From abolition to protection : strengthening the dignity of Bolivian working children through grassroot interventions

From Abolition to Protection:

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trengthening the Dignity of Bolivian Working

Children Through Grassroot Interventions

International Development Studies Graduate School of Social Science

University of Amsterdam July 2019

By

Adriana Parejo Pagador 12261793

“For a dignifying work”; photograph of a protest in La Paz, Bolivia (source: Adriana Parejo Pagador)

Supervisor: Dr. Olga Nieuwenhuys Second Reader: Dr. Esther Miedema

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To the working children of Bolivia and elsewhere in the world.

I would especially like to thank Fernando Cuba for being an inspiring mentor and Bolivian political activist, for believing in me, for sharing his knowledge and expertise throughout the many interviews he supervised, and for his friendship.

My sincerest gratitude to Olga Nieuwenhuys for her generous time, enlightening guidance, and for surpassing her role as a supervisor to be an example of dedication and perseverance. This research would not have been possible without María Augustina Vargas whose strength in her work as an educator for working children opened my eyes to a reality I was largely unaware of. Thank you for your constant support and guidance.

Bolivia became a second home to me thanks to the wonderful Pinaya family, Luz, Lily and Alan, who warmly welcomed and cared for me in their home as a member of their family. I am eternally grateful to them.

I had the wonderful luck to share the fieldwork experience and to explore the beautiful Andean landscapes with another fellow IDS student and friend, Naomi Robertson, who I truly admire for her intelligence, open-mindedness and spontaneity.

On a personal note, I am very grateful for having shared a home with Laura, an old high-school friend, during my year in Amsterdam. I would like to thank her for her incredible friendship, for keeping me grounded, and for proof-reading endless drafts of this work. Thank you to all the participants in this research from whom I have learned so much.

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Dominant discourses on child labour presume prohibiting children to work protects them from harm, leading to policies hindering some children’s chances for development. Far from being universally wrong for every child, work is shown as dignifying by Bolivian working children movements as it allows them to support livelihood and afford education. This is one of the major challenges in child labour legislation as little attention is paid to children’s understanding of child work and how stigmatising it through prohibitionist policies may harm working children’s dignity. In this thesis I explore factors affecting children’s dignity and investigate alternative solutions aimed at strengthening their dignity. The thesis is based on fieldwork in Bolivia, where I sought to understand how work relates to working children’s dignity and analysed the impacts of both abolitionist and protectionist NGO interventions. Qualitative data were collected between January and March 2019, and included semi-structured interviews, action-research and observations documenting the lived experiences of the Bolivian working children of La Paz and El Alto. Children related work to dignity in various manners, by arguing that work generates the material means to move forward in life, enables them to support a family, and provides a source of self-respect. Whilst children were well aware of the value of work, stigmatisation harms children’s self-respect and potential to develop. Abolitionist interventions led to the dependency of working children to the services provided by the NGO, whilst the protectionist approach built children’s resilience to face adversity, strengthening children’s autonomy and dignity. I conclude that dignification must also be brought by society, through both a recognition of working children’s contributions and the formulation of measures protecting children’s best interest. To protect children’s right to work in dignity child labour policies should amend policies denying younger children protection rights at work; empower children by educating them on their rights; and destigmatise child work in public spaces and government campaigns.

Keywords: child work; dignity; NGO intervention; Bolivia; child protection; children’s

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Abstract ... 3

List of Figures ... 6

Terminology and Abbreviations ... 7

1. Introduction ... 8

2. Theoretical Framework ... 11

2.1. Childhood, child work and child labour ... 11

2.2. Dignity at work ... 14

2.3. Reclaiming development through grassroot interventions? ... 19

2.4. Concluding remarks ... 22

3. The Bolivian context of child work ... 24

3.1. The scope of child work in Bolivia ... 24

3.2. “The streets belong to everyone”: child work in La Paz and El Alto ... 27

3.3. Between abolition and protection: Law 548 – Code on Children and Adolescents ... 30

3.4. Concluding remarks ... 33

4. Research methodology and design ... 34

4.1. Research questions ... 34

4.2. Conceptual scheme ... 34

4.3. Research location ... 35

4.4. Epistemological stance ... 36

4.5. Unit of analysis and sampling strategy ... 37

4.6. Methods of data collection and analysis ... 38

4.7. Methodological reflection on the quality of research ... 40

4.8. Ethical considerations and positionality ... 41

4.9. Concluding remarks ... 43

5. “Salir Adelante”: Understanding the Dignity of Working Children ... 44

5.1. The place of work in children’s life ... 44

5.2. Facing adversity: working children’s responses to stigmatisation ... 50

5.3. The three resources of dignity ... 54

5.4. Concluding remarks ... 57

6. Strengthening the Dignity of Working Children Through NGO Intervention ... 58

6.1. Abolitionist NGO Interventions ... 58

6.2. The case of Fundación Wiphala ... 61

6.3. The Pedagogy of the Adventure ... 64

6.4. Concluding remarks ... 69

7. Conclusion ... 70

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7.2. Recommendations for policy and future research ... 71

Bibliography ... 74

Appendices ... 80

Appendix I. Interview table ... 80

Appendix II. Reflexive questions for ethical research with children ... 83

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Figure 1. Monthly wages in Bolivianos by gender groups in urban areas (source: author’s

table using data from INE, 2008) ... 27

Figure 2. Photo of an informal market in El Alto (source: Adriana Parejo Pagador) ... 27 Figure 3. Distribution of Bolivian Working Children by types of work, 5-17 age group in

percentage terms (source: author's elaboration based on data from INE (2008)) ... 29

Figure 4. Image of street art representing the working class in El Alto (source: screenshot of

Google Maps) ... 30

Figure 5. Image of working children and adolescents marching in La Paz (source: Zapata,

2013) ... 31

Figure 6. Conceptual scheme (source: author’s elaboration) ... 35 Figure 7. Casa de Paso, Fundación Arco Iris; Camp for working children; Camp site owned

by Fundación Arco Iris in Jupapina (source: Adriana Parejo Pagador) ... 35

Figure 8. Marina and Gabriel’s house in El Alto (source: Adriana Parejo Pagador) ... 47 Figure 9. Vignette of Marina and Gabriel’s working lives ... 48 Figure 10. The Wiphala Shelter House (source from left to right: Wipalla.de and ikjh.org)

... 61

Figure 11. Photo of the Wiphala House (source from left to right: Wipalla.de and ikjh.org)64 Figure 12. Model of Learning of Fundación Wiphala (source: author’s own elaboration) ... 66

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AUNIDER Asociación Unidad e Igualdad de Derechos

