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By Development Studies
Programme Birzeit University and UNICEF
(A qualitative participatory study)
Introduction
The Development Studies Programme at Birzeit University prepared the
study “The Children of Palestine in the Labour Market“ in
cooperation with UNICEF and the Secretariat of the National Plan for
the Palestinian Child. It should be noted here that this study
constitutes part of a regional project for the Middle East and North
Africa to examine child labour through a qualitative methodology by
means of participatory rapid research. In general, the studies aim
to provide the qualitative information necessary for decision-makers
and other involved parties, enabling them to design strategies that
would help in curbing the phenomenon and, more importantly, carry
out the interventions needed to alleviate the suffering of the
children who are involved in the worst forms of labour.
The current study underlined many vital issues that had not been
examined before, in particular the factors and causes giving rise to
child labour. It also highlighted the concept of child labour
itself, considered by some of the families and the children as a
“positive form of solidarity“, rather than a violation of the rights
of the child. This is an analytical contribution that requires
in-depth discussion and determination of the particular
circumstances that would render such labour a violation of their
rights. The study also identified the nature and characteristics of
children in the labour market, what language they use to describe
their work, the level of disillusionment and suspicion with which
they view their own future, and how this is reflected in the
fatalism that marks some of their actions (even though these
children bear big responsibilities within their families) and in
their ability to take important decisions pertaining to their lives
and the lives of their families.
In addition, this study relies on the point of views of working
children, especially those involved in what is described as the
worst forms of labour. It is their perspectives that matter: their
personal accounts of their livelihood, work conditions family
relations, legal frameworks, institutional settings, and proposed
recommendations.
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