EU NEIGHBOURS. Provisions for the prevention of child labour have been added to Armenia’s State Employment Strategy for 2019-2023 thanks to the efforts of Save the Children Armenia and the EU4Youth programme.
On 22-23 November, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and Save the Children International’s Armenian Representative Office organised a stakeholder meeting on the draft State Employment Strategy to discuss and review the fundamentals and strategic outlines of the document. The meeting gathered representatives of state, public and private sector agencies and international organisations actively engaged in employment and relevant policies, as well as individual experts.
During the two days of heated discussions, 218 edits and 61 comments were made. Recommendations included changes to both content and structure, e.g. revising some of the objectives/principles, development of a Logical Framework for the Strategy, emphasising the development of labour-related dispute mediation mechanisms, adding a section on child labour, reinforcing the role of Labour Inspections, and improving work-based / dual education.
One of the most important outcomes of the event was the addition of a new section on child lanbour to the strategy. The section, designed with the active support of Save the Children in Armenia, focused on the provisions and mechanisms that the state should use in monitoring and preventing potential child labour within the Armenian labour market.
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The final recommendations were handed over to Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs for revision and finalisation, after which the Strategy will be presented to government for adoption.
The event was organised in the framework of the “EU4Youth: Better Skills for Better Future” regional project (2018-2019) implemented with funding from the European Union in three countries: Armenia, Georgia and Ukraine. In Armenia, the project is implemented by Save the Children International Armenian Representative Office in cooperation with OxYGen Foundation for Protection of Youth and Women Rights. The implementing partner of Save the Children Georgia is LEPL Youth Agency.
