KATHMANDU UNIVERSITY

SCHOOL OF MANAGEMENT

Group Project I:

Force Field Analysis: Child Labor in Transportation Industry

Submitted To: Ms. Jyoti Regmi Adhikary

Submitted By: Amit Kumar Gupta (12315) Dixit K.C. () Murarie Prasad Roy (12325) Nikki Shrestha () Ujjwal Chand (12310)

Date: 1st March 2013

Introduction
The issue of child labor is of grave concern for the world and more so for Nepal where the overall incidence of child labor is 42%. The figure is 61% among 10-14 year olds and 21% for 5-9 year olds. According to the rough estimates, transportation industry claims about 1.56% of these children as a source of cheap labor. From 1996 through 2011, the percentage of unemployment for children aged 1014 years has dropped from about 8% to 1.1%, which means more children are employed now then in 1996. Although Nepal has been signatory of the UN General Assemblys Convention on the Rights of the Child since September 1990 and is committed to the rights of the child to be protected from the economic exploitation and working conditions that are harmful to the childs mental, physical, moral and social development, the volume of the children in the workforce to this date is shameful for policy makers and enforcers. Under part IV, Directive Principle and Policy of the State, in Sub-article (8) of the Article 26 clearly states that: The state shall make necessary arrangements to safeguard the rights and interests of children and shall ensure that they are not exploited, and shall make gradual arrangements for free education. The Children Act and the Labor Act of 1992 explicitly prohibit the employment of the children between the ages of 14 to 18 years in the work that is likely to be harmful to their health and or life yet children are used as cheap labor in businesses like transportation, carpet, small hotels and others for negligible pay. But due to lack of the effective law enforcing mechanism, such legislations have served no purpose but of filing the pages of the law books. Despite the involvement of the civil society, pressure groups, international social service organizations and the government ministries, the problem stands firm and strong, making a joke to their decades of united efforts. In this report we have attempted to use the Force Field Analysis (FFA) to help Child Workers of Nepal (CWIN) develop strategies to effectively discourage employing child workers in the transportation business of Kathmandu valley in the most cost and time efficient manner.

Child Workers In Nepal (CWIN)

CWIN was established in 1987 by a group of student activists of Tribhuwan University to protect children living and working in conditions of risk and to recognize the child as an integral part of an adult dominated society (CWIN Nepal). For the past two decades CWIN has voiced the issues affecting children to various stakeholders including the Constituent Assembly. As of 2008, the organization had 37 regional centers scattered in all development regions of the country committed to the cause. The organization conducts campaigns and programs working alongside domestic and foreign agencies like

FORUT (Norway), Save the Children (Quinoa), Salaai (Belgium), Chance for Children (UK), ICDI, Intervita (Italy), ILO and others. Some of their current programs are Advocacy Through Action, Child Helpline 1098, Child Participation and Youth Empowerment and CWIN Education Sponsorship among many others. In 2012, CWIN celebrated its 25th anniversary.

Force Field Analysis

The principle of FFA was developed by Kurt Lewin, a social psychologist, in 1940s as a tool for the analysis of a situation by looking at the factors that influence it either by channeling it towards or away from the objective. It is widely popular in the fields of organizational development, change management, psychology and others where it is used to decide whether to go ahead with the change; and to increase your chances of success, by strengthening the forces supporting change and weakening those against it (Mind Tools). FFA can be used as a business management tool in a situation where we are planning a major change (Destination Innovation). The analysis starts by identifying the existing situation in which constructive change is desired. The objective of the FFA, in the form of change desired, is determined and underlined. Next, forces that can drive the change or block it are brainstormed and identified and their relative strengths quantified on a predetermined scale system. Enlisting all the relevant forces in a diagrammatic form helps the change agents develop strategies to weaken the restraining forces and strengthen the helping forces. Implementing these strategies helps the organization attain the desired change in time with minimum resistance and maximum participation.

Methodology
Our team visited the CWIN head office at Kuleswor and interviewed Mr. name and position here of CWIN to identify the various economic, legal, political, socio cultural and other forces that could help and/or hinder the organization to obtain the zero employment of children in the transportation industry. We also discussed and agreed on the current strength of these forces and their role in maintaining the status quo. As per our literature review, questionnaire, interview and discussion we identified the forces along with their relative strength on the scale of 1(weak) to 5(strong). The team then used the force field analysis to formulate strategies that CWIN could implement to reduce the current rate of child employment in the transportation industry.

