Child laborers who received interventions through the SHIELD program in Carcar City, Cebu Province. Photo from DSWD.
MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) had to intervene in the cases of 1,400 child laborers for the year 2022, said the agency on Wednesday.
The agency used the strategic help desks for information, education, livelihood, and other developmental interventions (SHIELD) against child labor to record and address these cases.
“Through the SHIELD program, the identified child laborers were provided with holistic and immediate interventions at the community level including the provision of educational assistance from the DSWD and case referrals to other government agencies,” said the DSWD in a statement.
According to the DSWD, the said program establishes help desks in barangays, as well as a local registry system for referral of available support services.
The project’s goals include withdrawing “children from the worst forms of child labor through the provision of holistic and immediate interventions at the community level,” said the DSWD on its website.
The SHIELD program was one of the convergence projects between the DSWD and the Department of Labor and Employment that began in 2017.
READ: DOLE, DSWD team up against child labor
“The DSWD continues the implementation of the SHIELD against child labor across all regions of the Philippines to assist child laborers and as part of its efforts to help eliminate child labor in the country,” it said.
The DSWD said that the project is now institutionalized and implemented across 16 DSWD Field Offices since 2021.
“The Field Offices will directly collaborate with their partner local government units in the implementation of SHIELD against Child Labor in their areas to further expand the scope of the program,” said the DSWD.