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pact in
colombia
combating child labor in mining communities
child labor and mining
Around the world, 168 million children are engaged in work that is harmful to
their physical and mental development and deprives them of their childhood,
their potential and their dignity. More than one million of these children live in
Colombia.
Of the one million, more than 5,000 children work in the extraction of emeralds,
gold, clay, coal, salt and other minerals, exposing them to situations that can
negatively affect their health and safety, such as heavy lifting, contact with
harmful substances (such as mercury and toxic gases), and physical injury.
Children who work also have poor school performance, limited time to do homework and less interest in education.
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Children work for a variety of reasons, including economic instability, lack of
quality education and challenges implementing public policies favoring child
protection. Many of these reasons can be traced to a breakdown in services and
instability due to conflict.
Colombia has endured the longest armed conflict on the continent. Many mining
families have suffered the presence of, and violence from, armed actors. According to the UN Refugee Agency, more than 5.7 million people have been internally
displaced throughout the conflict.
Although large-scale mining has recently begun to play a more important role in
helping the Colombian economy recover, for centuries, artisanal and small-scale
mining has been the primary source of income for people living in mining areas.
Of the 14,375 mines identified by the Ministry of Mines and Energy, 72 percent
hare small-scale mines with simplified methods of exploration, extraction,
processing and transportation. Despite this long and important history, the
sector has received little economic support and continues to exist in a state of
insecurity and informality.
antioquia
boyacá
Colombia
antioquia
boyacá
somos tesoro
implementation area
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giving children back their childhoods
Pact, with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, leads
a consortium of local organizations to reduce child labor
in the mining regions of Boyacá and Antioquia, where
families have long relied on coal and gold mining for
their livelihoods.
The project, Somos Tesoro (“We Are Treasure” in Spanish),
which began in 2013, is based on the knowledge that changing child labor practices will not be achieved simply by
educating mining families on the dangers of child labor.
Families know these dangers all too well. Somos Tesoro will
provide options to reduce child labor, promote safe
working conditions in artisanal and small-scale mines and
improve mining health and safety standards through
the following:
• Improve schools to promote higher, more consistent attendance
by children in mining families.
• Promote greater economic stability in mining families to prevent
them from resorting to child labor as a source of income.
• Apply labor and mining health and safety standards to protect
adults and their families, as well as to prohibit child labor in mines.
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• Strengthen policies on the protection of children, child labor and the
formalization of artisanal mining, while encouraging inter-institutional
coordination at the municipal level.
Pact and our partners work closely with the Colombian government, from the national to the local levels, to benefit thousands of
children and families vulnerable to child labor. Somos Tesoro will also benefit adult miners, teachers, educational institutions and local
government in these communities.
Pact’s work in Colombia is a component of its global Mines to Markets program, which helps resource-dependent communities gain
lasting benefits from the more sustainable use of their natural resources. Pact currently implements mining projects in eight countries:
Colombia, Burundi, DRC, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Madagascar, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
about pact
Pact is the promise of a better tomorrow for millions of individuals worldwide. An international,
nonprofit organization, we strive for a world where the poor and marginalized exercise their voice,
build their own solutions and take ownership of their future.
For more than 40 years, Pact has partnered with thousands of regional, national and local institutions
to tackle poverty through a unique brand of international development—one that approaches poverty from all angles. This integrated approach focuses on systemic changes needed to improve people’s
lives. Strengthening local capacity, forging effective governance systems and transforming markets,
enabling people to earn a decent living, be healthy and benefit from their natural environment.
In Colombia, our integrated approach tackles the challenging and complex issue of child labor with
interventions in mining, education, livelihoods and public policy.
pact’s
integrated
approach