street pickers. Especially for youth (12-18 year olds)
it seems important to address gender differences.

In the same way interventions for parents often need different approaches for men and
women, and for families headed by men or women, focusing on their respective needs. If only
men are targeted or projects pretend to be gender-neutral, the risk is high that women are
disenfranchised and lose confidence in the project.

4.4 Participation of target groups in projects

4.4.1 ILO’s perception of scavengers

The ILO/IPEC tend to use the term ‘scavenger’ or ‘rag picker’ to refer to people sorting and
selling waste at dumpsites and from street bins. A number of field studies indicated that the
term ‘scavenger’ is considered derogatory. The term ‘rag picker’ is also inappropriate, as rags
have limited economic value for most waste pickers in the South.

The ILO staff involved in working with scavenging do not seem to be particularly immune to
the general social attitude towards poor people living in dirty environments and working with
waste. The staff persons may share general social or ethnic prejudices, and this will tend to
lead them to focus on welfare aspects, rather than using a system analysis and treating the
scavengers as professional recyclers. Also many of these staff persons are sociologists, with a
limited knowledge of the urban environmental context, and thus, no tools to understand the
place of scavengers within it or the interactions between the activity of scavenging and the
global trade in secondary materials.

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Some of the work to be done is needed within the ILO -- or its subcontractors -- itself. For
example, it is recommended that staff persons working with scavengers have the opportunity
to attend special trainings, focused both on solid waste in general, and on informal recycling,
and the roles of scavengers within it.

Moreover, it is recommended that the ILO/IPEC coach its staff and consultants to use a more
neutral term such as ‘waste picker’. Why is this relevant for child labour in scavenging? This
is not just a side issue, since the way the parents are addressed and perceived has an impact on
the projects’ results. In many cases the parents are key in determining whether or not their
children can go to school or attend a training course. If parents are proud of their trade and
feel appreciated, they will be more open to change, more inclined to improve their
circumstances and give their children other opportunities.

4.4.2 Level of participation

All kinds of interventions with poor people benefit from the active participation of the "target
groups" and "beneficiaries." There is no clearer way to determine what someone's needs are
then to ask them directly. Yet consultation with scavengers was, surprisingly, not always or
even often associated with the projects studied. To assess the level of participation in the
projects studied, a distinction was made between participatory, semi-participatory and non-
participatory, linked to a more active or more passive role of the scavengers.

Participation of target groups in a consultative role or on a temporary voluntary basis (‘semi-

participatory’ methodology) was the most common methodology among the projects studied,
also among ILO/IPEC projects. Examples are the involvement of scavengers, adults or
children, in carrying out health awareness raising or running a school committee. Like with all
volunteer activities, the level of success of recruiting and keeping volunteers depends on
personal interests and incentives offered. Adults were less inclined to participate than
children. Recognition of volunteers was important in the form of certificates, public
recognition during events, training opportunities, etc.

Most projects did not include scavengers and scavenging children in decision-making in the
design, implementation or monitoring stage. Few staffed their projects with former
scavengers; in fact this only occurred in the Philippines (PHIL), Bangalore (INDIA 1),
Cambodia (CAMB) and Egypt (EGYP 1 and 2).

The level of participation seemed to be linked to the approach taken. Projects using rights-
based and system-based approaches had a more clear focus on participation of target groups
than the other types of projects.

Often the argument was used that the target group –children- were too little to give them a say
in the project. However, in these cases even their parents had little influence on the contents
of the project’s activities. In Eastern Europe the general social perception that Roma people
are less than human and that their standard response to any question is either to lie or to tell
the listener what they want to hear is frequently used as a justification for not bothering to
ask.

A non-participatory approach, which is often found with welfare-based projects, often

encourages a paternalistic attitude of the help-givers and a charity mentality among the
scavengers, making them apathetic and dependent upon outside help. A lack of participation

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of target groups in design, implementation and monitoring/evaluation can kill a project’s
efforts, as for example became clear in the evaluative field study of Romania. Scavengers just
stood by and watched the NGO doing everything by itself. Later on the structures (in this case
latrines) were not maintained and slowly fell into disrepair. Maybe the latrines had the wrong
design, maybe the scavengers were not convinced of their need or maybe they did not like the
NGO. It is hard to know the reason, because the scavengers were not consulted.

4.4.3 Implications for projects

It appears from the projects studied that if (child) scavengers are considered and treated as
stakeholders in the project, projects tend to be more successful.

The involvement of ex-scavenging children and youth in the project as (paid) staff turned out
to be very beneficial. They have extensive knowledge of area and the needs of the children,
they speak the language and the community usually trusts them. In addition, they can serve as
role models and show alternative careers to the child scavengers. The projects in Egypt
(EGYP 1 and 2), Philippines (PHIL) and Cambodia (CAMB) are clear examples of this.

The ILO and IPEC should pay more attention to this aspect of participation of target groups.

4.5 Cooperation with other agencies

In most projects the main stakeholders were the child waste pickers themselves and
CBOs/NGOs assisting them. Other important stakeholders were: waste pickers’ organisations,
local governments, schools and private companies.

All projects studied were initiatives of local NGOs. Cooperation with other organisations and
programmes in the same field (child labour and scavenging) or related fields (education,
environment, health, urban development) occurred in a number of the projects studied, but
much less than expected. Most common was the cooperation with other NGOs. In some cases,
such as the Philippines (PHIL) and Cambodia (CAMB), regular joint meetings were held and
cooperation was even formalised in a council. Sometimes cooperation existed between NGOs
referring children or adults to each other’s respective programmes. For example in Cambodia
VCAO, the local NGO, collaborates with other NGOs (Krousar Thmey, Friends, World
Vision International) to help orphaned and high at risk children and to provide the skill
training and credit to the parents of waste picking children.

It was striking that formal schools were often not involved as stakeholders in the project,
although some projects aimed at increasing the attendance of scavenger children at these
schools. Very few projects indicated to have any activities such as training or coaching of
teachers in formal schools or improvement of the curriculum in the formal schools. Most were
small initiatives outside the regular system. Where it was tried, like in Romania (ROMA 1),
the NGO initially met with a lot of resistance from the local government, formal school and
parents. Eventually, however, it managed to set up a special curriculum and learning
trajectory inside the school for scavenging children that proved to be successful. In Egypt
(EGYP 1 and 2) the local NGOs APE and AGCCD receive visits by children from formal
schools to learn about ‘clean’ recycling.

The role of the local government was also limited; in only six out of 14 projects they were
clear stakeholders. More often than not, NGOs and local governments seemed to be in
disagreement because of differences in culture and approach, the latter being very formal and

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attached to the rules and the existing system, while the NGOs tend to be more informal and
attempt to change the existing situation.

Cooperation between UN agencies working in the field of child labour and scavenging (or
even in SWM) was limited. There are at least two UN organisations that are heavily involved
in the issue of child labour and scavenging: the ILO and UNICEF, while UN Habitat, UNIDO
and UNESCO are involved to a lesser extent. However, information exchange between these
organisations is very limited. Even the headquarters do not always know exactly what is
happening in the field. The evaluative field study for Tanzania indicated that the three ILO
programmes in Tanzania focusing on gender, SWM and child labour were integrated only to a
very limited extent.

4.5.1 Implications for projects

It appears that cooperation with other NGOs and the direct involvement of local government
educational and governance institutions greatly increases the rate of success of interventions.
The advantages of more cooperation cannot be underestimated:

♦ Official SWM policies can be influenced..

♦ Children can be referred to other projects that cater to their specific needs (e.g. street
pickers to a project for street children).
♦ Adults can be referred to credit schemes with other NGOs.
♦ Sometimes funding for projects can be found with governmental agencies.
♦ Projects can be replicated at a larger scale.

When cooperation is lacking, as was the case in Romania, initiatives remain isolated and have
limited effect. In Cluj Napoca, three initiatives in the same dumpsite community existed that
hardly knew of each other's existence (ROMA 1, 2 and 3). Often personal problems or bad
experiences in the past are behind this lack of cooperation.

More cooperation is needed, especially with formal schools, for example on changing
teaching practices and curricula to make them more attractive and relevant, training teachers
in dealing with ex-child scavengers.

Also more cooperation with local governments is desirable to change their perception of
scavengers and work on their integration in the formal SWM system. In a few cases where
local or provincial governments were involved the effects were noticeably larger. As the study
for India indicates, NGOs can only work as catalysts and provide alternative examples, but
they can never work at the scale of a government.

More cooperation between UN agencies, especially UNICEF and ILO, is a must. Cooperation
in the design stage seems useful, especially when they operate in the same country or region.

Also cooperation with international NGOs such as Terre des Hommes, Médecins sans
Frontières, Bernard van Leer Foundation, CORDAID, Oxfam, appears to be useful. They are
funding some of the projects included in this Thematic Evaluation. Exchange between
practitioners would be highly beneficial to all, as their approaches and interventions are
different.

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Cooperation with international investment banks (e.g. World Bank, Asian Development
Bank) but also agencies like GTZ and DFID-UK that work in the field of SWM seems
necessary, as these tend to have extensive influence on SWM policies and practices of
national and local governments, and thus on scavengers.

4.6 Failing institutional memories

In general there was a considerable lack of detailed information that came out of the projects.
Many experiences, teaching methodologies and daily practices are not written down. In some
cases staff has changed and thus institutional memory fails. In addition very little exchange of
experiences exists between the ILO/IPEC projects in various countries. The reasons are that
there is no structure for this kind of exchange and no budget lines in the project for
documentation, for knowledge management, or for peer exchange, and there are certainly no
provisions for crossing possible language barriers. ILO/IPEC does have a Programme
Database that provides core elements of such an infrastructure and a good practice approach
with guidelines that could support this process, but it will require specific follow-up and
activities that will call for resources. The consequence is that very often the wheel is
reinvented, the same mistakes are repeated, and sometimes within the same scavenger
community.

It also appeared difficult to obtain information about what went wrong in the various projects
and how obstacles were dealt with. These are sensitive issues, because it touches upon the
pride of the project staff and it bears the risk of loosing donors. This is an important point,
since the clearest lessons are usually those about the (initial) failures and bottlenecks and how
the projects managed to overcome them. An interesting exception is the ILO/IPEC project in
the Philippines (PHIL) that has produced loads of written information and also an interesting
article about the evolution of the project and how it developed through trial and error (Gunn
& Ostos, 1992).

4.6.1 Implications for projects

Here too, it is possible that the generally low status of scavengers somehow "sticks" to the
project staff of scavenger-related interventions, so that they receive a low level of institutional
support and have themselves low status within their respective institutions and UN agencies.
It is difficult to explain the lack of analysis, documentation, data, and knowledge management
on this issue -- even within the ILO itself -- in any other way.

The implications for projects include providing management and internal support to these
types of projects, profiling them within the institutions, supporting staff to publish the results,
and training all staff about their importance. Project staff should be encouraged to write down
their methodologies and experiences. An alternative is that the ILO/IPEC hire external
consultants or evaluators every two-three years to visit the projects, talk to the practitioners
and summarise their methodologies and experiences, and then to provide feedback to new
initiatives or the formulation of new projects. The ILO could also use this knowledge base to
make a connection with government policies and influence these to achieve a long-term and
structural impact on child labour that goes beyond the scope of individual projects (e.g. a pilot
project could be used to develop standards for a larger program).

To encourage the sharing of experiences a network of practitioners could be set up or at least

regional meetings could be organised.

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4.7 Funding

Regarding funding a very high dependence on international donor funding was noticed.
International NGOs, UN organisations, EU, etc. seemed to provide the bulk of the financing.
In a few cases, however, interesting experiences of funding or sponsoring by the private
sector were found (e.g. Philippines, Romania, Egypt). For example in EGYP 1 the local NGO,
APE, obtained textile cut-offs from factories directly, without any payment, and used these
for their rag recycling projects. In EGYP 2 the local supporting organisation, CID, organised
the support from shampoo factories to finance the recycling of their bottles, to avoid brand
fraud. Other companies sponsored recycling equipment and the interior of classrooms.

In Romania the Open Society Foundation is involved in ROMA 1. This foundation is part of a
series of foundations established by the businessman-philanthropist George Soros and focuses
its activities among others on the Rroma population in Central and Eastern Europe. 80% of
waste pickers in Romania are of Rroma ethnicity (Stanev et al., 2004).

Moreover, a number of projects were partly subsidised by the local or provincial government,
for example by donating land or financing specific activities (e.g. India, Thailand, Romania).

Finally, a very small minority of NGOs had self-financing activities next to the donor support
they received for particular activities. For example APE in Egypt runs a composting plant and
benefits from the sales of recycled items (textile and paper). It also operates a unit for
manufacturing equipment for plastic recycling (EGYP 1). The Undugu Society in Kenya has
economic activities that sponsor their social programmes (KENY). These activities definitely
increase the sustainability of the implementing organisation as such.

4.7.1 Implications for projects

Creative fund raising and income generation should be part of project design. Self-financing
increases financial sustainability of the initiative. Non-traditional sources of funding like
cooperation with the private sector should be explored much more than is currently done.
When the system approach is used, and the result of the intervention is to increase the prices
paid for recyclables, some of this money could also go to support the projects themselves.

4.8 Conclusion

The conclusions from this chapter are that differentiating between target groups is important
to address specific needs. Participation of target groups is essential to identify local needs and
to sustain efforts. A second line of conclusions involves supporting, educating, and
connecting the staff of these projects within and outside of the ILO, so that the status of
scavenging-related projects gets raised. Cooperation with other agencies and exchanging
experiences avoids replicating the same mistakes and reinventing the wheel. Finally, funding
should be diversified and oriented towards non-traditional sources.

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CHAPTER 5 OBJECTIVES, INTERVENTIONS AND
RESULTS

5.1 Introduction

This chapter compares the objectives of the projects with their interventions and results. It
also attempts to answer the question:
♦ Are the projects studied successful?
♦ Is there one model approach?

