Hello everyone! My name is Mizuki Mori, India Project Manager. Thank you very much for your warm support for ACE's activities.
ACE, together with our local partner organization SPEED, is conducting the "Peace India Project" in a cotton-producing rural area in Telangana State, India, to protect children from child labor and support their education. In this post, I would like to inform you of the extension of the project period for the project currently being implemented in three villages and report on our staff's efforts in the "project evaluation".
Project closing date extended
In the three villages where we are currently working, the project was scheduled to be completed and handed over to the local residents in March 2023. However, we have decided to extend the project until August 31, 2023, because the activities have been delayed compared to the original plan due to the impact of the new coronavirus infection and because, accordingly, the residents have not yet developed a system to maintain "villages without child labor" on their own. Even with the extension, we're only about 10 months away from handing the project over to its residents!
The Peace India Project, which began in 2010, has implemented projects in six villages over the past 10 years and has enabled 1,245 children aged 6~17 to be freed from child labor and receive an education (as of the end of October 2022). In the remaining period of the project, we will continue to work with SPEED to strengthen the capacity of the residents and each stakeholder, and we are committed to empowering the residents in the three villages where we are currently working to help them become self-reliant.
A Village Without Child Labor --Thoughts on Project Evaluation--
One of the project's indicators for the completion of the project in a village is that at least 95% of children are free from child labor. Fulfillment of this indicator = achievement of a village without child labor.
What is needed to maintain that village as a child labor-free village?
When we have conducted interviews in villages where we have completed projects in the past, we have sometimes brought to light the reality of children who are not attending school, partly due to the Corona disaster. Therefore, we would like to investigate the effectiveness and sustainability of our project through "evaluation" of the actual situation in the villages where we have conducted our projects.
This evaluation is very important now that we are looking at handing over the management of the project to the residents. By reviewing and developing a system that enables the residents themselves to maintain the village without child labor after the project is completed, we will establish a model case for sustaining a village without child labor.
At the same time, the project aims to strengthen the capacity of stakeholders including SPEED and the volunteer organization "Children's Rights Protection Forum (CRPF)" through the project evaluation.
We believe that it is a very important initiative for SPEED and residents to think together in order to independently sustain a state free of child labor, to be in touch with the voices of children and residents through evaluation, and to experience for themselves the elements necessary for the establishment of a village free of child labor system.
Project evaluation training, how to overcome challenges?
As the first step of project evaluation, SPEED and ACE held seven internal training sessions and workshops.
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