Studies

A four-year program led by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the “Child Labour: Action-Research-Innovation in South and South-East Asia” or CLARISSA project aims to build a strong evidence base around—and generate innovative solutions to—the dangerous and exploitative work that children in the Global South often find themselves in. The term “worst forms of child labour (WFCL)” is used to describe this phenomenon, and it is common in countries like Bangladesh and Nepal. 

Researchers: Maheen Sultan; Kabita Chowdhury; Saklain Al Mamun; Taslima Aktar; Lopita Huq; Keetie Roelen; and Neil Howard

Partners: Institute of Development Studies (IDS)

Timeline: 2021–2024

Status: Completed

Contact: Maheen Sultan; maheen.sultan@bracu.ac.bd

Context

Taking place across a slum community in Dhaka, the CLARISSA intervention has two components: the “Relational Component” involves a group of community mobilizers placed at the participants’ service for a two-year period. The goal is to collaborate with participants at an individual, familial, and group level to identify needs, mobilize resources towards attending to those needs, and grow agency and capacity in the process. Secondly, the “Cash Component” provides one year of unconditional cash transfers to all households, recognizing that cash is a vital resource that can augment the process of building agency and capacity.

Objectives

The purpose of the CLARISSA Social Protection (SP) program is to trial and evidence an innovative social policy intervention for tackling social ills, WFCL in particular. Its objective is to support people in building their individual, household and group capacities to meet their needs. The research hypothesis is that an increase in capacities will lead to a corresponding decrease in deprivation and community-identified social issues (including WFCL) that negatively affect well-being. The study will examine whether participating in the intervention enhanced people’s freedom to choose alternatives over hazardous or exploitative child work.

This study is relevant to SDG 1 (No Poverty), particularly to ending poverty in all its forms everywhere.

Methodology

This is a complex programme, with multiple impact pathways and critical assumptions that need an appropriate level of operationalization and combination of methods to answer the question of effectiveness. Therefore, the impact evaluation question and the learning question in the Social Protection (SP) pilot will be answered using a mixture of quantitative and qualitative methods.

Findings and Recommendations

Forthcoming.