Promising practice: Engaging the sugar industry to sustain child labor-free farms

As part of World Vision’s ABK3 LEAP project in the Philippines, partnerships with sugar industry stakeholders — including producers, planters federations, ARB cooperatives, and the Sugar Regulatory Administration (SRA) — helped institutionalize sustainable approaches to eliminate child labor in sugarcane farms. The project supported the development and adoption of Voluntary Codes of Conduct in Bukidnon, Batangas, and Negros Occidental, setting clear guidelines on allowable work for minors and reinforcing national child labor laws. ABK3 LEAP also trained Child Rights Advocates from within the sugar industry to promote awareness of children’s rights and harmful labor practices, and successfully advocated for the integration of child labor prevention into the SRA’s national training programs. These efforts led to widespread policy adoption, budget allocations, and ongoing training structures, helping to embed child protection into the core of the sugar industry’s operations.