FAI Fundación Arco Iris

ILO International Labour Organisation

INE Instituto Nacional de Estadística

IO International Organisation

(N)NAT

NGO Non-Governmental Organisation

PA Pedagogy of the Adventure

UDHR Universal Declaration of Human Rights

UNATsBO Union de Niños, Niñas y Adolescentes Trabajadores de Bolivia

UNCRC United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child

UN United Nations

UNICEF United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund GLOSSARY

Alteñan From El Alto

Assitencialismo Dependency of the lower-class on the charity of the upper-class

Por cuenta propia Self-employed

Paceñan From La Paz

Voceador/vocear Announcer/announcing price deals or the destination of public transports

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“And the lady shouted: why aren’t you at school? You shouldn’t be working, get out of my way! It made me feel bad on the moment, but with time you get used to that”

— Gonzalo (21.03.2019)—

Driven by the lack of revenues in his family, Gonzalo started working at 10 years old in the city of El Alto in Bolivia. He was 17 when he explained to me how these public commentaries made him feel embarrassed to be working as a child. Despite the treatment he received whilst working on the streets, Gonzalo persevered knowing his revenues supported his family. Many Bolivian children like him work to contribute to family income in order to afford basic subsistence needs, invest in education, and develop as human beings. The experience described by Gonzalo in the quote above reflects the type of daily discrimination lived by working children in La Paz and El Alto.

To the State and society at large, working children are perceived as committing a form of social violation, thus justifying policies prohibiting their activities. Arguing that a blanket minimum work age protects children from harm, both the International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Bolivian government prohibits children from working under 14 years. In response, the Bolivian Working Children’s Union (UNATsBO) leads a children-led movement to denounce laws which effectively leave thousands of working children under 14 without a legal framework of protection at work. The literature demonstrates that minimum-age laws fail to promote the best interests of children by essentially leaving them vulnerable to exploitation and discrimination in the labour market (Nieuwenhuys, 1996; Aufseeser et al., 2018; Bourdillon et al., 2009; Fontana and Grugel, 2015). Additionally, resulting in the stigmatisation of working children, abolitionist policies devalues their life stories by promoting the idea that there is no dignity in letting a child work.

Child work is an omnipresent public issue in Bolivia, with approximately 850 000 children between 5 and 17 years old involved in an economic activity (INE, 2008). Pointing to the need to reconceptualise child work, UNATsBO regularly argues work gives children the means to achieve a dignified life and thus defends children’s right to work with dignity. The organisation explains when child work becomes a necessity for basic survival, then it must become a right.

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Such arguments is commonly found across working children movements worldwide, as seen in their International Declaration in which they stipulated “[w]e are against exploitation at work; but we are in favour of work with dignity” (Van Daalen and Mabillard, 2018: 5). Working children movements from around the globe are thus unionising to push society to recognise children’s economic contribution to poverty instead of being shunned as a social violation. Arguing public policies protecting children at work are thus more adequate than strict prohibition, scholars have supported working children’s positions (Liebel, 2015; Hanson and Nieuwenhuys, 2013; Aufseeser et al., 2018).

In 2014, swapping prohibition for protection, the Bolivian government recognised the reality presented by UNATsBO and attempted to lower minimum working age to 10 years old in Law 548 to offer children protection at work. Bringing about the dignification of child work, this unprecedented policy-making marked a stark turn from an abolitionist approach to a protectionist one, whose implications are yet to be explored. Although in June 2017 Law 548 was amended under international pressure, it remains today important to investigate the contents and implications of a non-abolitionist agenda for child work.

This research emerges from three primary concerns: firstly the widespread exclusion of the main actors concerned in the discussion: the working children themselves; secondly the way child work is generally conceptualised; thirdly the inadequacy of the current solutions brought to them. As many scholars increasingly question the validity of the abolitionist perspective I aim to contribute to the body of literature attempting to chart alternative routes in child labour policies. To this end, I sought the participation of working children and adolescents to understand the impact of work on their dignity, and critically examined current child labour interventions. Such findings can help academics but also policy-makers to better understand why working children are demanding a right to work in dignity, and what other rights can be fulfilled through the granting of such a right.

I designed this research to build a stronger understanding of what is meant by dignity, as well as understanding the role of grassroot organisations in diverging from mainstream child policy to strengthen working children’s dignity. This qualitative research rests primarily on 17 interviews with working children of La Paz and El Alto and 7 interviews with NGO staff members. The objective behind looking at dignity is to scrutinise critically current conceptualisation of child work and its resulting intervention policies. Drawing from the voice

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of working children, I demonstrate how diverse children’s account of dignity are and why. Comparing two Bolivian NGOs, I critically examine NGOs’ potential to undertake non-abolitionist intervention strategies supporting working children’s dignity. The main research question that I explore in this thesis is: How does work affects the dignity of Bolivian working children

and how can NGOs strengthen the dignity of Bolivian working children?

In Chapter 2, I begin by outlining the theoretical framework of this research, by exposing limitations of current conceptualisation of child work through childhood theory, exploring the notion of dignity at work and discussing abolitionist approach and the potential of local NGOs to reroute child work development. I continue in Chapter 3 by describing the context of child work in Bolivia. Next, in Chapter 4 I outline the research design, including the research questions, methods of data collection, reflect on the quality of the research and discuss ethical implications. In Chapter 5 and 6, I present the empirical findings of this research, detailing on the one hand children’s understanding of their working lives and, on the other, exploring the agenda of various NGOs intervening with working children in La Paz and El Alto. Finally, in Chapter 7 I conclude with an answer to the main research question, discuss policy relevance, and provide recommendations for future research.

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In this chapter I present the conceptual underpinnings of this thesis. Through a childhood theory approach, in section (2.1) I deconstruct prevailing ideas regarding the work done by children with the intention to bring into light the widespread stigma that is attached to it. Subsequently, I introduce the concept of dignity at work as a conceptual lens through which a new understanding of children’s working lives can potentially originate (2.2). Finally, in section (2.3) I examine what it means to reclaim development through grassroot intervention by critically discussing the current abolitionist agenda and examining the potential of local NGOs to reroute development.

2.1. CHILDHOOD, CHILD WORK AND CHILD LABOUR

There is a stark division between those depicting child work as a social violation and those defending its fundamental value for society. To understand the debate on child labour, it is worthwhile to start by deconstructing the underpinning conceptualisation of childhood, as it constitutes a culminant point of tensions between working children movements and international governing institutions such as the United Nations (UN) and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). This leads me into a discussion regarding the conceptual shortcomings of the western idealisation of childhood to effectively protect the rights of children in the workplace. These conceptual shortcomings evince the paternalist bias of western thinking, and the need to reconceptualise child work.

