Within the framework of the project “Addressing Decent Work Deficits in the Tobacco Sector in Zambia and Tanzania", the ILO’s Cooperatives Unit (COOP) and Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work Branch (FUNDAMENTALS) have supported the development of a training programme on “The Role of Cooperatives in Eliminating Child Labour” since 2019. The training programme aims at raising awareness of agricultural cooperatives on child labour and strengthening their capacities to design and implement concrete actions toward eliminating child labour. The training package consists of a training guide for field trainers; a training guide for cooperatives; and communication materials (a leaflet and a poster).

A pilot training of trainers (ToT) was organized as part of the above-mentioned project in Arusha, Tanzania from 3 to 6 March 2020, in order to test and validate the training programme and to train field trainers for further roll-out with cooperatives. The training workshop brought together 22 participants from Malawi, Nigeria, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia representing government institutions (Ministries of Labour and other ministries in charge of cooperatives), social partners, apex organizations of cooperatives, and educational institutions. Wangui Irimu, ILO’s expert on child labour, Albert Mruma, an external expert on cooperatives, and Florence Beraud, the author of the training programme facilitated the workshop.

Participants welcomed the contents and methodology of the training programme, including its user-friendly design and participatory approach. At the end of the training, participants came up with a set of actions by country, including further roll-out of the training programme, and other measures that can be taken by government institutions.

The training programme will be updated and finalized based on the inputs provided during the pilot testing. In addition, within the framework of the project in Zambia and Tanzania and the project “Accelerating action for the elimination of child labour in supply chains in Africa (ACCEL Africa)”, follow-up actions to the training and needs assessments on cooperatives will be discussed in each country for broader interventions. For further information about the training programme, please contact coop@ilo.org.