U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of International Labor Affairs

2002
U.S. Department of Labor

Bureau of International Labor Affairs

2002
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This report was prepared under the direction of Thomas B. Moorhead, Deputy Under

Secretary for International Affairs, Michael Magan and Jorge Perez-Lopez, Associate Deputy

Under Secretaries for International Affairs and Maureen Jaffe and Marcia Eugenio, Co-Directors

of the International Child Labor Program. Coordination of the report was by Charita Castro and

Kevin Willcutts and the writing, editing, research was done together with the International Child

Labor Program staff, Maya Bhullar, Chris Camillo, Meghan Cronin, Krista Desgranges, Sonia

Firpi, Sharon Heller, Sherin Khan, Carla Komich, Marie E. Ledan, Eileen Muirragui, Cortney

Oren, Michael Orona, Eileen Pennington, Veronica Puente-Duany, Deepa Ramesh, Vivita

Rozenbergs, Ben Smith, Ami Thakkar, and Mirellise Vazquez.

Other staff of the Bureau of International Labor Affairs, the Office of the Assistant

Secretary for Policy and the Office of the Solicitor who made major contributions include: Laura

Buffo, Sylvio Gonzalez, James A. Greene, Sue Hahn, Alfreda Johnson, Jennifer Kaerasora,

Selene Ko, Matt Levin, Viondette Lopez, E.J. Murtagh, Martha Newton, Tanya Rasa, Patricia

Requeno, Carlos Romero, Nikki Sayres, Gregory K. Schoepfle, Robert Shepard, Stephanie

Swirsky, Karen Travis, Diane Ward, Bob Zachariasiewicz, and Anne Zollner. Department of

Labor officials also received significant assistance from labor reporting officers, labor attaches,

and other officials in U.S. embassies and consulates abroad.

This report was published by the U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of International

Labor Affairs. Copies of this and other reports in ILAB’s child labor series may be obtained by

contacting the International Child Labor Program, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S.

Department of Labor, Room S-5307, 200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20210.

Telephone: (202) 693-4843; Fax: (202) 693-4830; Email: GlobalKids@dol.gov. The reports are

available on the Internet at: http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/reports/pubs_reports_ilab.htm.
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Preface .......................................................................................................................................... i

I. Introduction

A. Congressional Mandate and Legislative Requirements ......................................... 1

B. Scope of Report..................................................................................................... 1

C. Country Profile Format ......................................................................................... 2

1. The Incidence and Nature of Child Labor ................................................. 2

2. Children’s Participation in School............................................................. 3

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement ........................................................... 3

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling ................................... 4

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures ............................................. 5

D. Sources of Information .......................................................................................... 6

1. Reports and Other Materials...................................................................... 6

2. Period of Public Submission ..................................................................... 6

3. Field Visits................................................................................................ 6

E. Definitions and Concepts ...................................................................................... 7

1. Child Labor ............................................................................................... 7

2. The Worst Forms of Child Labor .............................................................. 7

3. Economically Active Children .................................................................. 8

4. Formal and Informal Sector ...................................................................... 8

5. Primary Gross and Net School Attendance ............................................... 9

6. Primary Gross and Net School Enrollment ............................................... 9

II. A Global Perspective

A. The Worst Forms of Child Labor ........................................................................ 11

1. Forced Labor........................................................................................... 11

2. Children of War ...................................................................................... 14

3. Commercial Sexual Exploitation............................................................. 16

4. Children Involved in Illicit Activities...................................................... 18

5. Other Hazardous Forms of Child Labor .................................................. 19

B. Combating Child Labor....................................................................................... 21

C. Evidence from 33 Countries................................................................................ 26
III. Country Profiles

1. Bangladesh .............................................................................................. 28

2. Benin ....................................................................................................... 33

3. Bolivia..................................................................................................... 39

4. Brazil....................................................................................................... 48

5. Cambodia ................................................................................................ 58

6. Costa Rica ............................................................................................... 67

7. Dominican Republic ............................................................................... 76

8. Egypt ....................................................................................................... 83

9. El Salvador.............................................................................................. 90

10. Ethiopia ................................................................................................... 96

11. Ghana .................................................................................................... 102

12. Guatemala ............................................................................................. 110

13. Haiti ...................................................................................................... 116

14. Honduras............................................................................................... 121

15. India ...................................................................................................... 128

16. Indonesia ............................................................................................... 136

17. Kenya .................................................................................................... 143

18. Lesotho ................................................................................................. 151

19. Mali....................................................................................................... 157

20. Nepal ..................................................................................................... 162

21. Nicaragua .............................................................................................. 168

22. Nigeria .................................................................................................. 175

23. Pakistan ................................................................................................. 181

24. Panama .................................................................................................. 189

25. Peru ....................................................................................................... 195

26. Philippines ............................................................................................ 204

27. Romania ................................................................................................ 212

28. South Africa .......................................................................................... 221

29. Tanzania ................................................................................................ 232

30. Thailand ................................................................................................ 239

31. Togo ...................................................................................................... 247

32. Uganda .................................................................................................. 253

33. Zambia .................................................................................................. 262
IV. Appendices

Appendix A: Child Labor Data Methodology ................................................ 271

Appendix B: Detailed Tables ......................................................................... 276

Appendix C: Table of Ratifications and ILO Membership ............................. 302

Appendix D ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age

for Employment ........................................................................ 303

Appendix E: ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms

of Child Labor........................................................................... 311

Appendix F: List of Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB)

Publications on Child Labor...................................................... 316

Preface

Child labor is recognized today as a problem that affects countries around the world. The

International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that there were some 211 million children

between the ages of 5 and 14 in economic activity in the world in 2000.1

1. Why do children work?

Child labor is generally the result of a combination of factors. The most frequently cited

cause, however, is poverty. Children often work to provide for themselves or to help their

families meet basic needs such as food and shelter. Families may suffer financial hardship

because of adult unemployment, underemployment, low prevailing adult wages, or the death,

illness, or injury of a parent or guardian. Child labor perpetuates poverty since children who

work in lieu of going to school are generally more likely to earn a lower income in the future.2

An increase in the incidence of child labor may also be associated with the impact of a

domestic or regional pandemic or economic shock. For example, in Africa, the rapid spread of

HIV/AIDS has undermined the ability of many extended families to provide for children, leading

to a rise in the number of child-headed households and of children engaged in various forms of

child labor.3 The East Asian crisis, which began as a currency crisis in 1997, created economic

hardship and led to a rise in adult unemployment, leaving many households less able to provide

for their children.4 Natural disasters, such as Hurricane Mitch, which struck Central America in

1998, can also have a severe impact on households, exacerbating the child labor situation in a

country or region.

Many children also work because they lack alternatives. Globally, an estimated 113

million children do not have access to primary education.5 Some lack access because schools are

not available or are located too far from their homes. Costs of schooling that have to paid by the

family—such as school fees or the cost of textbooks or required uniforms—can also place

education beyond the reach of children from poor families.

1 For an explanation of the distinction between the terms “economic activity” and “non-economic activity,” see

Appendix A. Every Child Counts: New Global Estimates on Child Labour (Geneva, Switzerland: International

Labour Office, 2002), 15 [hereinafter Every Child Counts.] 2 See By the Sweat and Toil of Children: An Economic Consideration of Child Labor, vol. 6 (Washington, D.C.:

U.S. Department of Labor, 2000), 41-44 [hereinafter By the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol. 6]. 3 For a general discussion, see Child Workers in the Shadow of AIDS: Listening to the Children (Nairobi, Kenya:

UNICEF Eastern and Southern Regional Office, June 2001).

4 The East Asian Crisis began in mid-1997 as a currency crisis in Thailand, but its impact was also felt in countries

such as Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and the Republic of Korea. While debate continues about what kind of

impact the crisis had on child labor in the region, some reports suggest that the child labor rose as a result of the

crisis. See Human Development Report of Thailand 1999 (Bangkok: United Nations Development Program, 1999),

142-43.

5 See figures on Education for All cited in the Dakar Framework for Action adopted by delegates to the World

Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal, in April 2000; see (www.unesco.org/education/efa/ ed_for_all/

dakfram_eng.shtml); cited October 1, 2001.

i
As demonstrated by the country profiles in chapter 3 of this report, cultural factors may

also restrict some children’s access to schooling. For example, in areas where girls are

traditionally considered essential to the running of a household, parents may be reticent to send

their daughters to school. Parents may also see little value in investing in a daughter’s education

since they expect her to leave the family once she marries. Other family circumstances may

make access to school particularly difficult for children. For example, children of migrant workers

face unique obstacles to schooling because their families move seasonally in search of work.6

Another factor contributing to child labor is the demand for children’s work. Some

employers may favor children for certain kinds of work—such as maneuvering through small

mine spaces or harvesting plants that are low to the ground—because of their small size.7

2. What kinds of work do children do?

As the evidence presented in this report suggests, children engage in many types of work

and are employed in many sectors. While child labor occurs in both urban and rural areas,

evidence suggests that work participation rates for children are much higher in rural areas, where

most children work in agriculture.8

In agriculture, children often work alongside their parents on commercial farms and

plantations or in subsistence agriculture. In many cases, systems of pay, such as piece work in

harvesting crops, encourage parents to rely on the labor of their children to increase family

income. Children working in agriculture face many hazards. They are exposed to the elements,

risk bites from snakes and insects, and in many instances, work without protective gear while

wielding dangerous tools such as machetes and working in close proximity to harmful

pesticides.9

Children are also employed in manufacturing, mining, quarrying, and services (e.g. in

restaurants and hotels, and in wholesale and retail trades). In manufacturing, children are

employed in making a variety of goods, including shoes, sporting goods, carpets, surgical

instruments, bidis,

10 matchsticks, glass bangles, and fireworks. They often work long hours for

little pay, and under hazardous conditions. Many children work without any sort of protective

clothing or gear, in workplaces that are poorly lit, inadequately ventilated, and generally unsafe.11

6 For a discussion of the link between child labor and education, see Good Practices in Action Against Child

Labour: A Synthesis Report of Seven Country Studies, 1997-98, by Independent Researchers (Geneva: International

Labor Organization, 2001), 69-70.

7 Christiaan Grootaert and Ravi Kanbur, “Child Labour: An Economic Perspective,” International Labour Review

134 (2) (1995): 195-96.

8 Survey evidence suggests that, on average, children in rural areas are twice as likely to participate in economic

activities than children in urban areas. See Statistics on Working Children at Section II. For full text, see

(www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/stats/child/stats.htm); cited October 24, 2001.

9 See Statistics on Working Children and Valentina Forastieri, Children at Work: Health and Safety Risks (Geneva:

International Labor Organization (ILO), 1997), 10.

10 The term bidi refers to small, hand-rolled cigarettes made primarily in South Asia.

ii
Most children work in the unregulated “informal sector,” which is generally beyond the reach of

the protection afforded by national laws on child labor.

Children work in mine shafts deep beneath the earth. They also break stones in quarries,

fish off deep-sea platforms, and scavenge in garbage dumps. In the service sector, children are

exploited as street vendors, porters, prostitutes, and domestic servants. Still, other children are

exploited and abused at the hands of criminals who use them to smuggle illicit goods, or they are

trafficked to be used for various forms of exploitative labor.12

Child labor does not affect all children uniformly. While boys are more likely to be

employed in wage-earning jobs, girls work more often in the family home or as domestic servants

in the homes of others, often without pay. The nature of such work often results in girls being

undercounted in child labor statistics.13 Certain children may also face greater risks than others.

Working children under the age of 12 years and working girls as being among the most

vulnerable.14

3. How has the international community taken action to address child labor?

In 1992, the International Labor Organization launched the International Program on the

Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) with the aim of working towards the progressive

elimination of child labor through strengthening countries’ capacity to address the problem and

supporting a movement to address child labor worldwide.15 Since its inception, membership in

ILO-IPEC has grown from 6 to 51 countries,16 and donor participation has grown from one

country in 1991 to 25 countries in 2000.17 The United States has contributed funds to support

ILO-IPEC since 1995. As of fiscal year (FY) 2001, the United States had contributed more than

US$112 million to ILO-IPEC, making it the program’s largest donor.

In addition to USDOL-funded child labor programs conducted by ILO-IPEC, the United

States has also funded child labor programs through the United States Agency for International

Development (USAID). These programs include activities intended to remove children from

abusive child labor and to develop educational alternatives for these children and others at risk of

abusive child labor.

11 See Statistics on Working Children. 12 See Statistics on Working Children; see also By the Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child

Labor, vol. 5 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 1998), 22-35, for a detailed discussion of the types of

work children do and the hazards they face in various sectors [hereinafter By the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol.

5].

13 See Statistics on Working Children; see also “Statistics: Revealing a Hidden Tragedy” (SIMPOC) (www.ilo.org/

public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/stats/4stt.htm).

14 “IPEC at a Glance” (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/about/implementation/ipec.htm) [hereinafter

“IPEC at a Glance.”]

15 Ibid.

16 For a complete list of IPEC member countries, see (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/

about/countries/t_country.htm).

17 For a full list of IPEC donor countries, see (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/about/donors/

t_donor.htm).

iii
The global campaign to address child labor has also involved the adoption of new

international instruments that seek to address the most serious forms of child exploitation. In

June 1998 at the 86th International Labor Conference, delegates adopted the ILO Declaration on

Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work.18 Among other things, the declaration calls for the

elimination of all forms of forced or compulsory labor and the effective abolition of child labor.19

One year later, in June 1999, delegates to the ILO’s 87th International Labor Conference

unanimously adopted ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. Convention

No. 182 built upon an earlier ILO convention, ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for

Employment. Article 3 of Convention No. 182 identifies as among the worst forms of child labor

all forms of slavery and practices similar to slavery; the use of children in activities such as

prostitution, pornography, drug production and drug trafficking; and the employment of children

in work likely to harm their health, safety or moral well-being.20 The convention calls on

ratifying countries to take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and

elimination of the worst forms of child labor as a matter of urgency. Article 7 of the convention

further calls upon ratifying countries to take time-bound steps to ensure that children removed

from the worst forms of child labor have access to basic education, and where appropriate,

vocational training. Convention No. 182, which formally came into force on November 19,

2000, has become the most rapidly ratified convention in the ILO’s history. One hundred and

fifteen countries had already ratified this convention by February 2002.21

On May 25, 2000, the United Nations General Assembly adopted two new optional

protocols to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC).22 The

Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict calls for countries party to

the protocol to “take all feasible measures to ensure that members of their armed forces who have

not attained the age of 18 years do not take a direct part in hostilities” and “ensure that persons

who have not attained the age of 18 years are not compulsorily recruited into their armed

forces.”23 The UNCRC Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child

Pornography calls on countries that are party to the protocol to prohibit the sale of children and

their commercial sexual exploitation through prostitution or pornography.24

18 For the full text of the declaration, see (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/decl/declaration/ text/index.htm);

cited October 24, 2001 [hereinafter Declaration].

19 Declaration at Section 2.

20 International Labor Organization (ILO) Recommendation No. 190, which accompanies Convention No. 182 on

the Worst Forms of Child Labor, provides further detail defining the worst forms of child labor.

21 In December 1999, the United States became one of the first countries to ratify the convention. See (http://

webfusion.ilo.org/public/db/standards/normes/appl/index.cfm?lang=EN); cited October 25, 2001.

22 Article 32 of this convention establishes the right of a child to be protected from economic exploitation and from

performing any work that is likely to be hazardous, interfere with his or her education, or is harmful to his or her

health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral, or social development. See Appendix F for the full text of the

Convention on the Rights of the Child.

23 For the full text of the protocol, see (http://www.unhchr.ch/html/menu2/6/protocolchild.htm); cited September

18, 2001.