Internationally, prevailing responses towards child work arise from traditional assumptions amongst high-income societies and elites about what constitutes a “good” childhood, notably that children should not take part in economic activities, but should be prepared through formal education to become useful citizens (Aufseeser et al., 2018). These claims are closely related to principles of “educationalisation” (Reynaert et al., 2009) that emerged in the early 1990s placing emphasis on education as a mean to empower individuals and break cycles of poverty (Dessy, 2000; ILO, 1992). International organisations such as the UN and the ILO employ age arbitration to determine the laws and policies applicable to each stages of human life based on a psychological measurement of maturity. Arguing that working below the age of 14 inhibits the development of a child, the ILO prohibits anyone under that age to work (Rausky, 2009).

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Childhood is often depicted as a stage of innocence, and the nuclear family and school are generally considered the only legitimate place for growing up (Ansell, 2016). Problematically, any other forms of childhood – including working childhoods – are considered to be undesirable or as constituting a form of social violation regardless of what children think about their lives. It is not uncommon to find western rhetoric denominating the life of working children as a stolen childhood.

Arguing the concept of childhood is socially constructed, varying across space and time, cultures and geolocation, scholars have challenged the notion of universal childhood (James and James, 2004; Ansell, 2016). From a critical perspective, international policies reflect “primarily western legal traditions and traditional psychological development discourses that imply universal and monolithic qualities of childhood and youth” (Clark-Kazak, 2009: 1308). This chronological definition of childhood arbitrarily determines whether one’s work should be recognised as valuable and positively contributing to society, or as morally reprehensible. Using age arbitration as a universal ethical benchmark does not acknowledge the multitude of cultural realities existing in this world, and does not recognise the right of communities to live in diversity. In Bolivia, work is a natural part of the development of the child (NATs, 2017). Experiences of childhood differ depending on the contextual economic, social and political characteristics (Hanson and Nieuwenhuys, 2013; Clark-Kazak, 2009; Aufseeser et al., 2018). Drawing on feminist theory and gender analysis, Clark-Kazak (2009) convincingly compares the social construction of gender roles, leading to labour policies discriminating women in the 1970s, with the social construction of children’s role based on chronological age arbitration. In line with this argument, Bourdillon et al. (2009) argue available empirical studies do not support that blanket minimum-age laws would be beneficial for the well-being of the child. On the contrary, the authors offer evidence of the detrimental repercussions of imposing age limits to prohibit child work as they undermine the social and cultural meaning of childhood prevalent at the local level.

Being profoundly paternalistic, the global model of childhood is one that attributes more legitimacy to the opinion of the adult over those of the child on matters that concerns them (Liebel, 2007). Children are ultimately not equal in rights, their voice have less political traction, and their grievances are effectively silenced down. Questioning the appropriateness of international standards, UNATsBO commented:

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“Do they want to protect us or do they want to protect themselves against us? Could it be that they do not want to hear what we have to say? We think it is serious that the people they will be talking about will be prohibited from participating to the conversation” (UNATsBO, 2013, author’s translation).

Childhood theory enables us to shed light on the popular confusion associating all work done by children to exploitation. Evidently, every child has a right to be free from forced and exploitative work. However, to avoid stigmatising all working children in the battle against child labour, it is important to understand that not all work done by children is exploitative. The term child labour is generally used to refer to work that is physically, mentally and morally dangerous for children by depriving them of education or forcing them to leave school prematurely, or by condemning them to undertake heavy workloads (ILO, 2005). In the most extreme cases described by the ILO Convention182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, child labour includes slavery, sexual exploitation, child trafficking, hazardous mining and factory work and other human rights violations (Rausky, 2009). Rarely made explicit is the broad socio-historic contexts in which working childhoods are a necessity and are considered a natural part of growing-up (Mayblin, 2010) as it is the case for many Bolivian children. Less attention has been given to the less visible child workers involved in domestic or agricultural work (Nieuwenhuys, 1994) or to children participating to activities within the confines of their homes and whose rights are yet to be ensured (Ennew, 1994). Many families across the world cannot afford “the work-free and responsibility-free childhoods idealised by elites” (Ausfeeser et al., 2018: 242). In fact, Nieuwenhuys (2005) has brought into light a form of hypocrisy impregnated in the western discourse as the work-free childhoods of the elite benefit from the global exploitative system in which children of the southern hemisphere have to work. As Woodhead (1998) points out, rarely do we ask whose interest is being protected by those advocating prohibition. Whilst UNATsBO shares the long-term vision of eliminating all working childhoods, the movement draws attention on the immediacy of addressing the current reality of thousands of working children in Bolivia.

Condemning all forms of child work relates to the infantilisation of children treating them as innocent beings, devaluing their competence and responsibility (Rowland, 2012). It is based on ideas of children as human becomings rather than as full human beings (Qvortrup, 2009). Without regards to whether working children are supporting their entire family through work, “the dissociation of childhood from the performance of valued work is considered a yardstick of

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modernity, and a high incidence of child labour is considered a sign of underdevelopment” (Nieuwenhuys, 1996: 237). The issue with framing the problem of child work in terms of hazards (Aufseeser et al., 2018) is that it denies their agency in the creation of value (Nieuwenhuys, 1996), and denies at the same time the positive impacts of children’s work to development (Bourdillon, 2011). Child work has been argued to represent an integral part of children’s socialisation and empowerment and allows them to contribute to the production of economic value (Nieuwenhuys, 1996; Aufseeser et al., 2018; Liebel, 2015). Besides a right to income, work provides identity, social status, inclusion, and participation to the community (Bourdillon, 2011), and we may question why should children be kept in the margins of society and not be permitted to benefit from such rights. In fact, the struggle to obtain a right to work is rooted in a broader epistemic battle as explained by working children movements:

“And this (the right to work), moreover, is not a slogan locked in on itself, as a simple search for an occasional improvement of a few subsistence conditions, but reflects a political program of transformation of society and the world of work as a whole. It resonates with new social movements that struggle to change a civilisation model oriented towards profit by a civilisation model oriented towards the promotion of human dignity and the rights of nature” (NATs, 2017: 16, author’s translation).

Therefore, the right to work is not limited to legislative changes but carries a struggle for the reconceptualisation of child work as “a formative experience, part of culture and of belonging to families” (NATs, 2017: 182, author’s translation). The concept of dignity is regularly mentioned in declarations produced by UNATsBO to illustrate that the right to work is in fact part of their natural and essential rights as human beings. But what do they mean by dignity, and is it indeed a useful conceptual lens to bring into light new understandings of children’s working lives?

