IOM in Colombia has joined forces with Colombia's Emerald
Federation (Fedesmeraldas), the Colombian Family Welfare Institute
(ICBF) and the United States Agency for International Development
(USAID) in a new project aimed at ending child labour in the
emerald mines.

Child labour has been a staple for the past two decades in the
municipality of Muzo, in the Department of Boyacá, the main
producer of Colombian emeralds. Many mothers left widowed in the
1980s and 1990s by ongoing violence have been forced to take their
children to work in the mines so as to earn enough to feed the
family.

The new project, which targets working families, includes the
strengthening of school infrastructure in Muzo by building
additional classrooms, bathrooms, a teacher's lounge and a
playground, as well as the expansion of classes to three sessions
per day to allow for all of the children in the area to attend
school.  Seminars and psychosocial support for families will
also be provided.

"The project is focused on discouraging child labour and on
helping the families.  But as a consequence, IOM and its
partners are hoping to quash any possibility of child trafficking,"
explains José Angel Oropeza, IOM Chief of Mission in
Colombia. 

The Department of Boyacá is one of the regions with the
highest level of child labour. According to International Labour
Organization figures extracted from the official National Household
Survey of 2007, there are 8,499 children in Colombia working in
mines and quarries extracting gold, emeralds, coal and clay.

With USAID funding of USD 500,000, the project will directly
benefit 300 families with children and adolescents working in the
emerald mines or at risk of becoming child labourers in the mining
municipalities of Muzo and San Pablo de Borbur. 

María Sichaca, a mother belonging to the Parents'
Association of the school in Muzo, says that the initiative is very
important and has been needed for a long time. "The children should
not be working in the mines exposed to all of the associated
dangers. They should be studying and playing," says
María.

For more information please contact:

Juliana Quintero

IOM Bogotá

Tel: +57.1.5946410 ext 133

E-mail: "mailto:juquintero@iom.int">juquintero@iom.int