5.2 Objectives and focus of the projects

The objectives and focus of the projects were rather diverse. They ranged from establishing
and strengthening associations of waste pickers to create alternative learning opportunities for
scavenging children.

Broadly, the objectives of the projects can be grouped into four categories. Projects aiming to:

♦ Provide alternative opportunities for disadvantaged working children, including

scavenging children
♦ Reducing child labour in scavenging
♦ Improving the working and living conditions of scavengers
♦ Improving solid waste management

Examples of each category are given below. Most ILO projects fall in the first two categories.

5.2.1 Reducing child labour in general

These projects are not explicitly focused on reducing child labour in scavenging. Instead, they
focus on child labour in general, but their target groups, usually working children from low-
income communities or street children, include scavenging children.

The two projects in Thailand (THAI 1 and 2), the ILO/IPEC project in Kenya (KENY), and
the project in Kolkatta, India (INDIA 2) are examples of projects with this objective. Two
projects in Romania (ROMA 1 and ROMA 2) fall also in this category as they target children
of Rroma background, including waste picking children.

5.2.2 Reducing child labour in scavenging

These projects are explicitly focused on reducing child labour in scavenging, either by trying
to eliminate the practice altogether or by providing – in the case of ILO/IPEC projects as a
transitory measure - the children with different opportunities in the field of education and
income generation (‘learn and earn’ approach). They include the Sabana/ERDA project in the
Philippines (PHIL), the project of Mythri in Bangalore, India (INDIA 1), the project in
Cambodia (CAMB), the two projects in Romania (ROMA 1 and ROMA 2), as well as the two
projects in Egypt (EGYP 1 and 2). The projects of UNICEF in Brazil can be added as well.

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5.2.3 Improving the working and living conditions of scavengers

Other projects aim at improving the working and living conditions of the scavengers as a
group: they target whole families with activities such as water and sanitation facilities,
housing, helping them to establish associations or cooperatives, or providing them with
healthcare and health education. The project of the Foundation for Helping Families in
Romania (ROMA 3), the two projects in India (INDIA 1 and 2), and the project in Indonesia
(INDO) are examples. They sometimes include specific activities for children and sometimes
they do not. Many projects in Latin America can also be found in this category.

5.2.4 Improving solid waste management

The ILO funded SWMP project in Tanzania (TANZ) is an example. It is focused on

improving the waste collection system in Dar Es Salaam, but it has a sub-component for
assisting scavengers.

5.3 Interventions

Using the categories developed for the Regional Thematic Evaluation on Latin America (ILO,
2004: Table 11, page 52), the interventions used in the various projects studied (excluding
Latin America) are grouped into nine categories:

1. Health, social services and nutrition

2. Formal and non-formal education
3. Income generation and alternative employment
4. Raising the status of the work of scavengers
5. Awareness-raising of the general public
6. Integrating the scavengers with the formal solid waste management system
7. Improving links with the private sector
8. Institutionalisation and formalisation
9. Cooperation with other policies, funds and organisations

Table 8 shows the interventions and how often they occur among the projects studied (their
‘score’). The categories of interventions in italics are added to the original Latin America
table.

The interventions are grouped according to the type of approach they relate to: whether
welfare, development, rights or system-oriented. The last category (Cooperation with other
policies, funds and organisations) could also be welfare, development or system-oriented
depending on the approach taken by the other programmes or organisations.

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 Table 8. Interventions to reduce child labour – for projects studied (excluding Latin America)

Intervention Score
Health, social services and nutrition (WELFARE) 39 (26%)
Provision of food, food vouchers, medicine, clothes, relief in times of crisis 4
Improve working conditions (equipment/tools, rest area, uniforms, sanitary and washing facilities at dumpsite, etc.) 3
Provide a drop-in centre, counselling 5
Providing shelter for street children 2
Reintegration of street children with parents 1
Improving access to health services, provide vaccinations and first aid kits 9
Health awareness raising for children and adults (e.g. on personal and environmental hygiene, vaccinations, nutrition, family planning, prevention of 6
AIDS)
Training on health and safety for waste pickers 3
Health check-ups and monitoring of children's and adults' health 3
Provide drinking water and sanitation facilities in schools or houses 2
Provide veterinary care and collection service for 'garbage of the garbage' 1
Access to pension schemes 0
Formal and non-formal education (DEVELOPMENT) 57 (38%)
Awareness-raising for parents on child development 1
Day-care centres and pre-school for children 6
Awareness-raising of parents and children of the need for education and training of children 10
Monitoring of dropout rates and follow-up on these cases 4
Literacy and non-formal education for adults 1
Literacy and non-formal education for children and youth, life skill education 9
Promotion of obligatory attendance at school of children and youth 0
Scholarships or subsidies for families that send their children to school, free provision of school materials to children 7
Assistance with homework for children, provide a space/building for homework assistance 3
Awareness-raising and capacity building for teachers to support the work with children 2
General vocational training for youth 4
Training in the sorting, pre-processing and recycling of waste materials or repair of used items for adults and youth 4
Workshops for children or adults to make objects from recyclables (e.g. toys) 2
Recreational activities for children, trips to the countryside and beach, sports events, youth camps, etc. 4

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Income generation and alternative employment (DEVELOPMENT) 14 (9%)
Improve income through sales of clean(er)materials, in larger quantities, avoid middlemen 1
Manufacturing and sales of products made from recyclable materials for adults or youth 4
Provide cleaning services to the municipality, a public or private enterprise 0
Management of environmental services, gardening, offering manual labour 0
Provision of individual credit for diverse economic activities for adults and/or youth, often combined with business training 4
Setting up credit and savings cooperatives for adults 3
Training and job placement parents 1
Setting up community day care centres as income generating activity 1
Raising the status of the work of waste pickers (RIGHTS) 7 (5%)
Recognise the rights of waste pickers: registration, identification (provision of IDs and birth certificates), make sorting/waste picking recognised work 3
Public campaigns to dignify the work of waste pickers and gain public recognition 0
Lobby campaigns to defend the interests of waste pickers 2
National law to support waste pickers and their work, linked to local waste management policies 0
Increasing the visibility of the work of waste pickers at national and international level 1
Calculate and publicise the value of waste picking to the national and local economy and SWM system 1
Awareness-raising (RIGHTS) 10 (7%)
Waste pickers become environmental promoters at schools 1
Mobilisation of the media about the working conditions of waste pickers 0
Environmental education about separation at source and selective collection 2
Mobilisation of the media to show the issue of child labour in waste management 3
Awareness raising on child labour and children’s rights among government, employers, etc. 4
Institutionalisation and formalisation (RIGHTS) 11 (7%)
Development and strengthening of cooperatives or associations of waste pickers and MSEs 1
Development and strengthening of associations of child waste pickers, children's clubs 2
Organising people in the community, training community volunteers 5
Development and strengthening of parents’ committees or associations, school committees, etc. 2
Agreements and programmes for waste pickers and their families 0
Specific programmes (local and national) for the elimination of child labour 0
Agreements between local governments and NGOs on capacity building and contracting of waste pickers 0
Stakeholder platforms and round tables for negotiation and consultation 1
Organise groups of waste pickers at regional and national level 0

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 Integrating the waste pickers with the formal solid waste management system (SYSTEM) 5 (3%)
Temporary contracts for providing cleaning and collection services for waste pickers 0
Regulating waste picking and waste recovery in the city, control access to disposal sites, closing the dumpsites and opening of sanitary landfills 1
Prepare separate sorting areas at landfills or disposal sites and give waste pickers concessions 0
Establish selective collection systems and promotion of separation at source with a role for waste pickers 2
Waste pickers’ associations exist next to the municipal SWM system and link up gradually with key stakeholders (e.g. municipality) 1
Development of a solid waste management system that includes waste pickers (cooperatives, MSEs, other organisational forms) 1
Involving waste pickers’ associations in the formulation of municipal and national SWM policies 0
Improving links with the private sector (SYSTEM) 2 (1%)
Financial support for waste pickers (e.g. equipment) in exchange for publicity 0
Agreements to supply recyclables to waste pickers 2
Coordinate with private enterprises to improve marketing conditions for waste pickers (via dialogue/round tables) 0
Cooperation with other policies, funds and organisations (WELFARE/DEVELOPMENT/RIGHTS/SYSTEM) 6 (4%)
Cooperate with child labour programmes of other NGOs 1
Basic linkages with SWM policies and programmes 2
Linkages with municipal health, education, citizen participation and decentralisation policies and programmes 0
Promotion of access to national funds for the elimination of child labour (ILO funds) 1
Promotion of access to national funds for environmental improvement of cities or for SWM 0
Establish a national programme for waste pickers with funds earmarked for them 0
Access to funds for social housing to construct housing for waste pickers 2
TOTAL 151 (100%)
Source: Evaluative field studies and project documents, 2004

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Table 8 clearly shows that the majority of the projects studied (excluding Latin America)
focus on development (47%) and, to a lesser extent, welfare type activities (27%). This is in
contrast with most projects studied in Latin America, which tended to focus more on adult
scavengers and thus have a different set of interventions, using more rights- and system-based
approaches.

5.4 Approaches used in the projects studied

The four approaches to reducing child labour in scavenging as mentioned in Chapter 2 were:
welfare-based, development-oriented, rights-based and system-oriented approach.

Table 9 provides a summary of interventions and approaches used by the various projects
studied. In the last column the main emphasis of the interventions is indicated. This emphasis
or dominant approach is not only based on the number of interventions, but also on a
qualitative evaluation of the weight of interventions. The full table with all interventions per
project is provided in Annex 4 (Table A7).

Table 9. Approaches taken by the projects studied

Project Type and Total Emphasis/

number of number of Dominant
interventions interventions approach
Welfare Development Rights System Other
PHIL 4 7 5 - 1 17 Rights
TANZ 3 2 1 2 2 10 System
EGYP 1 2 6 3 2 - 13 Development
EGYP 2 5 5 - 1 1 12 Development
ROMA 1 1 6 - - - 7 Development
ROMA 2 - 1 - - - 1 Development
ROMA 3 5 2 - - 1 8 Welfare
THAI 1 4 7 2 - - 13 Development
THAI 2 1 5 2 - - 8 Development
INDIA 1 5 4 9 2 - 20 Rights
INDIA 2 1 6 - - - 7 Development
CAMB 3 6 2 - 1 12 Development
INDO 3 9 3 - - 15 Rights
KENY 2 5 1 - - 8 Development
TOTAL 39 71 28 7 6 151
Source: Evaluative field studies and project documents, 2004

Most projects studied had a clear development-oriented approach (10 out of 14 projects).
Although almost all projects included welfare type of activities, only one project had this as
their main approach. The rights-based and system-based approaches were much less popular
with only three projects having a rights-based approach as their main approach (PHIL, INDIA
1, INDO) and one having a system-oriented approach (TANZ). Nine of the 14 projects had
some kind of rights-based activities, such as organising waste pickers, advocacy and the like,
with most focusing on awareness-raising on children’s rights.

The reason why rights-based and system-oriented interventions are less popular is probably
that rights-based activities are much more difficult and politically sensitive than welfare and
development-oriented activities. In addition, system-oriented activities require institutional
and technical changes at government level.

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Often an evolution was noticed within organisations, starting with welfare and then
developing more towards development and (sometimes) rights-based approaches. For
example in Bangkok, Thailand, the local NGO (FSCC) started with establishing a health
clinic), but moved to the introduction of day care centres as this proved to be an important
need in the scavenger community (THAI 1). In Romania (ROMA 3), the Foundation for
Helping Families began with typical charity activities such as providing food, medicines and
clothing, but later on started with literacy classes and health awareness-raising.

However, religious organisations tended to keep a focus on welfare-related activities

(providing drop-in centres, water and sanitation, healthcare etc.).

5.4.1 Approaches and interventions in ILO/IPEC projects

The ILO/IPEC projects with child scavengers have a similar emphasis on welfare and
development approaches, as the other projects studied. As Table 10 indicates, non-formal
education, vocational training, recreation and counselling, health and nutrition and awareness
raising are the most common interventions in ILO/IPEC projects, both in projects specifically
targeting child scavengers (called ‘specific projects’ in the Table 10) and projects targeting
broader groups such as street children or urban poor (called ‘broad projects’ in Table 10).

Interventions targeting adults, like credit and institution building, are clearly limited in the
ILO/IPEC projects. Rights-based interventions are used very little, while system-based
interventions seem to be absent.

Table 10 shows the interventions used in ILO/IPEC projects with child scavengers based on
the ILO Desk review of 2002.

Table 10. Interventions of ILO/IPEC projects with child scavengers

Intervention ‘Specific’ projects ‘Broad’ projects

Number % Number %
Health and nutrition 7 12% 19 10%
Recreation and counselling 12 20% 28 14%
Formal education 2 3% 18 9%
Non-formal education 13 22% 25 13%
Vocational training 8 14% 28 14%
Credit and stipends 6 11% 10 5%
Awareness-raising 4 7% 24 12%
Training for parents 2 3% 10 5%
Inspection and Monitoring 1 2% 6 3%
Research and survey 2 3% 11 7%
Institutional capacity building 2 3% 16 8%
TOTAL 59 100% 195 100%
Source: Based on Desk review ILO/IPEC projects with child scavengers, 2002

5.5 Results

Measuring results differs from measuring efforts.14 Results are the longer-term effects of a
project, while efforts directly relate to the inputs to and outputs of the project. For example a
project that provides healthcare to scavengers will mention in their reports how many first aid

14
Or process.

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kits were distributed and how many health awareness meetings held (‘efforts’). They may also
mention the results or longer-term effects, like a reduction in prevalence of certain diseases.