2.2. DIGNITY AT WORK

Looking at dignity is hardly a new way to put work under critical scrutiny. In this section I delve deeper into the meaning of dignity as a concept used to justify human beings have unalienable rights, and build conceptual bridges between children and work. Throughout the history of social sciences, dignity has been employed as a holistic concept to look at different issues of work, particularly to discuss the protection of workers against inhumane treatment (Bolton, 2007). Broadly speaking, human dignity is a concept that has been central to Western

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thinking for centuries, particularly in the writing of national constitutions and international conventions (United Nations, 1948). It has been used to distinguish the human race from other living animals (Sacks, 2002) and to identify qualities inherent to all human beings such as matters of worth, of equality, of free-will and of autonomy (Bolton, 2007; Hughes, 2011). As the first sentence of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) states “[a]ll human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights” (United Nations, 1948), dignity is the foundational concept underlying the inalienability of human rights (Hughes, 2011). Symbolically, the ratification of the UDHR turned the page on an era which permitted the crimes against humanity perpetrated in the Second World War (Hughes, 2011). Dignity is now widely recognised to be the “human standard ” (Lutz, 1995) against which the laws and institutions that denies human equality, or otherwise permits the degradation of humanity by manipulation or exploitation, should be critically examined. The workplace is a principal focus of the commitment to uphold this human standard.

In 2005, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) proposed international standards for “decent work” (ILO, 2005), seemingly associating this engagement to the achievement of human dignity worldwide. Invocating the concept of dignity to justify standards in the workplace implies dignity is vulnerable to organisational structures and practices, as opposed to being a fixed feature of the human kind. Put differently, the various organisational structures and practices of the workplace affects the dignity of workers. For instance, exploitation is a clear evidence of human degradation and of profanation of dignity. There is a general consensus around the material relationship between work and dignity in that, if basic subsistence needs are not met, humans are not only facing severe life and health threats, but cannot fulfil a whole range of life achievements, including the opportunity to complete life plans or to participate actively in society (Nussbaum, 2000; Liebenberg, 2005; Bolton, 2007; Toynbee, 2003). Put simply, work provides humans the means to afford a dignifying life. When relating the concept of human dignity to work, two paradoxical questions arise: Does offering your labour in exchange of remuneration surrender central elements of dignity – such as autonomy, freedom, equality – or is it the other way round, that you acquire the means to achieve dignity by selling your labour?

The relationship between dignity and work becomes complicated when talking about exchanging one’s labour for a wage (Bolton, 2007). For Marx and many other scholars studying the sociology of work, selling one’s labour for a wage leads to alienation and loss of dignity as a

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capitalist system dehumanises work by employing humans as means to an end (Ibid). In her popular account of the working poor, Polly Toynbee (2003) exposed the widespread indifference of society regarding the struggling mass undertaking demeaning jobs in order to survive just under the breadline. The general societal indifference to the struggle of the working poor reflects public acceptance that certain humans are inferior, thus institutionally permitting the exploitation of the socially disadvantaged. The conditions of the poor has been naturalised by a society which prioritises the benefits of a few at the expense of the mass. In situations of deep poverty and extreme vulnerabilities as those found in Bolivia, necessity brings the poor to surrender parts of his or her dignity at work. As the inequalities faced by working children in Bolivia are not addressed by the State and by society at large, their only way out is sometimes criminality or prostitution. Working children are likewise not granted the legal means to reach a dignifying life through work. Thus, I argue such societal indifference is a profanation of human dignity in itself. A society which values human dignity must ensure that all humans have access to the socio-economic means indispensable to live a dignified life (Liebenberg, 2005; Nussbaum, 2000).

Contextualising human dignity in terms of a collective social responsibility to respect all humans as equals presents dignity as relational and not just as “a mere case of dignity existing as a core human characteristic” (Bolton, 2007: 8). It is useful to conceive of dignity as a relational value because humans are interconnected beings. Our dignity, sense of self-worth, and well-being is inevitably related to the extent to which we are valued by our entourage and by society at large (Hughes, 2011). Society’s decision to allocate or deprive population groups of certain rights – such as providing or denying rights at work to working children – represent the extent to which people are treated as equals in a society (Liebenberg, 2005). However, as explained in the previous section, the prevalent paternalism present in international organisation such as the ILO denies rights at work to children, implying children are not mature, not old enough and perhaps even not worthy enough to be granted rights at work. The infantilisation of working children deprives them of the opportunity to develop their basic capabilities to function as a member of society, and are as such not respected as a human being. By ignoring the claims made by working children, the abolitionist approach signals to Bolivian working children that their grievances have lesser value.

Andrew Sayer (2007) considers that respect and recognition are significant elements of human dignity. He argues that ignoring the claim of an individual means his or her existence

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has lesser value (Ibid). As humans are interconnected beings, when you feel lesser than others, you treat yourself as less than others. Statman (2000) suggests that humans let themselves be robbed of their dignity by demeaning working conditions when they lack self-respect. As Statman (2000: 526) explains “self-respect is a subjective attitude each individual has toward him or herself, based on the standard for worthiness and excellence endorsed by the individual”. It is then useful to conceive dignity in terms of self-respect as self-respect is a person’s refusal to compromise one’s dignity to certain exploitative conditions (Statman, 2000). In other words, self-respect is the ability to protect oneself against abusive situations and to uphold the human standard.

As I examined the literature on child work, I noticed that scholarly work on working children’s dignity are very scarce. As the workplace is dominantly restricted to adulthood, the discussion of working children’s dignity has remained largely unexamined compared to the broad literature existing on adults’ dignity at work. Ignoring working children’s ability to speak for themselves (Van Daalen and Mabillard, 2018), the ILO effectively undermines working children’s dignity. This to me reflects a dominant trend in policy-making that considers children as incomplete human-beings and, as a result, not subject to the same human standards attributed to adults. As Feinberg (1970: 252-3) puts it “to think of (a person) as possessed of human dignity simply is to think of him as a potential maker of claims”. It took more than thirty years after the recognition of human dignity in adults to recognise children’s personhood with the ratification in 1989 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). The UNCRC formally recognises “children are indeed persons, legally and morally, and that the state should ensure that they are treated with dignity” (Melton, 1991: 343). It is thus important to bridge the gap between the existing literature on dignity at work and the reality lived by working children. At their first international meeting, working children’s unions from around the globe met in Kundapur, India, and agreed on a Declaration in which they stipulated “[w]e are against exploitation at work, but we are in favour of work with dignity” (Liebel et al. 2001: 351). Since its establishment in the 1990s, UNATsBO continuously mentions the dignity of children to claim legal protection at work from the Bolivian state. UNATsBO argues that recognising working children’s right to work in dignity by extension provides them access to other basic human rights :

“We will continue to fight for our fundamental rights such as food, clothing, access to education, health, and if we have to work for that we will continue to do so, because we want to live in dignity