24 Where sale is defined as “any act or transaction whereby a child is transferred by any person or group for

remuneration or any other consideration,” child prostitution as “the use of a child in sexual activities for

remuneration or any other consideration,” and child pornography as “any representation, by whatever means, of a

iv
In 2000, the United Nations General Assembly also adopted the Convention against

Transnational Organized Crime and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in

Persons, Especially Women and Children. The protocol aims to prevent and combat trafficking

in persons, especially women and children, and calls for protection and assistance for trafficking

victims, and cooperation among ratifying states.25 The protocol calls for countries party to the

protocol, in applying its provisions, to take into account the “age, gender and special needs of

victims of trafficking in persons, in particular the special needs of children, including appropriate

housing, education and care.”26 In addition, it calls for countries party to the protocol to “take or

strengthen measures, including through bilateral or multilateral cooperation, to alleviate the

factors that make persons, especially women and children, vulnerable to trafficking, such as

poverty, underdevelopment and lack of equal opportunity.”27

In October 2000, the United States enacted national legislation, the Victims of Trafficking

and Violence Protection Act of 2000 (H.R. 3244) to address the trafficking of persons for

exploitative labor. This new legislation aims to provide assistance and protection to trafficking

victims, with a special emphasis on women and children, both in the United States and abroad.

The act also calls for actions aimed at prevention, including programs intended to keep children,

especially girls, in elementary and secondary schools, and the development of educational

curricula regarding the dangers of trafficking.28

Initiatives that promote universal access to primary education for children have

complemented the campaign to eliminate child labor. In April 2000, participants at the World

Education Forum in Dakar reaffirmed the 1990 World Declaration Education for All initiative.

Article 7 of the Dakar Framework for Action calls for:

...ensuring that by 2015 all children, particularly girls, children in

difficult circumstances and those belonging to ethnic minorities,

have access to and complete free and compulsory primary

education of good quality....29

child in real or simulated explicit sexual activities or any representation of the sexual parts of a children for

primarily sexual purposes”; see (www.unhchr.ch/html/ menu2/dopchild.htm); cited September 18, 2001. 25 According to the protocol, the “recruitment, transportation, transfer, harboring or receipt of a child for the

purpose of exploitation” shall be considered trafficking even if the circumstances did not involve “threat or use of

force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception.” See Section I, Article 3, points c and d of

the protocol. For the full text of the protocol, see (www.uncjin.org/Documents/Conventions/dcatoc/

final_documents_2/convention_%20traff_eng.pdf); cited September 19, 2001.

26 Ibid. at Section II, Article 6, point 4, of the protocol. 27 Ibid. at Section III, Article 9, point 4, of the protocol. For the full text of the protocol, see (www.uncjin.org/

Documents/Conventions/dcatoc/final_documents_2/convention_%20traff_eng.pdf); cited September 19, 2001.

28 See H.R. 3244, “Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000,” 106th Congress. 29 For the full text of the Dakar Framework for Action adopted by the World Education Forum in Dakar, Senegal,

in April 2000, see (www.unesco.org/education/efa/ed_for_all/dakfram_eng.shtml).

v
The vision expressed in the Dakar framework focused on education as a fundamental

human right of all children. The framework calls education “the key to sustainable development

and peace and stability within and among countries.”30

In addition to its support for efforts to combat child labor through ILO-IPEC, the U.S.

Department of Labor provided grants in FY2001 and FY2002 to promote and enhance children’s

access to quality education. This effort aimed to raise awareness about the importance of

education for all children and mobilize a wide array of actors to improve and expand existing

educational infrastructures. It also sought to strengthen formal and transitional education systems

that encourage working children and those at risk of working to attend school, while working to

enhance national capacity to ensure the long-term sustainability of these efforts.

30 Ibid.

vi
1

CHAPTER I: INTRODUCTION

A. Congressional Mandate and Legislative Requirements

This publication is the seventh congressionally mandated report on international child

labor prepared by the Department of Labor’s Bureau of International Labor Affairs (ILAB). As

requested by the Senate Committee on Appropriations, the report identifies countries in which

abusive and exploitative child labor is prevalent and describes “policies and initiatives by relevant

foreign governments to reduce the exploitation of children.”31 The report also includes requested

information on adult unemployment rates, military spending, and social spending, including

expenditures on health care and education.32

B. Scope of Report

The Senate Committee requested that ILAB work from its 1998 report, By the Sweat &

Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor, and make efforts to include countries not

analyzed in previous reports. With this goal in mind, this report builds upon the 16 countries

profiled in ILAB’s 1998 report, and includes information on additional countries as requested in

the Congressional language. Additional countries were selected based on ILAB’s ongoing

research and data collection on the incidence of child labor and efforts to address the problem.

In addition, the second chapter of this report provides a more global perspective on the problem

of child labor, with examples of some of the hazardous forms of work that involve children as

well targeted efforts to address some of these forms drawn from over 50 countries.

In the third chapter of the report, a more detailed assessment is made of the child labor

situation in 33 countries where more information is available on both the problem and strategies

being employed to address it. The countries included in this section of the report are Bangladesh,

Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Cambodia, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Egypt, El Salvador,

Ethiopia, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Lesotho, Mali, Nepal,

Nicaragua, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Romania, South Africa, Tanzania,

Thailand, Togo, Uganda, and Zambia.

In reviewing the evidence presented in the 33 country profiles in chapter 3, it is important

to note that these countries do not reflect a listing of those with the most extensive child labor

problems. Rather, the chapter examines a range of countries at different levels of economic

development and at various stages in their efforts to address the complex problem of child labor.

31 This report has been prepared in accordance with the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and

Education and Related Agencies Appropriation Bill of 2000, Senate Report No. 106-166, 106th Congress,

September 29, 1999. The full text of S.R. 106-166 can be found at: ftp://ftp.loc.gov/pub/thomas/cp106/sr166.txt

32 Data in this report come from published sources. Because published adult unemployment rates by country were

unavailable, total unemployment rates are presented instead. See Appendix B for a list of detailed tables.
2

Many of the countries profiled in this chapter are notable for the level of efforts being undertaken

to address child labor and promote educational opportunities for children. The following section

presents in more detail the structure according to which the 33 country profiles are organized.

C. Country Profile Format

The 33 country profiles included in this report provide information under the following

structure:

1. The Incidence and Nature of Child Labor

The first section reviews estimates of the incidence of child labor in each of the 33

countries and provides examples of the types of sectors and activities in which children are

reported to work. Evidence on where children work is drawn from a variety of sources. The

types of child labor cited are intended to reflect the scope of the child labor situation in each

country.

Statistics on the labor force activity of children are often reported as a single estimate, and

are not disaggregated for work that is exploitative or harmful to children, “child labor.” It is

important to note that statistics presented in these profiles do not necessarily reflect that the work

performed by children is considered child labor. Work that is considered “child labor” prevents

children from attending and participating effectively in school, or is performed by children under

hazardous conditions that place their healthy physical, intellectual or moral development at risk.

Some work performed by children, however, is not considered to be harmful or exploitative. This

could include performing light work after school, household chores, or legitimate apprenticeship

programs.

There is no internationally endorsed definition on working children, or universally

prescribed methodology for collecting data on child labor. The lack of concepts and methods for

collecting child labor data makes it difficult to obtain comparable and reliable statistics across

countries on working children. Therefore, statistics measuring the incidence of working children

in the individual country profiles vary by age ranges and the definition used to measure child

labor.

This report includes two types of sources of data on working children. First, all the

country profiles include the most recent (1998 or 1999) available estimates on children’s labor

force activity rates from the ILO’s database on Estimates and Projections of the Economically

Active Population, 1950-2010 or ILO’s Yearbook of Labor Statistics for children between the

ages of 10 and 14 years.33 Second, where available, statistics are also presented from national

surveys designed specifically to measure the extent and nature of working children. Even though

33 World Bank (2000), World Development Indicators 2000, The World Bank: Washington, D.C., p.49. See Also

International Labor Organization (1999), Yearbook of Labour Statistics (Geneva: ILO, 1999), International Labor

Organization (2000), Yearbook of Labour Statistics (Geneva: ILO, 2000), and Table 1 in Appendix B.
3

some statistics from such surveys may date prior to 1998 or 1999, they are still of value since

they represent a broader population of working children by age range and definition compared to

statistics collected from the ILO’s database, which is based on traditional labor force or

government surveys. Estimates on the number of working children from the ILO’s Estimates and

Projections of the Economically Active Population, 1950-2010 are generally founded on the

definition of the “economically active population,” which typically excludes children below the

age of 10 years, and does not include children working in informal work settings, non-economic

activities, or “hidden” forms of work such as domestic service or child prostitution, or children in

armed conflict. While child labor surveys may not capture all of the worst forms of child labor,

the definition of working children is extended to include children 5 years of age and older, and

children working in the informal work sector such as agriculture and household work.34

2. Children’s Participation in School

The second section provides a brief assessment of the level of children’s involvement in

schooling. Where available, primary school enrollment and attendance figures are presented,

along with estimates of the percentage of children reaching the fifth grade and the number that

repeat a grade of school, where available. Again, where gender, ethnicity, or the rural/urban

dynamic are particularly significant, information pertaining to these issues is presented.

Likewise, where specific obstacles exist to children’s participation in schooling, such factors are

reviewed.

In cases where primary school attendance rates are unavailable, enrollment rates should

only be considered as a relative indicator of child labor. While enrollment rates indicate a level of

commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in school. Countries

with a higher incidence of child labor tend to have lower school enrollment rates, and countries

with a lover incidence of child labor tend to have higher school enrollment rates.35 However,

school enrollment rates sometimes do not capture this relationship in absolute terms because (1)

children may be “enrolled” in school, but do not actually “attend” school, or (2) children who are

enrolled in school, may combine school and work. Therefore, it is possible in some instances for

countries to report a high incidence of child labor, and a relatively high rate of enrollment. In

general, attendance rates should appear lower than enrollment rates.

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The third section reviews major laws and policies related to child labor and evidence

regarding implementation. Laws and policies covered in this section include those that establish

a minimum age for work and those that set related standards for light work, apprenticeships,

permitted hours of work for children of different ages, and requirements of parental approval.

34 For a more detailed discussion on child labor measurement see Appendix A.

35 Bureau of International Labor Affairs, By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume VI): An Economic

Consideration of Child Labor (2000), 5.
4

Special attention is given to laws and policies that prohibit children’s involvement in certain

hazardous forms of work.

In addition, where available, information on penalties for violations of child labor laws

and policies are described, as is information pertaining to enforcement and prosecution. The

institutional mechanisms set up to promote adherence and enforcement of child labor laws are

also reviewed. Finally, the section notes whether a country has ratified ILO Conventions No. 138

on Minimum Work Age and No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, the ILO’s two

principal conventions on child labor.

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

The fourth section of the country profiles considers countries’ measures to address child

labor. While child labor laws represent an important step toward addressing exploitative child

labor, these regulations apply and tend to be enforced primarily if not solely in the formal sector.

In many countries, however, most children engage in child labor in unregulated sectors of the

economy. In such instances, laws may not be sufficient to address the immediate needs of

children facing abuse and exploitation. With this in mind, this section considers other steps to

address child labor.

This part of the country profiles is divided into two subsections. The first subsection

considers efforts undertaken at the national level to address the incidence of child labor, in some

cases by attacking its root causes. In a number of countries, governments have developed

national plans of action that include a combination of strategies. Such programs generally seek to

raise awareness about child labor, develop capacity to address the problem, and seek to withdraw

children from exploitative work and offer them valuable alternatives. National programs often

seek to enhance the effectiveness of existing institutional mechanisms or develop new

mechanisms where needed. In some instances, the prevalence or severity of child labor in a

particular region or sector may require more immediate action. Targeted efforts to reduce child

labor generally go beyond withdrawing children from exploitative work by ensuring that they

have valuable educational alternatives and that their families have access to income generating

opportunities that help reduce their dependence on the labor of their children.

The second subsection provides an overview of efforts aimed at enhancing children’s

participation in school as well as the benefits they derive from education. Laws and policies that

set educational requirements in each country are presented, along with examples of major

initiatives and other efforts aimed at promoting quality schooling for children are considered.

It is important to note that the projects described in this section do not represent an

exhaustive list of efforts under way, but rather, examples of the kinds of actions being undertaken

in each country to address exploitative child labor and promote schooling for children.
5

For instance, USAID has funded child labor programs in 14 of the countries profiled

here. 36 They include basic education initiatives targeting child workers and at-risk children,

programs addressing child trafficking, services to former child soldiers, the removal of indentured

children from agricultural employment, the mobilization of grass-roots organizations and labor

unions, and advocacy at the national and international levels.

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The fifth and final section of each country profile contains information on selected

government expenditures expressed as a percentage of gross national product (GNP) in the form

of a bar chart. This chart shows education spending as well as government expenditures on the

military, health care, and debt servicing. Where available, data are also presented on government

education expenditure specifically dedicated to primary education.

The chart and the related tables on government spending and unemployment provided in

Appendix B (Tables 14 through 21) respond to the congressional request to the extent possible

from published information to “include an analysis of the countries’ adult unemployment rate,

military spending and social spending to include expenditures on health care and education.” In

preparing this report, the Department of Labor initially sought to present information on the

percentage of total government expenditure devoted to education, military, public health, and

debt servicing. Such information, however, was not available for each of the 33 countries

covered in this report, and for this reason information is presented instead on government

expenditures as a percentage of GNP.37

36 These countries include Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Nepal, Nigeria,

Pakistan, Philippines, Romania, Tanzania, and Uganda.

37 Public expenditure on education offers one indicator of the level of government commitment to reduce child

labor. Evidence suggests that countries are generally placing a higher priority on funding for primary education

than they did in 1990; see UNESCO, Institute for Statistics, Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment (Paris, 2000)

[hereinafter Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment]. According to UNESCO, in every region except Central Asia

and Central and Western Africa, the percentage of public expenditure devoted to primary education has, on

average, risen in relation to gross national product (GNP). The median average for all regions rose from a range of

0.8 percent to 2.2 percent in 1990, to a range of 1.3 percent to 2.3 percent in 1998. Average spending on education

as a percentage of GNP, however, amounted to less than 1.7 percent of GNP in 1998; see Education for All: Year

2000 Assessment at 12-13. An ILO study estimated that at least 10 percent of a country’s per capita GNP should be

spent on primary education in order to adequately educate one primary school student for 1 year; see James Hough,

Costs and Benefits of Establishing Universal Primary Schooling as a Means toward the Elimination of Child

Labour, ILO Working Paper (Geneva: International Labor Organization, 1997), 22.
6

D. Sources of Information

1. Reports and Materials

In preparing this report, the U.S. Department of Labor relied on a wide variety of reports

and materials collected by ILAB’s International Child Labor Program. As requested by the

Congress, ILAB drew upon the information on international child labor presented in the first six

volumes in the By the Sweat and Toil of Children series. The Department also has utilized

information received from U.S. embassies and consulates abroad, and information from other

U.S. Government sources referenced, as well as materials from a number of international

organizations (including ILO-IPEC, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the

World Bank), nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), trade unions, and employers groups.

2. Period of Public Submission

In preparing this report, the U.S. Department of Labor issued a public request for

information that was published in the Federal Register. The Federal Register notice requested

interested parties to submit written information to the Department of Labor on the incidence and

nature of child labor as well as efforts to address child labor and promote schooling opportunities

for children.38 Information was received from different groups including responses from foreign

governments and communications from nongovernmental organizations that work on issues

related to child advocacy, human rights, and labor relations. This information was included, as

appropriate, in the writing of this report.

3. Field Visits

Representatives of the U.S. Department of Labor traveled to all 33 of the countries

profiled in chapter 3 of this report, as well as a number of the countries covered in chapter 2,

during the period from June to November 2000 to gather information on the extent and nature of

child labor and ongoing efforts to eradicate the problem. In preparing for field visits, U.S.

Department of Labor officials conferred with U.S. Department of State country and regional desk

officers, and officials of the Department of State’s Office of Democracy, Human Rights and

Labor. USAID was also consulted on the country, regional and global child labor programs that

it has funded. During the course of country visits, officials of the Department of Labor were

assisted by labor reporting officers, labor attachés, and other officials in U.S. embassies and

consulates abroad.

U.S. Department of Labor officials conducted interviews in each country with as many

individuals and organizations concerned with children’s issues as possible. Among those

38 “Request for Information on Efforts by Certain Countries to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor,” Bureau

of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, Federal Register 65, no. 156 (August 11, 2000), 49,

465-67.
7

contacted were representatives of government, employer and worker organizations, civil society,

human rights groups, academic institutions, the media, international organizations,

nongovernmental organizations, as well as children and their families. Whenever possible, U.S.

Department of Labor officials conducted site visits of factories, workshops, farms, and other

places of work.