Results are more difficult to measure and more subject to external influences than efforts. It
takes time before the longer-term impact is clear. Therefore many projects tend to use more
effort-based indicators.

Examples of effort-based monitoring related to reducing child labour in scavenging are:

♦ Number of children enrolled in formal, non-formal education and vocational training
♦ Number of enterprises that received credit through the project
♦ Number of scavenging children visiting the healthcare centre of the project
♦ Number of meetings held for the waste pickers’ association

Examples of results-based monitoring related to reducing child labour in scavenging are:

♦ Number of children involved in scavenging fulltime or part time
♦ Number of children who dropped out from formal and non-formal education
♦ Number of youth who found decent work after they received vocational training
♦ Income of scavenging families after the project
♦ Sustainable organisation of waste pickers that can support itself
♦ Replication of the intervention elsewhere

Many ILO/IPEC projects last two or three years. Experiences with projects working on
reducing child labour in waste picking show that this is too short a period to achieve
meaningful results. Results as mentioned by the projects are mentioned in Table 11.

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 Table 11. Objectives and results of projects studied

Project Objectives Results

PHIL ♦ Empower the community, parents, youth and children through capacity ♦ 3-7% drop out from schools, against 10-20% similar agencies in
building and organisation of activities Smokey Mountain
♦ Ensure financial sustainability of the project through income generating ♦ 50-60% of the children are honour students
activities ♦ ERDA-SABANA and their ex-waste picking students have political
♦ Make parents aware of their responsibilities and recognise children’s influence at national and local level
rights ♦ They serve as model for other organisations
♦ Build effective partnerships among agencies concerned with child ♦ Slow learners from outside the Smokey Mountain community join the
labour education programme
♦ Train community leaders and workers who will serve as implementers ♦ Waste pickers cooperative increased from 58 at start to 78 members
of the project and advocate children’s rights (2003), its share capital increased five times from P37,500 to P190,000
♦ Advocate policies that will protect children from working ♦ 25% of job placements is successful
♦ Provide educational assistance that will facilitate the formal schooling
of children
TANZ ♦ Improve working conditions of waste pickers ♦ UTADA association grew from 26 (1992) to 207 members (2001), but
♦ Facilitate links of waste pickers with CBOs/NGOs and local became less active when dumpsite was moved
government ♦ JITUME association is functioning (83 members)
♦ Give waste pickers better leverage with middlemen and improve their ♦ Group sales give them better prices
linkages to markets ♦ Number of child waste pickers increased during project period
EGYP 1 ♦ Increase capabilities and provide alternative learning and income ♦ New generation of community leaders, some stopped working as waste
generating opportunities for waste picking girls and women pickers/sorters
♦ 700 girls and women graduated over 15 years of the project with
average earnings of LE 250/month in 2004 (= salary of a government
employee)
♦ 100 girls and women received micro credit to install a loom or sewing
machine
EGYP 2 ♦ Create alternative learning opportunities for waste picking boys ♦ 60 boys graduated in 2003
♦ Prepare them for integration in the new waste management system ♦ 30 boys earn an average monthly income of LE 200 in 2004
ROMA 1 ♦ Encourage waste pickers to go to school and to complete school ♦ Increase of children enrolled in school from 0 in 1996 to 63 in 2004
♦ Some school-going children stop with waste picking, some spend less
time on waste picking
ROMA 2 ♦ Set up day-care centre and preschool for children of waste pickers to ♦ 14 children enrolled in 2003
prepare them for school and to provide them with new perspectives
ROMA 3 ♦ Improve the living conditions of the waste pickers ♦ Physical improvements for waste pickers like washing facilities

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 Project Objectives Results
♦ Increased literacy among adult waste pickers
THAI 1 ♦ Provide day-care facilities for children from working low income ♦ Dropout rates from school are very low.
families ♦ Parents changed their attitude towards education.
♦ Build and strengthen parent-child relationships ♦ Life in the community changed: more safety and sense of community.
THAI 2 ♦ Address the problems of disadvantaged children in the community ♦ Several success stories of children in formal education
♦ 17 children were registered and obtained birth certificates.
♦ Children still call for counselling.
INDIA 1 ♦ Improve the position of children in waste picking communities ♦ 40 children removed from exploitative work places
INDIA 2 ♦ Promote economic development of waste picking families ♦ Led to 20% increase in income for 28% of the families, no change for
72% of the families.
♦ The majority of enterprises set up with help from the NGO are
performing moderately to well.
CAMB ♦ Provide education and build hope and healthy dreams for the future of ♦ 355 children have received formal education (1997-2004), 17% dropout
waste picking children- rate
♦ 92% of the youth who received vocational training found a job or
started a small business
♦ Child labour in waste picking on the dumpsite decreased from 330
(2000) to 246 (2004)
Source: Evaluative field studies, project documents and personal communication, 2004

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5.6 Are the projects studied successful?

This is a difficult question to answer, as Table 10 shows that the objectives of the projects
studied are very different from each other, as are their results. Some projects use efforts-
based, others results-based indicators. Few mention the results after five years, most focus on
immediate results.

However, it is clear that:

♦ dropout rates of scavenging children from schools are high, especially from formal
schools, 20-25% dropout being normal;
♦ many children keep on scavenging part time, even if they are enrolled in schools; and
♦ when the economic situation worsens, new children enter the scavenging business,
replacing the children that have exited (or reduced their participation in) scavenging
and entered school or other livelihood activities.

Changes in attitudes and structures seem to be the most interesting and sustainable results of
the projects. These are reported as including:
♦ the emergence of new community leaders and role models related to projects’ efforts
and interventions;
♦ scavengers gaining a new role in the municipal SWM system;
♦ changes in attitudes of parents towards child labour; and
♦ the creation, strengthening, or broadening of organisations of scavengers that achieve
some measure of institutional and financial sustainability.

It is recommended that the ILO/IPEC projects design its projects to achieve this type of
structural and attitude changes and not focus too much on counting the number of children on
the disposal site.

5.7 Is there one model approach?

Is there one approach, which is more successful than others? Is there one model approach to
reducing child labour in scavenging?

The projects studied were successful to different degrees and in different ways, because they
addressed different issues. Welfare-based interventions seem to provide a good entry point
into a scavenger community, because they offer a non-threatening, low-entry benefit to
individual children (and parents). This approach enables many projects to gain the trust of the
children, to get to know them and their families better, to become familiar with their problems
and needs, to make personal acquaintance and connections between staff and families, and the
like. It seems that these activities are an essential ingredient of a project that tries to reduce
child labour in scavenging. However, a welfare-based approach is not sufficient on its own,
because it only relieves daily needs.

Development–oriented approaches were the most popular among the projects studied. It
seems natural to provide educational opportunities to child scavengers, because it changes
their future perspectives. Development–oriented approaches are clearly very important
elements of projects that try to reduce child labour. However, they are vulnerable. On one
hand, they depend on the willingness of parents to send their children to school, which will be
less the older the child becomes. On the other hand, they are highly dependent on external

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factors over which the projects themselves have little influence or control, such as economic
conditions, governmental policies, or private-sector actions. Measures like closing a dumpsite,
eviction of dump communities, privatising the solid waste collection and disposal system,
relaxing import restrictions on recycled materials, or changing the energy supply system all
have an impact on the livelihood of scavengers and thus indirectly on child labour.

The most was achieved with rights- and system-based interventions, especially those focusing
on adults. These interventions have indirect but long-term effects on child labour. Organising
scavengers in associations or cooperatives can increase their autonomy, social status and
direct income (because of larger quantities traded, more leverage with junk shops) and thus
make education for their children more affordable. It also enables them to defend their
interests and encourage changes in the SWM system that are favourable to them.

Rights-based interventions for (ex-)child scavengers can accompany this kind of long lasting
change. Examples are children’s associations and study clubs, work as environmental
promoters, lobby among their peers to go to school, strengthen their self-esteem as well as
their political and social skills.

How does this relate to the ISWM aspects? If more ISWM aspects are taken into account, are
projects then more successful? When projects include both social (welfare), economic
(development) and political/institutional (rights) aspects, they clearly have more impact. A
system-based approach, which gives scavengers opportunities within the formal solid waste or
urban environmental system, has even wider effects on the whole SWM system in the city.

5.8 Conclusion

Most projects dealing with child labour in scavenging have a development and/or welfare
approach, which makes them vulnerable and limits their impact. There is not one model
approach, but a combination of interventions addressing short term and long term needs,
addressing different aspects and improving the position of scavengers within the SWM
system appeared most successful. Projects should measure efforts and results. Projects should
be designed to achieve structural changes and last for at least five years.

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CHAPTER 6 IDENTIFYING POSSIBLE GOOD PRACTICES

6.1 Introduction

This chapter analyses experiences with specific interventions and identifies good practices in
these interventions in terms of what has worked as well as some of the constraints and
limitations.

The interventions analysed are organised as in Section 6.3:

♦ Health, social services and nutrition

♦ Formal and non-formal education
♦ Income generation and alternative employment
♦ Raising the status of the work of waste pickers
♦ Awareness-raising of the general public
♦ Institutionalisation and formalisation
♦ Integrating the waste pickers with the formal solid waste management system
♦ Improving links with the private sector

Attention is also paid to the conditions, under which certain interventions function well.
Which target groups, gender, age group should these interventions target preferably?

6.2 Health, social services and nutrition for adult waste pickers and children

6.2.1 Healthcare, shelter and counselling

Health care services provided by projects aiming at reducing child labour in scavenging are
often based on voluntary work and rather basic. Often these are governmental doctors or
nurses or medical students visiting an NGO weekly. However, this makes them low-cost and
therefore relatively sustainable. Many initiatives from religious organisations exist in this
field, as they traditionally have a focus on welfare interventions. Services with the most
impact seemed to be those targeting preventive healthcare among women and children, for
example prenatal and postnatal care for women, health check ups and vaccinations for
children less than five years. Curative care in a drop-in centre can be helpful, but is less
sustainable, because it depends on the resources of the drop-in centre.

Awareness raising related to health issues (vaccination, nutrition, HIV/AIDS, etc.) is usually
successful, when the issues are relevant for the community, the advice is applicable in the
local context, a mixture of methods is used, and simple but attractive messages are utilised.

Detailed studies of (occupational and environmental) health hazards are not common among
the projects studied. Universities often carry out this kind of studies, but unfortunately their
outcomes and recommendations are not used by projects. To be reliable, these studies should
use a range of different methods (interviews, physical checkups, blood analysis etc.) and a
rigorous scientific approach supplemented by participatory and consultative interactions,
which put the rest into context. The role of these studies could be:
♦ to establish a baseline on health, to use as an indicator on results of the project later on
♦ to identify health needs of the target groups
♦ to use the information for awareness raising, in a simplified form, e.g. cartoons

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Counselling in the form of a drop-in centre where children can play, chat, have a shower, get
a plaster for a wound, have a meal, seem a very good means of gaining the trust of the
children and obtain more insight in their daily problems and needs and well as their reasons
for waste picking and not going to school. A shelter for street children can have a similar
function. Skilled social workers, preferably from the community itself, are essential to make
counselling work.

6.2.2 Provision of protective gear

The effect of the provision of protective gear among (adult) waste pickers combined with
awareness raising on health and safety can be considered doubtful. Many do not like gloves
for example, because they cannot pick as quickly as without them. The protective gear is
sometimes not adapted to the climate. Structural changes to the work place seem more useful,
like preparing a separate sorting area where waste pickers can sort and bulldozers and
compacting equipment do not come.

Improving working conditions for adults can be starting point of reducing child labour:
parents who are healthier will have more income (because they depend on daily earnings) and
thus less reason to let their children work.

6.3 Formal or non-formal education of adult and child waste pickers

6.3.1 Day-care and pre-school

Affordable day care and pre-school facilities for the 0-6 year age group appeared to be quite
effective strategies used by some organisations to prepare children for schools, as one of the
projects in Thailand (THAI) show. Children learn social skills, learning attitudes, discipline,
respect for adults, etc. These facilities are often accompanied by education of parents on child
development and the need for education of their children. Day care and pre-school facilities
also offer opportunities for parents to look for other work.

6.3.2 Formal education

Many projects, including ILO/IPEC projects, use scholarships or subsidies to make going to
school more affordable for families. Examples are scholarships to cover school fees,
uniforms, books, meals, etc. This makes it indeed easier for many parents to send their
children to school, but it is a costly measure, which sometimes limits its impact. Ways to
make these interventions more sustainable and less dependent on donor funding should be
explored, e.g. cooperation with municipal or national subsidy programmes for school-related
expenses of low-income families, like in Belo Horizonte, Brazil (Dias, 2000). The ILO and
other UN agencies could play a role in these, by influencing governments to set up this sort of
subsidy programmes.

A successful additional strategy that was used in a few projects is assistance with homework
for school-going children and providing a safe, clean place for homework. This encourages
them to stay away from waste picking the rest of the day.

Encouraging access to formal education seems most successful with primary school age
children (6-12 years old). The older group (13-18 years) has been out of school for too long to
catch up in many cases and is usually more attached to the waste picking way of life.

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6.3.3 Non-formal education

Non-formal education includes the teaching of skills such as literacy, numeracy, accounting,
problem solving skills, teamwork, computer skills, etc. Special teaching methods that were
used for example in Egypt (EGYP 1 and 2) and the Philippines (PHIL) include kinaesthetic,
visual and auditory teaching methods. The curriculum is based on daily experiences of waste
picking children and linked to direct benefit. For example in one project in Egypt the boys
learnt how to calculate the amount of money they were supposed to earn (EGYP 2). The fun
aspect in education should not be forgotten. Girls in another project learnt how to weave their
name with a loom in a rug made from rags (EGYP 1).

Clear rules for behaviour, cleanliness, punctuality, etc. are usually enforced to show a clear
break with the relatively undisciplined and dirty waste picking work.