Restraining Forces and Scores

The fact that child labor is still prevailing in the society indicates that there are forces at play that are driving children from the safety and comfort of their homes into the brutal work environment of the transportation business. Many of the children employed by the transportation industry come from poor families with history of single parents, domestic abuse, family and social problems and lack of education. Amidst the ignorance and poverty of their family and society, these children have no choice but to work to support themselves and their families. We have identified the following restraining forces that we believe are playing key role in sustaining the child labor figures are their current state: Attraction towards city (4) Many of the children involved in the transportation industry come from the rural areas of the country. Village life is considerably harsher then the city life with few resources, limited choices of occupation, negligible infrastructure, nonexistent opportunities and more. City life offers the children the glamour and possibilities they dream of growing up. Being able to find work, support themselves and their family, freedom to do what they want and as they please feels adventurous to many of them. The transition from the village life to city life is so overwhelming that many dont even realize that they are being exploited as cheap labor and exposed to unsafe and unhealthy working conditions. Attachment to vehicles (2) Ever since their childhood, the village kids are deeply attached to vehicles. Riding the hood or the ladder of the vehicle seems euphoria to those kids. Add to this, the style of drivers and conductors in terms of dressing sense, hair style attract the children to the transportation world. Income (1) Though many children come to the cities to support themselves and their families financially, they make very little money. Compared to the adults, children are paid a lot less by the employers, which they realize sooner than later. But then lack of better options gets them nowhere. Career opportunity as Driver (3) The child conductors lack higher education and thus look for opportunity (more so in the same industry) within fields requiring less educational background. Being a driver becomes their career goal which ensures that their present adventure of travelling places, driving vehicles, making money and living a jolly life continues. This is a fairly strong restraining factor as the industry experiences considerably low rate of turnover. The job seems fun to children, they get to make cash everyday and they know before long they will be driving their own vehicles. Its pretty alluring.

 Family Problem (2) Children that end up leaving their homes for work at such early age usually have family problems like poverty, single parents, domestic violence, abuse, debt and the like. It takes huge strength to shoulder the responsibility these children are burdened with. Disinterest towards Education (2) Numerous studies conducted by CWIN and its sister organizations have shown that many children have gotten into the work force because of their disinterest in education. Their families usually cannot afford the private education and the state of public education in Nepal is so miserable that it scares away more children than it attracts. Lack of proper and effective educational guidance, from family and the schools, is driving these children out of school into the work force. Cheap Labor (4) Cheap labor is perhaps the most important restraining force among all of these. Children are exploited by the transportation industry because they do the same work for a fraction of the cost that an adult would demand. Kids are more obedient, less demanding, hard working and easier to manipulate. Thus the industry exploits the needy kids and they keep hiring children despite the repeated crackdown by the law enforcement. Family problem is usually the trigger that drives

the children out of their homes into the work force amongst adults.

Pushing Forces and Scores

As one of the component force of the force field, the pushing force is the force that can help CWIN to resolve the issue of child employment in the transportation industry of Kathmandu, i.e. instill the change: Law Enforcement (1) The Nepalese interim constitution considers legal working age as 14 or above. But about 45% of the children working in the transportation industry are under this legal age (Education, 2009). Due to lack of effective law enforcement by traffic police, the children continue to work as conductors in microbuses, tempos, and buses. The crackdowns on the child labors in transportation industry are rare and infrequent. But, when they do enforce it, the use of children in vehicles is substantially reduced. Pressure Groups (3) Several NGOs have been working actively in Nepal to discourage the use of child labor and rehabilitate the children to provide better opportunities. NGOs like Child Workers in Nepal (CWIN) have been leading this crusade with significant support from Sahara Nepal, Gramin Bikas Manch, and others. Their organized efforts include both curative actions as well as preventive measures like working with the communities have helped reduce the use of child labor in the industry. But the

prevalence of child labor in the industry shows that the programs need to be more effective, far reaching and long term focused. Safety Concern (2) There are serious safety concerns for the child conductors ranging from fear of accidents to the health related issues. According to CWIN, when they conducted a thorough check of the child conductors, many of them had high content of dust particles and other pollutants in their sputum. Though they dont like such working conditions, lack of options confined children with their current jobs. Lack of Respect (1) The use of the word khalasi to address the child conductors was found to be hurtful to them. Some children aimed for better posts like drivers and mechanics for better pay and social recognition. Social Awareness (2) The major reason for the prevalence of child labor in the industry seems to be lack of significant social awareness. The communities, where the pressure groups have educated the stakeholders and instilled awareness of the eventual consequences of child labor to the whole society, have preserved children against the child labor. Creating social awareness to whole community is a very tedious and time consuming task. Due to small force and minimal support from government, the NGOs have not been able to instill awareness to a much larger population. FFA Graph