E. Definitions and Concepts

1. Child Labor

It is important to note that not all work performed by children is considered detrimental or

exploitative. The term “child labor” generally refers to work performed by persons under the age

of 15, in agreement with the standard set forth in ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for

Employment.39 Child labor does not usually refer to performing light work after school or

legitimate apprenticeship programs. Rather, the child labor of concern is work that prevents

children from attending and participating effectively in school or that is performed by children

under hazardous conditions that places at risk their healthy physical, intellectual and moral

development.

In the case of activities considered among the “worst forms of child labor” (see further

discussion below), the term “child labor” may also include activities by persons up to the age of

18, in agreement with the standard set forth in ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of

Child Labor.40

2. The Worst Forms of Child Labor

The term “worst forms of child labor,” as used in this report, is intended to coincide with

the definition presented in ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor and

related ILO Recommendation No. 190. Convention No. 182 defines the worst forms of child

labor as comprising all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and

trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labor, including

forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; the use, procuring or

offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic

performances; the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the

production and trafficking of drugs as defined in relevant international treaties; or any work

39 ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment permits countries whose economy and educational

facilities are insufficiently developed to initially specify a minimum working age of 14 (rather than 15), and reduce

from 13 to 12 years the minimum age for light work. ILO Convention No. 138 defines “light work” as work that is

not likely to harm a child’s health or development, or prejudice his or her attendance at school. The convention

prohibits all children under the age of 18 from undertaking hazardous work—that is, work that is likely to

jeopardize their health, safety, or morals. For the full text of ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for

Employment, see Appendix C. 40 For the full text of ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, see Appendix D.
8

which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health,

safety or morals of children.41

Recommendation No. 190 defines the worst forms of child labor as “work which, by its

nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals

of children.” The recommendation notes that such forms would include work that exposes

children to physical, psychological, or sexual abuse; work underground, under water, at

dangerous heights, or in confined spaces; work with dangerous machinery, equipment or tools, or

work under circumstances which involve the manual handling or transport of heavy loads; work

in an unhealthy environment that exposes children to hazardous substances, agents or processes,

or to temperatures, noise levels, or vibrations damaging to their health; and work under

particularly difficult conditions such as for long hours, during the night or under conditions where

children are unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer. The phrase, however, is

generally not meant to apply to situations in which children work for their parents on bona fide

family farms or holdings.42

3. Economically Active Children

The primary vehicles for gathering information on working children are through national

census, household surveys, work establishment surveys, or general labor force surveys. Data

collected on child labor from census surveys and household surveys are generally based on a

definition of the “economically active population.” The standard definition of “economically

active” includes work performed for a non-family-owned enterprise, whether or not pay is

involved. It also includes work performed within the home for one’s own family if the work

done contributes in some way to overall household income.

4. Formal and Informal Sector

The line between the formal and informal sectors of a country’s economy is difficult to

define. In general, the formal sector is regulated by the government and subject to laws and

regulations. By contrast, the informal sector is generally described as the part of a country’s

economy that is largely unregulated.43 The informal sector is often comprised of small

enterprises or self-employed individuals in economically marginal activities, generally involving

little capital and frequently clandestine or unregistered activities. Employers in the informal

sector are generally not held accountable for meeting labor or occupational safety standards.

Many children work in the informal sector, in part because laws restricting child labor are

generally not enforced. Since adherence to regulations is less likely in the informal sector, there

may also be an increased risk that children working in this sector will be exploited or injured on

the job.

41 Ibid.

42 For full text of ILO Recommendation No. 190, see (http://ilolex.ilo.ch:1567/scripts/convde.pl?R190). 43 International Labor Organization [On-line, site visited on 3/30/01]. Informal Sector: Who are they? On-line:

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/employment/skills/informal/who.htm
9

5. Primary Gross and Net School Attendance

The “gross” school attendance rate represents the number of children (regardless of age)

in a given country that are in attendance in a specific school level, such as primary or secondary,

divided by the total number of children in the country that are of the official age for that level of

schooling. As such, gross attendance rates can exceed 100 percent. This generally suggests

either that children are not starting school at the official age or that children are repeating years of

schooling.

The “net” school attendance rate is the number of children of the official age for a

schooling level who are in attendance in that level divided by the total number of children in the

country that are of the official age for that level of schooling. Unlike gross attendance, net

attendance rates cannot exceed 100 percent.

6. Primary Gross and Net School Enrollment

Similar to the discussion on primary gross and net school attendance rates; primary gross

and net school enrollment rates follow the same definitional concepts described above. The

primary “gross” enrollment rate is the rate of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population

of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of primary education, which can exceed

100 percent.

The primary “net” enrollment rate is the rate of the number of children of official school

age, as determined by each country, who are enrolled in school to the population of the

corresponding official school age, and cannot exceed 100 percent.44

44 World Development Indicators 2000 (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2000).

11

CHAPTER II: A GLOBAL PERSPECTIVE

 This chapter considers evidence from a number of countries where children are reported

to work under particularly hazardous conditions. Examples are intended to demonstrate the scope

of the global child labor problem, with emphasis placed on the worst forms of child labor as

identified under International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182. These forms

include: forced labor by children; trafficking of children for exploitative labor; forcible

recruitment of children for use in armed conflicts; exploitation of children in the commercial sex

industry; the use of children for illicit activities such as the trafficking of drugs; and the

involvement of children in other hazardous labor that places at risk the health, safety, and morals

of children.

Under ILO Convention No. 182, ratifying countries are called upon to address such forms

of child labor as a matter of urgency. This chapter notes the commitment that many governments

are making to eliminate child labor, particularly its worst forms. However, while the global

campaign to end child labor has gained considerable momentum over the past decade, some

governments still lack the kinds of policies and initiatives needed to protect children from being

exploited in the workplace and from suffering the worst forms of child labor.

A. The Worst Forms of Child Labor

1. Forced Labor

Children work in many countries under forced labor conditions. In some cases, children

work to pay off the debts of their parents. In other cases, bonded labor may involve an entire

family and be passed on from one generation to the next. Children involved in forced labor lack

basic freedoms, frequently work for long hours for little or no compensation, and are generally

deprived of the opportunity to attend school.

● In Burma, forced or compulsory labor has been widely imposed on children below the age of

18, some as young as 10 years of age. According to ILO reports, women and children in

Burma have been forced to build military camps, roads, and railways, and to serve as sentries,

porters, messengers, and even human shields and minesweepers—sweeping roads with tree

branches or brooms to detect or detonate mines.45

45 In November 2001, the governing body of the International Labor Organization (ILO) reported the continued

incidence of bonded labor by children in Burma. See “Developments Concerning the Question of the Observance

by the Government of Myanmar of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29),” Report of the High-Level Team

(HLT) (Geneva: International Labor Office (ILO), November 2001); see also Forced Labour in Myanmar (Burma),

report of the Commission of Inquiry appointed under Article 26 of the Constitution of the International Labor

Organization to examine the observance by Myanmar of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) (Geneva:

ILO, July 2, 1998); Report on Labor Practices in Burma (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, September

1998), Chapter 4; and 2000 Report on Labor Practices in Burma (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor,

February 2000), 55-60.
12

● In Cambodia, children are known to work as commercial sex workers under conditions of

debt bondage to pay off loans taken out by their parents.46 Children are also trafficked from

Cambodia, mainly to Thailand, to work as bonded laborers in the commercial sex

industry.47

● Children are reported to work under bonded conditions on cocoa farms in Cote d’Ivoire, in

many cases having been trafficked from neighboring countries.48 According to a 1998 report

by a National Commission to investigate the trafficking of Malian children to other countries,

1,500 children between the ages of 7 to 10 years were living in work encampments in Côte

d’Ivoire.49

● In India, there are reports of bonded child labor in several sectors, including the carpet

manufacturing industry,50 agriculture (particularly on small-scale, rural farms),51 and in the

construction industry.52

● In Mauritania, despite slavery having been abolished in 1980, allegations persist that

thousands of persons, including children, work in the country under slave-like conditions.53

46 Government of Cambodia, Ministry of Planning, Cambodia Human Development Report 2000: Children and

Employment (Phnom Penh, 2000), 37. 47 Ibid. at 38; see also Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report

(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, July 2001) [hereinafter Trafficking in Persons Report], 35. 48 Sudarsan Raghavan and Sumana Chatterjee, “A Taste of Slavery,” Knight Ridder, June 24, 2001. For the full text

of this series of articles, see http://web.krwashington.com/content/krwashington/2001/06/24/washington/SlaveryMainIndex.htm. In response to these reports, the Chocolate Manufacturers Association and the World Cocoa

Foundation signed a protocol in October 2001 by which they committed themselves to work with the ILO, U.S.

Agency for International Development (USAID), and other major stakeholders on “a joint action program of

research, information exchange, and action to enforce internationally recognized and mutually-agreed upon

standards to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in the growing and processing of cocoa beans and their

derivative products.” See “Protocol for the Growing and Processing of Cocoa Beans and Their Derivative Products

in a Manner that Complies with ILO Convention 182 Concerning the Prohibition and Immediate Action for the

Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor,” Chocolate Manufacturers Association, Vienna, Virginia, October

1, 2001.

49 Sory Ibrahim Guindo, “Rapport d’étape sur le trafic d’enfants maliens: Plus de 1,500 mineurs recensés en Côte

d’ Ivoire,” Liberté, December 21, 1998. 50 By the Sweat and Toil of Children: The Use of Child Labor in U.S. Agricultural Imports and Forced and Bonded

Child Labor, vol. 2, 85-94 [hereinafter By the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol. 2]; By the Sweat and Toil of

Children: Consumer Labels and Child Labor, vol. 4, at 19-22. 51 By the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol. 2, at 125-32. Bonded labor in the farm sector occurs when landless

peasants and tenant farmers must turn to landlords for loans in the form of cash or food, to be repaid with labor.

Instead of decreasing with the time worked, however, the loans often increase, and bondage becomes a way of life

for generations.

52 Isabel Austin, UNICEF state representative for Tamil Nadu and Kerala, interview with U.S. Department of Labor

official, May 5, 1998 [hereinafter Austin interview]. A 1996 Human Rights Watch report found bonded child labor

in the agricultural and silk industries as well as in the production of bidis, carpets, silver, synthetic gemstones and

leather products; see The Small Hands of Slavery: Bonded Child Labor in India (Human Rights Watch, September

1996), available at www.hrw.org/hrw/reports/1996/India3.htm. See also Country Reports on Human Rights

Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2001) [hereinafter Country Reports 2000].
13

● According to one study, an estimated 33,000 children work as bonded laborers in Nepal, out

of which 13,000 are thought to be kamaiya children, a system of agricultural bonded labor.54

● In the Philippines, estimates suggest that over 300,000 children under the age of 18 work as

domestic servants, often under bonded labor conditions.55

● In June 2001, the ILO’s Committee of Experts noted reports of boys—some as young as five

years of age—kidnapped, sold by their parents, or trafficked under false pretenses to the

United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), and forced to work as jockeys in camel races.56 Children

as young as 4 and 5 years old are trafficked from Bangladesh to the U.A.E. to work as camel

jockeys.57 Young boys are also known to be trafficked from India58 and Pakistan59 to the

Middle East to serve as camel jockeys.

Globally, estimates suggests that between 700,000 and one million persons, women and

children in particular, are trafficked every year for exploitative labor, and in many cases, for the

purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.

● According to some estimates, more than 20,000 women and children are trafficked from

Bangladesh every year, many ending up in bonded labor, menial jobs, or in prostitution.60

● Girls as young as 14 years old are kidnapped and smuggled out of Bulgaria to destinations

across Europe. Women and girls are also trafficked into Bulgaria from the former Soviet

Union and Macedonia for the purposes of prostitution.61

53 Kevin Bales, Disposable People (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University of California Press, 1999), Chapter 3;

BBC News Online, “World: Africa Award for Mauritanian Anti-Slavery Activist,” available at

http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/newsid_216000/216539.stm; Douglas Farah, “Despite Legal Ban,

Slavery Persists in Mauritania,” Washington Post, October 21, 2001 [hereinafter “Slavery Persists in Mauritania”];

“Slavery Lives on in Mauritania: Tradition Thrives Thanks to a Confluence of Cultures,” National Public Radio,

August 21, 2001, available at www.npr.org/programs/specials/racism/010828.mauritania.html, as cited on

December 4, 2001; Kendall Wilson, “Slavery Thrives in African Nation,” Philadelphia Tribune, June 25, 1999, 1A;

“Mauritania: Paradise under the Master’s Foot: An 800-Year-Old System of Black Chattel Slavery Thrives in

Mauritania”; Country Reports 2000—Mauritania; “Slavery Persists in Mauritania.” 54 ILO-IPEC, “Child Bonded Labour: Nepal,” Child Bonded Labour, September 1999.

55 Country Reports 2000—Philippines at Section 6c. 56 ILO, Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, 89th Session

2001 (Geneva: ILO, 2001), 566-67. For comments in response to the Report of the Committee of Experts on the

Application of Conventions and Recommendations, see Government of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and the

UAE worker and employer members, International Labour Conference Provisional Record, Eighty-ninth Session,

No. 19, Part 2 (Geneva: ILO, 2001), 83-84.

57 U.S. Embassy-Abu Dhabi, unclassified telegram no. 003162, May 29, 2000.

58 Country Reports 2000—India at Section 6d. 59 Trafficking in Persons Report at 92. 60 Country Reports 2000—Bangladesh at Section 6f. 61 Bulgaria is both a source and a transit country for human trafficking. Approximately 10,000 Bulgarian women,

many under the age of 18, may be involved in international operations, but no official statistics are available. See

IOM Counter Trafficking Strategy for the Balkans and Neighboring Countries, International Organization for

Migration, January 2001, available at http://www.iom.int/PDF_Files/Balkan_strategy.pdf, as cited on September

28, 2001. See also Country Reports 2000—Bulgaria.
14

● Girls from Cuba, Nigeria, and Albania, some as young as 10 years old, are reportedly

trafficked for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation.62

● Young boys from Pakistan are kidnapped and trafficked to countries in the Middle East to

work as camel jockeys and for purposes of sexual exploitation, bonded labor, and domestic

service.63

● In Somalia, there are reports of children trafficked for the purpose of forced labor.64

● Girls between the ages of 12 and 18 from Burma, China and Laos are trafficked to

Thailand to work in the commercial sex industry, some in conditions of debt bondage.65

2. Children of War

In many areas of conflict around the world, children are involved in armed struggles in

which they are forced to serve as soldiers, scouts, messengers, and concubines. The issue of child

soldiers has captured increasing international attention, as demonstrated by the U.N. General

Assembly’s adoption of the Optional Protocol on the Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict

in May 2000. Around the world, an estimated 300,000 children under the age of 18, both boys

and girls, are involved in armed conflicts in more than 30 countries. According to some

estimates, nearly half of these children are in Africa.

● In Afghanistan, there have been reports of child soldiers participating in the struggle that has

continued for over two decades in that country.66

● Children in Angola have been used as soldiers by both the Government and the rebel

National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA). Nearly 7,000 children are

currently conscripted, some as young as 10 years old.67

62 Graham Johnson and Nyra Mahmood, “Sell Kids for Sex: Sick Traffickers Offering Girls of 11 for 500...to Turn

into Prostitutes,” Sunday Mirror (London), January 6, 2002, 8, 9. 63 Trafficking in Persons Report at 92. 64 Country Reports 2000—Somalia. 65 Country Reports 2000—Thailand at Section 6f. 66 Hannah Beech Farkhar, “The Child Soldiers: War and Revenge Is All the Young Recruits of the Northern

Alliance and Taliban Know,” Time [online], November 16, 2001, available at www.time.com/time/world/article/

0,8599,182805,00.html.

67 The use of child soldiers is a significant and ongoing problem in Angola. In March 1996, the U.N.’s Department

of Humanitarian Affairs surveyed 17,000 demobilized soldiers in just 4 of 15 demobilization centers and found that

more than 1,500 were under 18 years of age. Sources for the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers report that

3,000 children are active in the Angolan armed forces, and another 3,000 are active with UNITA, despite efforts to

demobilize 8,500 children following the 1994 peace agreement. The U.S. Department of State reports that children

as young as 10 are recruited or forcibly conscripted by UNITA. See Country Reports 2000—Angola. See also

Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, Angola Country Report, available at www.child-soldiers.org/embargo/

donotpublish/globalreport.html#.
15

● In Burundi, children have been active in the civil war between the Tutsi-dominated security

forces and the Hutu-dominated armed opposition groups.68

● Separatist groups in the Comoros have reportedly recruited boys between the ages of 13 and

16 to serve as soldiers.69

● Since civil war began in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in 1998, more than 10,000

children have served in the government army or for opposition groups.70 The Congolese

Armed Forces (FAC) have recruited children as young as 13 years old.71 The FAC reportedly

has targeted homeless children, forcing young boys into the army and sexually exploiting

young girls.

