THE DEPARTMENT of Social Welfare and Development reaffirmed its commitment to protect children from becoming victims of child labor, saying that it provided assistance to some 1,400 victim-survivors of child labor in 2022.

The help and interventions were implemented and facilitated by the agency’s Strategic Help Desks for Information, Education, Livelihood, and other Developmental Interventions against child labor.

“Through the SHIELD program, the identified child laborers were provided with holistic and immediate interventions at the community level including the provision of educational assistance from the DSWD and case referrals to other government agencies,” the department said in a statement.

“The program implementers from the different DSWD-Field Offices are using multi-layered strategies under the SHIELD program to help address child labor, particularly its worst forms,” it added.

Under the program, helpdesks at the barangay level were established, as well as the local registry system on child labor for referral and convergence of support services.

“DSWD continues the implementation of the SHIELD Against Child Labor across all regions of the Philippines to assist child laborers and as part of its efforts to help eliminate child labor in the country,” it said.