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and not begging, from the age that is necessary because work for us is a right and a necessity. But also be assured that with the same forces we will fight against child exploitation and abuse.” (UNATsBO, 2018, author’s translation)

This statement evinces that UNATsBO employs the same notion of dignity prevalent in international norms in order to defend their undeniable rights at work. Disputing the ILO’s criminalisation of child work, UNATsBO argues that work does not automatically prevent children from attending school but rather enables them to pay for both education and health care. When working children claim a right to work, they relate work to their dignity. They argue that, when protected from exploitation, work dignifies children by allowing them take part in economic activities and improve their living conditions (NATs, 2017). This can contribute to sustaining quality of life, provide life skills and support the purchase of school supplies, offering cognitive benefits, particularly in building a sense of worth and self-esteem, and develop social relationships (Aufseeser et al., 2018). Working children have been widely set aside from the conversation although they are the ones most at peril of injuring their dignity at work. Through their mobilisation, they demand an urgent response to the structural conditions which undermines their capacities to develop their dignity. In a society which infantilises children, their voice has no traction in shaping policies affecting their life, and they are therefore more inclined of having their dignity misunderstood and devalued.

To address one of the most confusing aspect of dignity which makes it so difficult to employ it as an instrumental concept to defend the rights of the disadvantaged (see for reference Freeman, 2017; O’Mahony, 2012), I argue dignity is best understood as a blend of dimensions (Hodson, 2001; Rayman, 2001; Bolton 2007), instead of as a fixed feature of human beings. Indeed, the literature on dignity is divided between those arguing dignity is an unalienable fixed features of human beings, and those arguing dignity fluctuates and is subject to social structures and practices. As Statman (2010: 525) points out, “[…] if dignity is a fixed feature of all human beings, (...) necessarily no human beings can exist who have lost, or have been stripped of, their human dignity (...), then, humiliation is impossible”. However, although Statman (2005) argues that dignity is too static a notion to be helpful, I suggest that it can be useful when seen as fluctuating between several dimensions. In this research, I have conceptualised dignity at work as composed of three dimensions: (1) the material dimension, this idea that work provides the means to acquire a dignifying life (2) the relational dimension, which views dignity as being inevitably affected by how we are valued by society, and (3) the cognitive dimension, related to the self-respect of an individual. Combined, these dimensions of dignity represent an

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opportunity for a holistic approach to child work in its blend of the idea of inherent dignity with the socio-economic and situational conditions that may impede this basic human feature. Dignity as a conceptual lens to look at child work allows to go beyond the mere reflection of whether child work is good or bad to start thinking about work according to the “best interest of

the child”. Such alternative lens has the potential to bring into light a new conceptualisation of

child work, allowing policy-makers to revise the current policy agenda for working children. In the following section I discuss why this is needed.

2.3. RECLAIMING DEVELOPMENT THROUGH GRASSROOT INTERVENTIONS?

International rights agreements, however well-intentioned, do not always provide the best framework to defend human rights on the ground and do not always resonate at the local level. For this reason, UNATsBO has sought to reclaim development at the grassroot level. To understand this statement, I begin this section by presenting a critique of international policies to improve the situation on the ground. Subsequently, the discussion turns to the role of alternative grassroot actors in development, primarily that of Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs). Here, considering the majority of western donor agencies sponsoring NGO activities, I critically examine to potential of local NGOs to effectively adapt interventions to local grievances.

The current failure of international policies to listen to working children and act “in the best

interest of child” prohibits children from developing the socio-economic capacities to surpass their

current situation. Although scholars have amply demonstrated a positive relationship between work and children’s well-being (Aufseeser et al., 2018; Bourdillon, 2011; Woodhead, 1998), these studies continue to be widely ignored by policy-makers. Not only have scholarly work proven child work has social value in certain contexts, recent anthropological studies on child work have made the rapport between the prohibition of child work and mal practice in interventions on the ground, thus questioning abolitionist approaches (Nieuwenhuys, 2005; Hobbes et al., 2007; Liebel, 2015). Additionally, through their mobilisation, UNATsBO has proposed a progressist conceptualisation of child work suggesting the dignification of child work, and has repeatedly drawn attention to the problems arising from abolitionist approaches.

As compulsory schooling is one of the mainstream abolitionist approaches employed to eliminate all forms of child work (ILO, 1992), it is worthwhile to bring into the discussion the premise underpinning this approach: the western presumption that requiring children to go to

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school will inevitably eliminate child work in developing countries. Education is seen as the cure for poverty (Dessy, 2000), whereas child work as what preserves, if not as what causes, poverty (Reynaert et al., 2009). In addition, Nieuwenhuys (1996: 239) argues the underlying concern behind promoting education is a “fear of political instability created by a youthful working class not to be disciplined by the army, schools, or the church”. Siddiqi and Patrinos (1995) argue such approach is unfeasible, firstly because it would require a drastic change of children’s economic conditions as children work primarily to subsidy basic needs. Additionally, in many cases abolition through education ignores children’s work to afford the cost of school (Woodhead, 1998). Despite the implementation of free education in Bolivia, school continues to be a place of discrimination against poor children who cannot afford new uniforms, basic school materials or even soap to wash themselves, issues that are too often neglected in policies (Zapata et al., 2011).

As abolitionist policies target working children in isolation, they generate social exclusion and injustice. Flávia Pires (2014) discusses the negative repercussion of cash funding programmes implemented in North Brazil built to dissuade child work by sponsoring the families who send their children to school. She concludes that cash sponsorships transform children’s status into the main financial supporter of the family, placing the bearings of the family’s survival onto the child. Pires (2014) argues that whether or not children demonstrated greater cognitive development seemed not to be of central interest to neither policy-makers nor the family, showing a complete ignorance of the founding principle of “acting in the child’s best interest” underpinning abolitionist approaches. Ignoring children’s voice, International Organisations (IOs) continue to sponsor projects which undermines the well-being of the individuals they are claiming to protect.

The role of the State and of IOs must be revised to formulate public policies committed to improve the conditions of working children without prejudice. Although age bans are relevant in high-income countries, a single uniform approach cannot solve the variety of child work patterns across the world. Devaluing the role of working children, by means of prohibition for example, can be more harmful than beneficiary, and can paradoxically reinforce the vulnerability of children to exploitation as no legal framework for protection exists (Nieuwenhuys, 1996). Van Daalen and Mabillard (2018) describe the ILO’s resistance to take into account the claims of working children in child labour policies as yet another example of paternalism. Underpinning the Bolivian working children movement is thus the objective to

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reclaim development practices addressed at them. One may also wonder whether the voice of working children is heard at the level of grassroot intervention. NGOs often play an important role in providing support to marginalised communities where the State lacks solution by responding directly do the needs of the people on the ground (Efuk, 2000). As such, local NGO interventions are often labelled as the opportunity to reclaim development at the grassroot level (Mitlin et al., 2007). Generally, NGOs are structured around specific issues such as empowerment, health, or the environment. They can provide expertise and thorough analysis of the problem at hand and are thus a knowledgeable source to assist international agreements and bridge the gap between international/national policies and local realities (Efuk, 2000). It is assumed that NGOs are often better suited to address local grievances than governments or IOs since they are theoretically more accountable to the local population and thus have the capacity to gain their trust.