In some projects non-formal education was combined with vocational training and income
generation (‘learn and earn projects’). This seems a good approach for youthful waste pickers
(13-18 year olds), as they are often too far behind with formal school and too much used to
the income from waste picking, which gives them a feeling of relative independence.

Non-formal education is often combined with cultural and recreational activities to develop
the life and social skills of the waste picking children and to get them in contact with other
environments and children who go to school. This sometimes provides peer pressure to enter
school (again).

6.3.4 Vocational training

Vocational training takes the shape of training for technical professions. Successful
approaches seemed to be:
♦ A combination of theory and practice, on-the-job and classroom training
♦ Linking with a limited number of relevant subjects (hygiene/health, family planning,
business development, etc.)
♦ Incorporating arts and recreational activities to develop work and social skills (e.g.
being punctual, team work)

Some projects teach skills directly related to the waste sector, for example recycling
techniques or the planning of collection routes. The advantage is that the youth know the
sector and are usually interested in it (e.g. EGYP 2).

It is often mentioned that vocational training should be gender-sensitive. However, there is a

risk of enlisting boys and girls in stereotypical income generation activities, which was
noticeable in the projects studied. For example activities for girls almost always focused on
knitting and sewing, while boys learnt metals works and car mechanics. Projects should study
market conditions and opportunities and offer vocational training in various market-related
areas to both girls and boys.

6.4 Income generation and alternative employment

Economic interventions such as income generation, credit, and vocational training appeared to
be among the most difficult because of changing market conditions. Often NGOs are rigid in

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their approach to economic interventions: they start with one type of training and continue,
whether trainees find jobs or not.

Most projects focus on setting up new enterprises and thus encourage self-employment of
waste pickers. A few have tried to place workers with existing enterprises or workshops, e.g.
the ILO project in the Philippines, but these attempts have not been very successful. Credit to
set up their own enterprise seems to fit waste pickers more because of their individualistic
attitude.

A key problem with many of these projects is that there is no real demand for the products,
and that there is no market study or exploration which identifies the market niches. This runs
the risk that the items produced will not, in fact, produce any income. Also, the cost-benefit
ratio may not be important to the (socially focused) NGO project sponsor, and the activities
may simply not seem economically interesting to the scavengers. Because waste picking is
such a lucrative business, the new income-producing activities need to provide something
extra, either in monetary or non-monetary terms (e.g. prestige, recognition).

The target group for credit are usually adults. In very few cases youth were provided with
credit after receiving vocational training, but these efforts were not very successful. The youth
did not have enough experience or network to establish themselves. They were better off
working as apprentices for some time with older professionals.

Credit is given either to groups, for example to waste picker associations or women’s groups,
or as individual credit. Both can be successful, if combined with business training and market
research. It depends on the cultural context (cooperative culture, practice of savings groups,
role of women) what is most appropriate.

Because of the changing market conditions, continuous market research and market
development are needed to generate new original ideas for training and business development.

The impact of income generating on child labour is mixed. In Egypt and Philippines where
‘learn and earn' projects exist, the youth spent less time sorting and picking waste than before
and sometimes they completely quit waste picking.

In the case of credit provided to parents the effect on child labour is positive if two conditions
are fulfilled:

♦ The business for which the credit is used provides a sustainable income which is at
least the same as waste picking or gives non-monetary benefits
♦ The parents consider education important enough for their children to send them to
school

So credit on its own does not change child labour. It needs to be combined at least with
business training, market research, as well as awareness raising of parents and children on the
need for education.

6.5 Raising the status of the work of waste pickers

Measures to dignify the work of waste pickers and change their status such as registration,
provision of IDs and birth certificates, badges, uniforms, has several advantages for waste

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pickers and can have positive effects on child labour. It increases access of street collectors
and itinerant waste buyers (IWBs) to wealthy areas, which usually means an increase in
income. It makes it also possible to control entry to transfer stations or landfills, for example
limiting entry to adults or members of a waste pickers’ association. Birth certificates are often
a condition for children to be enrolled in schools. Therefore assistance with obtaining birth
certificates can be very helpful to encourage school enrolment.

Public campaigns to gain recognition for waste pickers, lobby campaigns, marches and the
like can protect and defend livelihoods of parents and thus improve the chances that they will
send their children to school. These are also important in that they can reach the teachers and
school staff on the one hand, and the non-waste-picker children and their parents on the other,
so that the waste picker children are not treated with such scorn when they do appear at
school. One further benefit is that it can open the way for better contacts between household
and business waste generators and waste pickers or buyers, which can also provide more and
better separated materials that produce higher income.

6.6 Awareness-raising of the general public

It is doubtful what kind of effect awareness raising has, if it focuses on the general public and
on issues such as the working conditions of waste pickers or child labour in waste picking.
People who will receive the messages will feel pity for them and will start with welfare-type
of interventions.

It seems more useful to focus awareness-raising on local and national governments and policy
makers: to change their perception of waste pickers, by convincing them of the value of waste
picking to the economy, and to encourage them to perceive waste pickers and stakeholders
and incorporate them into the SWM system.

Awareness-raising of employers takes a special turn with child waste pickers, because their
employers are often their parents. There are some cases where middlemen ‘employ’ groups of
waste picking children. In other cases they work in groups and pay part of their proceeds to
the group leader.

Awareness-raising of parents should focus on issues such as the importance of education, the
capabilities of children, the importance of registration, and the like. The projects studied did
not provide cues on how to work with middlemen who ‘employ’ waste picking children and
group leaders. More detailed research is needed to explore methods, messages, frequency,
duration, etc. of these types of awareness-raising.

Using (child) waste pickers as environmental promoters can work in a powerful way: it
improves the self-esteem of the waste pickers and it can change the perception of the public of
waste pickers. However, it should be linked with feasible behaviour options for the public and
be preferably linked to a functioning system of separation at source and selective collection.

6.7 Institutionalisation and formalisation

Institutionalisation of waste pickers and their children can take different shapes. In terms of
purely social organising, adults can be organised in parents’ associations, community
development committees, school committees, etc., while children can be involved in
children’s clubs that combine learning and fun, neighbourhood children’s associations, peer
groups to raise awareness on child labour, etc.

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In terms of organising the economic activities, the most common and successful intervention
is organising a sellers' co-operative under the control of the scavengers themselves, that gives
them an alternative to selling small quantities to a junk shop or middleman.

Organising people is not easy; it requires a lot of time and grassroots community work with
skilled workers. It helps if there is a concrete issue to work on that directly influences the life
of the waste pickers (e.g. a threat of eviction, competition from imported recyclables or
international companies).

Associations or cooperatives can be made more attractive by linking them with benefits for
individual members. Examples are:

♦ providing an intermediate level of purchase, aggregation, and storage for materials;

♦ collective purchase of vehicles allowing access to more stable, higher-value markets
that pay better prices;
♦ reducing dependence on the landfill operator or local monopolistic private sector
activities;
♦ providing safe and appropriate workspace for sorting and packaging activities, which
have toilet and shower facilities, sun protection, and equipment to reduce physical
stress;
♦ combining these activities with group savings and credit;
♦ providing storage space and the opportunity to buy and sell waste materials in bigger
quantities, thus fetching higher prices;
♦ controlling access to sorting areas; or
♦ protecting them from intimidation, e.g. by junk shop owners or monopolistic waste
companies.

However, there are also major obstacles an organisation can encounter when establishing
organisations of waste pickers:

♦ ethnic/cultural differences and resulting clashes of interests;

♦ under-representation of waste pickers and over-representation of outsiders on
decision-making bodies like a board; or
♦ lack of financial transparency and risk of theft and fraud.

Institutionalisation efforts seem most successful with adults and youth.

6.8 Integrating waste pickers with the formal solid waste management system in the
city

6.8.1 Control access to landfills

A number of technical, environmental and institutional measures exist that can contribute to
reducing child labour in waste picking.

A popular measure among local governments wanting to improve their SWM is to close open
dumpsites and build sanitary landfills. These sanitary landfills usually are fenced and have

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strict access control. Private companies often manage them. This measure can have two
different results:

♦ waste pickers disappear into the city and become street pickers or turn to begging or
other less honourable activities; or
♦ waste pickers are exploited by the private company who runs the landfill through
monopolistic practices or restriction of their access and the conditions of work, which
are usually less favourable to them.

This is not necessarily negative. Street picking is actually preferable to dump picking—these
pickers have access to materials before they are greatly damaged and contaminated, and they
are subject to less risk from SWM vehicles and biomedical and toxic wastes. However, it
leads to more littering in the streets, so municipalities do usually not prefer it.

Experiences in Tanzania have shown that controlling access to transfer stations and landfills
can have a potential positive effect on reducing child labour, if the organisation in charge is a
waste pickers’ association, which provides access only to its (adult) members (TANZ). In this
case the organisation has an economic, not only a social, interest in controlling access. These
types of measures should always be accompanied by awareness raising.

6.8.2 Organising the materials sorting functions of scavenging

More sustainable measures that local governments can take and that provide waste pickers
with more income are:
♦ arranging for separate sorting areas at landfills and provide concessions to waste
pickers or their associations
♦ establishing selective collection and separation at source systems and provide waste
pickers with service contracts

In the latter example waste pickers actually cease being pickers, because they gain access to
waste that is separated at source, and not mixed waste. This has several advantages for their
occupational health and working conditions as well as for their income, as clean recyclables
have more value than soiled waste. Service contracts could include clauses specifying the
exclusion of child labour.

Many examples exist in Latin America of waste picker cooperatives who expanded their
activities from a base or core business related to collection of recyclables into office cleaning,
gardening, and other services. The effect on child labour is indirect and mainly relies on the
increase in income.

6.8.3 Involving waste pickers in the formulation of SWM polices

Involving waste pickers in the formulation of SWM policies is a step, which reaches further.
Representatives of waste pickers’ associations can be invited to serve as a member in a multi-
stakeholder platform, in SWM working groups, and the like with local governments, NGOs
etc. The purpose of membership in these groups is to influence SWM policies, national laws,
programmes and the use of national funds for projects aimed at waste pickers and eradication
of child labour. This has occurred in some cities in Brazil, under influence of the ‘Waste and
citizenship’ programme, among others in Belo Horizonte (Dias, 2000). However, this
generally requires either an extremely progressive "spark plug" public official who is highly

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placed in the local authority, or a major change in government thinking. It works when the
government authorities believe and support the ideas: a) that planning should be participatory;
and b) that informal or unrecognised groups such as waste pickers can have a role in planning.
The effect on child labour is not clear, but probably it will lead to changes in the SWM
system that are favourable to the waste pickers and increase their income. In that case it may
have a positive effect on child labour.

6.9 Linking with the private sector

The most common example of relations between waste pickers and the private sector are
those between waste pickers and recycling industries. Recycling industries can provide
financial support to waste pickers to buy collection equipment, but a much more common
variant is that they simply give balers or other equipment to the waste pickers, on the
condition that they have exclusive buying rights. This occurs in countries as different from
each other as Tanzania and Canada. Providing equipment or financing its purchase is useful to
waste pickers and increases both their extraction of materials and their ability to transport
them efficiently and sell them for a reasonable price. It benefits the end-user industries by
increasing their supply of feedstock materials, avoiding intermediates; stabilising prices; and,
importantly, reducing transaction costs and uncertainty. In some cases they can also get social
recognition and free publicity if they put their name and logo on the equipment.

Other relations with the formal private sector include financing of project activities,
sponsoring recycling equipment, and the like for charity reasons or based on a policy of
corporate social responsibility (EGYP 2, PHIL, THAI 2).

Establishment of relationships between waste pickers and a private waste collection company
or contractor are usually not positive, as was argued in section 3.6, as they tend to compete for
recyclables, with the waste pickers usually losing this competition.

Examples of relations between waste pickers and factories producing waste are relatively rare.
The country report for Egypt provides two examples. In EGYP 1 textile factories have an
agreement with the local NGO, APE, to provide them with rag leftovers to be used by waste
pickers in the rag recycling project. In EGYP 2 the local NGO, AGCCD, made a deal with
shampoo producing companies to pay waste pickers to collect and shred shampoo containers.
In the past these were refilled with fake shampoo and sold as the original brands.

With the increasing importance of private sector participation in SWM and the influence of
concepts such as corporate social responsibility, it is expected that relationships with formal
private companies will become more and more important for projects dealing with waste
pickers. The challenge is to create win-win situations that are not purely based on charity,
which is not reliable in the future, but on corporate and waste picker interests.

However, not all private companies are favourable towards waste pickers. Relations with the
private sector mean negotiation and entering the political arena. Conditions for waste pickers
to play such a role is:

♦ initial protection from the government or an NGO that serves as intermediary

♦ improvement of their position and building their negotiating skills

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6.10 Conclusion

The above sections have shown that not all interventions work in all situations. More attention
should be paid to age and gender differences. The right combination of interventions, which
fits the local situation, need to be found through participation of target groups in the design of
projects.

Some interventions have a higher degree of failure than others, notably credit and income
generation, so they require more intensive preparation.

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CHAPTER 7 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

7.1 Conclusions

The main conclusion of the Thematic Evaluation is that most projects dealing with child
labour in waste picking, including the ones funded by ILO/IPEC, focus on social and
economic development of their target groups and have too few linkages with the SWM
system, which makes them vulnerable and limits their impact. There is not one model
approach to the issue of child labour in waste picking, but some ingredients for such a model
could be derived from the projects studied:

♦ using a combination of interventions addressing short term and long term needs and
improving the position of waste pickers within the SWM system
♦ addressing children in their context of family and/or community
♦ basing activities on the local context and on the needs of the children and their
families
♦ using a participatory approach in identification of needs and priorities, design of
activities, implementation, monitoring and evaluation
♦ differentiation between target groups based on the local context
♦ involvement of ex-waste picking children in project implementation
♦ involvement of the local government
♦ co-operation with other NGOs, other UN organisations, international agencies and
international investment banks that are involved in waste picking, solid waste
management and/or child labour
♦ keeping track of economic developments and SWM policies and their effect on waste
picking
♦ linking experiences of the project to influencing/formulation of policies and programs
of the government
♦ creative fund raising and a diversified funding base
♦ not only measure short-term efforts, but also focus on long-term results such as
changes in attitudes and structures
♦ project duration of at least five years
♦ allowing a trial and error approach to arrive at the most appropriate combination of
interventions
♦ adequate research and monitoring to understand background, characteristics and
causes of child labour in waste picking.

