A delegation from the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of Honduras will learn about experiences in the field of prevention and eradication of child labor promoted in the cultivation, harvest and collection of coffee in Colombia.

The Honduran delegation, made up of Ligia Victoria Díaz, Carol Patricia Suazo and Katerine Paniagua from the Unit for the Promotion of Safe Work for Women and Young Adolescents of Honduras, will receive training from different stakeholders, especially the Ministry of Labor of Colombia, on the articulation of entities for the implementation of public policies aimed at achieving Target 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals, in relation to ending child labor. 

With this visit, Honduras seeks to identify new awareness strategies for local actors, susceptible to replication in their municipalities dedicated to coffee production, where there is or exists the risk of child labor. It also hopes to learn about mechanisms to improve compliance with regulations against child labor in agribusiness and promote the promotion of strategic alliances that improve access and permanence of children and adolescents in the educational system and vocational training. 

As part of the agenda, the Honduran delegation will also meet with the Colombian Institute of Family Welfare (ICBF), to learn about its inter-institutional articulation work and will visit an Amar Center in Bogotá, where they serve children and adolescents in risk of child labor. He will also travel to Manizales to visit coffee farms and meet with the Caldas Coffee Committee. 

In addition, they will learn about the functioning of the Inter-institutional Committee for the Eradication of Child Labor and the Protection of Minor Workers (CIETI); You will be presented with the Public Policy Line for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor and the Comprehensive Protection of Adolescent Workers 2017 - 2027; as well as the initiative "Master key" of the Department for Social Prosperity, the Integrated Information System for the Identification, Registration and Characterization of Child Labor and its Worst Forms (SIRITI) and the Child Labor Risk Identification Model, the latter worked within the framework of the Regional Initiative for Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labor, with the support of the ILO and ECLAC. 

South-South cooperation to advance the fulfillment of the 2030 Agenda

Bilateral cooperation actions, such as this between Colombia and Honduras, are key to sharing knowledge, strategies and resources that help to face the challenges of sustainable development as a region, including the creation and / or strengthening of specific interventions that contribute to preventing and eradicating child labor in Latin America and the Caribbean. 

Along these lines, the RIAL's bilateral cooperation exchanges are committed to institutional strengthening among the region's labor ministries based on cooperation and technical assistance on issues such as child labor and other related issues such as youth employment, safety and health. occupational and labor inspection, linked to the achievement of SDG 8 on promoting sustained, inclusive and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment and decent work for all. In this sense, they are a key opportunity to improve regional action that seeks to declare a Latin America and the Caribbean free of child labor by 2025.