Since the 1990s, the flourishing of NGOs has been part of a democratisation process through the strengthening and diversification of civil society organisations. Nevertheless, Villadsen (2015) following a Foucauldian analysis, qualifies such phenomenon as an attempt of governments to maintain social order on the ground by permitting civil society to address grievances, without truly enabling the empowerment of the population their work with. The critique I seek to bring into light is the alleged assumptions that local NGOs respond to the future envisioned by the population they claim to represent (Efuk, 2000), and that their work results in the emancipation of the local population (Jalali, 2013). In this thesis, I remain critical of NGO intervention and avoid the glorification of their work. As I discuss in Chapter 6, since NGOs compete for funding – and primarily funding from Northern donor agencies – they arguably focus more on pleasing donors than on meeting the needs of the local population (Jalali, 2013).

A dependency theory approach is useful to evaluate the question of whether development can in fact be reclaimed through locally established NGO interventions. Amongst scholars, NGO dependency on foreign aid has raised many questions about their freedom to adapt to local grievances (Riddell and Niño-Zarazúa, 2016; Jalali, 2013; Banks et al., 2015). NGO reliance on foreign funding makes them less flexible to adapt to local needs, which results in western influence infiltrating grassroot development. Returning to Villadsen’s (2015) Foucauldian understanding, the empowerment of a population represents a potential threat to social order. If local grievances are not in accordance with international norms, as it is the case

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with the claims put forward by Bolivian working children, NGOs are thus forced to be apolitical (Banks et al., 2015) and this disconnect of NGOs from political discourse hinders their capacity to empower (in order to please donors). As Stirrat and Henkel (1997: 66) argue “what starts out as a seemingly free gift (from Northern donors) is transformed into a heavily conditional gift when it reaches the ultimate recipient”.

At the core of UNATsBO’s vision is the idea that different realities deserve different solutions. The organisation denounces the western-centric understanding of child labour which either criminalises or victimises child workers. For this reason, across the different movements led by working children in Latin America, the notion of protagonismo infantil (children’s protagonism) is central to their narrative (Liebel, 2007). Protagonismo infantil can be understood as “children having the power to create social change, to make decisions and claim their rights” (Van Daalen and Mabillard, 2018: 11). Maintaining a mainly children-adolescents leadership, UNATsBO challenges the paternalistic idea that adults are more knowledgeable than children on matters that concerns the latter. The proposition put forward by UNATsBO is to have a legislative and political change that recognises the voice of working children and challenges the paternalism of western abolitionist policies. Besides legislative adjustments, one may ask what the implications are for grassroot interventions. What does a non-abolitionist intervention entail? Can non-abolitionist intervention exist despite foreign funding incoming from rich western organisations? What would be the objective of a non-abolitionist intervention with working children? This thesis is set to explore the answers of the above questions.

2.4. CONCLUDING REMARKS

In this thesis, I contest the widely held idea that child work is the sign of a malfunctioning society, and that eradication is therefore the ethical thing to do. In this chapter I have highlighted the conceptual shortcomings of associating all forms of child work with exploitation, and how this results in calling the efforts of children at work a societal disease. Even though it may be agreed that an ideal society is one free of all forms of working childhood, this ideal does not justify discriminating children who work every day as a means to escape poverty and improve their lives. Since children’s place in modern societies is one of passivity and dependency, play and learn, and not one of action and contribution, the work of children is devalued. It is important to come to the realisation that, irrespective of whether we believe working childhoods are morally ‘good’ or ‘bad’, governing institutions must act according to the best interest of children and according to how children see their working lives. I suggest

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that the notion of dignity may help provide a conceptual understanding of child work from children’s perspective. Looking at it from this perspective I have sought to highlight how those claiming to protect working children often misunderstand what their rights are, fail to listen to their stories and ignore their voices. I have also critically examined the linkages between NGOs and foreign donors with the intention to point out how it affects the potential of empowerment at the local level. Finally, I will refer throughout this piece to the work done by children as child

work, as opposed to labour or exploitation, in order to avoid the conceptual short-cuts

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3. T

B

This section delves into the characteristics of child work in Bolivia, firstly by providing an overview of the scope of child work nationally (3.1). Secondly, to strengthen our contextual understanding of the population group I studied during fieldwork, I describe the urban context of child work in the cities of La Paz and El Alto in more details (3.2). Finally, I outline the changes of the Bolivian normative framework in section (3.3).

3.1. THE SCOPE OF CHILD WORK IN BOLIVIA

Little is being done by policy-makers and legislators to adapt the normative framework to the reality of working children. In this thesis, I aim to shed light on the unknown facet of child work. Bolivia provides a particularly interesting context to investigate dignity at work and non-abolitionist approaches to child work. In this section I begin to outline the scope of child work nationally, then discuss three main features, namely the urban-rural difference, ethnic inequality and gender-based inequality.

Driven by necessity and cultural tradition, a large segment of Bolivian children are found involved in a form of economic activity, making child work an omnipresent public issue in the country. According to the latest national report, the Informe Nacional de Estadística (INE, 2008), 54% of Bolivians under 18 years live in a situation of poverty. The same report affirms Bolivia has the largest amount of working children and adolescents across South America (INE, 2008). It estimates that about 850.000 Bolivian minors between 5 and 17 years old are involved in a productive economic activity, representing approximately 28% of that population age-group (Ibid). Measuring the scope of child work in Bolivia, the United Nations (UN) indicates that Bolivian minors constitute 24% of the economically active population in urban areas and 34% in rural areas (Yu, 2016). Additionally, being unprotected by law in the labour market, a majority of Bolivian working children are involved in precarious jobs often presenting irreversible threats for their health and overall development. As many as 800.000 children undertake jobs that are considered hazardous by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), unfortunately including lethal labour performances as found in the mining industry in the region of Potosí (INE, 2008). The pressing adversity and prevalent presence of child work in Bolivia propel the discussion of its normative framework in the international debate.

