The South African Child Labour Programme of Action provides that pilot projects should be run on the Delivery of water to households far from sources of safe water. The Survey of Activities of Young People(SAYP) undertaken in 1999 indicated that collecting fuel or fetching water are by far the most common work-related activity done by children in South Africa. South African stakeholders have indicated, in the consultative process that led to the Child Labour Programme of Action, that the fetching of water over long distances should be regarded as a priority, given its prevalence and associated hazards.
Accordingly to the Child Labour Programme of Action, this work should not be seen as child labour, a term which implies that someone benefits unduly from the work that children do. Poor households have little control over the distance to water from the homestead, and often have no alternative but to ask their children to help in carrying water. Therefore, stakeholders in the country indicated that fetching water should rather be seen as a priority form of child work that should be addressed by the government's programme to deliver water to all households by 2008.
By delivering water to such households, the extremely long periods spent by some children in collecting water could be reduced, thereby making more time available for schooling and other activities. It should also reduce the hazards they are exposed to.
Accordingly the Programme Towards the Elimination of the worst forms of Child Labour (TECL), a programme to kickstart action on the Child Labour Programme of Action, commissioned Dynacon Engineering and the Human Sciences Research Council to do research and design pilot projects with a focus on water delivery in distant areas. The purpose of the overall project is to investigate the phenomenon, to design and run pilot projects, and to develop and implement policy to assist in water delivery in such areas.
This project was run in the following stages:
Read more about Delivery Of Water To Households Far From Sources Of Safe Water: Stage 1: Research and Design, Stage 2: Implementation of The Pilot Project, Stage 3: Development and Implementation of Policy, Participating Institutions
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