Restraining Forces (18)

5 4 3 2 1 Attraction towards City Cheap Labor Career Opportunity as Driver Family Problem Income

Attachment to Vehicles

Disinterest towards Education

Desired State (Stop child labor in transportation)

1 2 3 4 5

Law Enforcement Safety Concerns Pressure Groups

Social Status Social Awareness

Present State (Rampant use of

child labor in transportation)

Pushing Forces (9)

Fig1: Force Field Analysis

Lewins Three-Step Model

The framework for formulating successful strategies for change is provided by the Lewins three step model. The existing practice at CWIN is discussed next: Unfreezing the old practice and situation Change begins with the assessment of the existing practice or behavior. In the unfreezing process, CWIN emphasizes on the research activity based on data collection from different sectors divided on the basis of child labor population proximity and distribution and its analysis. The research forms the concrete base and acts as an evidence/rationale to prove that current practice are (not) working. Besides, the organization also conducts focus group discussion involving the transportation entrepreneurs, the children themselves, and the law enforcing agencies to identify the issues, probable way-outs, and coalition strategies via programs like out-of-station picnics. This is important as the involvement motivates all those involved to take corrective action and value the change to be introduced with joint efforts. Lastly, literature review of the existing laws is done in order to identify the externalities that can be drawn from them. Facts need to be established as to whether or not the current practice of child labor involvement in public transportation is addressed by the regulations, and the probable role the regulatory bodies can play to bring about the change. Moving to a new level of behavior/ practice The first step leads to the next as the need for a new direction to curb the undesirable practice is felt. In order to initiate the change, basically curative as well as preventive approach is adopted. Curative approach is limited to conducting massive campaign that involves awareness through leaflet circulation, counseling to the children, situation analysis interactions, rehabilitation, and dispatch of the children to their respective homes. All of this is done with active participation of traffic police without which the program fails to deliver its objectives. The children rescued by the traffic police then receive intensive counseling at transit homes where both mass as well as individual counseling is organized for the children to encourage them to resign from their current job. They receive rehabilitation as their needs are identified and in the form of education or skills development opportunities. Eventually, they are sent back to their homes. The curative approach helps tremendously on adoption of new direction and implementation of the vision set by CWIN. The resources and personnel are set in order to serve in the direction to deliver impact on greater scale.

Preventive approach, although in its primitive stage in CWIN, deals with finding the root causes for the child labor and weakening these forces so that child labor doesnt occur at the first place. These involve building strong relationships with communities and educating the society. Refreezing the new behavior/ practice Change is more of a process that takes time to and is not accepted easily. To institute positive change in the culture is a mighty task. CWIN has been successful in unfreezing the situation of child labor in public transportation, and in moving towards a new level of acceptable practice. However, since its role is limited as a pressure group or partners for change, the refreezing stage is not delivered with much success. In the lack of active and consistent law enforcement by the regulatory bodies, the refreezing process loses its intensity. Another reason for the failure is the lack of integrated approacha blend of curative as well as preventive approaches in the strategy formulation for the desired change. The children fleeing from the transit homes, escaping from their homes even after the successful campaigns, and indulging again in the public transportation sector challenges the success of the refreezing process.

Strategies Recommended:
CWINs vision is securing the childrens right by eliminating child labor. It implements the programs to reduce child labor using empirical-rational strategy This is done by instilling the thought of advantages the children will have if they opt for education instead of labor. Also, the society is shown the benefits it can have by eliminating child labor. normative-reeducative strategy This is done by educating and awaking the society as whole with organizational commitment backing. Based on FFA and our findings, we recommend CWIN to consider following strategies:-

Unfreezing stage
The unfreezing stage implemented by CWIN seems pretty equipped. The researches, which are conducted with participation from other NGOs, form the base for further actions. The findings give a reasoning tool for the NGO to ask government and other donor agencies to act on the issue in certain optimum ways. The findings also help induce a sense of urgency among all stakeholders to change the prevailing status quo. The rationale behind the reduction of child labor must be made clear for motivating society towards proposed level of change i.e. issues of health hazards, exploitation of child labor at cheap prices, increased in illiteracy rate, etc.