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On one hand, the principal catalyst of child and adolescent work in Bolivia is explained by the deeply rooted poverty. Bolivia is a low-income country and one of the poorest across South America and the Caribbean Region (The World Bank, 2019). In this context, the infantilisation

of poverty emerged, referring to the increasing number of children and adolescents bearing the

consequences of deepening poverty (Meschwitz and Sanabria, 2004). As a result, the common explanations for child work are the complementation or generation of family income and to help in the family business (INE, 2008). On the other hand, anthropologist have increasingly studied the cultural history of child work. In the Andean cultural tradition, a child is considered part of a broader community that is responsible for protecting the child, and in return, certain initiatives such as domestic chores and working in the fields are expected from the child. Child work is thus considered a natural part of growing-up and an honourable step of the child’s integration to the collective community (UNATsBO, 2010). Child work in Bolivia is in a paradoxical situation whereby work is culturally normal and expected from children, but yet it is simultaneously criminalised as working children under the age of 14 are unprotected by law.

Often disregarded by national policy-makers, child work in Bolivia has particular characteristics that are important to note to understand the impact of work on children’s lives. As argued by children-led movements in the country, the lack of a contextual understanding of the characteristics of child work leads to inappropriate policy-making. There are substantive differences between child work in urban and rural areas, with levels of involvements of rural children exceeding that of children in urban areas. Similarly, encouraged partly by ethnic tradition, indigenous children are much more involved in work than non-indigenous ones (INE, 2008). An alternative way to grasp the scope of child work in Bolivia is to look at the weekly hours children and adolescents spend working. On average, working children invest 6 hours of their time per week into work (Ibid). The rural-urban difference perdures here as children work four times longer in rural areas, with an average of 12,7 hours per week compared to an average time of 3,3 hours in metropolis (Ibid). Likewise, children in older age groups work longer hours per week. In fact, the problem of child work intensifies with age as UNICEF (2013) reveals the incidence of children involved in economic activities rises from 23% to 35% between the age group 5-13 years and 14-17 years respectively. Studies have shown this poses problems in terms of schooling with increasing rates of dropouts reaching secondary education nationally. The phenomena is more important with indigenous girls than with indigenous boys (INE, 2008). Attempting to balance education and work schedules, children often opt for night shifts at

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public schools where the education quality and learning performances are low (Pacosillo Mamani, 2013). Alternatively, to attend day-time school schedules, children and adolescents from urban areas sometime choose to work at night between 7pm and 6am, risking exposure to delinquency (INE, 2008). Although child work affects schooling, many children work paradoxically to pay for their education. Ignoring aspects such as the quality and accessibility of education, many interventions focus excessively on eradicating child work to increase schooling.

Arguing it is work which prevents children from attending school, the response from Bolivian policy-makers to keep children at school was the introduction of a Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) programme named after the Bolivian children’s tale, Bono Juancito Pinto. According to McGuire (2013) this CCT programme yielded unsatisfying results in terms of educational attainment and child work reduction. Misunderstanding the relationship between child work and school dropouts rate, the programme places the blame of decreasing school attendance rates on working children, but does not resolve the quality and supply deficiencies of the Bolivian educational system itself. During my time in Bolivia, the reasons for not attending school were primarily financial inaccessibility, the lack of schools in poorer neighbourhoods, and the low-return of public schools whereby completing education does not guarantee better life prospects. Increasingly working children’s movements in Bolivia ask policies to respond to their reality.

Additionally, pointing to gender-based inequalities, Zapata et al. (2007; 2011) explain investment in girls’ education is seen as less valuable than that of boys, and that it is thus even more less likely for girls to find paid employment reaching adulthood. As shown in Figure 1,

gender-based inequality is likewise observable looking at monthly wage rates. On average, working boys earn 1,6 times more than girls in urban areas. There are currently no state regulation to prevent gender-based discrimination against working girls whose dignity at work is yet to be protected. Many girls work within the confines of their household taking care of younger siblings and of general house chores, whilst boys are sent to work and school. Preventing their financial independency, these girls often do not perceive economic remuneration (Woodhead, 1998).The situation worsens for indigenous girls, as INE (2008) concluded indigenous girls are 12% more likely to work in dangerous jobs than non-indigenous ones, and for a lower wage.

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Age

group/area Girls Boys

Urban 378 597

5-13 195 303

14-17 457 715

Figure 1. Monthly wages in Bolivianos by gender groups in urban areas (source: author’s table using data from INE, 2008)

3.2. “THE STREETS BELONG TO EVERYONE”: CHILD WORK IN LA PAZ AND EL ALTO

Figure 2. Photo of an informal market in El Alto (source: Adriana Parejo Pagador)

As I attempt to understand the meaning of work for children and how it relates to their dignity, I became interested in children working on a self-employed basis in the cities of La Paz and El Alto. Studies have shown a vast majority of children in metropolis are self-employed, meaning these children work on their own account and often out of their own initiative

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(UNICEF, 2017). In this section I thus present the child labour market, the type of jobs as well as the conditions of child work found in the urban context of La Paz and El Alto.

In the past 40 years, the search for labour opportunities has led to an accelerated migration process of the rural population, transforming Bolivia from being predominantly a rural country to an urban one (UNICEF, 2017). Many working children in this studies were thus from rural and indigenous descents. In the 1980’s, driving families to find alternative pathways to generate income, deepening poverty propelled the participation of children into the informal market.

According to a UNICEF report (2005), more children work in La Paz than any other Bolivian metropolis, with approximately 250.0001 _{children between 6 to 13 years contributing to}

household income in La Paz. Many of these children and adolescents working in La Paz live in El Alto, a city situated on the altiplano (high-plain) overlooking La Paz. El Alto is a newly formed city born in the 1980s largely as a result of neoliberal reforms which led to rapid urbanisation as farmers and ex-miners migrated to find work in La Paz (UNICEF, 2017). The two cities are interconnected with cable cars and minibuses (public buses), facilitating daily commute of workers from El Alto down to La Paz and vice versa.

Due to their proximity, the two cities have merging economies. In both cities, the majority of the working population works on a self-employed basis, or what locals call working por cuenta

propia (working on your own account/initiative). The streets of El Alto form a giant informal

market and offer many opportunities to generate income on a self-employed basis. Children work in the informal sector in activities ranging from commerce, polishing shoes, voceadores (shouters or announcers), manufacture work, street arts performances and any form of creative activity to generate income. As shown in Figure 3 below, in urban areas, the majority of work are in the commercial sector (35%), followed by manufacturing (17%), services (15% with a majority participation of girls), agriculture (13%) and construction (7% with a majority participation of boys). The dynamic informal sector provides many opportunities for income-generation, as UNICEF (2017) estimates there are approximately 20 buyers for every sellers in La Paz and El Alto. Informal trade has gained popularity over the past 30 years as low levels

1 _{According to UNICEF (2005), Bolivia has a total of 1.687.123 children aged 6-13, with approximately 38% of} them, or 642.000 children, contributing to household income nationally, and about 40% of those working children are in La Paz

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of capital and qualifications are required in order to start working, whilst maintaining flexibility to work around school schedules.