Projects covered in this study, including those funded by the ILO/IPEC addressing the issue
of child labour in waste picking, suffer from the following shortcomings:

♦ They are too much focused on social and economic aspects; they have an approach
that is too limited.
♦ Their activities are not well integrated with the solid waste management system and
efforts to improve that.
♦ They focus mainly on the children and too little on the parents.
♦ They do not distinguish enough between different age groups and gender, and they are
not always well adapted to the cultural context and market conditions.
♦ Their approach is not participatory (enough).

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 ♦ They have too short a duration to achieve significant change.
♦ They include too little research to understand background, characteristics and causes
of child labour in waste picking.
♦ They tend to reinvent the wheel, as there is little exchange of information and
coordination between projects and organisations.

7.2 Recommendations

Recommendations for the ILO (but also of value for others) include:

♦ Design more integrated projects, which address various aspects of the problem,
include activities for adults and for children and distinguish between various age
groups and gender.
♦ Adapt the project’s activities to the existing cultural context; e.g. do not expect youth
to go fulltime to school. Take the community context into account and not just the
nuclear family. Include market research and market development in project design, in
case of income generating activities.
♦ Establish links with the SWM system and major stakeholders like local governments
from the start and try to influence governmental SWM policies, i.e. through
cooperation with SWM projects, setting up multi-stakeholder platforms. Engage in
policy dialogues whenever possible. The ILO could use its influence at national level
to give waste pickers an improved role in SWM.
♦ Enable the participation of target groups in the design, implementation, monitoring
and evaluation of projects.
♦ Design longer-lasting projects (minimum 5 years); monitor them for results rather than
effort; and pay attention to sustainability issues before and during implementation.
♦ Cooperate with universities, local NGOs and governments in research on child labour
in waste picking.
♦ Build moments of reflection in the projects, for example by organising national,
regional or international meetings at regular intervals or by setting up interactive
discussion groups on the ILO website.
♦ Cooperate with other organisations working with waste pickers, SWM and child
labour in the same country and region, whereby cooperation between ILO projects in
the same country should be a priority. Activities should evolve around developing a
common agenda and lobbying with the government. Establishing ties with
organisations advocating rights of the minority groups that waste pickers belong to, is
also recommended.

In Time Bound Programmes and other child labour and SWM interventions of the ILO much
attention should be paid to participatory approaches that include waste pickers in the design
stage of projects. The ILO needs to realise that this may cause conflicts when local or national
governments are driving the design of these programmes, as they tend not to recognise them
as stakeholders.

These recommendations could be worked out in programme guidelines to assist the design
and management of projects dealing with solid waste management, waste picking and child
labour.

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7.3 Issues for further analysis

Further in-depth analysis is needed of good experiences and practices related to the various
interventions. In particular, successful practices in formalising the role of waste pickers in the
SWM system and their effect on child labour need more in-depth analysis, as this effect is not
always clear or measured.

Another issue concerns developments in the solid waste management sector at large.
Privatisation will proceed apace, since municipal departments so often fail to do a basically
competent job of collecting waste. Also, as countries develop, they are bound to move to
more controlled dumpsites. These developments usually have negative repercussions for
(child) waste pickers. How can it be ensured that waste pickers will not lose their livelihood
and can take a different role in solid waste management? How can child labour be reduced at
the same time?

An international meeting of practitioners could be organised to identify and discuss good

practices and exchange experiences. UNICEF might be interested in co-funding such an
event. A network of practitioners in child labour and waste picking could thus be built which
the ILO could use for review of project proposals, monitoring and evaluation. A more
interactive discussion forum on the ILO website could encourage exchange of experiences
within this network.

Above all, the ILO needs to work on its own internal environment, educating its staff and
contractors in solid waste management; checking whether the low status of waste pickers in
society is influencing the institutional support for projects; introducing its staff and
consultants to consultative and participatory methods, and, specifically, changing its
terminology for ‘scavenging’ to ‘waste picking’.

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 ANNEX 1 LITERATURE REFERENCES

General references about solid waste management and waste picking:

Anschütz, J., J. IJgosse & A. Scheinberg (2004). Putting Integrated Sustainable Waste
Management into practice: using the ISWM Assessment Methodology. ISWM Methodology
as applied in the UWEP Plus Programme (2001-2003). WASTE, Gouda, The Netherlands.

Baldisimo, J.M. & B.N. Lohani (1988). Waste picking of municipal solid waste in Bangkok,
Jakarta and Manila. Environmental Sanitation Information Center, Asian Institute of
Technology. Environmental Sanitation Reviews.

CID (2001). The informal solid waste sector in Egypt: prospects for formalization. IIE/Ford
Foundation.

Dias, S.M. (2000). Integrating waste pickers for sustainable recycling. Paper presented during
the Collaborative Working Group conference in Manila, Philippines (18-21 September 2000).

Eerd, M. van (1996). The occupational health aspects of waste collection and recycling: a
survey of the literature. UWEP Working Document 4, Part I. WASTE, Gouda, The
Netherlands.

Furedy, C. (1990). Social aspects of waste recovery in Asian cities, Environmental Sanitation
Reviews. No. 30. Bangkok: Environmental Sanitation Information Centre, 1990.

Furedy (1997). Reflections on some dilemmas concerning waste pickers and waste recovery.
Source Book for UWEP Policy Meeting 1997. Revised April 1999. WASTE, Gouda, The
Netherlands.

Gilhuis, H. (1988). Waste pickers, between self-employment and wage work: the waste
recycling business in Curitiba, Brazil. Urban Research Working Papers no. 15, Free
University, Amsterdam.

Johannessen, L.M. & G. Boyer (1999). Observations of solid waste landfills in developing
countries: Africa, Asia and Latin America. Working Paper Series no.3. The World Bank.

Klundert, A. van de & J. Anschütz (2001). Integrated Sustainable Waste Management – the
Concept. Tools for Decision-makers. Experiences from the Urban Waste Expertise
Programme (1995-2001). WASTE, Gouda, The Netherlands.

Marchand, R. (1998). Marketing of solid waste services in Bauan, The Philippines.

UWEP/WASTE, Gouda, The Netherlands.

Medina, M. (1997). Informal recycling and collection of solid wastes in developing countries:
issues and opportunities. UNU/IAS Working Paper No. 24. The United Nations
University/Institute of Advanced Studies, Tokyo, Japan.

Nguyen, H.T. L., C.G. Chalin, T.M. Lam & V.W. Maclaren (2003). Health and social needs
of waste pickers in Vietnam. Research paper. WASTE-ECON program in South East Asia.

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a Thematic Evaluation of Action on Child Labour, October 2004
CID (2001). The informal solid waste sector in Egypt: prospects for formalization. IIE/Ford
Foundation.

Sawiris, Y. Loza (2000). Pilot project for integrated solid waste management. Paper presented
at the World Bank Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management in the MENA Region
held from 10-12 April 2000 in Cairo, Egypt.

Trettin, L. (1996). A cooperative for rag pickers. Farm Digest. September 1996.

References and project documents about child labour and waste picking:

Chalin, C.G., Nguyen, H.T.L., Nguyen, H. (2002). Issues related to the health of women and
children waste pickers in Vietnam. Department of Public Health Sciences, University of
Toronto, Canada. Paper for WASTE-ECON workshop on the role of women in the waste
economy.
Gunn, S. & Z. Ostos (1992). Dilemmas in tackling child labour: the case of scavenger
children in the Philippines. International Labour Review, vol. 131, 1992, no. 6.

Hunt, C. (1994). A comparative study of the health status of children involved in waste
picking in the city of Bangalore, India. A preliminary field report. University of Amsterdam,
The Netherlands.

ILO Carribean office (2003). Action programme proposal on rehabilitation of child labourers
on landfill sites in Beetham and Forres Park, Trinidad and Tobago. Implement gin agency:
YMCA.

ILO (1992). Evaluation highlights: ILO pilot project on child scavengers in Metropolitan
Manila. ILO, Geneva.

ILO (1995). Helping the hard ones: child scavengers of the Philippines.

ILO (2002). Desk review on IPEC interventions in the urban informal economy: child
scavengers. Design, Evaluation and Database Unit ILO/IPEC.

ILO (2003): Time Bound Programme – Manual for Action Planning

ILO/IPEC. (2003). Child ragpickers in Nepal: Time-Bound Program baseline survey, 2002-
2003. ILO/IPEC and Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal by S. Mukherjee.

Institut Social Jakarta. Evaluation report January-June 2000.

Institut Social Jakarta. Project proposal 2000-2002.

Institut Social Jakarta. Annual reports for the years 2000, 2001 and 2002.

Mongolia Red Cross (2002). Summary outline for an action programme on child labour:
removing children from scavenging and preventing child at the risk of hazardous work.
ILO/IPEC.

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a Thematic Evaluation of Action on Child Labour, October 2004
Ostos, Z. , A. Salamat & M. Manarang (2003). Current status of the work with Smokey
Mountain child scavengers.

Stanev, N. (2004). Email communication, 14 October 2004.

Undugu Society Kenya (2001). Summary outline for an action programme on the elimination
of child labour: informal skills training and basic health care services for working street and
slum children. Nairobi, Kenya. ILO/IPEC.

Undugu Society Kenya (2003). Final output report: Informal skills training and basic health
care services for working street and slum children. ILO/IPEC.

Undugu Society Kenya (2003). Summary outline for an action programme on the elimination
of child labour: eradicating child labour through skills training and small enterprise
development. Nairobi, Kenya. ILO/IPEC.

UP College of Public Health (1991). Health profile of child scavengers in Smokey Mountain,
Balut, Tondo, Manila.

Vastenaktie (1998). Onderwijs voor kinderen van vuilnisrapers. Verslag. Projectnr. 318/1714
in Jakarta, Indonesië. (Project report: Education for child waste pickers)

VCAO. Annual report May 2003-April 2004.

Evaluative field studies:

Aziz, H. (2004). Improving the livelihood of child waste pickers: experiences with the
‘zabbaleen’ in Cairo, Egypt. An evaluative field study for WASTE, Gouda, The Netherlands.

Barkhof, M. (2004). Reducing child labour in scavenging: an evaluative report on two cases
in Thailand. (Prepared specifically for this thematic evaluation and available on the ILO
website www.ilo.org/childlabour.)

FACET (2004). Child labour in scavenging: country study Tanzania, Dar Es Salaam.
(Prepared specifically for this thematic evaluation and available on the ILO website
www.ilo.org/childlabour.)

ILO/IPEC. (2004). Evaluación Temática de la Segregación y Trabajo Infantil en la Gestión de

Residuos Sólidos Urbanos en América Latina y el Caribe. Reporte Finale. IPES, Peru by
Price, J. and C. Castro (Regional Thematic Evaluation of Projects in Latin America).
(Prepared specifically for this thematic evaluation and available on the ILO website
www.ilo.org/childlabour.)

Rosario, A. (2004). Reduction of child labour in the waste picking sector, India: review and
findings of an evaluative field study in Bangalore and Kolkata. (Prepared specifically for this
thematic evaluation and available on the ILO website www.ilo.org/childlabour.)

Stanev, N., R. Veraart &C. Popovici (2004). Thematic Evaluation On Projects Related to
Addressing the Issue of Child Labor in Scavenging: Cluj–Napoca and Baia Mare, Romania.

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Green Partners. (Prepared specifically for this thematic evaluation and available on the ILO
website www.ilo.org/childlabour.)

Selected websites:
International Labour Organisation/International Programme for the Elimination of Child
Labour: www.ilo.org/childlabour

UNICEF: www.unicef.org

Terre des Hommes: www.terredeshommes.nl

World Press Photo: www.worldpress.org/photo_essays/cartoneros/cartoneros.htm (waste

pickers in Argentina)

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 ANNEX 2 ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORK

Analytic framework of the Thematic Evaluation on child labour in scavenging,

Experiences in Africa, Asia and Europe
(version 2, 16 June 2004)

Introduction

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) is carrying out a Thematic Evaluation of child
labour in scavenging. The purpose of this Evaluation is to provide guidance to the ILO,
especially the collaborating departments and constituents, on how best to address the
exploitation of children in this sector. Lessons learnt and potential good practices that can be
replicated elsewhere will be identified. The Thematic Evaluation will critically assess what
has been learned about scavenging and about various approaches to addressing the problem of
child labour in relation to scavenging. This information will be drawn from the various
projects carried out in this sector by the International Programme on the Elimination of Child
Labour (IPEC), as well as from similar efforts of other agencies, institutions, or the
governments.

This thematic evaluation includes studies in different continents: one in Latin America, and
one including experiences in Africa, Asia and Europe. This analytic framework refers to the
latest assessment.

The in-depth assessment will take place in six countries, while further information and desk
studies are being collected from a range of other countries to be included in the overall
assessment.

Objectives of this analytical framework

The overall objectives of this analytical framework are:
♦ To provide a theoretical and methodological framework for the complete Thematic
evaluation
♦ To provide guidance for the local assessment teams on content and methodology of
the evaluative studies

After the general introductive texts analytical questions are added which will be the basis of
the Thematic evaluation.