We recommend CWIN to use power- coercive strategy and empirical-rational strategy by lobbying with the government, encouraging traffic police and employers to abstain from employing child workers. For instance, charging huge fines for drivers as well as owners of the vehicles or even cancelling their licenses for employing child labor. This would: Weaken the force - Cheap labor : from 4 to 1

Moving stage
We recommend the following actions to move the society to new level of behavior/practice: The empirical rationale strategy of providing better incentives to the police force to motivate them to act on events of child labor in the transportation would instill fear among the workers and the ones promoting the child labor, directly or indirectly. This would ensure the movement of society towards a child-labor free situation. This can be done via including the task in the daily deliverables of traffic force as well as setting organizational goal by the police force to eliminate child labor. Strengthen the force Law Enforcement from 1 to 4

The NGOs should collaborate and co-ordinate to deliver much larger outcomes. It seems the organizations are working in isolation. Moreover, a lot of NGOs are pretty busy with appearing in media and boasting whatever less it has able to do. The organizations should have a synchronized vision of eliminating child labor in Nepal. For this, better programs needs to be delivered. Collaboration and co-ordination will also strengthen the position of the organizations and help the movement further. Also, implementing and sticking to result based programs rather than just having ineffective mass gatherings will ensure better delivery to the society. Strengthen the force Pressure Groups from 3 to 4

Awareness campaigns should be conducted more in the areas, from where significant number of children comes to work in the transportation industry. Clear and effective programs to educate the stakeholders of the community via pamphlets, videos or even resorting to radios would help them understand the havoc child labor can bring to societies. Strengthen the force Social Awareness from 2 to 4

The government schools in the remote areas of Nepal are in a very sorry state. Teacher absence, physical punishments and harassments are very common. On one hand, the kids are not taught in a fun manner, while on the other, expectations and the subsequent punishment upon failure is severe. This is why a lot of kids run away from school. The fear of facing the parents in these situations means that the children take a bus away from home and usually land in Kathmandu. Schools should be reorganized to better serve the children. Education is a miracle that can solve a lot of social problems. Educating the children on the benefits of higher education and the harshes of

indulging in labor from childhood would shape the kids and the society to avoid child labor. Also, the attraction to the city can be hugely reduced by educating them that all the pleasures of city life can be achieved faster by doing well in education. Future opportunities after higher education can be highlighted, Weaken the force Disinterest towards education from 2 to 1 Weaken the force Attraction to city from 4 to 2 Weaken the force Career opportunity as Driver from 3 to 1

By the above activity and by partnering with governmental organizations to educate the kids on productive sectors and provide skills and trainings to groom them for better future, CWIN can increase the opportunities for the kids. Doing so would mean higher social status to the kids in future. By showing kids that they can get into reputed positions via education and the skills and training programs, the dogma attached to khalasi can be increased and be associated with underachievers. Many kids have participated in the rehabilitation programs so as to get rid of the khalasi title they are bestowed upon and move to careers as mechanics. So, the social status seems to be a strong force. Strengthen the force Social Status from 1 to 3

Thus the Pushing Forces will total 17, while the Restraining Forces will total 10. The change is possible. By following these activities, CWIN can help the society to reduce the existence of child labor.

Refreezing stage
Perhaps the most important step in the change process is to refreeze the achievements. There have been ample cases when the organizations have counsel the children working in the industry, only to see them run away and move back to the industry. This shows lack of proper refreezing mechanism. The desired state of reduction and eventually, elimination of in child labor can be achieved only through success of refreezing stage. The activities such as providing childs family with micro-financing and employment opportunities, helping child to develop working skills, sending them to schools, etc. play important role to refreeze the enhancement of the childs right. The factor such as attraction towards urbanization, weak regulations, increased family violation, etc. can foster the failure of change movement. Thus, regular monitoring and active participation of society is important. The focus should be on active participation of society in accepting the change. For this, society should be educated the harms of child labor, and ways to avoid these should be developed. The education and awareness activities performed under the moving step also ensure the refreezing the changed practice.

Bibliography
CWIN Nepal. (n.d.). Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Center. Retrieved March 2, 2013, from CWIN: http://www.cwin.org.np/ Destination Innovation. (n.d.). How to use Force Field Analysis for Change Management. Retrieved March 2, 2013, from destination innovation: http://www.destination-innovation.com/articles/?p=742 Mind Tools. (n.d.). Force Field Analysis. Retrieved March 2, 2013, from Mind Tools: http://www.mindtools.com/pages/article/newTED_06.htm

Other References
1. Central Bureau of Statistics, Nepal Labor Force Survey, 1999, Kathmandu: 1999. 2. His Majesty's Government of Nepal, Ministry of Law, Justice and Parliamentary Affairs, Children Act, 2048 (1992) 3. Nepal Living Standards Survey 2010/2011