JAKARTA (Joint Press Release): The International Labour Organization (ILO) estimates that 215 million children worldwide are child labourers. Meanwhile, the Indonesian Bureau of Statistics documents that there are 2.5 million of child labourers who are 5-17 years old in 2009. Many of them work long hours, and often in dangerous conditions, harming their physical, mental and social development. They are also either denied educational opportunities that would give them a better future, or they are obliged to balance education with work.

In conjunction with the commemoration of the World Day Against Child Labour, the ILO, in collaboration with Kampung Halaman Foundation (YKH), will organize a series of campaign activities titled “Indonesia, I am Your Future!”. This campaign will use a participatory video in the format of video diaries and an interactive website on child labour and education. The video diaries and interactive website will be launched by the Minister of Manpower and Transmigration, Muhaimin Iskandar, and Tjeerd de Zwaan, Ambassador of the Netherlands Embassy for Indonesia on Thursday, 28 June 2012, at Erasmus Huis, Jakarta.

The campaign is conducted by the ILO through its Child Labour and Education Project, funded by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands. The Project aims to strengthen the policy level linkages between work on child labour and education, leading to action that will improve the opportunities for those in or vulnerable to child labour to benefit from education. The campaign is part of a series of activities conducted by the ILO and its partners to highlight national efforts against child labour, particularly its worst forms.

The first of its kind, these videos are produced by child labourers themselves in Jakarta, Sukabumi and Makassar showing five different areas of child labour: street children, scavengers, child domestic workers, child factory workers and children in prostitution. Using their own words and selection of scenes, these videos document daily lives, plights, journeys and hopes of the child labourers. These videos consist of six videos with a total duration of 60 minutes.

“The ILO trusts that these participatory videos will raise awareness and a sense of priority in the public, in particular among decision-makers, regarding child labour issues, especially its worst forms. The ILO believes that such awareness will aid the fight against and elimination of child labour as well as the protection of children’s rights, particularly the right to education, so that all Indonesian children will have access to decent work and be able to contribute to the national development as adults,” stated Michiko Miyamoto, the ILO’s Deputy Director in Indonesia, commenting the launch of these participatory videos.

The production of these participatory videos has involved 41 child labourers below the age of 18 and has involved intensive workshops for 1.5 months from May to June. During the workshops, participating child labourers worked independently in identifying their own experiences, difficulties, hopes and voices using a so-called video diary method.

“A video diary method is a method that can help participants recognizing their life experiences so that they can freely respond to them and turn these experiences into personal or group advocacy tools. We wish these videos will help the public at large to listen and understand voices and perspectives of child labourers regarding their work and lives,” said Dian Herdiany, Chair of YKH.

The workshops began with efforts to identify problems and challenges that could be developed into stories. Together with the mentors, various methods to identify problems were used, such as role plays, group discussions and visual as well as non-visual research. Agung Sentausa, one of the mentors for the audio visual part admitted that it was not easy for the participating child labourers to express themselves and voice their opinions. “They are not used to express what they feel, considering the hard working life that they go through.”

From the identification of problems, the workshops continued with story development, introduction to audio visual recording equipments and production process (shooting and script writing). The workshops also involved parents, workplaces and surrounding communities to voice the stories of these child labourers. “The participants were not only being introduced to film development process but they were also given skills to recognize self-potential and opportunities in their surrounding communities, living environment and workplaces,” added Dian.

Although the workshops and video diary development process were conducted after working hours, the participants always demonstrated high spirit and enthusiasm. “Amazingly, the participants always brought with them high energy and enthusiasm to participate in the workshops. Although they joined the workshop after finishing their long working hours, they were always enthusiastic,” exclaimed Ririen Juandhi, Project Coordinator, who was also the mentor for the participants in Jakarta and Sukabumi.

In addition to the video diaries, voices and aspiration of these children are also documented in an interactive website and a ‘behind the scene’ video that complements a variety of products used by the ILO and YKH in this campaign, to give voices to child labours and to enhance the awareness of the public and mass media regarding this issue. The video diaries and the stories of the lives of the participating child labourers and the mentors can be accessed through http://www.childlabourvoice.org.

After the launch, a series of activities will be held in Yogyakarta and Makassar, which will be destination cities for video viewings and discussions. These activities will also involve child labourers who produced these videos.

For further information please contact:

Dede Sudono
ILO’s National Project Officer for Education and Child Labour
Tel.: +6221 3913112 ext. 126
Email

Gita Lingga
ILO’s Communications Officer
Tel.: +6221 3913112 ext. 115
Email

Dian Herdiany
Chair of Kampung Halaman Foundation
Tel.: +62274 7478602, +62274 8356556
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Email 2

Cicilia Maharani
Director of Kampung Halaman Foundation
Tel.: +62274 7478602, +62274 8356556
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