On February 8, the United States Department of Labour approved a new $1.5 million project to address vulnerability of children to worst forms of child labour following the Tsunami disaster in Aceh.

In the immediate future and in the longer term, the loss of family livelihoods will have consequences for many children. Experience in disaster zones elsewhere in the world has shown that when families lose livelihoods, children are often likely to drop out of school, and many begin to work on the streets.

These children are highly vulnerable, particularly to the risk of becoming involved in worst forms of child labour. An additional risk in Aceh is enrolment of children in armed conflict. The province has been the scene of a longstanding armed conflict between a separatist group and the Indonesian government.

The project to be implemented, through an existing ILO-IPEC project of support to the Indonesian National Action Plan on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, will respond to the medium and longer term needs of children in Aceh, rather than the immediate relief effort. A key aim of the project is to prevent vulnerable children entering worst forms of child labour through the provision of relevant services and programmes to at-risk children and families.