GFC and GoodWeave Launch Partnership to Combat Child Labor in India

Aug. 3, 2010 - PRLog -- The Global Fund for Children (GFC) and GoodWeave have launched a strategic partnership aimed to combat exploitative child labor practices in India’s handmade carpet industry. The partnership will focus on strengthening community-based groups working on this issue in Uttar Pradesh, a province in India’s northern carpet belt.

GoodWeave works to end illegal child labor in the carpet industry through its independent, voluntary certification system and offers educational opportunities to children in South Asia. GFC invests in community-based organizations around the world, focusing on innovative approaches to reaching the world’s most vulnerable children and youth.

“We believe that stopping the destructive cycle of child labor is vital in an effort to provide every child a chance to live up to their full potential,” stated Maya Ajmera, president and founder of The Global Fund for Children. “This partnership with GoodWeave has the potential to provide a roadmap to combating this issue on a much broader scale.”

Through this partnership, the groups will collaborate to identify, vet, fund, and evaluate community-owned and operated programs that contribute to the elimination of child labor through education, advocacy, and other direct services. GFC and GoodWeave approved initial funding for two groups working in Utter Pradesh—The Human Welfare Association and Sanchetna—which will help 200 of-age girl laborers and 15 community education centers to integrate out-of-school children into the formal education system.

The Human Welfare Association (HWA) empowers the Dalit (“untouchable”) community through sustainable development, focusing specifically on women and children. Its education centers offer classes in math, science, social sciences, and English, and the basic education program engages the community in order to encourage parents to support their children in the transition from informal to formal schooling. The centers also play a pivotal role in influencing attitudes toward higher education for girls, as most of the community does not allow girls to be educated beyond the eighth grade.

Sanchetna operates night schools providing of-age girl laborers an opportunity to receive an education. Girls between the ages of 15 and 18 who attend the school are encouraged to form bal panchayats, which focus on providing child rights education, leadership skill building, and peer mentoring. The initiative also offers cultural and recreational activities, emotional support mechanisms, and assistance in mainstreaming to formal schools.

“These initiatives are models of sustainable grassroots development: locally owned and managed projects borne out of their communities’ real needs and priorities,” said Nina Smith, Executive Director of GoodWeave USA. “Through this partnership, GoodWeave and GFC can multiply the impact of our respective programs and have a lasting effect on hundreds of children’s lives.”  

About The Global Fund for Children
The Global Fund for Children’s mission is to advance the dignity of children and youth around the world. GFC pursues its mission by making small grants to innovative community-based organizations working with some of the world’s most vulnerable children and youth. To date, GFC has awarded more than 2,800 grants valued at over $17 million. These grants have supported and strengthened 401 community-based organizations in 75 countries. More than 1 million children have benefited from the work of The Global Fund for Children.

About GoodWeave
GoodWeave works to end exploitative child labor in the South Asian carpet industry and offer education to children in weaving communities. The GoodWeave certification label provides the best assurance that no child labor was used in the making of a carpet or rug. Since GoodWeave’s founding, the number of South Asian children trapped in illegal carpet-making work has dropped from 1 million to 250,000. More than 9,000 children have benefited from the organization’s education and rehabilitation programs, including 3,600 directly rescued from the looms.

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