BARMM social services ministry fuses ranks with anti-child labor bloc

COTABATO CITY — The Bangsamoro social welfare ministry is the latest addition to a bloc of local and foreign entities working together to address child labor in Cotabato City and in the six provinces of the autonomous region.

Jidday Buat Lucman, a senior information officer of the Ministry of Social Services and Development-Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, told reporters on Wednesday that they now have two anti-child labor projects here, both launched on Tuesday at the People's Palace, the operations center of the Cotabato City local government unit.

Lucman said that the two projects, the Key Actions towards Lifting Young Bangsamoro thru Empowerment, or KALYE, and the Support to End Child Labor, or SECL, were designed by child welfare and rights experts in the MSSD-BARMM.

The MSSD-BARMM official said that both projects shall complement the efforts of BARMM’s labor and education ministries, the International Labour Organization of the United Nations, the government of Japan and the Integrated Resource Development for Tri-People  that have special programs against child labor and use of children as combatants.

The two projects of the MSSD-BARMM were planned and launched on order of Social Services Minister Raisa Jajurie, according to Lucman.

The KALYE aims to protect children from being forced to work to earn extra income for their families.

In a separate statement released on Wednesday, Jajurie said that the KALYE project shall provide daily meals for former child laborers for four months, along with essential psycho-social interventions.

The SECL project, on the other hand, shall provide rescued child laborers in this city and nearby towns with education and financial support needed to hasten their rehabilitation.

A staff of MSSD-BARMM, Arbaine Guiabar, who shall help oversee the SECL, said the project shall also provide families of former child laborers with rice subsidy.

Guiabar said that the project shall also focus on educating parents on the serious effects of child labor on the mental and physical development of children.

“These two projects shall help ensure the safety of children and provide them with a conducive environment free from dangers,” Guiabar said.

The MSSD-BARMM and the Cotabato City LGU are to jointly implement the KALYE and SECL in the 37 barangays in Cotabato City with the help of the office of Bangsamoro Labor Minister Muslimin Sema.