This note on the analytical framework is structured as follows:

1. Definitions
2. Child labour and the ILO
3. Background about scavenging
4. Common interventions to reduce child labour
5. The concept of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management
6. Scavenging and ISWM
7. Research methods

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Definitions
Definitions of both child labour and scavenging seem important at this stage. The ILO defines
child labour as:
♦ Any economic activities undertaken by children up till 12 years
♦ Any work by children of 12 to 15 years that is not considered ‘light’ and takes more
than a few hours a week.
♦ Any work by children of 15 to 18 years old that is classified as hazardous.

Scavenging is defined as ‘manual sorting and picking of waste at landfills, dumpsites, and
street bins in order to sell reusable materials’.

The ILO considers all scavenging activities are considered hazardous. The ILO definition of
child labour therefore implies that scavenging by children who are less than 18 years old
should be eliminated where possible.

Child labour and the ILO

Child labour is an immense problem in many countries around the world. Recent ILO
estimates put the number of child labourers aged 5 to 17 worldwide at 256 million, of which
some 171 million work in hazardous situations. 110 million are below the age of 12
(www.ilo.org/childlabour).

The International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) is a programme of

the ILO that aims at the progressive elimination of child labour worldwide by strengthening
national capacities to address child labour problems, and by creating a worldwide movement
to combat it. Eradication of the worst forms of child labour is an urgent priority. IPEC began
its operations in 1992 and it uses a range of measures form policy reform, to concrete
measures to end child labour as well as awareness raising and mobilisation to change social
attitudes.

Relevant ILO conventions concerning child labour are :

♦ Convention No. 138 (1973) on the minimum age for admission to employment and
associated Recommendation No. 146.
♦ Convention No. 182 (1999) on the worst forms of child labour and associated
Recommendation No. 190.

Child labour is a rather complex problem. This has to do with the fact that there are various
reasons why children work. One of them is the overall issue of poverty in the South: parents
cannot afford to send their children to school. Just removing children from work and putting
them in school, does often not work, because the parents will loose necessary family income.
Even if schools are free, there are additional costs such as uniforms, school materials, meals
that need to be covered.

Other reasons that children work are cultural factors and the acceptance of child labour, the
(low) quality of the educational system which makes that parents do not see the use of
sending children to school, and absence of safety nets in communities (parents do not have
another place to leave their children).

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In addition, programmes to reduce child labour are sometimes ineffective when the amount of
money the child earns is very high, as with certain illegal activities such as drug trafficking,
prostitution, etc.

Background on scavenging
Scavenging is a livelihood activity that has to be considered in the context of the overall
socio-economic conditions in cities in the South. There are thousands of scavengers in most
major cities in developing countries, including hundreds of children. For example Pune, India
counts 10,000 scavengers (Chapin, 1995 in Medina, 1997), while estimates for Calcutta range
from 20,000 to 25,000 (Trettin, 1996). In Cairo, Egypt 70,000 people are involved in the
collection and sorting of waste (Sawiris, 2000). In the whole of Brazil 45,000 children are
involved in scavenging (www.unicef.org). In Bangalore, India scavenging is the single largest
job occupying 24% of the street children (Huysman, 1994 in Medina, 1997).

Analytical questions: How many scavengers can be found in the cities under study? How
many of these scavengers are children under 18 years old? How many are boys, how many
girls? What is the proportion of the age groups (less than 12 years, 12-15 years, 15-18
years)?

General economic and demographic developments in Southern cities of the past 10-20 years
have been encouraging scavenging. Migration from rural areas to cities has increased in
numerous cities. Many of these rural migrants end up in jobs with low entry such as
scavenging. Waste is a common property resource: it is considered for free and abundantly
available. Deteriorating economic situations have also sometimes led to an increase in the
number of scavengers.

Analytical questions: What have been the general economic and demographic
developments in the past 10-20 years in the cities and countries under study? What effect
has this had on scavengers?

Specific developments in the solid waste management sector have taken place that have had
an impact on scavenging. For example, in many cities in the South solid waste is now the
number one priority. It is also commonly considered an indicator of good governance. There
is much more awareness of its harmful environmental effects, and sometimes official policies
are focused on promoting a clean city at all cost, instead of perceiving waste as a resource and
recognising the role of scavengers in this respect.

Analytical questions: What have been the developments in the solid waste management
sector in the past 10-20 years in the cities and countries under study? What effect has this
had on scavengers?

Official policies towards scavengers range from repression through neglect to stimulation.
Repression and harassment are the most common official attitudes. Scavenging is seen as
inhuman, a symbol of backwardness and a source of embarrassment and shame for the city or
country. Based on this scavenging has been declared illegal and punished in many cities.
Dumpsites have been fenced, preventing scavenging, or given to private companies to
operate, which consider scavengers as competitors. In other cases, authorities simply ignore
scavengers and their operations, leaving them alone, without persecuting or helping them.
This is the case in many African cities. Government officials sometimes develop relationships

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of exploitation and of mutual profit and mutual assistance with scavengers, i.e. relationships
of political clientelism. These include the ‘sale’ of collection routes in wealthy areas, payment
of bribes to government officials, political support during election time, and the like. In a few
limited cases there is a policy of stimulation that actively supports their activities, which may
include formation of cooperatives, provision of loans to buy collection, preprocessing and
recycling equipment, training and integration into formal activities as waste collectors or
recyclers and introduction of duties on imported waste materials (Medina, 1997).

Analytical questions: What is the official policy towards scavenging in the cities and
countries under study? Is this one of repression, neglect, collusion or active support? Do
the projects under study try to change official policies?

Scavengers are given all sorts of local names in different countries. The position of
scavenging in the waste chain is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 3 Informal waste sector in an average Southern city

Households Dumpsite Businesses/Institutions

separation waste picking separation

Street pickers Itinerant waste buyers

waste picking collection

Small junkshops
separation/temporary
storage

Larger middlemen/junk shops

sorting/cleaning/compacting

Reuse industry Recycling industry

reuse recycling

Source: Adapted from Marchand, 1998

A common myth is that scavenging is the lowest paid work in the waste chain. Actually it is
not. Many scavengers earn more than the minimum wage, up to three times (see for example
CID, 2001). Often waste loaders and street sweepers earn less. Scavenging can be a way out
of poverty for some poor families. It can provide women a chance to earn an independent
income.

The reason that people engage in scavenging is often, because it is a job with low entry, as
limited skills and hardly any capital are required. Some consider it a secure and predictable

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job, as waste is available year round, unlike work opportunities in farming. Some examples of
reasons that children are involved in scavenging are already mentioned under 1.4:
poverty/need for additional family income, low perceived value of education, high costs of
education, absence of safety nets in communities, cultural factors and acceptance of child
labour. Other reasons could prevail, depending on the local situation.

Analytical questions: Why are people involved in scavenging in the cities and countries
under study? Why are children scavenging?

In many countries scavengers belong to minority groups. For example in Egypt the Coptic
Christians make up the majority of waste collectors and waste pickers, while in Calcutta,
India, the Muslim minority is over represented and in the whole of India the ‘dalit’ (casteless)
people are often involved in picking waste and emptying latrines. In Eastern Europe the Roma
(gypsies) are the main group, while in Lebanon Palestinians and Syrians are over represented
among waste pickers and dealers. Both men and women, boys and girls can be found in
scavenging, from the age of 5 years on. Each can have their specialty, for example men are
responsible for transportation and selling the materials, while women do the sorting.

Analytical question: Are there any specific ethnic, cultural or religious groups (minorities)
involved in scavenging in the countries under study?

Scavengers often suffer from bad labour conditions, especially when they work on landfills
and dumpsites. They face various risks and hazards, which can be classified as follows (van
Eerd, 1996):
♦ Occupational accidents, e.g. injuries like cuts and pin pricks
♦ Physical risks, caused by working outside under all sorts of weather conditions,
exemplified by general weakness and colds, collapsing and exploding waste
mountains (Manila, Istanbul)
♦ Chemical risks, for example if toxic substances are present at dumpsites
♦ Ergonomic risks, exemplified by heavy lifting and chronic backache
♦ Psychological risks, e.g. low self esteem, hallucinations, and sexual harassment of
female waste pickers
♦ Biological risks: many waste pickers suffer from intestinal protozoa, helminths, eye
infections, skin diseases and diarrhoea, HIV/AIDS (health care waste)
♦ Others: many waste pickers suffer from bites from dogs, rats, snakes and scorpions,
violence between different groups or with lorry drivers, syndicate bosses etc.

Strategies can be devised and measures can be taken to lower these risks. However, as the
ILO considers scavenging a worst form of child labour, these can only be seen as transitional
measures towards the complete elimination of child labour.

Analytical question: What strategies have been devised and measures taken to lower the
work risks of scavengers/scavenging children in the projects under study?

Often scavenging is a fulltime activity. Sometimes it is combined with other part-time work.
Or it is seasonal, for example when combined with seasonal work in agriculture or public or
religious holidays producing extra (food) waste (e.g. end of Ramadan, Christmas).

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Children scavenge sometimes alone, sometimes along with their parents, sometimes in groups
with a leader.

Analytical questions: Which groups of scavenging children are targeted by the projects
under study? Is a different approach needed for children working on their own, with their
parents or in groups?

Common interventions to reduce child labour in scavenging

Interventions by projects or programmes to reduce child labour in scavenging vary according
to the approach taken. They could be more oriented towards relieving temporarily the ills of
the work (welfare approach), developing the future potential of individuals (development
approach) or creating more political room for manoeuvring (rights-based approach).

Examples of the ‘welfare’ approach are:

♦ Providing sanitary, washing and healthcare facilities
♦ Provision of protective gear
♦ Organising recreational activities for children
♦ Provision of housing for families

Examples of the ‘development’ approach are:

♦ Provision of day care facilities for children
♦ Informal/formal education and vocational training for children
♦ Alternative employment, credit provision and income generation for parents and/or
children

Examples of the ‘rights-based’ approach:

♦ Organisation, lobby and stimulating political participation, for example organisation
of scavengers into cooperatives to reduce the influence of middlemen and improve
their income
♦ Awareness raising on child labour in communities
♦ Legal reform and improved enforcement of labour legislation

However, depending on the local context, other interventions are used. Often a combination
of measures is taken to reduce child labour, for example education of children, income
generation for parents, awareness raising in communities, enforcement of labour legislation,
and child labour monitoring systems.

Some projects provide alternative employment to substitute for the hazardous work. For
example scavengers are encouraged to become door-to-door waste collectors or conveyor belt
sorters, while protective gear is provided. However, these opportunities are usually offered to
adult scavengers and not to children.

For the ILO welfare-based interventions alone would not be sufficient to eliminate child
labour; they are only perceived as transitional measures.

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Analytical questions: What combination of interventions is used to reduce child labour in
scavenging used in the projects under study?

In this context it is useful to explain the three basic types of education and training that have
been used in the fight against child labour:
♦ Non-formal education
♦ Vocational education and training
♦ Formal education

Non-formal education
Non-formal education refers to interventions to enable former child workers to ‘catch’ up
with their peers who began their schooling at the appropriate age. It includes for example
literacy and numeric skills. The idea is often to prepare children to go to ‘normal schools’
(formal education) later on.

Analytical questions: Is informal education part of the measures taken in the projects
under study? Is this outside work time(before or after work)? Does it encourage them to go
to formal schools?

Vocational training
Vocational training provides practical skills for older children who have already acquired
functional literacy and numeric skills. Vocational training usually better meets the
requirements of the labour market than traditional education in many South countries, because
the latter tends to prepare adolescents for white collar jobs that are only available in very
limited numbers.

Analytical questions: Is vocational training part of the measures taken in the projects
under study? Does it help in getting children into other work?

Formal education
Encouraging entry of former child workers into formal education can be one of the measures
promoted. Often this is linked with family income support programmes. Substituting a
working child’s contribution to the household income with an allowance conditional on his or
her school attendance can make the crucial difference for many poor families as to whether
they can afford for their children not to work. Also other services like school meals, school-
based health care and stipends for parents encourage the parents to send children to school.

Analytical questions: Is encouraging children to go to formal schools part of the measures

taken in the projects under study? Is this accompanied by a family income support
programme?

The disadvantage of the described approaches is that they focus on the child and child labour
as such, without taking much of the context into account. As a comparison, it is quite possible
to repair a leaking roof by buying an umbrella but that does not solve the leakage problem in a
structural way. Structural problems may be lack of skills to repair the roof, unaffordable
materials, construction faults, building regulations, low budget for maintenance, etc. A more
integral and context oriented approach seems needed. The concept of Integrated Sustainable
Waste Management (ISWM) has been developed as a more comprehensive and integral

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approach to waste management that tries to take many ‘context’ aspects into account.
Therefore it will be used for this evaluation.

The concept of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management

Integrated Sustainable Waste Management (ISWM) is a concept developed by WASTE in
cooperation with its partners in the South over the last few years since 1995. A model of the
concept is shown in Figure 1. ISWM promotes the understanding that waste management
encompasses a complex system of actors and activities with different interests and priorities
that require proper management and coordination and an integrated approach at all levels

The ISWM concept recognises three important dimensions in waste management:

stakeholders, waste system elements and sustainability aspects.
Figure 4 The Concept of Integrated Sustainable Waste Management

Source: van de Klundert &Anschütz, 2001

Stakeholders, the first ISWM dimension

ISWM is, first and foremost, about participation of stakeholders. A stakeholder is a person or
organisation that has a stake, an interest in - in this case- waste management. A number of key
stakeholders are listed in Figure 2. The municipality, with its general responsibility for urban
cleanliness and the citizens who use the system, are (almost) always stakeholders in waste
management. But other stakeholders differ in each city, so they need to be identified in the
local context and often also grouped according to their interests. Stakeholders by definition

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have different roles and interests in relation to waste management; the challenge of the ISWM
process is to get them to agree to co-operate for a common purpose, that of improving the
waste system. In addition, the stakeholders in a particular city or region share a common
social and geographic context and may be bound together by other systems in addition to
solid waste15.

