Children Lead the Way: Findings for a child rights-based apprenticeship framework in Burkina Faso

In Burkina Faso, one of the educational pathways the program offers for working girls and boys is through informal apprenticeships, as a form of vocational training in order to provide adolescent girls and boys with the skills needed to access and sustain dignified work.

Informal apprenticeships have emerged as a valued educational training component of livelihood programming for adolescent boys and girls and to transition into the workplace. However, a major issue is the violation of children’s rights, specifically girls, who participate in informal apprenticeships. These violations include violence against children and adolescents, excessive hours of work, and economic exploitation. Additionally, many adolescents drop out of their apprenticeship before its completion, or transition to unrelated business opportunities.

This led the CLW team and our partners to start a pilot initiative focusing on informal apprenticeship conditions in the Cascades region to provide girls and boys with the opportunity to engage in apprenticeships that enhance their rights!

We have engaged with girls and boys placed in apprenticeship, the master artisans, parents, partners and the staff from the relevant government institutions.

This experience was captured and analyzed in a report.