The Ministry of Social Solidarity has allocated $75,904 to the Youth Forum for Communication (YFC) to help vulnerable families establish their own business.
YFC Executive Director Madalena da R. Pinto Baptista said the funding would go towards helping vulnerable families start their business and support their children.
“Through this small funding, we will try to improve their life through their business,” she said.
She said the aim of the initiative was to reduce cases of child labor and street children in Timor-Leste, often caused by the poor economic situation of their families.
She said the majority of children on the streets selling goods were not attending school as their families couldn’t afford to send them.
While she acknowledged that schooling in Timor-Leste is free, families still need needed money for the purchase of school materials such as bags, uniforms, shoes and books.
This year is YFC is supporting 10 households in Kaikoli, with data showing that the area had a high number of child workers.
She said the team at YFC had identified the beneficiaries and then verified the families’ situation.
The families selected have since completed a week of business management training at the Institution of Enterprise Development support (IADE).
Meanwhile, the Member of Commission F (responsible for health, education, culture, veteran affairs and gender equality) MP Virgilio da Costa Hornai said cases of child labor were high in Timor-Leste as parents usually had little understanding about children’s rights.
“We see that mostly they are of school age, but the family’s [low] income forces them to do so (work),” he said.
He called on the competent ministries and organizations to launch a campaign to promote awareness about child protection issues such as child labor, particularly among parents.