Waste system elements, the second ISWM dimension

The waste system elements are sometimes referred to as the technical components of waste
management. Most waste system elements are also stages in the (back end of the) life cycle of
materials. This life cycling or flow of materials begins with extraction of natural resources
and continues through processing, production and consumption stage towards final treatment
and disposal.

Waste system elements refer to how solid waste is handled and where it ends up. Particularly
this last has important environmental implications and for this reason a number of national
environmental ministries have taken the idea of a waste management hierarchy as an
operational policy guideline. The hierarchy is also a cornerstone of the ISWM approach and
gives priority to waste prevention, minimisation, recycling and other forms of recovery of
materials. Only when this is not possible is ‘pure’ disposal allowed.

It makes a difference whether local governments use the waste management hierarchy as a
point of departure or not. If they do not use it, they usually consider a ‘clean city’ the main
target of their solid waste management policy16. Scavengers are in this context nuisances that
hamper waste collection and disposal. However, if they take the waste management hierarchy
as a point of departure for their policies, they will more easily consider waste a resource and
they will be more inclined to support initiatives and actors that are involved in reuse,
recycling and recovery, including scavengers.

The third dimension: ISWM aspects

Within ISWM the third dimension consists of six sustainability aspects, or lenses, through
which the existing waste system can be assessed and with which a new or expanded system
can be planned. The sustainability aspects, ranging from political-legal, to social-cultural,
institutional-organisational, technical-performance, environmental-health and financial-
economic, cover the range of factors influencing solid waste activities and, taken together,
predict or influence the sustainability of the entire system.

To date, ISWM is a flexible concept, which is both descriptive and normative. On the one
hand, the three ISWM dimensions, stakeholders, waste elements, and sustainability aspects
describe the basic parameters of any waste management system. Thus ISWM can be used as a
descriptive or analytic lens through which to organise urban waste information and with
which to describe urban waste systems. On the other hand, ISWM is a normative framework
for planning, assessment, and implementation.

15
For example: clan, caste, ethnicity, professional affiliation, religion, school or university background,
commercial relationship, kinship, sport.
16
In practice this often means clean streets in the higher income areas and the business district.

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Based on experience collected and documented over the last few years, it shows that only a
process which recognises and respects all of the dimensions of ISWM can truly be integrated,
sustainable, and, ultimately, successful.

Scavenging and ISWM

When applying ISWM on this topic of scavenging and child labour a number of key issues
arise and subsequently a great number of questions can be formulated from the point of view
of the three dimensions of the ISWM concept. The following is a list of questions which
should be used as a point of departure for the Thematic Evaluation. It is essential to keep in
mind the overall goal of the Thematic Evaluation: to identify lessons learnt and potential good
practices that could be replicated elsewhere. These are added as two general questions in the
end, but should also form the background of the other questions.

Stakeholders
Important stakeholders in this Thematic Evaluation are scavengers in general, local
government, organisations managing projects to reduce scavenging (managers/staff), parents
of (formerly) scavenging children, and the children themselves. Analytical questions related
to stakeholders are:
♦ Are scavengers considered stakeholders by the local government? Are they
recognised ‘players’? Do they have a say in the development of waste management
systems?
♦ Are scavengers and scavenging children considered stakeholders by the projects
under study? Do/Did they have a say in the design, preparation, implementation and
monitoring of the projects under study?

Waste system elements

♦ Are the activities of scavengers seen as part of the waste management system of the
city? Are their activities taken into account when preparing policies?
♦ Is waste considered a resource by decision-makers?
♦ Is the waste management hierarchy accepted and followed in policy and legislation
in the countries and cities under study?

Aspects
The aspects of the ISWM model refer to various measures that promote or inhibit
sustainability and success. Some approaches or interventions are more comprehensive than
others. For example an approach purely based on welfare would concentrate mainly on the
social and environmental aspects of the problem, while development approaches include also
financial-economic aspects. The rights-based approach has a more political way of
intervening.

Below factors are listed that are expected to be of influence on the success or failure of
projects to reduce child labour in scavenging, based on literature. They are classified
according to ISWM aspect. It is a preliminary list that during the course of the Thematic
Evaluation will be further refined and modified. It will lead to a list of factors of success and
failure that will be included in the final report of the Thematic Evaluation.

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Social-cultural aspect:
♦ Has the total number of children involved in scavenging in the project intervention
area decreased during the past years?
♦ What proportion of the (formerly) scavenging children under 12 years attends
school? How much was this 10 years ago?
♦ Can training and educational curricula for (formerly) scavenging children be
considered culturally and gender sensitive? Is skill training based on existing skills
that scavenging children already possess, for example tactile skills?

Financial-economic aspect:
♦ What is the general income level of the scavengers’ families? Do they need the
income generated by the children? What share of the families’ incomes is generated
by the children?
♦ How do projects compensate the parents of formerly scavenging children for the loss
of income from child labour?
♦ Are the income generating activities chosen by the projects sustainable, long term
solutions?
♦ Do adolescents (12-18 year old) learn skills for alternative employment in the
projects under study? Do they have access to credit?

Environmental aspect:
♦ Are any measures taken by the project to make the working conditions of the
scavengers less hazardous?17

Political, policy and legal aspect:

♦ Does the official solid waste management policy and legislation take into account the
existence and role of scavengers?
♦ What measures does the government take to reduce scavenging and child labour in
scavenging (if any)?

Technical aspect:
♦ Are scavenging activities integrated in the overall solid waste management system in
the cities under study?

Institutional aspect:
♦ In what ways do other projects and programmes intervene to reduce scavenging and
child labour in scavenging (if any)?
♦ Which organisation has been responsible for the project’s activities since the
beginning? Which organisation will be responsible when the project ends? Has this
organisation the capability to finance the activities in the future?
♦ Are project interventions coordinated with other programmes and policies aimed at
combating poverty and social exclusion?
♦ Are systems of evaluation and monitoring in place to track the children and their
families?

17
Again, as was stressed under 1.5, these can only be seen as transitional measures towards the complete
elimination of child labour.

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General:
♦ What are the most important lessons learnt (negative and positive) from the
experiences of the projects under study?
♦ What are good practices that could be followed elsewhere?

Research methods
Actual field assessments should use a range of methods to ensure triangulation and cross-
checking of previous findings. Methods will include, but are not limited to: study of reports,
documents and external evaluations, direct observation, as well as individual and group
interviews of scavengers and (formerly) scavenging children, projects staff and local resource
persons/key informants whenever relevant. In this way it is expected that a critical, balanced,
and fairly objective view of the level of success of the various interventions can be obtained.

Scavengers: scavengers that are interviewed, should preferably be parents of (formerly)

scavenging children. A mix of men and women should be interviewed.

(Formerly) scavenging children: a mix of boys and girls should be interviewed.

Resource persons and key informants can be for example consultants, project staff,
researchers, university professors, community activists and the like. Again, attention should
be paid to gender and at least one male and one female resource person should be interviewed.

References
Anschütz, J. , J. IJgosse & A. Scheinberg (2004). Putting Integrated Sustainable Waste
Management into practice: using the ISWM Assessment Methodology. ISWM Methodology
as applied in the UWEP Plus Programme (2001-2003). WASTE, Gouda, The Netherlands.

CID (2001). The informal solid waste sector in Egypt: prospects for formalization. IIE/Ford
Foundation.

Eerd, M. van (1996). The occupational health aspects of waste collection and recycling: a
survey of the literature. UWEP Working Document 4, Part I. WASTE, Gouda, The
Netherlands.

Klundert, A. van de & J. Anschütz (2001). Integrated Sustainable Waste Management – the
Concept. Tools for Decision-makers. Experiences from the Urban Waste Expertise
Programme (1995-2001). WASTE, Gouda, The Netherlands.

Marchand, R. (1998). Marketing of solid waste services in Bauan, The Philippines.

UWEP/WASTE, Gouda, The Netherlands.

Medina, M. (1997). Informal recycling and collection of solid wastes in developing countries:
issues and opportunities. UNU/IAS Working Paper No. 24. The United Nations
University/Institute of Advanced Studies, Tokyo, Japan.

Sawiris, Y. Loza (2000). Pilot project for integrated solid waste management. Paper presented
at the World Bank Conference on Municipal Solid Waste Management in the MENA Region
held from 10-12 April 2000 in Cairo, Egypt.

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a Thematic Evaluation of Action on Child Labour, October 2004
Trettin, L. (1996). A cooperative for rag pickers. Farm Digest. September 1996.

www.unicef.org

www.ilo.org/childlabour

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 ANNEX 3 CONTACT DETAILS PROJECTS
AND RESOURCE PERSONS

International Labour Organisation (ILO)

International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)
Hazardous Work Unit
Contact person: Ms. Susan Gunn
4, route des Morillons
CH-1211 Geneva 22
Switzerland
Tel.: +41 22 799 8181
Fax: +41 22 799 8771
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]
Website: www.ilo.org

CAMBODIA
Vulnerable Children Assistance Organisation (VCAO)
Contact person: Mr. Chea Pyden
#25A, Street 118
Phsar Deopo III, Khan Toul Kork
Phnom Penh, Cambodia
Tel.: +855 238 84722/ 128 76422
Fax: +855 234 26570
Email: [email protected]

EGYPT
Hossam Aziz
Havikstraat 7bis, 3514 TL Utrecht, Netherlands
Tel: +31 30 2714838
Email: [email protected]

Community and Institutional Development (CID)

Contact person: Dr. Laila Iskander, managing director
17 El- Mar'ashly St., 7th Floor, Suite 16,
Zamalek, Cairo, Egypt
Tel: +202 736 4479
Fax: +202 736 4476
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.cid.com.eg

Association for the Protection of the Environment (APE)

Moqattam/Manshiet Nasser, Cairo
Contact Person : Mrs. Suzie Greiss

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Tel. +202 341 7149/ 202 341 2723
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.ape.org.eg

Association of Garbage Collectors for Community Development (AGCCD)

Moqattam/Manshiet Nasser, Cairo
Contact Person : Mr. Ishak
Tel. +202 341 77 99 /20 12 3479211

INDIA
Mythri Sarva Seva Samithi
Contact person: Mr. Anselm Rosario, Director
1300D, 1st Cross, 1st Main Rd
HAL 3rd Stage New Thippasandra
Bangalore, India - 560 075
Tel.: +91 80 252 73941
Fax: +91 80 252 55543
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

INDONESIA
Institut Sosial Jakarta
P.O. Box 1397
Jakarta 10013
Indonesia
Tel.:+62 21 478 63150/ 489 0516
Fax: +62 21 489 7761
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

KENYA
Undugu Society Kenya
Contact person: Aloys Opiyo, executive director
P.O. Box 40417
00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Tel.: +254 2 535 944/85/86/92
Fax: +254 2 650 772
Email: [email protected]

LATIN AMERICA
IPES, Promoción del Desarollo Sostenible
Contact persons: Jorge Price, executive director and Cecilia Castro
Tel.: +51 1 440 6099/ 421 9722/ 421 6684
Email: [email protected], [email protected]

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PHILIPPINES
ERDA/SABANA
Contact person: Ms. Dolora H. Cardeno, executive director
66 Linaw Street
Santa Mesa Heights, Quezon City 1114
Philippines
Tel.: +632 732 4327/ 632 741 3014
Fax: +632 732 3198/ +632 732 7815
Email: [email protected]

Albin Salamat
c/o ERDA/SABANA
Rm. 10 Magsaysay Village, Vitas, Tondo, Manila
Tel: +632 254 6759
Fax: +632 254 7375
E-mail: [email protected]
Manuel Buenaventura Manarang
c/o Youth With A Vision
628 Jade Garden Manila
Honorio Lopez Blvd.
Balut, Tondo, Manila
Tel.: +632 255 2469
Fax: +632 255 2472

ROMANIA
Green Partners Ltd.
Contact person: Ralph Veraart, director
Str. Fintinele, 18
400560 Cluj Napoca
Romania
Tel+ fax: +40 262 222516
Email: [email protected]

TANZANIA
FACET BV
Marjan Duursma
P.O. Box 190, 3700 AD Zeist, the Netherlands
Tel: +31 (0)30 6933766
Fax: +31 (0)30 6923936
E-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.facetbv.nl

ILO Office - Dar es Salaam

Ms. Theresa Smout, Senior Programme Officer

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P.O. Box 9212, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Tel: +255 – (0)22 – 212 6821/4/6
Fax: + 255 – (0)22 – 212 6627

THAILAND
Margreet Barkhof
19/5 Soi Phraphinit,
Sathorn 3, Khet Sathorn,
10120 Bangkok, Thailand
Tel.: +66 2 2865728
Email: [email protected]

VARIOUS COUNTRIES
Terre des Hommes Netherlands
Menno Gibson, project coordinator
Zoutmanstraat 42 - 44, 2518 GS Den Haag
Tel: +31 (0)70 310 5000
Fax: +31 (0)70 310 5001
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

Terre des Hommes - Regional office South East Asia

Contact person: Frans van Dijk, director
Tel.: +62 21 722 0202/ 723 3637
Email: [email protected]; [email protected]

Bernard van Leer Foundation

Contact person: Lia de Ruiter
P.O. Box 82334
2508 EH The Hague, The Netherlands
Tel.: +31 70 331 2200
Fax: +31 (0)70 3502373
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.bvleerf.nl

CORDAID
Contact person: Jolande Dekker, Asia department
Postbus 16440
2500 BK The Hague, The Netherlands
Tel.: +31 70 313 6427
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.cordaid.nl

Dr. Christine Furedy

York University, Department of Environmental Studies
24 Astley Avenue
Toronto, M4W 3B4
Canada

