Building the knowledge base on the design and implementation of impact evaluation of child labour interventions UCW Impact Evaluation Project (UCW as project implementing partner) 1. Progressively eliminating child labor in the world continues to be a daunting challenge, but recent International Labor Organization (ILO) global estimates provide evidence that a breakthrough could be in the making. These estimates show an encouraging reduction in child labor – especially its worst forms – in many areas of the world. The number of child laborers globally fell by 11 percent during 2000-2004, while that of children in hazardous work decreased by 26 percent over the same period. It is particularly significant that the decrease is occurring most sharply in the area of hazardous work by children: the more harmful the work and the more vulnerable the children involved, the faster the drop. 2. What are the factors behind this success? Has the fall in child labor been primarily driven by policy? And, if so, what policies and programme interventions have been most influential? Or, alternatively, has this success been more a product of broader changes in the macro-economy and labor market? Unfortunately, robust empirical evidence relating to the impact of policies and programs on child labor remains limited, making these questions difficult to answer. 3. The proposed research project is directed towards helping address this information gap. Through a combination of methodological development, targeted field research, capacity building and research dissemination, it will contribute to building and spreading knowledge on the impact of specific programme interventions on child labor and ways to measure such impact. The knowledge generated will be used by a variety of actors (e.g., governments, international organizations, NGOs, multilateral and bilateral agencies) to help improve CL program design and effectiveness, and to guide the expansion of program interventions. A web-based “knowledge center” will be established as part of the project to help ensure the effective dissemination of the information generated to these actors. 4. The impact evaluations to be supported through the project will provide evidence concerning not only whether specific child labor program interventions work, but also on how they work and on their relevance for broader replication. The evaluations will provide answers concerning what impact specific interventions have on a set of child labor- and education-related outcomes under what specific conditions. Where possible, the project will also look at costs, in order to compare the relative efficiency of various interventions. The overall approach to impact evaluation will focus on achieving the required credibility and degree of evidence needed to influence policy and program design. The project will consider as appropriate the ongoing discussions in the impact evaluation community such as in the context of the International Initiative for Impact Evaluation (3IE), the Network of Networks for Impact Evaluation (NONIE) and related OECD/DAC discussions which are having a major influence on how impact evaluation is viewed in the area of social and economic development. 5. The current project proposal covers the first of what is envisaged as a two-stage research effort. This first stage will focus on evaluation design and initial data collection for three selected CL-related program interventions, while the second stage (beyond the scope of the current proposal) will involve follow-up data collection for the three selected program interventions, allowing for a comprehensive evaluation of both short- and longer-term impact. Depending on the type of interventions and expectations some of the evaluation and analysis foreseen for the second phase can be incorporated in the first phase. A two stage approach will also allow for other partners and funding agencies to be get involved in the process and possibly fund further activities. Specific activities to mobilize such partners could be envisaged in the project. 6. The other