To strengthen the call for action to end child labor, the Department of Social Welfare and Development Field Office 7 kicks off the 2023 World Day Against Child Labor celebration through a blended interagency meeting in Cebu City on June 13, 2023.
Representatives from the local government units of Carcar City, Daanbantayan, Lapu-Lapu City in the Province of Cebu, Pilar and Loon in Bohol, and Dauin, Negros Oriental, as well as members of the Regional Council Against Child Labor, attended the meeting.
Themed “Buong Bansa, Lahat ng Bata, Sama-Sama para sa Batang Malaya,” the event is organized by DSWD-7’s Strategic Helpdesk for Information Education, Livelihood, and Other Development Interventions (SHIELD) Against Child Labor in response to the National Council Against Child Labor’s call.
In her message, DSWD-7 Regional Director Shalaine Marie S. Lucero urged the participants to utilize collective resources to heighten awareness against child labor and establish a more inclusive partnership.
She also emphasized that through these partnerships, more and more children will be given the chance to have the proper childhood and education that they need and deserve to become productive citizens.
SHIELD Against Child Labor lined up month-long activities in relation to the World Day Against Child Labor; these include talks on child safeguarding protocols and child rights, orientation on employment facilitation and livelihood assistance in collaboration with the Department of Labor and Employment, and workshop sessions for kids involved.
Originally celebrated every June 12, the event brings together key stakeholders from various sectors like the national and local government, civil society organizations, and the private sector to highlight the plight of child laborers and what can be done to help them.
DSWD’s SHIELD Against Child Labor is a community-based project and model intervention developed by the Social Technology Bureau to combat child labor and its worst forms. It aims to yield multi-layered strategies to usher in the services needed by the child laborers and their families as well as strengthen the efforts of multidisciplinary teams at the local level. ###
(193) Views