● Rebel forces in the Philippines have recruited children under the age of 18 to serve in combat

and non-combat situations.72

● Children have served in Rwanda’s civil war as soldiers and as servants for the armed

forces.73

● In 2000, the ILO estimated that 5,400 children served as soldiers in Sierra Leone.

74 The RUF

and other groups forced children into their ranks to serve as soldiers, sexual slaves or to dig

for diamonds in mines.75 RUF forces forcibly injected some children with drugs to prepare

them for combat.76 During 2001, armed groups released more than 3,800 child soldiers and

68 Country Reports 2000—Burundi at 703. See also “Child Soldiers Global Report: Burundi,” available at

www.child-soldiers.org/report2001/countries/burundi.html.

69 Summary Record of the 666th Meeting: Comoros, U.N. Document No. CDC/C/SR.666 (Geneva: United Nations

Committee on the Rights of the Child, October 4, 2000), para. 41. See also Coalition to Stop the Use of Child

Soldiers, Africa Report: Comoros (London: Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, March 1999). 70 Christian Aid, Oxfam GB, and Save the Children U.K., “No End in Sight: The Human Tragedy of the Conflict in

the Democratic Republic of the Congo: August 2001,” June 8, 2001, available at www.oxfam.org.uk/policy/papers/

drc2.htm, as cited on October 26, 2001.

71 Country Reports 2000—Democratic Republic of the Congo. The U.N. Committee on Rights of the Child notes

that “in some cases, the age of a child was falsified and children as young as 13 were recruited as soldiers.” See

United Nations, Committee on Rights of the Child, Committee on Rights of the Child Starts Consideration of

Report of Democratic Republic of the Congo, 27th session, May 28, 2001, available at www.unhchr.ch/huricane/

huricane.nsf/view01/D33F9C5FC1976910C1256A5B0057D64A?opendocument.

72 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000),

Section 3.

73 UNICEF, press release (http://unicef.org/newsline/01pr69.htm). See also Worst Forms of Child Labour Data:

Rwanda (www.globalmarch.org/worstformsreport/world/rwanda.html).

74 Sierra Leone: The Terrible Price of Poverty and Unemployment, International Labor Organization, World of

Work, No. 33, February 2000 (www.ilo.org/public/english/bureau/inf/magazine/33/sleone.htm). October 17, 2001.

Human rights groups estimate that 4,500-10,000 children under 16 years of age were forcibly abducted into military

service during the war. Douglas Farah, “Children Forced to Kill,” Washington Post, April 10, 2000. 75 Child Soldiers Global Report, Republic of Sierra Leone, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000

(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000); Douglas Farah, “Rebels in Sierra Leone Mine Diamonds in

Defiance of U.N. Captured Children and Conscripts Used as Laborers,” Washington Post, August 19, 2001, A01. 76 “Brutal Child Army Grows Up,” BBC News Online, see (http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/africa/ newsid_

743000/743684.stm). Around the world, an estimated 300,000 children under the age of 18, both boys and girls,
16

camp followers. According to UNICEF, as of October 2001, approximately 1,500 children

reported as missing during the war had yet to be located.77

● In Somalia, children under 15 years of age have been recruited by the militias, with boys as

young as 10 years old serving as bodyguards for faction leaders.78

● In Sri Lanka, there are reports of boys and girls as young as 9 and 13 forcibly recruited as

child soldiers with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).79

● Children in Sudan, some as young as 10 years old, have served as soldiers, porters, and

concubines in the country’s seventeen year civil war.80

● In Uganda, there are reports of children recruited to serve as soldiers by the Ugandan

military,81 and approximately 14,000 children have been abducted by rebel groups,82

trafficked into southern Sudan, and forced into armed conflict in Sudan, the Democratic

Republic of Congo, and Uganda. These children are used as human shields, hostages, and

sometimes are coerced into sexual activity.83

3. Commercial Sexual Exploitation

Children involved in commercial sexual exploitation face abuse and degradation. They

risk early pregnancies, sexually transmitted diseases, and exposure to HIV-AIDS. Prostitution of

children is often prevalent in urban centers, in tourist areas, and along major transportation routes.

are involved in armed conflicts in more than 30 countries, nearly half of which are believed to be with militaries or

armed opposition groups in Africa. For information on global figures on the incidence of child soldiers, see “Child

Soldiers Global Report 2001,” The Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (www.child-soldiers.org/). See also:

Douglas Farah, “Children Forced to Kill,” Washington Post, April 10, 2000. 77 UNICEF Press Release, UNICEF Encouraged By the Releasee Today of 150 Child Soldiers in Sieraa Leone,

Freetown/New York, 4th June 2001. (www.unicef.org/newsline/01prjune4cs/htm) October 17, 2001 (3:47PM). 78 Situation of Human Rights in Somalia: Report of the Special Rapporteur, Ms. Mona Rishmawi, Submitted in

Accordance with Commission of Human Rights Resolution 1999/75, U.N. Document No. E/CN.4/2000/110

(Geneva: United Nations Economic and Social Council, January 2000) 17. See also Country Reports on Human

Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, DC: U.S. Department of State, 2001).

79 Global Report on Child Soldiers—Sri Lanka (www.child-soldiers.org/report2001/

countries/sri_lanka.html). See Also Sri Lanka: Recent Reports on Child Labor Problems Which Violate ILO

Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. [E-mail Correspondence (need date), Sonia Rosen, Solidarity

Center]. U.S. Embassy-Colombo, unclassified telegram no. 001719, September 26, 2001.

80 “Child Soldiers Global Report: Sudan” (www.child-soldiers.org/report2001/countries/sudan.html).

81 Child Soldier Global Report 2001-Uganda, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (http://www.childsoldier.org/report2001/countries/uganda/html).

82 The rebels are associated with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). See

Tom Barton, Alfred Mutiti and the Assessment Team for Psycho-social Programmes in Northern Uganda, Northern

Uganda Psycho-Social Needs Assessment (Kisubi, Uganda: Marianum Press, 1998) vii-viii. 83 Tom Barton, Alfred Mutiti and the Assessment Team for Psycho-social Programmes in Northern Uganda,

Northern Uganda Psycho-Social Needs Assessment (Kisubi, Uganda: Marianum Press, 1998) vii-viii. See also

“Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report (Washington, D.C.: U.S.

Department of Labor, 2001).
17

In some cases, children migrate to such areas in search of work, while in other instances, children

are trafficked and sold into the commercial sex sector.

● In Brazil, the sex tourism industry is reported to actively recruit children and traffic them to

other countries.84

● ILO-IPEC estimates that approximately one-third of Cambodia’s 55,000 prostitutes are

children.85 A 1997 report by the Government of Cambodia found that of approximately

15,000 prostitutes working in brothels nationwide, 15.5 percent were children below the age

of 18.86

● According to the National Institute for Children (PANI), as many as 3,000 children in Costa

Rica are involved in prostitution in metropolitan San Jose.87

● An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 children in the Dominican Republic are involved in

prostitution.88

● Children, especially girls, are known to be involved in prostitution in El Salvador,

89 where,

according to a 1998 study, children between the ages of 13 and 18 account for nearly 45

percent of the estimated 1,300 prostitutes in three major San Salvador red-light districts.90

● In India, it is estimated that 15 percent of the country’s 2.3 million prostitutes are children

(345,000).91 A recent study by the ILO estimates that there may be between 150,000 to

200,000 Nepalese girls working as prostitutes in Indian brothels.92

84 CECRIA website at Section 1.2.5. See also: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999—Brazil

(Washington, D.C.:U.S. Department of State, 2000), 28.

85 Interview with Mar Sophea, national program manager, ILO-IPEC Cambodia, by U.S. Department of Labor

official, October 17, 2000.

86 Report on the Problem of Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: Commission on

Human Rights and Reception of Complaints of the National Assembly, May 1997), 2, 6. The commission noted

that this was a minimum estimate, as it did not cover all districts or include commercial sex workers employed in

other venues such as massage parlors and karaoke bars.

87 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.:U.S. Department of State, 2000),

Section 5.

88 World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation, August 1996, and Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC

Activities 1999, as cited in “Worst Forms of Child Labor Data: Dominican Republic,” The Global March Against

Child Labor (www.globalmarch.org/worstformofchild labour/dominican-republic.html). Another source cites a

figure of 25,000 boys, girls, and adolescents working in the country’s commercial sex sector. See Mercedes

González, “La explotación sexual y laboral de niños,” El Siglo, August 20, 2000. 89 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999—El Salvador (Washington, D.C.:U.S. Department of

State, 2000), Section 6c. [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—El Salvador]. 90 According to a 1998 study on child prostitution conducted by the Commission on the Family, the Woman, and

the Child by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, among the major factors contributing to

children engaging in prostitution are poverty, a lack of a strong nuclear family, discrimination against women, and

organized crime; see Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 5. 91 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000—India (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State,

2001), Section 6d.
18

● A recent study found that an estimated 30 percent of all sex workers in Indonesia are under

the age of 18 (between 40,000 to 70,000 children).93

● In the Philippines, an estimated 60,000 children work in the commercial sex industry, many

of whom are trafficked and forced into prostitution.94

● One nongovernmental organization (NGO) estimates that in South Africa there are 10,000

children among the approximate 40,000 prostitutes working in the Johannesburg area alone.95

● According to 1994 estimates from Thailand’s Office of the National Commission on

Women’s Affairs, between 22,500 and 40,000 children are involved in the country’s

commercial sex industry.96

● In Sudan, children are reportedly sold and purchased, some in alleged slave markets and

some abducted by government or government-associated forces for purposes of sexual

slavery.97

4. Children Involved in Illicit Activities

Children in some countries are lured or forced to work in illicit activities such as the

trafficking of illegal drugs or the smuggling of goods across national borders. These children are

exposed to crime networks, violence, and the risk of incarceration.

● Children in Pakistan are reportedly used in the smuggling of contraband and drugs.98

● Children in Thailand are reported to be involved in the trafficking of drugs, particularly

amphetamines.99

92 ILO-IPEC, Time-Bound Pamphlet on Nepal, 2001. Of those girls who are rescued or are able to return to their

villages from India, a sample study found that 37 percent were infected with HIV. ILO-IPEC, Nepal

Implementation Report, 1998-1999, Section 1.2.3. 93 Mohammad Farid, “Sexual Abuse, Sexual Exploitation, and the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,” in

Irwanto, Mohammad Farid, and Jeffry Anwar, Situational Analysis of Children in Need of Special Protection in

Indonesia (Jakarta: CSDS Atma Jaya, Department of Social Affairs, and UNICEF, 1998), 96-97. 94 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000-Philippines (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State,

2000), Section 3.

95 U.S. Embassy-Johannesburg, unclassified telegram no. 0655, June 21, 2000.

96 Estimates of children working in prostitution vary greatly. Herve Berger and Hans van de Glind, Children in

Prostitution, Pornography and Illicit Activities : Thailand (Bangkok: ILO-IPEC, August 1999) 7.

97 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000—Sudan (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State,

2000) 822. See also U.S. Embassy-Nairobi, unclassified telegram no. 01479, March 12, 2001. 98 Interview with Dr. Zafar Mueen Nasir, senior research economist, Pakistan Institute of Development Economics,

by U.S. Department of Labor official, July 24, 2000.

99 Dr. Somphon Chitradub, Child Labour in the Trafficking of Drugs in Thailand: An ILO-IPEC Southeast Asia

paper (Bangkok: ILO-IPEC, 1999) 2-3.
19

5. Other Hazardous Forms of Child Labor

In addition to the worst forms of child labor described above, ILO Convention No. 182

provides for a broader category of labor that includes any work that threatens children’s physical,

intellectual, and moral development. While many activities could be considered to fall under this

heading, the following examples describe children involved in inherently dangerous work

activities.

● In China, an explosion at a primary school in March 2000, caused by high-powered

explosives used to manufacture firecrackers, led to reports that school children were being

forced to produce fireworks in school workshops. Reports indicated that teachers seeking to

supplement their salaries forced children to work without pay and set production quotas that

had to be met before the children could go home.100

● Children are also reported to work in firework production in the Dominican Republic,

101 El

Salvador,

102 Guatemala,103 India,104 and Peru.105

● According to the Colombian Institute for Family Welfare (ICBF), approximately 1.5 million

children and adolescents in Colombia under the age of 18 worked in high-risk conditions in

the year 2000.106

● In Haiti, an estimated 250,000 to 300,000 children (often girls) work as domestic servants, or

restaveks,

 107 often for 10 to 14 hours per day without receiving any compensation.108 Eighty

percent of these girls are under the age of 14.109 They are sometimes sexually abused, and if

100 Craig Smith, “Chinese Premier Apologizes for Schoolhouse Explosion,” New York Times ( March 15, 2001);

and John Pomfret and Philip P. Pan, “Forced Child Labor Behind Deadly Explosion in China,” Washington Post

(March 7, 2001). See also Rupert Wingfield-Hays, “China Blast Toll Rises,” South China Morning Post (March 9,

2001); Frank Lagfitt, “China Leader Admits Kids Made Fireworks but Premier Asserts Practice Was Stopped After

Earlier Blast,” Baltimore Sun ( March 16, 2001); Ching-Ching Ni, “Forced Child Labor Turns Deadly in China’s

Needy School System,” Los Angeles Times, March 9, 2001. 101 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999—Dominican Republic (Washington, D.C.: U.S.

Department of State, 1999), Section 6d (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/

domrepub.html).

102 U.S. Embassy-El Salvador, unclassified telegram no. 5508, February 1998. 103 In Guatemala, between 3,000 and 5,000 children are employed in the fireworks industry. Country Reports on

Human Rights Practices for 2000, Guatemala (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2001), Section 6d. 104 Jill McGivering, “Festival of lights without fireworks,” (http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/ world/

south%5Fasia/newsid%5F990000/990606.stm) (Wednesday, 25 October, 2000, 23:28 GMT 00:28 UK).

105 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999—Peru (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State,

1999). (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/ 1999_hrp_report.), Section 6d.

106 “Sistema de Información ICBF,” (http://www.icbf.gov.co/espanol/estadisticas.asp). 107 UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children, 1997 (New York: UNICEF, 1996) 30. See also, “Haiti faces major

education challenge,” UNICEF Information Newsline, www.unicef.org/newsline/99pr16.htm

108 National Coalition for Haitian Rights, “Helping Child Servants Who are Virtual Slaves” (www.unicef.org/

media/storyideas/946.htm, updated: November 30, 2000) October 26, 2001.

109 UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children, 1997 (New York: UNICEF, 1996) 30. See also, “Haiti faces major

education challenge,” UNICEF Information Newsline, www.unicef.org/newsline/99pr16.htm
20

they become pregnant, are generally released to live on the streets where many turn to

prostitution.110

● In the North Sumatra region of Indonesia, boys work on fishing platforms called jermals

between 12 to 13 hours per day for periods of up to three months in often-dangerous

conditions.111 An estimated 30 percent of all sex workers are under the age of 18 (between

40,000 to 70,000 children).112

Children who work in mining and quarrying activities are frequently engaged in

hazardous labor. They often work without protective gear and risk illness and serious injury on a

daily basis.

● In Bolivia, children participate in all aspects of small-scale, traditional mining including the

extraction of underground ore, which often involves handling explosives for drilling and

blasting operations; the crude processing of the mineral including crushing it with hammers

and heavy machinery; and the amalgamation of the ore, which exposes the children to

mercury vapor.113

● In Madagascar, children also work under hazardous conditions in quarries and mines.114

● In Mongolia, children work in illegal gold mining115 and in informal coal mining, both in the

mines and scavenging for coal.116

● In Peru, children are found working in stone quarries,117 and in mining sites.118

● In Tanzania’s mining regions, children work in surface and underground mines. In

gemstone mines, children known as “snake boys” crawl through narrow tunnels hundreds of

110 Statement by Jean Robert Cadet on Restavek Servitude before the United Nations Commission on Human

Rights, Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Working Group on Contemporary

Forms of Slavery, 25th Session (Geneva: June 2000) [document on file]. 111 ILO-IPEC Programme to Combat Child Labor in the Fishing Sector in Indonesia and the Philippines (Phase 1)

project document (Geneva: ILO, 1999) 2-3.

