Empowering women entrepreneurs in developing economies can increase their income and household well-being, but may also have unintended consequences, including increased labor burdens, financial stress and gender-based violence. Launched in 2018, The Reducing Incidence of Child Labor and Harmful Conditions of Work in Economic Strengthening Initiatives (RICHES) program addressed the risk of child labor and unacceptable working conditions in women’s economic empowerment (WEE) initiatives. The American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative (ABA ROLI), as a sub-grantee to the Grameen Foundation, co-developed and piloted a set of tools for WEE actors (e.g., microfinance institutions, CSOs, and other financial service providers) to integrate awareness of these risks into WEE initiatives. The program concluded in 2021 and was funded by the United States Department of Labor.
Reducing Incidence of Child Labor and Harmful Conditions of Work in Economic Strengthening Initiative
During the pilot phase of the program, ABA ROLI’s team of technical experts produced a Pre-Situational Analysis (PSA) on the intersection of child labor, working conditions, and WEE in two pilot countries, El Salvador and the Philippines. Following this initial phase, ABA ROLI supported the development of a RICHES Toolkit in 2021, which promoted a multi-step approach to integrating safe business practices and the protection of children into the work of WEE actors. The toolkit is geared for women's economic empowerment (WEE) actors, including microfinance organizations, financial service providers and civil society organizations to help identify and mitigate risks to children in WEE initiatives.
After incorporating feedback, ABA ROLI and the Grameen Foundation implemented training workshops with WEE actors in the Philippines and El Salvador to familiarize them with the Toolkit's components. These workshops provided WEE actor clients and staff, as well as other stakeholders with awareness of the risks of child labor and resources to integrate child protection into their organization’s work and policies.