Child Rights Glossary : T

TIME-BOUND PROGRAMME [on child labour elimination]
A Time-Bound Programme is essentially a set of tightly integrated and coordinated policies and programmes to prevent and eliminate a country’s worst forms of child labour within a defined period of time. It is a comprehensive approach that operates at many levels, including international, national, provincial, community, and individual or family. TBPs emphasize the need to address the root causes of child labour, linking action against child labour to the national development effort, with particular emphasis on economic and social policies to combat poverty and to promote universal basic education and social mobilization.

An important feature of a TBP is "country ownership", meaning that the programme is activated and led by the country itself. Official commitment sets it in motion, creates the structure through which it will be implemented, and provides resources. IPEC, with the support of the international community, backs this commitment with additional financial resources and technical assistance.

Eliminating child labour’s worst forms requires a national commitment to implement a series of complementary policy measures designed to withdraw and rehabilitate working children and prevent at-risk children from becoming child labourers. National commitment involves more than government support for action, however. It includes the participation of social partners. Convention No. 182 states that the identification of hazardous child labour, the design of programmes, and the monitoring mechanism shall be established in consultation with workers’ and employers’ organizations and other civil society groups.

Fundamental elements of Time-Bound Programmes

» Strong political will and commitment to policy reforms to address the root causes of the worst form of child labour.
» Linking child labour action with poverty alleviation and efforts to provide accessible, quality basic education.
» Building innovative partnership with governments, international organizations and financial institutions.
» Rapid response measures for prevention, withdrawal and rehabilitation of the victims of the worst forms of child labour.
» Provision of viable alternatives: education for child labourers, income support for their families.
» Social mobilization and campaigns on the effect of the worst forms of child labour on children and society and on children’s rights to protection and education.
» Public accountability of the implementation of national policy to combat child labour.

Source: http://www.ipec.org