112 Mohammad Farid, “Sexual Abuse, Sexual Exploitation, and the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,”

in Irwanto, Mohammad Farid, and Jeffry Anwar, Situational Analysis of Children in Need of Special Protection in

Indonesia (Jakarta: CSDS Atma Jaya, Department of Social Affairs, and UNICEF, 1998) 96-97. 113 ILO-IPEC, Program to Prevent and Progressively Eliminate Child Labor in Small-Scale Traditional Gold

Mining in South America, ILO-IPEC project document, March 9, 2000, 3 [document on file]. 114 U.S. Embassy – Antananarivo, unclassified telegram no. 001787, 2 October 2001. 115 Mongolmaa, Update of the Situational Analysis on Child Labour in Mongolia – draft report (Ulaan Baatar,

Mongolia: ILO/IPEC, 2001) 20-22.

116 Mongolmaa, Update of the Situational Analysis on Child Labour in Mongolia – draft report (Ulaan Baatar,

Mongolia: ILO/IPEC, 2001) 18-19.

117 U.S. Department of State Human Rights Report for 1999. (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/

1999_hrp_report.), Section 6d.

118 ILO-IPEC. Children Working in Small-Scale Traditional Gold Mining in Peru: National base-line study for the

Project for Prevention and Progressive Elimination of Child Labor in Small-Scale Traditional Gold Mining in

South America. Maria del Carmen Piazza. March 2001. 80 – 83.
21

meters long to help position mining equipment and ignite and assess the effectiveness of

explosions.119

As the above examples illustrate, children work under hazardous conditions and suffer the

worst forms of child labor in countries around the world. While the scope of the problem is great,

many governments are supporting initiatives to eliminate child labor. The next section considers

several types of action that reflect the commitment of governments to end child labor.

B. Combating Child Labor

Support for initiatives to combat the exploitation of children has grown significantly in

the past decade. To eliminate child labor, governments have developed national plans of action

and taken steps to promote the collection of child labor data, passed child labor laws, increased

access for children to schooling, and implemented targeted interventions to remove children from

exploitative work.

Since the initiation in 1992 of ILO-IPEC, 51 countries have signed memorandum of

understandings with the ILO and become members of the IPEC program. (See Table 1.1) The

active participation of a country in IPEC includes taking steps to increase national capacity and

raise awareness as part of their participation in the ILO’s International Program on the

Elimination of Child Labor. It also involves the establishment of a national steering committee

on child labor charged with developing a national plan of action for the progressive elimination

of child labor in the country.

Enhancing the capacity of local actors, such as NGOs and government, employer and

worker organizations, to address child labor is essential for ensuring the sustainability of local

efforts to eliminate child labor. Capacity may be built through many means, including training of

labor inspectors, involvement of local actors in child labor coordinating committees, the direct

involvement of local organizations in the implementation of targeted strategies, and the

empowerment of local communities.

Many countries have also taken steps to collect and assess data on child labor. Such

efforts not only enhance understanding of the problem, but can contribute to the development of

more effective and efficient interventions at the country level. Launched in January 1998, the

ILO’s Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC)120 aims to

generate comprehensive quantitative and qualitative data on child labor. The following table

indicates provides a list of countries that have worked with the ILO in collecting household-level

data on child labor, or are planning to work with the ILO to collect such data in the future. (See

Table 1.2)

119 Situation Analysis Report on Hazardous Child Labor in the Three Sectors: Plantations and Agriculture,

Domestic and Allied Workers Union, and Tanzania Mining and Construction Workers Union (Dar es Salaam,

Tanzania Federation of Free Trade Unions (ILO-IPEC, 1997) 10.

120 For more information about ILO-IPEC’s SIMPOC program, see (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/

simpoc/index.htm).
22

Table 1.1

IPEC Participation by Country

Since 1992 Brazil, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Thailand, Turkey (6)

Since 1994 Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, Tanzania (5)

Since 1996 Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Costa Rica, Egypt, El Salvador,

Guatemala, Nicaragua, Panama, Peru, Sri Lanka,

Venezuela (12)

Since 1997 Benin, Cambodia, Dominican Republic, Ecuador,

Honduras, Senegal, South Africa (7)

Since 1998 Madagascar, Mali, Uganda, Paraguay (4)

Since 1999 Albania, Burkina Faso, Mongolia, Haiti (4)

Since 2000 Belize, Ghana, Jamaica, Jordan, Laos, Lebanon,

Morocco, Niger, Nigeria, Romania, Togo, Yemen,

Zambia (13)

Africa Burundi, Cameroon, Congo, Democratic

Republic Congo, Ethiopia, Gabon,

Ivory Coast, Malawi, Namibia, Rwanda,

Zimbabwe (11)

Asia China, Vietnam (2)

Europe Bulgaria, Georgia, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Ukraine

(5)

Latin America and Colombia, Mexico, Uruguay (3)

the Caribbean

Middle East Syria, West Bank and Gaza, (2)

* Participating Countries are those that have signed a Memorandum of Understanding with IPEC.

Associated Countries are those in which IPEC has begun activities—with the permission of the

government—but where a Memorandum of Understanding has not yet been signed.

Source: See “All About IPEC: Programme Countries” at (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/

ipec/about/countries/t_country.htm).

IPEC Member/

Participating

Countries*

Associated

countries*
23

Table 1.2

SIMPOC Participation by Country

Bangladesh, Cambodia, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Pakistan,

the Philippines, Senegal, Turkey, Thailand

Namibia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Ukraine, Zambia,

Zimbabwe

Belize, Cambodia (follow-up survey), Dominican Republic,

Ecuador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Georgia, Kenya, Guatemala,

Nicaragua, Nigeria, Panama, Tanzania, Turkey (follow-up

survey), Uganda

Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, El

Salvador, Honduras, Jamaica, Malawi, Nepal (follow-up

survey), Philippines (follow-up survey), Romania, West

Bank & Gaza strip

Burkina Faso, Costa Rica, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt, India,

Indonesia, Madagascar, Mali, Morocco, Russia, Senegal,

Syria, Trinidad & Tobago, Venezuela, Vietnam, Venezuela

Portugal, Italy

* Data and/or Reports for these countries are available on the ILO’s website.

Source: “Child Labor Statistics: SIMPOC countries,” see (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/

ipec/ simpoc/ countries.htm).

Countries where Child

Labor Surveys Occurred

Prior to the Launch of

SIMPOC in 1998

Countries that have

Completed SIMPOC

Surveys*

Countries for which

Surveys are Expected to

be Completed in 2002

Countries for which

Surveys are Expected to

Start in 2002-2003

Countries for which

Surveys are Planned for

2004 and Later

Countries for which

SIMPOC Provided Only

Technical Assistance

Other initiatives such as the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Survey

(LSMS),121 and UNICEF’s Multi-Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS)122 also provide important

sources of data related to child labor. In addition, an interagency effort involving the

participation of the ILO, UNICEF, and the World Bank aims to enhance collection and analysis

121 For more information about the World Bank’s LSMS program, see (www.worldbank.org/lsms/). 122 For more information about UNICEF’s MICS program, see (www.childinfo.org/MICS2/Gj99306m.htm).
24

of child labor data while seeking to avoid duplication of effort amongst these three agencies. The

project, “Understanding Children’s Work,” also seeks to identify gaps in existing data and

propose ways to fill such gaps.123

The passage of child labor laws represents another important step toward combating the

problem. Laws may prescribe at what age and under what conditions children may work or

proscribe children’s involvement in certain types of work altogether. ILO Convention No. 182

calls upon ratifying countries to establish that some forms of work are not appropriate for any

children, under any circumstances.124 It is also important that child labor laws and basic

education requirements be complementary.125 Minimum work age laws and education

requirements that complement each other become mutually reinforcing. By contrast, when labor

and education laws conflict or leave gaps between the age when a child completes schooling and

can legally begin work, then such laws may make child labor more likely. Regardless of how

well conceived child labor laws are, however, to have an impact, they must be properly

implemented and enforced. This remains a challenge in many countries since enforcement

requires political will and the commitment of often scarce financial and personnel resources.

A comprehensive, national child labor strategy must also consider how to improve access

for all children to quality schooling. Efforts to make basic education universal, free, and of high

quality provide children with a viable and valuable alternative to child labor. When children

attend school full time, they are also less likely to be engaged in child labor. As this suggests,

efforts to reduce child labor and promote schooling for children can be both complimentary and

mutually reinforcing. Moreover, education represents an investment in a child’s future and in a

country’s future work force. In this way, efforts to promote access to schooling for children can

support a country’s broader economic development and poverty alleviation goals.

The passage and enforcement of child labor laws and the promotion of schooling for

children are key strategies for reducing child labor. Eliminating child labor, however, may also

require more targeted and urgent action. This is especially true in the case of children who are

working in particularly dangerous circumstances, as in the case of children engaged in the worst

forms of child labor. Many of the following ILO-IPEC programs supported by the U.S.

Department of Labor specifically target hazardous forms of child labor, including the worst forms

of child labor as identified in ILO Convention No. 182:

● A program in Bangladesh to prevent and eliminate the worst forms of child labor in

certain formal and informal sectors;

123 The Inter-Agency Research Cooperation Project: Developing New Strategies for Understanding Children’s

Work and Its Impact involves the active participation of three agencies: the International Labor Organization,

Unicef and the World Bank. The project aims “to improve child labour research, data collection and data analysis;

to enhance local and national capacity for child labour data collection and research; and to improve the assessment

of existing interventions in this field.” See (www.ucw-project.org/) as accessed on August 16, 2001. 124 See Articles 1 and 3 of ILO Convention No. 182. For full text of ILO Convention No. 182, see Appendix E. 125 ILO Convention No. 138 emphasizes this point in Article 2, paragraph 3, which states, “The minimum age

specified in pursuance of paragraph 1 of this Article shall not be less than the age of completion of compulsory

schooling and, in any case, shall not be less than 15 years.” For full text of convention, see Appendix F.
25

● A program to prevent and eliminate child labor in 10 hazardous sectors in India;

126

● Projects in Nepal to remove children from bonded labor and to eliminate trafficking and

commercial sexual exploitation of girls;

● A South Asia sub-regional program to combat the trafficking of children for exploitative

employment in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka;

● A project in Thailand to prevent children from being forced into prostitution;

● Projects to combat child labor in the fireworks sectors of El Salvador and Guatemala;

● A program to address the exploitation of children working as domestic servants in Haiti;

● Programs to prevent and eliminate child labor in small-scale traditional mining in

Colombia, Bolivia, Ecuador, and Peru;

● A program to combat child prostitution in Brazil and Paraguay;

● A regional project to assess the problem of child soldiers in four countries in Central

Africa (Burundi, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and

Rwanda) and identify strategies to address the issue; and

● A nine country regional IPEC project in West and Central to address the trafficking of

children for exploitative labor in Benin, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Ghana,

Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Nigeria, and Togo.

Removing children from exploitative work, however, is only one part of addressing the

problem of child labor. Steps also need to be taken to ensure that children removed from one

form of work do not merely enter another, possibly worse, form of child labor. Programs need to

provide children with better alternatives once they leave child labor situations. Reducing a

household’s dependence on income earned through the labor of children is another critical step

toward reducing the incidence of child labor. A number of the initiatives highlighted in the next

chapter involve providing families of former working children with income generating

opportunities. Others involve increasing the availability of credit facilities for poorer households.

Another indication of a country’s commitment to ending child labor is the ratification and

implementation of international standards, such as the ILO’s two core conventions on child

labor—ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor and ILO Convention

No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment Ratification. These two conventions have already

been ratified by over 65 percent of the ILO’s 175 member countries.

126 Targeted sectors include: bidis, brassware, bricks, fireworks, footwear, glass bangles, locks, matches, stone

quarries, and silk. The project will also include a review of existing efforts underway in the carpet industry. It is

scheduled to begin in January 2002. “Preventing and Eliminating Child Labour in Identified Hazardous Sectors.”

(Geneva: ILO-IPEC, September 2001).
26

ILO Convention No. 182 calls on countries to take steps to eliminate the worst forms of

child labor as a matter of urgency. Three countries have already taken steps in this direction. In

2001, the governments of El Salvador, Nepal and Tanzania officially launched comprehensive,

national programs aimed at eliminating the worst forms of child labor in a set time frame. These

“Time-Bound Programs” also seek to integrate strategies for child labor elimination into broader

national policies on development, education and poverty alleviation.

C. Evidence from 33 Countries

As the examples in this chapter suggest, child labor is a problem that touches countries

around the world. The next chapter of this report takes a closer look at the child labor situation in

33 countries. These are countries where child labor has been identified as a serious problem, but

in many cases, they are also examples of countries where innovative initiatives are being

undertaken to address the problem. The 33 countries in the following chapter were not chosen

because they are the worst offenders. Rather, these are countries for which sufficient information

was available to present a detailed picture of the many forms child labor can take and the variety

of strategy that can be utilized to address the problem.
CHAPTER III:

COUNTRY PROFILES
28

BANGLADESH

1. Child Labor in Bangladesh

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 29 percent of children

between 10 and 14 years in Bangladesh were working.127 A child labor survey conducted in 1995

by the Bangladesh Bureau or Statistics in cooperation with ILO’s Bureau of Statistics (STAT)

estimated that 19 percent (6.6 million) of children between the ages of 5 and 14 in Bangladesh

were working; of these, 5.4 million children were between the ages of 10 and 14. Out of the total

number of working children, boys account for 3.9 million and girls for 2.7 million. Almost 89

percent of these working children do not participate in schooling128 and approximately 65 percent

work between 9 and 14 hours per day.129 Eighty-three percent of working children are in rural

areas as compared to 17 percent in urban areas.

The ILO reports that children in Bangladesh are engaged in between 300 and 400 types of

economic activities.130 Seventy-one percent work in agriculture, forestry, and fishery, while less

than 15 percent are sales and service workers.131

Large numbers of children work as domestic servants, as prostitutes, and in the shrimp

and leather tanning industries. Other children work on tea and tobacco plantations, in the bidi132

and construction industries, and in carpentry, hotels, restaurants and small retail shops. Children

also work as porters, transport workers and street vendors.133 Many children are compelled to

work at a very young age. This frequently results in mistreatment and abuse of children by

employers, particularly those involved in domestic service.134

An ILO study on hazardous child labor in Bangladesh identified at least 47 economic

activities that were considered hazardous for children.135 Among the areas listed as hazardous

were automobile repair, the glass bangle bracelet industry, bidi rolling, construction, leather

tanneries, match factories, print shops, the seafood industry, tea plantations, the transport sector,

and informal service sectors including domestic servants, scavengers and weavers.136

127 World Development Indicators 2000 (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2000). 128 Report on the National Sample Survey of Child Labor in Bangladesh, 1995-96 (Dhaka: Bangladesh Bureau of

Statistics/ILO-IPEC, October 1996), 44-47 [hereinafter National Sample Survey Report]. 129 Child Labor Situation in Bangladesh: A Rapid Assessment (Dhaka: ILO and UNICEF, Wahidur Rahman, 1997),

ix [hereinafter Child Labor Situation in Bangladesh]. 130 Ibid. 131 National Sample Survey Report at 47. 132 A type of small, hand-rolled cigarette. 133 Child Labor Situation in Bangladesh at ix, 23. 134 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000),

Section 5 [hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Bangladesh]. 135 Hazardous Child Labor in Bangladesh (Dhaka: ILO and the Government of Bangladesh, Wahidur Rahman, 1996), 3-4. 136 International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC),

“Preventing and Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labor in Selected Formal and Informal Sectors” (Geneva: ILOIPEC, August 2000), 3-4 [hereinafter “Preventing and Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labor.”]
29

It is estimated that each year more than 20,000 women and children are trafficked from

Bangladesh. Many are lured away with the false promises of good jobs or marriage, only to end

up in bonded labor, menial jobs or prostitution.137 In addition, children as young as 4 and 5 years

old are trafficked from Bangladesh to the United Arab Emirates to work as camel jockeys.138

2. Children’s Participation in School

Between the years of 1996 and 1997, the gross primary attendance rate was 111.8 percent,

and the net primary attendance rate was 75.2 percent.139 According to 1998 government figures,

the gross primary enrollment rate for Bangladeshi children between the ages of 6 and 10 was 96

percent, and the net primary enrollment rate was 81.4 percent.140 Boys accounted for 52 percent

of the children (9.5 million) enrolled in primary school and girls for 48 percent (8.8 million). The

dropout rate among these children was estimated to be 35 percent.141 Among the obstacles

children face in obtaining an education are poorly trained teachers, lack of textbooks and teaching

aids, and inadequate school classrooms and playing grounds. Lack of water and sanitation are

also problems in schools.142 As of 1998, there were 79,722 primary level educational institutions

in the country, including government, nongovernment, unregistered nongovernment, and satellite

schools.143

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

In Bangladesh, the legal minimum working age varies according to sector, as there is no

law that uniformly prohibits the employment of children or sets a minimum age for employment.

