ILO REPORT ON CHILD LABOUR IN BARBADOS - International ...

to ensure that the country’s high human development is sustained, wealth is more equitably
distributed and the return on investments in education, health and tourism, are guaranteed.
8. Recommendations
• Establish a national committee comprised of all social partner groups and civil
society, to develop an action plan to eliminate child labour in the Bahamas.
• Organize follow-up research studies to determine the magnitude of child labour and
the worst forms of child labour as well as the impact of the tourism sector and child
labour on children’s educational achievements and aspirations.
• Strengthen the legal and policy framework to better define child labour, the worst
forms of child labour, hazardous work and the minimum age for work.
• Improve monitoring and coordination among social sectors as well as surveillance of
children and families at risk.
• Utilize the findings of the Survey of Living Conditions to target interventions to
families and children at risk of child labour.
• As poverty is gendered, strengthen programmes to reduce teenage pregnancy and
promote gender equity in employment, so as to improve the income of women who
are single heads of households. Expand programmes on male responsibility,
HIV/AIDS, parenting, education and family life education to empower fathers to
contribute to the basic needs (and rights) of their children and plan their families.
• Organize public education and training progammes for various stakeholders, to build
awareness of ILO Conventions No. 138, No. 182, the UN Convention on the Rights
of the Child and CEDAW as well as parenting skills. A programme on values and
morals for national development should also be considered.
• Organize support programmes for children and their parents including employment
for unemployed parents.
• Improve collaboration and networking to eliminate the worst forms of child labour
across the Caribbean region.
9. Recommendations to improve the RA Methodology
• Simplify data collection instruments used and review use of the term child labour for
data collection as it creates a communication barrier
• Encourage strong stakeholder involvement in the research process including
participation in the collection and analysis of secondary data to build a local database.
• Train local researchers as they are a valuable source of knowledge and action.
• Review expectations of the ability of the Rapid Assessment to provide meaningful
quantitative data as it is a qualitative research method.
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