Child-focused humanitarian agency World Vision kick-starts the New Year with the commemoration of the historical Global March against Child Labor (GMACL) in partnership with the Quezon City local government, in the continuing fight to eliminate child labor and other forms of child exploitation.
GMACL is not just a massive march activity but a global movement founded by 140 different countries in January 17, 1998, due to the alarming growth of child labor around the world.
The Philippines joined the movement and actively participated in the first memorable global march site hosted in the Quezon City Memorial Circle, where many Filipino individuals and groups including World Vision, converged to march together with the loudest battle cry to eliminate child labor.
Dedicated in promoting child the children’s welfare, World Vision has strengthened its efforts to advocate for vulnerable children and communities through its Project Against Child Exploitation (ACE). The project aims to address issues of child labor, especially in assisting victims of the worst forms of child labor (WFCL) and online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC). Project ACE also commits to empower children in knowing their rights as well as enabling community stakeholders to be more vigilant to protect and prevent exploitation among children.
Since its inception in 2019, Project ACE has made a significant impact, in partnership with the local government units in Quezon City and Cagayan De Oro. To date, the initiative contributed to the adoption of 12 policies, plans, and programs on child labor, conducted a series of labor inspectors and major stakeholders training, and organized various awareness-raising activities to improve the enforcement of applicable laws on child labor and trafficking (CLT). The project has also trained more than 260 service providers on how to address WFCL and OSAEC, supported 15 community-organized awareness-raising activities, and assisted service providers with new or expanded assistance to victims of WFCL and OSAEC.
All these milestones were not possible without the unwavering partnerships with the QC and CDO local government offices, the national and local units of Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Philippine National Police (PNP), and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
“We believe there is still so much to be done to eliminate child labor, and we’re grateful to have dedicated partners that have been helping us make our vision possible. This is why we continue to march forward, we start this year with fresh hearts. Hoping that by the end of 2023, we see the fruits of our labor, with so many more children whose lives have changed,” stated Jun N. Godornes, World Vision Resource Development Director.
World Vision places children at the center of all its work to transform communities for good, working with parents and communities to ensure that kids are protected and that their futures are not stolen by labor exploitation.
Learn more about World Vision Philippines and our Child Sponsorship program
World Vision continues to build a protective environment that cares for and supports children by providing educational services to enhance quality and improve learning spaces, support for parents to improve food security so that children don’t need to work, advocate for national labor laws and enforcement, promote social accountability, equip communities, and promote decent work for youth who are above minimum working age through providing necessary skills.
World Vision national director Rommel V. Fuerte shares, “It’s such a daunting task, some may call it a mission to be able to dream about zero child exploitation, but we wouldn’t be able to do this without every small effort. We encourage you to pray for these children and support World Vision’s work to protect children from labor and other forms of abuse and exploitation”.
Sponsoring a child is one practical way to prevent children to be exploited.
“Together, let us stand and be against child exploitation. You can volunteer at your Local Government unit initiatives and advocacies against Child Labor,” added Fuerte.
To help or report child labor incidents in Quezon City, call the QC Hotline 122 or reach out to any members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Special Protection of Street Children and Child Laborers (Task Force Sampaguita).
To support or know more about World Vision’s work around the country to protect children from labor and other forms of exploitation, abuse, and violence. Visit www.worldvision.org.ph
About WORLD VISION
A faith based organization, World Vision is the world’s leading child aid organization and committed to helping our most vulnerable children and communities – even if they are in the most remote and dangerous places. We help children and their communities on the ground in over 100 countries while driving change globally at UN and governments levels on child rights, poverty and climate change. World Vision Philippines is the second oldest World Vision national office.
To know more about World Vision in the Philippines, please visit www.worldvision.org.ph or follow World Vision’s official social media pages /worldvisionph on Facebook, @worldvisionphl on Instagram, and @worldvisionph on Twitter.
What you need to know about World Vision Philippines:
• Established in 1957
• Second World Vision office
• Has helped over 39M children and thus contributed to the development of the country
• Every year help over 1.5m children
• Over 60,000 sponsored children (10,000 by Filipinos and 50,000 overseas sponsors)
• Focused on empowering the children and their communities to create their future their way
• Partner with government agencies like the department of education in projects like Brigada Eskwela
• Well-known World Vision sponsor children include PCG Spokesperson Commodore Balilo and Bishop Alconga.
About PROJECT ACE
Honed from World Vision’s years of programming on eliminating child labor (from ABK-Pag-Aaral ng Bata para sa Kinabukasan from 2003, ABK2 and ABK3 till 2016), Project Against Child Exploitation (ACE) was launched in 2019 to strengthen the government's capacity to address the worst forms of child labor (WFCL) including online sexual abuse and exploitation of children (OSAEC) and acceptable conditions of work (ACW).