The 1938 Employment of Children Act and Rules of 1955 permit children as young as 12 years

to be employed in leather tanning workshops and in the production of carpets, cement, matches,

and fireworks, among other items. The minimum employment age for work in factories is 14

years; for work in mines and railways, the minimum age is 15 years. Work performed by children

in agriculture, domestic work, and the informal sector is not covered by specific child labor laws.

The Children Act of 1974 prohibits the employment of children for begging and the exploitation

of children in brothels. Forced labor, including forced child labor, is prohibited by Bangladesh’s

Constitution. Based on the Repression of Women and Children Prohibition Act of 2000,

137 Country Reports 2000—Bangledesh at Section 6f. 138 U.S. Embassy–Abu Dhabi, unclassified telegram no. 003162, May 29, 2000. 139 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 140 Year 2000 Assessment, Country Report, Bangladesh (Dhaka: Government of Bangladesh, Primary and Mass

Education Division, 1999), 49 [hereinafter Year 2000 Assessment]. (Note: Unclassified telegram Dakar 002999

cites Ministry of Education figures for school enrollment at 86 percent and only 50 percent completion rates up to

age 10).

141 Primary Education in Bangladesh, Directorate of Primary Education, Primary and Mass Education Division,

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh, November 1999, 13, 16, 18 [hereinafter Primary Education in

Bangladesh]. 142 U.S. Embassy-Dhaka, unclassified telegram no. 002999, December 19, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram,

002999].

143 Primary Education in Bangladesh at 15.
30

trafficking of women and children is an offense punishable by death or life imprisonment.144

Child labor laws are seldom enforced outside of the garment export industry. Most child

labor occurs in the informal sector where no inspections take place.145 With a staff of 110

inspectors, the Department of Inspection for Factories and Establishments is responsible for

inspection and enforcement of a host of labor laws, including those related to child labor, in

approximately 18,000 factories. There are no reports of fines or prosecution being imposed on

violators of child labor laws, nor have there been efforts to harmonize child labor laws with

compulsory education laws.146

The Government of Bangladesh ratified ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of

Child Labor on March 12, 2001.147 Bangladesh has also ratified the Optional Protocols to the

Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child

Pornography, and on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed

Conflict.148

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

Bangladesh became a member of the International Labor Organization’s International

Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC) in 1994. Since then, 75 action programs have

been implemented, primarily targeting the worst forms of child labor through awareness raising,

nonformal education, income-generating alternatives for families, and capacity building of

partner organizations.149

In July 1995, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers’ Association (BGMEA), the ILO,

and UNICEF signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) aimed at eliminating child labor

in the garment industry. The MOU partners established a workplace monitoring system and

social protection program, including provision of educational opportunities for children removed

from work. Funding has been provided from the U.S. Department of Labor to support the

monitoring system. As a result of this program, the number of child workers in BGMEA

factories has been significantly reduced from 43 percent in 1995 to 3 percent as of January

2001.150 A second MOU was signed between the same parties on June 16, 2000, which in

144 Unclassified telegram 002999. 145 Ibid. 146 Interview with Latifur Rahman, deputy secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, Government of

Bangladesh, by U.S. Department of Labor official, June 29, 2000.

147 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

148 For a full list of countries that have ratified Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on

the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, see (www.unicef.org/crc/opsx-tableweb.htm). For

a full list of countries that have ratified Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the

Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, see (www.unicef.org/crc/opcac-tableweb.htm). 149 “Preventing and Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labor” at 12.
31

addition to reaffirming the agreements of the first MOU, commits the parties to develop a long

term and sustainable response to monitoring child labor in the garment industry.151

In 2000, with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, IPEC initiated a project

targeting child labor in five hazardous industries: bidis, construction, leather tanneries, production

of matches, and child domestic service. Bangladesh is also one of three countries participating in

the ILO-IPEC South Asia Sub-Regional Programme to Combat Trafficking in Children for

Exploitative Employment, which is also funded by the U.S. Department of Labor.152

The Bangladesh Ministry of Labor, with the support of USAID, is implementing child

labor demonstration projects in selected hazardous industries.153 Additionally, the Bangladesh

Bureau of Statistics conducted a labor force survey in 2000, which incorporated a questionnaire

on child labor. The questionnaire was intended to update the 1995-96 National Sample Survey of

Child Labor in Bangladesh.154

b. Educational Alternatives

In 1991 the Government of Bangladesh made primary education compulsory for children

between ages of 6 and 10 years. Basic primary education is free in Bangladesh. However,

parents must bear certain costs, such as transport, uniforms and school supplies.155

In order to increase primary school enrollment, the government, in collaboration with the

World Food Program,156 has implemented a Food for Education Program since 1993. More than

2.2 million children from 17,403 schools have benefited from this program, which gives parents

wheat or rice in exchange for sending their children to school.157 In addition, a stipend program

began in April 2000, mandating that the government give 20 taka (about 40 cents) a month to the

mothers of poor children to send them to school.158 Bangladesh is a signatory to the World

Declaration on Education for All (EFA) and as a follow-up has a National Action Plan for EFA.159

150 ILO-IPEC, “Continuing the Child Labour Monitoring and Education Components, and Prepare for the

Integration into a Broader Project in the Garment Export Industry in Bangladesh” (Geneva, April 2001), 2.

151 “The Second Memorandum of Understanding (MOU-2) between the BGMEA, ILO, and UNICEF Regarding the

Monitoring to Keep Garment Factories Child-Labor Free, the Education Programme for Child Workers, and the

Elimination of Child Labor,” Geneva, June 16, 2000.

152 “Preventing and Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labor” and “South Asian Sub-Regional Programme to

Combat Trafficking of Children for Exploitative Employment in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Sri Lanka,” February

2000.

153 Interview with Nishat Chowdhury, Trafficking and Child Labor Advisor, U.S. Agency for International

Development (USAID), U.S. Embassy-Dhaka, by U.S. Department of Labor official, June 25, 2000.

154 The Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics is currently processing the data that they expect to release sometime in

2001. Interview with Zobdul Hoque, project director, Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics, Government of Bangladesh,

by U.S. Department of Labor official, June 25, 2000.

155 Unclassified telegram 002999. 156 “Preventing and Eliminating Worst Forms of Child Labor” at 9. 157 Primary Education in Bangladesh at 17. 158 Interview with Delwar Hossain, deputy chief of planning, Primary and Mass Education Division, Ministry of

Education, Government of Bangladesh, by U.S. Department of Labor official, June 25, 2001.

159 Year 2000 Assessment at 23.
32

The government also works with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on the

Basic Education for Hard to Reach Urban Children’s Project, which provides 2-year basic

literacy education to working children living in urban slums.160

In 1996-97, the government’s budget allocation for primary education was 1.28 percent of

gross domestic product (GDP).161

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of gross national product (GNP). The chart considers government expenditures on

education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of

government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also

shown.162

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

160 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), “Basic Education for Hard to Reach Urban Children: A Project of

the Government of Bangladesh and UNICEF” (Dhaka: UNICEF) [document on file].

161 Unclassified telegram 002999. 162 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
33

BENIN

1. Child Labor in Benin

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 27 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 in Benin were working.163 Most working children in Benin are

found in rural areas where they work on family farms, in small businesses, and in commercial

agriculture, particularly in the cotton sector.164 Children also work in the construction industry,

as domestic servants, and as street vendors.165 Anti-Slavery International estimated that in 1998,

approximately 150,000 children worked as domestic servants in Benin.166 According to a 1998

UNICEF report, approximately 19 percent of the children it surveyed who worked as domestic

servants were under 10 years old, approximately 72 percent were between the ages of 10 and 14,

and approximately 8 percent were older than 14 years of age.167

Trafficking of children for exploitative labor also occurs in Benin. The country is

reportedly a supplier, a recipient, and a country of transit for trafficked children. In 1998, Benin’s

police force intercepted 1,058 children being trafficked from Benin, and in 1999, intercepted

another 670 children being trafficked.168 According to press reports, in some villages targeted by

organized child traffickers, up to 51 percent of the children in the 6 to 16 age group had been

trafficked.169 In one village, 72 percent of households had at least one child working abroad.170

Children are trafficked from Benin primarily to work in agriculture or as domestic servants.171

In many cases, domestic trafficking of children involves poor rural families placing a

child (typically a daughter) in the home of a wealthier family, a practice known as vidomegon.

172

While the traditional practice of vidomegon is not abusive, the custom often degenerates into

exploitation of these children.173 More than 20 percent of the children involved in this practice are

less than 10 years of age and more than 90 percent have never been in school.174

163 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM] (Washington, D.C., 2000) [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 164 Internationally Recognized Core Labor Standards in Benin: Report for the WTO [World Trade Organization]

General Council Review of the Trade Policies of Benin (Geneva: International Confederation of Free Trade Unions,

September 15, 1997), 2. See also U.S. Embassy-Cotonou, unclassified telegram no. 02319, September 15, 2000. 165 Trade Union World, “Benin: The Cotton Scandal,” no. 3 (November 1997), 7. 166 SC&D News, Social Change and Development, vol. 10 (Winter): 1 [hereinafter SC&D News]. 167 UNICEF, “The Issue of Child Domestic Labor and Trafficking in West and Central Africa,” as cited in “The

Worst Forms of Child Labor: Country-Wise Data, October 2000,” July 1998 (New Delhi: The Global March

Against Child Labour, 2000).

168 “Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labour Exploitation in West and Central Africa (Phase II): Benin

Country Annex” (ILO-IPEC 2000), 2 [hereinafter “Combating the Trafficking of Children”].

169 “Benin Sourcing Children for Labour, Says Report,” Africa News Service, July 15, 2000 (www.allAfrica.com/

stories/200007170044.html).

170 Ibid. 171 Ibid. 172 SC&D News. 173 “Combating the Trafficking of Children.” 174 SC&D News.
34

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1996, the gross primary attendance rate was 67.1 percent, and the net primary

attendance rate was 43.6 percent.175 For the same year, the gross primary enrollment rate was

77.6 percent, and the net primary enrollment rate was 67.6 percent.176 There are differences in

both attendance and enrollment rates between boys and girls. In 1996, the gross primary

attendance rate for boys was 83.7 percent compared to 49.8 percent for girls, and the net primary

attendance rate for boys was 52.5 percent compared to 34.4 percent for girls. 177 The primary

gross and net enrollment rates in 1996 were also much higher for boys than for girls.178 Since

1990 primary school enrollment rates have increased. The increase in enrollment since 1990 has

coincided with a rise in the student-teachers ratio from 36 in 1990 to 53 in 1997.179 Repetition

rates in Benin are also high. In 1997, 25 percent of children in primary school were enrolled in

the same grade as they had been in the previous year.180

In 1990, the Government of Benin conducted a nationwide survey of educational

efficiency and found a shortage of qualified teachers, insufficient teaching materials, teacher

support and training, and incomplete, outmoded and poorly organized curricula.181

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Benin’s Labor Code prohibits employment or apprenticeship of children younger than 14

years of age in any enterprise.182 The Government of Benin has also taken steps to address

trafficking of children. In 1995, the Government of Benin passed Decree No 95-191 that

established several regulations for issuing authorizations for minors (anyone under the age of 18)

to leave the country. Under this decree, any adult wishing to exit the country with a minor must

request permission in writing from the regional authority and must have a recommendation from

the chief of a village or the mayor of a community.183

175 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter Global

Education Database 2000]. 176 World Development Indicators 2000. 177 Global Education Database 2000. 178 In 1996, the primary gross enrollment rate for boys was 98.1 percent compared to 57.1 percent of girls. The net

primary enrollment rate in 1996 was 80 percent for boys, and 47.4 percent for girls. See World Development

Indicators 2000.

179 Ibid. 180 Ibid. 181 USAID Basic Education Programs in Africa—Benin Country Profile (www.usaid.gov/regions/afr/basiced/

mali.html); cited August 14, 2001.

182 17 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000), 6d

[hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Benin]. 183 This decree also requires that emigrants indicate the motive of their journey, the identity of the person

accompanying the minor, as well as the identity of the tutor (who will provide the minor with the requisite level of

education) in the country of destination. A security deposit, on a special bank account of the Ministry of Foreign

Affairs, is also required. This deposit is reimbursed as soon as the child returns to Benin. Otherwise, it can be used

for the repatriation of the child.
35

Generally, the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs is responsible for the protection of

labor rights, including enforcement of child labor laws.184 Laws against trafficking are reportedly

enforced sporadically in Benin. Access to courts and police, and the imposition of penalties

against traffickers, tend to vary by district.185

Benin ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 on Minimum

Age for Employment in June 2001, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child

Labor on November 6, 2001.186

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

In 1994, the Government of Benin implemented a national study on child labor and

exploitation, and in 1996 signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the International

Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC).187

With ILO-IPEC support, Benin launched a national program of action to prevent children from

entering the labor market; improve the conditions of work for some children as a first step toward

the elimination of child labor; raise awareness among children, parents, employers and the public

at large about the dangers of child labor; and abolish child labor in hazardous activities.188

In January 1997, Benin’s Ministry of Justice created a program for the Judicial Protection

of the Child to monitor juvenile justice cases and carry out research on how to draft legislation

that protects children’s rights. The program has been involved in creating a national databank on

trafficking in children, monitoring legal cases that involve trafficking in children, and revising

legislation on trafficking. The program receives financial support and resources from

nongovernmental and international organizations such as UNICEF.189

Since October 1984, there has been an agreement between Ghana, Benin, Nigeria and

Togo, to facilitate the return of children being trafficked and the extradition of traffickers.190 In

December 1999, Benin’s Ministry of Social Protection and Family established a unit for Family

and Childhood to combat displacement and trafficking in children. The unit is supported in part

184 Country Reports 1999—Benin at Section 5. 185 Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labour Exploitation in West and Central Africa: Synthesis Report,

Benin (Côte d’Ivoire: ILO-IPEC, 2000) [hereinafter Synthesis Report, Benin]. 186 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

187 Synthesis Report, Benin. 188 Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Benin, U.N. Document No. CRC/C/15/

Add.106 (Geneva: United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, 1999), 2.