Figure 3. Distribution of Bolivian Working Children by types of work, 5-17 age group in percentage terms (source: author's elaboration based on data from INE (2008))

The context of adversity in which working children perform economic activities puts their dignity at risk. The space in which working children work is unregulated and extremely dynamic, putting some of these children and adolescents at risk. As La Paz and El Alto are situated between 3200 and 4100m altitude, the weather is a pivotal factor affecting the success of sales in a day. Sales are subject to the stubborn Paceñan (of La Paz) weather which rapidly fluctuates in a day from a burning sun to freezing rainfalls. Living in such conditions, working children and adolescents often present health problems, and due to the lack of health security for workers in the informal sector, they often turn to NGOs to receive appropriate health care (UNICEF, 2017). According to the most recent available data, the city of El Alto is the most insecure and violent urban centre in Bolivia with high rates of muggings and sexual assaults as well as a strong network of gang activity (Pacosillo Mamani, 2013). The lack of security explains the vulnerability of working children – young girls especially – working in the streets. From day to night, the vibrant markets transform into canteens, bars and night clubs, where all sort of illicit activities occur. For lack of better alternatives, children and adolescents often risk working at night selling snacks and lighters around bars and clubs in El Alto to earn a living.

35%

17%

15%

13%

7%

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The population of La Paz and particularly of El Alto is characterised for being hard-working, starting their business from the first lights of the day until sunset whilst facing the rough Paceñan weather (Pacosillo Mamani, 2013). Looking at Alteñan (from El Alto) street arts and urban wall paintings, one may easily get a grasps of such mindset (see Figure 4).

Figure 4. Image of street art representing the working class in El Alto (source: screenshot of Google Maps)

3.3. BETWEEN ABOLITION AND PROTECTION: LAW 548 – CODE ON CHILDREN AND ADOLESCENTS Making the country particularly relevant to investigate alternative child work intervention, Bolivia’s civil society is highly progressive with regard to child work policy. In this final section, I present the progression and changes of the Bolivian norm on child work, placing emphasis on working children’s involvement in the process.

At the forefront of civil movements on the matter of child work, the Bolivian Working Children’s Union (UNATsBO) has established itself as a recognised autonomous network led by working children and adolescents. Much of the progress regarding child work legislation in Bolivia has come into existence because of the continuous persistence of UNATsBO’s mobilisation. Indeed, as a new national constitution was in writing in 2008, the subsequent transitional period offered UNATsBO an opportunity to get involved in policy-making. By the end of 2013, the lawmakers initiated a new draft of Law 548 (Code on Children and Adolescents), which initially aligned with the ILO Conventions maintaining minimum working age at 14 years. However, the initial draft of Law 548 never came to enforcement as UNATsBO refuted it and initiated a mass-protest against it (Schweimler, 2014).

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Figure 5. Image of working children and adolescents marching in La Paz (source: Zapata, 2013) As children and adolescents led by UNATsBO descended the streets of La Paz to revendicate their right to work with dignity, they met violent confrontations with the national police force (Zapana, 2013). These violent protest brought the issue to international attention. As President Evo Morales self-identified with the movement, admitting to his own working childhood, he accepted their participation to the formulation of a new Law 548, temporarily lowering working age to 10 years old. UNATsBO saw a window of opportunity to put forward their political claims within the grounds of national policy-making.

When on August 4th _{2014 the Legislative Assembly of the Plurinational State of Bolivia}

unanimously enacted a new Law 548 Code on Children and Adolescents, Bolivian working children and adolescents were assured a new chapter in their mobilisation’s trajectory. The new Law 548 incorporated certain provisions that were deemed controversial by the international governmental bodies such as the ILO, the EU and the UN, explaining the government’s hesitation to proceed to its entry into force (El Deber, 2018). The main catalyst of the controversy is the second part of Article 129 which stipulates that:

I. The minimum working age is 14 years old

II. Exceptionally, the Ombudsmen for Children and Adolescents may authorise self-employment by children or adolescents between the ages of 10 and 14, and self-employment by adolescents between the ages of 12 and 14, provided that such activities do not undermine their right to education, is not dangerous, unhealthy, violates their dignity and integral development, or is expressly prohibited by law. (Asamblea Legislativa Plurinacional, 2014: 42, author’s translation)

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For the first time in the history of the Bolivian child legislation, the State recognises de reality of working children and provides a legal framework of protection (Liebel, 2014). In addition, Law 548 includes many provisions to contextualise the existence of child work in the country. Article 127 stipulates that “the work activities carried out by children and adolescents within the family and community framework are formative in nature and fulfil the function of socialisation and of learning”, thus recognising the socio-cultural value of child work in Bolivia (ibid). Additionally, Article 126 states “all children and adolescents hold the rights to be protected by the State (...) against economic exploitation and any form of work that may be adverse”, making a key distinction between child work and exploitation (ibid).

However, the ILO Committee urged the government of Bolivia to “repeal the provisions of the legislation” and to “immediately prepare a new law (...) increasing the minimum age for admission to employment or work in conformity with Convention No. 138” (Van Daalen and Mabillard, 2018: 10). On the 21st _{of July 2017 the Plurinational Constitutional Court (hereafter,}

PCC) declared Law 548 unconstitutional and proceeded to the cancelation of Article 129(2),

setting the minimum working age at above 14 years old (El Deber, 2018). According to sentence 0025/2017 of the PCC, Law 548 is “incompatible and contradictory to the UN Convention in the Rights of the child (UNCRC) and to the ILO Convention 138” (El Deber, 2018). Additionally, Article 129(2) would theoretically cut the country from receiving aid from the European GSP+ programme which grants preferential access to developing countries to the European market (Van Daalen and Mabillard, 2018).

Back in 1990s, Bolivia was amongst the first 10 countries to sign UNCRC recognising and advocating for children’s rights. In 1997, Bolivia ratified the ILO Convention 138 on the Minimum Age of Admissions to Employment (hereafter, C138) which sets the minimum age at 14 years old. Furthermore, in 2003 the Andean country ratified the ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (hereafter, C182) which deals with the immediate prohibition of intolerable forms of labour, including but not limited to modern slavery, sex work and illicit activities (Fontana and Grugel 2015). It is equally important to mention that to be eligible for preferential access to European markets through the GSP+ programme, Bolivia is obliged to ratify a series of human rights conventions, including C138 and C182 (Van Daalen and Mabillard, 2018). As such, Bolivia is theoretically locked-in an international abolitionist framework with regard to childhood policies and has thus very little space to legislate child work in ways that are sensitive to local reality.