Since its inception, Project ACE has been actively working with its partners Quezon City and Cagayan De Oro City to develop regional strategies to combat WFCL and OSAEC.
• The project supported the adoption of 12 policies, plans, and programs;
• handed over computer equipment to project areas,
• conducted 4 batches of labor inspectors and major stakeholders training,
• held capacity building trainings on reporting and referral mechanisms for 292 community stakeholders, and
• conducted 21 awareness raising activities, among other events, intending to improve the enforcement of the legal framework and policies.
• Aiming to improve assistance services for victims of WFCL and OSAEC, the project established 9 referral mechanisms,
• trained 260 service providers on how to address WFCL and OSAEC,
• supported 15 community-organized awareness-raising activities, and
• assisted 8 service providers with new or expanded assistance to the victims of WFCL and OSAEC.
Further, Project ACE continuously worked with its key partners through a memorandum of agreement (MOA) both at the national and local levels to strengthen partnerships to further address the issues. Project’s partners include the Council for the Welfare of Children (CWC), the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), Quezon City Government, and Cagayan De Oro City Government. The project team also maximized its network by conducting summits and conferences where its partners presented their accomplishments and plans.
Project ACE is funded by the United States Department of Labor under Cooperative Agreement IL-34007- 19-75-K from 2019 –2023. Project ACE aims to impact child labor programs spread over Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao with particular emphasis in two key areas - Quezon City and Cagayan De Oro City.
About World Vision Philippines National Director:
Rommel V. Fuerte is the National Director of World Vision Development Foundation. He is a Registered Social Worker and a Master of Business Administration.
With him, World Vision serves more than 1 million Filipino children yearly, with thousands of individual and institutional sponsors, donors and partners.
For more than two decades at World Vision, he held key positions such as Director for Operations and for Strategy Management; Strategy Specialist for Asia Pacific covering 16 countries; and deployed in emergency responses in Indonesia, Iraq among others.
In 2018, the Philippine Association of Social Workers recognized him as most outstanding social worker. An Institutional Awardee of University of Mindanao, his alma mater. He earned his MBA from the Eastern University, Pennsylvania, USA.
In 2020, the Philippine President appointed him as Board Member of the Council for the Welfare of Children. In 2021, he was invited to be part of the board of the Multi Sectoral Governance Coalition of the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
As of July 2021, he is:
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Chairman of the Board of Community Economic Ventures (a micro finance NGO), Inc.
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Vice Chairman of the Board of Philippine Children’s Ministry Network
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Vice Chairman of the Board of Christian Council for Transparency and Accountability
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Convener of the Philippine Coalition of Advocates for Nutrition Security
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Co-convener of the Joining Forces Alliance of the largest international NGOs in the Philippines
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Member of the Steering Committee of Healthy Mothers Healthy Babies Consortium
About World Vision Philippines Resource Development Director:
Jun N. Godornes is currently the Director for Resource Development of World Vision Development Foundation, Inc.,a non-stock, non-profit foundation dedicated to improve the lives of the most vulnerable Filipino children. He is also a member of its Senior Leadership Team.
He joined the organization in 2007 as Monitoring and Evaluation Officer for its US government-funded Anti-Child Labor Project. He later joined the National Resource Development Department in 2009 and took on different roles like Business Development Officer, Direct Marketing Manager and Associate Director.
Jun’s 15 years with World Vision has contributed to the various partnerships of World Vision with like-minded individuals, companies, churches and schools. Jun is also one of the fundraising coaches of the Christian Stewardship Association.
About Project ACE (Project Against Child Exploitation) Director of World Vision Philippines:
Known affectionately as Ate Daphne (Big Sister Daphne) in the Philippine communities where she works, Daphne Culanag earned this term of respect over more than three decades of being an advocate and a leader in the fight against child labor.
A child rights advocate even before the country’s ratification of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, was a member of the Technical Working Group which drafted the bills leading to the enactment of Republic Act 7610 – An Act Providing Special Protection of Children Against Child Abuse, Exploitation and Discrimination; and the Republic Act 9231 – An Act Providing for the Prohibition of the Worst Forms of Child Labor,
She was also part of the TWG that drafted the Implementing Rules and Regulations for RA 9231. In 1998, was a member of the Philippine Organizing Committee of the Global March against Child Labor and served as a Core Marcher/Adult companion and facilitator in Pakistan, Iran and Geneva. Was also a member of the National Pool of Trainers for Local Councils for the Protection of Children under the Council for the Welfare of Children.
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