189 Combating the Trafficking of Children at 3. 190 According to this agreement, if, for example, the Beninese police intercept a convoy of Togolese children being

trafficked through Benin to Nigeria or Gabon, the Togolese police should be informed and the children returned.
36

by UNICEF within the framework of the program of social development aid. The effort aims to

create regional crisis centers to assist children throughout the country.191

In 1982, Benin’s Ministry of the Interior and Public Security established the Task Force

on the Protection of Minors (Brigade de Protection des Mineurs) to prevent the “maladjustment”

of minors and to conduct research on criminal offenses committed by children under 18.192 The

task force works with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to reintegrate intercepted victims

of trafficking into their families and operates a telephone hotline for reporting violations of

children’s rights.193

In August 1999, Benin joined eight other countries involved in the first phase of the ILOIPEC regional project to combat trafficking of children for exploitative labor in West and Central

Africa, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. The project included assessments of the

trafficking problem in the nine countries, including Benin, and a subregional report synthesizing

the main findings. Efforts were also made to channel identified children to NGOs providing

social protection and support services for victims of trafficking. A second phase of this project,

also funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, began in July 2001 and provides rehabilitation

services for children who are victims of trafficking, awareness-raising about trafficking, local

capacity-building efforts to address the problem, and initiatives to enhance regional cooperation

to address trafficking among the nine participating countries.194

A UNICEF-supported project, entitled the “Project on Children in Need of Special

Protection,” seeks to raise awareness about trafficking of children and the hazards faced by

children who are trafficked. In addition to advocating for children’s rights as defined by the

United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the project has established eight education

centers for girls involved in domestic service and provided assistance to help women access loans

for income-generating activities.195 UNICEF programs to address trafficking of children have

also established local committees in rural areas to address trafficking, have used radio and

television broadcasts to raise awareness and have supported NGOs that facilitate the reintegration

of trafficking children.196

Many NGOs also conduct programs to combat child trafficking. Some of their activities

include providing training material for teachers on child trafficking and on awareness-raising

methods they can use in the community; follow-up on children arrested by the police;

reintegration and monitoring of victims of trafficking; and sensitization for parents about

trafficking.197

191 Combating the Trafficking of Children at 3. 192 Synthesis Report, Benin. 193 Ibid. 194 Combating the Trafficking of Children at 3-4. 195 UNICEF, “Background: Protecting Children from Trafficking” (www.unicefusa.org/ct/background_2.html);

cited October 30, 2001 [hereinafter “Protecting Children from Trafficking”].

196 Combating the Trafficking of Children at 3-4. 197 Ibid at 4.
37

b. Educational Alternatives

According to Article 13 of the Constitution of Benin, education is free and compulsory

for children between the ages of 6 and 11.198

The Government of Benin has been working with the U.S. Agency for International

Development (USAID), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and other international

organizations to reform its education sector since 1991.199 The reform initiatives have allocated

increased public spending for primary education and improved institutional capacity for

educational planning, management, and accountability. Education decision-making is being

decentralized to communities and local governments.200 UNICEF is also active, through its

“Project on Children in Need of Special Protection,” in promoting girls’ access to education in

Benin.201

Benin’s Ministry of National Education has supported in-service teacher training to

improve teacher capacity, while institutional reforms have allowed teachers to be paid regularly

since 1990. Between 1990 and 1994, the number of teachers with professional qualifications rose

by 10 percent, teacher training was revamped, and new curricula were developed and tested. 202

The Ministry of National Education has also undertaken efforts to define standards for the

provision of basic quality schooling and educational budget management. 203

In 1995, total government spending on education as a percentage of gross national

product (GNP) was 3.2 percent.204 In the years from 1994 to 1997, government spending on

primary education as a percentage of GNP has ranged from between 1.23 and 1.35 percent.205 In

1997, government expenditure on education comprised approximately 15 percent of total

government expenditures.206

198 Synthesis Report, Benin. 199 USAID Basic Education Programs in Africa—Benin Country Profile (www.usaid.gov/regions/afr/basiced/

mali.html), August 14, 2001 [hereinafter USAID—Benin Country Profile]. 200 Ibid. 201 “Protecting Children from Trafficking.” 202 USAID—Benin Country Profile. 203 Ibid. 204 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics [CDROM], Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—A Decade of Education, Country Report, Benin (Paris, 2000)

[hereinafter Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Benin]. 205 Ibid. 206 United Nations Development Program (UNDP), Human Development Report 2000 (New York: Oxford

University Press, 2000).
38

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.207

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

207 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5 for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
39

BOLIVIA

1. Child Labor in Bolivia

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 13 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 years in Bolivia were working.208 Bolivia’s Ministry of Planning

and Sustainable Development, however, reports that approximately 23 percent (nearly 370,000)

of children between the ages of 7 and 14 work, and approximately 221,000 of those children do

not attend school at all.209 Children in Bolivia generally enter the labor market between the ages

of 10 and 12, but working children as young as 6 are reported to work.210 Children and

adolescents frequently work the same number of hours as adults.211

The greatest percentage of child labor occurs in rural areas, particularly in the

construction, livestock and agricultural sectors.212 In the rural areas, work for children is

traditionally considered a formative experience from which children derive skills and basic tools

for their future.213 The number of working boys in rural areas is twice as great as the number of

working girls.214

The ratio of working boys to working girls in urban areas is almost 1 to 1.215 The number

of working boys is almost twice that of working girls in the construction and transport sectors,

and 67 percent of working children in the manufacturing sector are boys. Girls account for almost

all the working children in the domestic service sector, and for about 75 percent of all working

208 World Development Indicators 2000. 209 The Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development has reported that of the approximately 1.6 million

children and adolescents between the ages of 7 and 14 in the country nearly 370,000 work. Ministerio de

Desarrollo Sostenible y Planificación, Vice-Ministerio de Asuntos de Género, Generacionales y Familia, Dirección

General de Asuntos Generacionales y Familia, Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia Escolar de

Niñas y Niños Trabajadores, February 2001, 6 [hereinafter Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia

Escolar]. The age ranges that define the categories of “children” and “adolescents” in Bolivia are unclear in the

Child and Adolescent Code and in the Labor Code, but official statistics classify anyone who is economically active

between the ages of 7 and 10 as a child and anyone who is economically active between the ages of 10 and 19 as an

adolescent. Plan Nacional para la Erradicación Progresiva del Trabajo Infantil 2000-2010, Elaborado por la

Comisión Interinstitucional de Erradicación Progresiva del Trabajo Infantil, La Paz, 2000, 18.

210 Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia Escolar at 6. 211 International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU), Report on Core Labour Standards for the WTO: Report

for the WTO General Council Review of the Trade Policies of Bolivia (Geneva, July 19 and 21, 1999)

(www2.iicftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index= 990916233&Language’EN&Printout=Yes) [hereinafter Report on

Core Labour Standards for the WTO]. 212 “Trabajo infantil: 370 mil niños trabajan en Bolivia, informo hoy la viceministra de Género, Jarmila Moravek,”

El Diario, July 5, 2000 (www.caj.../bdescriptor.in]?bdatos=2000&egistros=25&format=resumen&boolean=0499). 213 Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia Escolar at 7. 214 Trabajo infantil en los países Andinos: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru y Venezuela, Primera Edición (ILO:

Lima, Peru, 1998), 17 [hereinafter Trabajo infantil en los países Andinos]. 215 Ibid.
40

216 Vice-Ministerio de Asuntos de Género, Generaciones y Familia, Dirección General de Asuntos Generacionales

y Familia, Solicitud de Cooperación: Proyecto de Continuidad del Programa de Escolarización de Niñas y Niños

Trabajadores de 7 a 12 Años de Edad, 10 [hereinafter Solicitud de Cooperación]. 217 ILO-IPEC, Program to Prevent and Progressively Eliminate Child Labor in Small-Scale Traditional Gold

Mining in South America, ILO-IPEC project document, March 9, 2000, 3 [document on file]. 218 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000)

(www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/bolivia.html), Section 5 [hereinafter Country Reports

1999—Bolivia]. 219 Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia Escolar at 2. 220 Ibid. 221 U.S. Embassy—La Paz, unclassified telegram no. 003284, July 28, 2000. 222 U.S. Embassy—La Paz, unclassified telegram no. 005134, Oct. 22, 1999. 223 Presencia, “Algunos policías prostituyen a menores,” November 14, 2000.

children in the hotel and restaurant sectors. The ratio of working boys to girls in the commercial

sector is nearly even.216

Children participate in all aspects of small-scale, traditional mining in Bolivia, including

the extraction of underground ore, which often involves handling explosives for drilling and

blasting operations; the transporting of ore from the interior of the mines, during which children

often carry heavy loads directly on their backs; the crude processing of the mineral including

crushing it with hammers and heavy machinery; and the amalgamation of the ore, which exposes

children to mercury vapor.217

Another recognized form of child labor is the criadito practice. Criados are maids or

houseboys, often of indigenous origin, who are sent by their parents to work in middle-class and

upper-class households, usually in urban centers. Children are required to perform domestic

labor in exchange for education, clothing, room, and board. Since there are no controls over the

treatment of children in this arrangement, many become virtual slaves for the years of their

indenture. Employers frequently do not honor their part of the agreement, and criado children

often do not receive schooling.218

A major factor contributing to child labor in Bolivia in the 1990s is the economic,

political and social crisis which has elevated levels of poverty throughout the country.219 Many of

the resulting “new poor” have lost their sources of income from the formal and informal sectors

of the economy.220

Commercial sexual exploitation of children is reported in Bolivia, particularly in the

nightclub scene of poor urban areas.221 Individuals who prostitute children often look for new

recruits at bus and train stations where young people first arrive in cities.222 Press reports also

indicate that some policemen responsible for issuing licenses to adult prostitutes in the city of

Cochabamba have accepted under-the-table payments in return for altering the documentation of

minors in order to enable them to work as prostitutes.223

Many rural Bolivian children are lured to more prosperous countries like Peru, Chile,

Argentina, and Spain with promises of good salaries and an opportunity to support their families
41

224 Los Tiempos (La Paz), Sept. 12, 2001, as quoted in the UN Wire, Bolivia: Officials Launch Investigation on

Child Trafficking, September 12, 2001 (www.unfoundation.org/unwire/2001/09/12/current.asp#18042). 225 Ibid. 226 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 227 World Development Indicators 2000. 228 Plan Nacional para la Erradicación Progresiva del Trabajo Infantil 2000-2010, Elaborado por la Comision

Interinstitucional de Erradicación Progresiva del Trabajo Infantil (La Paz, 2000), 11.

229 Solicitud de Cooperación at 12. 230 Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia Escolar at 3. 231 U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Reports for 1999: Bolivia (Washington, D.C., 2000), Section 5

(www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/).

232 Study carried out by Bolivia’s Ministry of Planning’s Educational Reform Team, as cited in Core Labour

Standards for the WTO. 233 Country Reports 1999—Bolivia at Section 5. 234 Plan nacional para la erradicación progresiva del trabajo infantile, 2000-2010, Elaborado por la Comisión

Interinstitucional de Erradicación Progresiva del Trabajo Infantil, La Paz, 2000, 11.

back home.224 Bolivian traffickers living abroad return to Bolivia to entice minors with false

promises. They disguise the children as tourists and traffic them to other countries. The Bolivian

Commission on Social Policy reports that more than 24,000 children have been trafficked since

June 2000.225

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1997, net primary school attendance in Bolivia was 81.5 percent,226 and net primary

school enrollment was 97.4 percent.227 However, according to government reports, more than 56

percent of Bolivian children and adolescents do not attend or have abandoned school.228 In urban

centers, 57 percent of all children between the ages of 7 and 12 abandon school before the sixth

grade. The dropout rate increases to 89 percent in rural regions.229 In the year 2000, nearly

55,000 families refrained from sending one or more of their children to school. This suggests that,

as a result, approximately 221,000 children between the ages of 6 and 15 abandoned school that

year.230 A study published by the Ministry of Education indicates that four out of five illiterate

citizens are female, and that girls frequently leave school at a young age to work and supplement

the family income.231

A study carried out by the Ministry of Planning’s Educational Reform Team showed that

in rural areas only 0.7 percent of girls and 1.4 percent of boys finish high school. The numbers

are significantly higher in urban areas, with 26 percent of girls and 31 percent of boys graduating

from high school.232

In rural areas, access to school and additional costs associated with schooling frequently

represent significant obstacles for poorer families. In addition, corporal punishment and verbal

abuse make schooling less attractive to many children.233 These factors contribute to an

increasing school desertion rate and a widening gap between a child’s chronological age and his

or her academic level.234
42

235 Presencia, “CNE vulnera Código del Niño,” social section, November 14, 2000. 236 Ibid. 237 In reference to the number of children without proper birth certification, the article cites information provided by

Roxana Jiménez, executive director, Defensa de Niños Internacional (DNI), Presencia, November 14, 2000, ACNE

vulnera Código del Niño.

238 Codigo del Niño, Niña y Adolescente: Ley número 2026 del 27 de octubre de 1999, U.P.S. editorial, La Paz,

Bolivia, 2000, 41.

239 Ley General del Trabajo-Eleva a Rango de Ley, Chapter 1, General Dispositions, Title II, Article 8

(www.bizinfonet.com/bolivia-pensions/laws/leytraba.htm).

240 Los Tiempos, Vida y Futuro, “Correo del Sur: Protegan legalmente a los niños,” March 21, 2001

(www.lostiempos.com/pvyf4.shtml).

241 Ley General del Trabajo, Decreto Reglamentario, Codigo Procesal del Trabajo, Decreto Ley de 24 de mayo de

1939, elevado a rango de Ley el 8 de diciembre de 1942, U.P.S. editorial, La Paz, Bolivia, 2000, 20.

242 Ibid. 243 Ibid. at 69. 244 Ibid. at 20.

Lack of proper birth certification is a significant obstacle to accessing education for many

children in Bolivia. Children must be properly registered with the state in order to have access to

education and public health services. The Bolivian Code for Boys, Girls and Adolescents, which

was formalized in June 2000, establishes that all youths under the age of 18 must be officially

registered with the state. While the code states that birth certification should be provided without

charge,235 in practice Bolivian legislation only provides free birth certificates for infants up to 3

months of age. As a result, families frequently have to bear the cost of birth certification.

Children from families who cannot afford this cost are left without proper documentation and are

subject to being denied access to formal education and government-provided health and social

security benefits.236 According to one international organization, as of November 2000 only

89,480 children out of an estimated 400,000 children under the age of 7 had been properly

registered with the state.237

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

In accordance with the Bolivian Code for Boys, Girls and Adolescents, 14 is the legal

minimum age for employment.238 The code also states that working children and adolescents

between the ages of 14 and 18 are required to obtain authorization from their parents or wards.

If neither exists, then they need to request authorization from a labor inspector of the Labor

Ministry.239

In March 2001, the Government of Bolivia adopted the stipulations of the Child and

Adolescent Code that allow judges and other authorities of the Bolivian Ministry of Justice to

impose penalties for violations of the rights of minors within the country.240

The General Labor Law allows for apprenticeships for children younger than 14, which

may not exceed a two-year period.241 Apprenticeships require a signed contract in which salary

and other terms are clarified.242 All apprenticeship contracts must be stamped by a labor

inspector.243 According to the General Labor Law, employers are required to oversee that

apprentices attend school during normal school hours.244
43

245 Ley General del Trabajo: Eleva a Rango de Ley, Capitolo VI, Articulos, 58-61

 (www.bizinfonet.com/bolivia-pensions/laws/leytraba.htm).

246 U.S. Embassy-La Paz, unclassified telegram no. 003434, August 4, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram,

003434].

247 Ibid. 248 Ley General de Trabajo, Decreto Reglamentario, Codigo Procesal del Trabajo, Decreto ley de 24 de mayo de

1939, elevado a rango de Ley el 8 de diciembre de 1942, Capitulo IV, Del Contrato de “Enganche,” U.P.S.

editorial, La Paz, Bolivia, 69.

249 Unclassified telegram, 003434. 250 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

251 U.S. Embassy-La Paz, unclassified telegram no. 003284, July 28, 2000. 252 U.S. Embassy-La Paz, unclassified telegram no. 00517, December 4, 2000.

The General Labor Law also prohibits minors from dangerous, unhealthy and physically

taxing work or work that negatively affects their moral and proper upbringing. It also outlaws

minors from working in underground mines. The Labor law further states that women and

children under 18 years of age are only permitted to work during the day except those involved in

fields where exceptions apply, such as nursing or domestic service.245

Prostitution is legal in Bolivia for individuals over 18.246 Although child prostitution is

outlawed, enforcement is poor and police raids are ineffectual and easily avoided.247 Bolivian law

prohibits forced labor.248 All forms of pornography are illegal under Bolivian law.249

The Government of Bolivia ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention

No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment on June 11, 1997.250

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

Due to frequent changes in Bolivia’s Cabinet of Ministers, the Inter-Institutional

Commission on the Eradication of Child Labor was slow to develop, but in July 2000 the

commission began to meet on a regular basis.251 In December 2000, the commission completed a

National Plan on the Progressive Eradication of Child Labor 2000-2010 that was approved by

Bolivia’s Congress. The plan proposes combined efforts from the public, private,

nongovernmental organization (NGO), and local community sectors to address all forms of child

labor by offering children financial, health, and recreational opportunities, and by providing

families with economic alternatives.252

In 1996, Bolivia became a member of the International Labor Organization’s International

Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC). The U.S. Department of Labor has

provided funding to support an IPEC project to progressively eliminate child labor in small-scale

traditional mining in the Andean region. The local NGOs Centro de Desarrollo Regional (CDR),

Medioambiente Minera y Industria (MEDMIN) and Centro de Promoción Minera (CEPROMIN)

are implementing this project, which aims to remove 2,000 children and adolescents from
44

253 U.S. Department of Labor, International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child

Labor (ILO-IPEC), Program to Prevent and Progressively Eliminate Child Labor in Small-Scale Traditional Gold

Mining in South America, ILO-IPEC project document, 1999, 11 [document on file]. 254 ILO-IPEC and Environmental Development Action in the Third World (ENDA), Bolivia, Intermediate

Evaluation, Erradicación Gradual del Trabajo Infantil en Niños y Niñas Trabajadores de la Calle de la Ciudad de

El Alto, February 2000 [document on file]. 255 Trabajo infantil en los países Andinos. 256 El Tiempo, “Crece explotación laboral a menores en Bolivia” [online], Honduras, March 20, 1998 (www.casaalianza.org/ES/human-rights/labor-exploit/press/98032o.shtml).