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Tel.: +1 416 736 5252
Fax: +1 416 736 5679
Email: [email protected]

WASTE-ECON program in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia (CIDA funded)

Professor Virginia W. Maclaren
Canadian Director, Waste-Econ Program, Associate Professor
Department of Geography, University of Toronto
100 St. George St.
Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5S 3G3
Tel.: +1 416 978 1594
Fax: +1 416 946 3886
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.utoronto.ca/waste-econ

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 ANNEX 4 TABLES COMPARING PROJECTS
Table A-1 Target group children

Project Dump Street Dump and Street Other Boys Girls Both boys
pickers pickers street children and girls
pickers
PHIL 1 1
TANZ
EGYP 1 1 1
EGYP 2 1 1
ROMA 1 1 1 1
ROMA 2 1 1 1
ROMA 3 1 1
THAI 1 1 1 1
THAI 2 1 1 1
INDIA 1 1 1 1
INDIA 2 1
CAMB 1 1 1
INDO 1 1 1 1
KENY 1 1 1
TOTAL 5 1 3 3 10 1 1 10

Other:
EGYP 1: Girls sorting waste
EGYP 2: Boys collecting waste
ROMA 1 and 2: Rroma children in general
THAI 1: Children of parents working in the waste sector and other disadvantaged children of the slum community
THAI 2: Disadvantaged children
INDIA 2: Working children
CAMB: Child prostitutes and child domestic workers
INDO: Urban poor (factory workers, becak drivers, etc.)
KENY: Slum children

Table A-2 Target group children

Project 0-6 year old (pre-school 6-12 year old (primary 12-18 year old (middle
age) school age) and secondary school
age)
PHIL 1 1 1
TANZ
EGYP 1 1
EGYP 2 1
ROMA 1 1 1
ROMA 2 1
ROMA 3 1
THAI 1 1 1
THAI 2 1
INDIA 1 1 1 1
INDIA 2 1 1
CAMB 1 1 1
INDO 1 1
KENY 1 1
TOTAL 5 10 10

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Table A3 Target group adults

Project Dump Street Dump Other Men Women Men and Men
pickers pickers and women as and
street individuals women
pickers as
parents
PHIL 1
TANZ 1 1 1
EGYP 1 1 1
EGYP 2 1
ROMA 1 1 1
ROMA 2 1 1
THAI 1 1 1
THAI 2 1
INDIA 1 1 1 1
INDIA 2 1 1 1 1
CAMB 1 1
INDO 1 1 1 1
KENY
TOTAL 3 1 1 5 0 1 5 11

Other:
TANZ: CBOs and MSEs involved in waste collection
INDIA 1: Pregnant women
INDIA 2: Urban poor
CAMB: Abused women
INDO: Urban poor

Table A4 Methodology

Project Methodology
Participatory Semi- Non-
participatory participatory
PHIL 1
TANZ 1
EGYP 1 1
EGYP 2 1
ROMA 1 1
ROMA 2 1
ROMA 3 1
THAI 1 1
THAI 2 1
INDIA 1 1
INDIA 2 1
CAMB 1
INDO 1
KENY 1
TOTAL 5 5 4

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Table A5 Main stakeholders

Project Adult waste Child waste Waste Local NGO/CBO Formal Other
pickers pickers pickers’ govt. school
org.

PHIL 1 1 1 1
TANZ 1 1 1
EGYP 1 1 1 1
EGYP 2 1 1 1 1
ROMA 1 1 1 1 1
ROMA 2 1 1 1 1
ROMA 3 1 1
THAI 1 1 1 1
THAI 2 1 1 1 1
INDIA 1 1 1 1 1 1
INDIA 2 1 1 1 1
CAMB 1 1 1
INDO 1 1 1
KENY 1
TOTAL 5 11 3 5 13 5 5

Other:
TANZ: CBOs and MSEs involved in waste collection
ROMA 2: Provincial government
THAI 2: Provincial government
EGYP 1: Consultancy firm
EGYP 2: Consultancy firm and private sector

Table A6 Funding

Project Nat. or Local govt. NGO Intern. Org. Private Other

prov. govt. companies

PHIL 1 1
TANZ 1
EGYP 1 1 1 1
EGYP 2 1 1
ROMA 1 1 1
ROMA 2 1 1
ROMA 3 1
THAI 1 1 1 1 1
THAI 2 1 1 1 1 1
INDIA 1 1 1
INDIA 2 1 1
CAMB 1
INDO 1
KENY 1 1
TOTAL 4 1 3 14 4 4

Other:
THAI 1: Local private donations (donation boxes in shops), the royal family
THAI 2: Community committee (phone calls, transport, food)
EGYP 1: Self-financing activities (compost plant, paper and rag recycling)
KENY: Self-financing activities (income generation unit)

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 Table A7 Interventions
Intervention PHIL TANZ EGYP1 EGYP2 ROMA1 ROMA2 ROMA3 THAI1 THAI2 INDIA1 INDIA2 CAMB INDO KENY TOTAL
Health, social services and 39
nutrition
Provision of food, food vouchers, 1 1 1 1 4
medicine, clothes, relief in times of
crisis

Improve working conditions 1 1 1 3

(equipment/tools, rest area,
uniforms, sanitary and washing
facilities at dumpsite, etc.)

Provide a drop-in centre, 1 1 1 1 1 5

counselling
Providing shelter for street children 1 1 2

Reintegration of street children with 1 1

parents
Improving access to health services, 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9
provide vaccinations, first aid kits

Health awareness raising for 1 1 1 1 1 1 6

children and adults (e.g. on personal
and environmental hygiene,
vaccinations, nutrition, family
planning, prevention of AIDS)

Training on health and safety for 1 1 1 3

waste pickers
Health check-ups and monitoring of 1 1 1 3
children's and adults' health

Provide drinking water and 1 1 2

sanitation facilities in schools or
houses

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 Intervention PHIL TANZ EGYP1 EGYP2 ROMA1 ROMA2 ROMA3 THAI1 THAI2 INDIA1 INDIA2 CAMB INDO KENY TOTAL
Provide veterinary care and 1 1
collection service for 'garbage of the
garbage'

Access to pension schemes 0

Formal and non-formal education 57
Awareness-raising for parents on 1 1
child development
Day-care centres and pre-school for 1 1 1 1 1 1 6
children

Awareness-raising of parents and 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 10

children of the need for education
and training of children
Monitoring of dropout rates and 1 1 1 1 4
follow-up on these cases

Literacy and non-formal education 1 1

for adults
Literacy and non-formal education 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 9
for children and youth, life skill
education
Promotion of obligatory attendance 0
at school of children and youth

Scholarships or subsidies for 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 7

families that send their children to
school, free provision of school
materials to children
Assistance with homework for 1 1 1 3
children, provide a space/building
for homework assistance

Awareness-raising and capacity 1 1 2

building for teachers to support the
work with children
General vocational training for 1 1 1 1 4
youth

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 Intervention PHIL TANZ EGYP1 EGYP2 ROMA1 ROMA2 ROMA3 THAI1 THAI2 INDIA1 INDIA2 CAMB INDO KENY TOTAL
Training in the sorting, 1 1 1 1 4
preprocessing and recycling of waste
materials or repair of used items for
adults and youth

Workshops for children or adults to 1 1 2

make objects from recyclables (e.g.
toys)

Recreational activities for children, 1 1 1 1 4

trips to the countryside and beach,
sports events, youth camps, etc.

Income generation and alternative 14

employment
Improve income through sales of 1 1
clean(er)materials, in larger
quantities, avoid middlemen

Manufacturing and sales of products 1 1 1 1 4

made from recyclable materials for
adults or youth

Provide cleaning services to the 0

municipality, a public or private
enterprise

Management of environmental 0
services, gardening, offering manual
labour
Provision of individualcredit for 1 1 1 1 4
diverse economic activities for
adults and/or yout, often combined
with business training

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 Intervention PHIL TANZ EGYP1 EGYP2 ROMA1 ROMA2 ROMA3 THAI1 THAI2 INDIA1 INDIA2 CAMB INDO KENY TOTAL
Setting up credit and savings 1 1 1 3
cooperatives for adults

Training and job placement parents 1 1

Setting up daycare branches as 1 1

income gen activ
Raising the status of the work of 7
waste pickers
Recognise the rights of waste 1 1 1 3
pickers: registration, identification
(provision of IDs and birth
certificates), make sorting/waste
picking recognised work
Public campaigns to dignify the 0
work of waste pickers and gain
public recognition

Lobby campaigns to defend the 1 1 2

interests of waste pickers

National law to support waste 0

pickers and their work, linked to
local waste management policies

Increasing the visibility of the work 1 1

of waste pickers at national and
international level

Calculate and publicise the value of 1 1

waste picking to the national and
local economy and SWM system

Awareness-raising 10
Waste pickers become 1 1
environmental promoters at schools

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 Intervention PHIL TANZ EGYP1 EGYP2 ROMA1 ROMA2 ROMA3 THAI1 THAI2 INDIA1 INDIA2 CAMB INDO KENY TOTAL
Mobilisation of the media about the 0
working conditions of waste pickers

Environmental education about 1 1 2

separation at source and selective
collection

Mobilisation of the media to show 1 1 1 3

the issue of child labour in waste
management
Awareness raising on child labour 1 1 1 1 4
and children’s rights among
government, employers, etc.

Institutionalisation and 11
formalisation
Development and strengthening of 1 1
cooperatives or associations of
waste pickers and MSEs

Development and strengthening of 1 1 2

associations of child waste pickers,
children's clubs

Organising people in the 1 1 1 1 1 5

community, training community
volunteers
Development and strengthening of 1 1 2
parents’ committees or associations,
school committees, etc.

Agreements and programmes for 0

waste pickers and their families

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 Intervention PHIL TANZ EGYP1 EGYP2 ROMA1 ROMA2 ROMA3 THAI1 THAI2 INDIA1 INDIA2 CAMB INDO KENY TOTAL
Specific programmes (local and 0
national) for the elimination of child
labour

Agreements between local 0

governments and NGOs on capacity
building and contracting of waste
pickers

Stakeholder platforms and round 1 1

tables for negotiation and
consultation

Organise groups of waste pickers at 0

regional and national level

Integrating the waste pickers with 5

the formal SWM system
Temporary contracts for providing 0
cleaning and collection services for
waste pickers

Regulating waste picking and waste 1 1

recovery in the city, control access
to disposal sites, closing the
dumpsites and opening of sanitary
landfills

Prepare a separate sorting area at 0

landfills or disposal sites

Establish selective collection 1 1 2

systems and promotion of separation
at source with a role for waste
pickers

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 Intervention PHIL TANZ EGYP1 EGYP2 ROMA1 ROMA2 ROMA3 THAI1 THAI2 INDIA1 INDIA2 CAMB INDO KENY TOTAL
Waste pickers’ associations exist 1 1
next to the municipal SWM system
and link up gradually with key
stakeholders (e.g. municipality)

Development of a solid waste 1 1

management system that includes
waste pickers (cooperatives, MSEs,
other organisational forms)

Involving waste pickers’ 0

associations in the formulation of
municipal and national SWM
policies

Improving links with the private 2

sector
Financial support for waste pickers 0
(e.g. equipment) in exchange for
publicity

Agreements to supply recyclables to 1 1 2

waste pickers

Coordinate with private enterprises 0

to improve marketing conditions for
waste pickers (via dialogue/round
tables)

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 Intervention PHIL TANZ EGYP1 EGYP2 ROMA1 ROMA2 ROMA3 THAI1 THAI2 INDIA1 INDIA2 CAMB INDO KENY TOTAL
Coordination with other policies, 6
funds and organisations
Cooperate with child labour 1 1
programmes of other NGOs
Basic linkages with SWM policies 1 1 2
and programmes
Linkages with municipal health, 0
education, citizen participation and
decentralisation policies and
programmes

Promotion of access to national 1 1

funds for the elimination of child
labour (ILO funds)

Promotion of access to national 0

funds for environmental
improvement of cities or for SWM

Establish a national programme for 0

waste pickers with funds earmarked
for them

Access to funds for social housing to 1 1 2

construct housing for waste pickers

TOTAL 151

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 International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)

IPEC’s aim is the progressive elimination of child labour worldwide, emphasizing the eradication of
its worst forms as rapidly as possible. It works to achieve this in several ways: through country-based
programmes which promote policy reform and put in place concrete measures to eradicate child
labour; and through international and national campaigns intended to change social attitudes and
promote the ratification and effective implementation of ILO Conventions on child labour.
Complementing these efforts are in-depth research, legal expertise, policy analysis and programme
evaluation carried out in the field and at the regional and international levels.

Evaluation in IPEC

Evaluation in IPEC is seen as contributing to building the knowledge base through identifying good
practices to be used in action against child labour. It demonstrates accountability through showing
how IPEC and its partners constantly learn more about the most effective and relevant action.
Evaluations in IPEC are done as evaluations of global programmes, including IPEC as a whole; as
thematic evaluations for interventions across IPEC within a specific theme; as country programme
evaluations for all interventions in a given country; and as project specific evaluations, including the
components of a project implemented by an individual implementing partner through an action
programme. Ex-post evaluations of specific projects and broader impact assessments provide further
knowledge on sustainability and fundamental changes. A combination of evaluations by independent
experts and IPEC staff members and partners are used to balance the need to provide external
verification of achievement and lessons learned with the need to ensure that lessons from evaluations
can be used immediately by other parts of IPEC and its partners.

Further information on IPEC evaluation can be found at http://www.ilo.org/childlabour

International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC)

International Labour Office (ILO)
CH-1211 Geneva 22
Switzerland

Tel: +41-22-799 81 81
Fax: +41-22-799 87 71
e-mail: [email protected]

ISBN 92-2-116661-9

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