257 Interview with Oscar Saavedra, program coordinator, ENDA, by U.S. Department of Labor official, El Alto,

November 9, 2000.

258 Quaruru, Proyecto de erradicación progresiva del trabajo infantil en La Paz, Bolivia (La Paz, Bolivia: Dierpre

Publicaciones), December 1999.

259 Programa de fortalecimiento eucativo de niños trabajadores lustrabotas, Quaruru. 260 Trabajo infantil en los países Andinos at 26. 261 UNESCO, La EPT Evaluación 2000, Informes de País, Bolivia, Parte II: Sección Analitica, 3.1, En la estructura

curricular (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/bolivia/rapport_1.html) [hereinafter La EPT Evaluación 2000].

hazardous mining work and prevent 1,000 others from entering the sector through education,

health, and vocational services.253 IPEC also supports a project to progressively eradicate urban

child labor in the capital city of La Paz.254

Defense for Children International (DNI), supported by the Bolivian arm of the Global

March to Eliminate Child Labor, develops and publishes pamphlets on the current state of

working children in Bolivia.255 DNI’s goal is to raise the awareness of authorities and the

business community about the adoption of measures in favor of children’s rights.256

Local NGOs, such as Environmental Development Action in the Third World (ENDA),

are developing projects and strategies that aim to remove working children from hazardous

environments and place them in schools. ENDA recently developed a project that provides micro

credits and skills training to the families of working children to help them overcome dependence

on income earned through the labor of their children and, at the same time, to increase the

productivity and income of these families.257 Similarly, the local NGO Qharuru has developed a

holistic service center for shoe shiners and working street children.258 Now in its 15th year, the

center supports and collaborates with government-run night schools created for working minors,

and offers various types of support such as health services for working children.259

Since 1997, the Private Workers Confederation of Bolivia (CEPB) has been working in

conjunction with the ILO to provide occupational training to working adolescents, with the goal

of placing these adolescents in the local labor sectors.260

b. Educational Alternatives

The Constitution of Bolivia proclaims the provision of education as a principal

responsibility of the state and establishes free, compulsory primary education for 8 years. Basic

primary education is free and compulsory for a minimum of 8 years for children aged 6 to 14.261

The Child and Adolescent Code outlines the government’s responsibility to honor the educational
45

262 Codigo del Niño, Niña y Adolescente: Ley número 2026 del 27 de octubre de 1999, U.P.S. editorial, La Paz,

Bolivia, 2000, 37.

263 Ibid. 264 Ibid. 265 Ibid. at 38. 266 Ley General del Trabajo, Decreto Reglamentario, Codigo Procesal del Trabajo, Decreto Ley de 24 de mayo de

1939, elevado a rango de Ley el 8 de diciembre de 1942. U.P.S. editorial, La Paz, Bolivia, 2000.

267 La EPT Evaluación 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/bolivia/rapport_1.html). 268 SIMECAL measurements include access to primary education; dropout and grade repetition rates; efficiency and

performance; public expenditure on education; human teaching resources; academic levels of primary school

teachers; and student-teacher interaction. See La EPT Evaluación 2000. 269 Solicitud de Cooperación.

rights of Bolivian children.262 The government is responsible for providing basic education to

adolescents and adults who were not able to attend school with their cohort age groups during the

regular primary school years.263 The code also outlines the government’s responsibility to

provide adolescents with easy access to school and with curricula designed and adapted for

working adolescents.264

The Child and Adolescent Code calls upon the government to take steps to reduce school

desertion rates, to build schools where they do not exist, to adapt the school calendar and

attendance schedule to local realities, and to raise awareness within communities and among

parents about the importance of registering children for school and maintaining their regular

attendance. The code further stipulates that the Government of Bolivia must provide primary

school students with school materials, transportation, meals, and medical services.265

The General Labor Law requires any employer who has hired more than 30 school-aged

children (typically between the ages of 6 and 14) to provide them with a school if there is not a

public school available. In the case of employers who have hired fewer than 30 school-aged

children, they are expected to work together to provide a community school for all working

children in the area to attend.266

According to the Law of Popular Participation (1994), municipal governments are

responsible for providing, maintaining, enlarging, and relocating as needed, school infrastructure,

furniture, equipment, and instructional materials. The municipal governments receive funding for

such activities, but most have not yet met this responsibility.267

During the 1990s, Bolivia’s Educational Reform Program developed the System for

Measuring the Quality of Education (SIMECAL). SIMECAL is used to evaluate students’

academic performance and identify factors that influence it. Indicators drawn from SIMECAL

measurements are used to coordinate improvements in education quality within the national

educational system.268

In 2000, the Vice-Ministry of Gender Affairs designed a second phase (2001-2004) of its

Scholarization of Child Workers program (PENNT), which targets children between the ages of

7 and 12.269 PENNT provides in-kind contributions to children, in the form of materials, food,
46

270 Naomi Westland, “Working Children Denied Education,” The Bolivian Times [document on file] [hereinafter

“Working Children Denied Education”].

271 Solicitud de Cooperación. 272 “Working Children Denied Education.” 273 Ministerio de Educatión, Cultura y Deportes, Vice-Ministerio de Educación Alternativa, Boletin Informativo del

Proyecto Curricular de la Escuela Nocturna-EJA, Año 2-No, 2-Enero 1999. 274 Ministerio de Educatión, Cultura y Deportes, Vice-Ministerio de Educación Alternativa, Nuevos Programas de

la Escuela Nocturna: Fase Validación, La Paz, febrero de 1999. 275 World Development Indicators 2000. 276 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics [CDROM], Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—A Decade of Education, Country Report, Bolivia (Paris, 2000). 277 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5 for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.

and financial aid.270 The main objectives of the program are to strengthen Bolivia’s educational

institutions and pedagogical training centers, promote family and community participation,

improve the target group’s access to quality health services, and raise awareness at the local and

national level about the dangers of child labor and the importance of education.271 This program

functions in four of the country’s main urban centers, with the long-term objective of promoting

equality and enhancing human capital, thereby contributing to Bolivia’s economic and social

progress.272

The Government of Bolivia’s Vice-Ministry of Alternative Education has created the

Alternative Youth Education (EJA) program, which targets girls, street children, children and

adolescent workers, and at-risk youth. The program is designed to keep children and adolescents

in school by offering them night classes with specially designed curricula that are flexible and

adapted to the population’s specific needs.273 These curricula include coursework in basic market

skills and democratic principles, the latter of which teaches children about their rights as

citizens.274

Spending by the Government of Bolivia on education has ranged from between 4.9 and

5.9 percent of gross national product (GNP) from 1994 to 1996.275 Public spending dedicated to

primary education as a percentage of GNP had ranged from 1.62 percent to 2.37 from 1990 to

1999.276
47

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.277

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.
48

BRAZIL

1. Child Labor in Brazil

In 1999, UNICEF estimated that 11 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 15 in

Brazil were working.278 Girls accounted for about one-third of these working children, and boys

for about two-thirds.279 More children work in northeastern Brazil than in any other region.280

Working children are particularly common in rural areas. In 1999, an estimated 57.5 percent of

working boys and 52 percent of working girls between the ages of 5 and 15 lived in rural

regions.281

The incidence of working children in Brazil declined throughout the 1990s.282 Official

Brazilian sources show that the number of working children between the ages of 5 and 9 fell from

3.2 percent (519,000) of children in this age group in 1995 to 2.4 percent (375,000) of children in

1999.283 Data from the International Labor Organization (ILO) indicate that labor force

participation among 10 to 14-year-olds also diminished throughout the 1990s. Whereas in 1990

almost 18 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 were economically active, by 1998

that rate had decreased to approximately 15 percent.284

Comparison over time of children’s labor force participation for Brazil during the 1990s

is complicated by a recent change in the country’s child labor law. In 1998, the government

raised the legal minimum age for work from 14 to 16.285 As a result of this change,

approximately 1.8 million children in the 14- and 15-year age groups who previously could be

employed legally under the law were now considered to be working illegally.286

278 According to the survey, 3.8 million children were working. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica,

Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios, PNAD – 1999, as cited in UNICEF, Brasil, Indicadores sobre

criancas e adolescents: Brasil 1990-1999, UNICEF/IBGE 2001 Fundo das Nacoes Unidas para a Infancia –

UNICEF, Tabelas 9 and 153, p.38, 220. Statistics for Brazil generally employ the term “minors” to refer to anyone

below age 12 and the term “adolescents” to refer to anyone between ages 12 and 18. See Estatuto de Crianca e

Adolescente, Livro I, Parte Geral, Titulo I: Das Disposicoes Preliminares, at http://www.ibge.gov.br/ibgeteen/

estatuto/estatuto.html.

279 Ministry of Labor and Employment tabulations derived from data collected through the National Statistics

Agency, 1999, Household Survey, Ministerio do Trabalho e Emprego, Quantitativo dos ocupados na semana de

referencia, PNAD, 1999, September 26, 2001. 280 Ibid. 281 Ibid. 282 Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica; cited September 28, 2001 (www.ibge.gov.br/ibge/estatistica/

populacao/trabalhoerendimento/pnad99/coment99.shtm).

283 Ibid. 284 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 285 U.S. Embassy-Brazil, unclassified telegram no. 001439, September 18, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

no. 001439].

286 Simon Schwartzmann, “Trabalho infantil no Brasil” (ILO, 2001), 51.
49

In 1999, approximately 80 percent of working children between the ages of 5 and 9 were

involved in agricultural activities.287 Children work on orange, sugar cane, and sisal

plantations.288 The Public Ministry of Labor (PGM) reports that most child and adolescent

laborers are not paid for their work.289 Of those minors that are paid, 90 percent receive less than

the national minimum wage.290

Working children are also found in the shoe, logging, mining and charcoal industries and

in other traditional sectors of the Brazilian economy.291 It is estimated that there are 800,000 girls

between the ages of 10 and 17 working as domestic servants.292 In 1999, the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that 50,000 children nationwide were scavenging in

garbage dumps.293

Sexual exploitation of children occurs throughout the country. The Information Network

for Violence, Exploitation and Sexual Abuse of Children and Adolescents (CECRIA) released a

1999 study294 stating that in the northern Amazonian region, sexually exploited children

commonly work in brothels that cater to mining settlements. The report also found that in larger

cities, many girls who have suffered sexual abuse at home turn to the streets and prostitute

themselves to survive. Along the northeast coast, sexual tourism is prevalent and involves

networks of travel agents, hotel workers and taxi drivers.295 In river port cities, the commercial

sexual exploitation of children is largely based on demand from ships’ crews.296

287 Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (www.ibge.gov.br/ibge/estatistica/populacao/trabalhoerendimento/

pnad99/coment99.shtm).

288 Brazil-Brasil, “Toil for Tots: Low Wages and Unemployment Are Mainstream Concerns in Brazilian Society,

but Their Most Painful Sign Is the Exploitation of Child Labor,” Coming to Grips with Child Work: Brazilian

Children, July 1998, as cited September 26, 2001 (www.brazil-brasil.com/p24jul98.htm). See also unclassified

telegram no. 001439.

289 The Public Ministry of Labor is an independent government agency created by the 1988 Constitution charged

with promoting the enforcement of labor laws. Xisto Tiago de Medeiros Neto, O Procurador-Geral do Trabalho,

Diario de Natal, Opiniao, A crueldade do trabalho infantile, October 21, 2000 (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/noticias/

noticia17.html).

290 Ibid. 291 International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU) website, Internationally Recognised Core Labor

Standards in Brazil, Report for the WTO General Council Review of Trade Policies of Brazil (Geneva, October 25

and 27, 2000, October 27, 2000, Brussels) (www.icftu.org/

displaydocument.asp?Index=991211582&Language=EN&Printout+Yes).

292 Haim Grunspun, O Trabalho das Crianças e dos Adolescentes, Editora LTR (São Paulo, Brazil), 2000, 44. 293 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of State, 1999)

(www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_htp_report/), Section 5 [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—

Brazil]. 294 The CECRIA study related patterns of sexual exploitation of minors to Brazil’s varied regional economic and

social structures. CECRIA website, A exploracao comercial sexual de meninos, meninas e adolescentes na

America Latina e Caribe (Relatorio Final—Brasil), second edition. Brasilia, Brasil, 1999, Section 1.4

(www.cecria.org.br) [hereinafter CECRIA website].

295 CECRIA. A Exploração Comercial Sexual de Meninos, Meninas e Adolescentes Na America Latina e Caribe.

(Relatorio Final – Brasil), Fourth Edition (Brasilia, Brasil), 2001, 39 [hereinafter CERCIA].

296 Ibid.
50

Trafficking of children for the purpose of prostitution continues to be a problem in

Brazil.297 CECRIA reports that Brazil’s sexual tourism industry actively recruits children and

traffics them outside of the country. Trafficking has developed in part to meet the demands of

foreigners, but the local population also sustains it.298

2. Children’s Participation in School

Basic and intermediate education (grades 1–8) is free and compulsory for children 7 years

of age and older. The Brazilian Constitution directs the government to make education available

to all children and adolescents, including those who were not able to attend school with their

appropriate cohort age group.299

In 2000, the annual school census indicated that Brazil had achieved an educational

coverage capacity which guaranteed school access to all children between the ages of 7 and 14,

and to most of the 15–17-year age group.300 Primary school net enrollment rates increased more

than 10 points, from 86.8 percent in 1990 to 97.1 percent in 1997.301 In 1990, the primary school

net enrollment rate for females was 84 percent, and increased to 94.3 percent in 1997.302

Similarly, the primary school net enrollment rate for boys in 1990 was 89.6, which increased to

99.9 in 1997.303 Brazil has already surpassed its Education for All target of 95 percent net

primary school enrollment by 2003.304

Primary school gross enrollment rates also increased during the 1990s. In 1990, the rate

was 106.3 percent and increased to 124.6 percent in 1997.305 Between 1990 and 1995, 71 percent

of primary school entrants reached grade five.306 While enrollment statistics indicate an upward

trend, fewer children are actually attending school. In 1996, the gross primary attendance rate

was 68.2 percent, and the net primary attendance rate was 58.3 percent.307

297 Country Reports 1999—Brazil at 28. 298 CERCIA , 39. 299 Education Law. Decree No. 3,772. March 14, 2001. Seção II, Dos Orgãos Específicos singulars, Artigo 8.

Also see Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente. Titulo II, Capitulo IV – Do Direito à Educação, À cultura, Ao

Esporte E al Lazer. Artigos 53 - 54.

300 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Education for All (EFA) 2000

[online], Country Report, Brazil (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/brazil/contents.html) [hereinafter EFA

2000].

301 World Development Indicators 2000, “Table 5: “Primary School Net Enrollment Rate by Country: 1989 to

1997.”

302 Ibid. at Table 6: “Primary School Net Enrollment Rate by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1997.” 303 Ibid. 304 EFA 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/brazil/contents.html). 305 World Development Indicators 2000 at Table 3: “Primary School Gross Enrollment Rate by Country: 1989 to

1998.”

306 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), The State of the World’s Children 2000 (www.unicef.org/sowc00/

stat6.htm).

307 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.
51

Regional differences regarding access and quality are dramatic but somewhat less so since

government efforts to expand the education system during the 1990s has been greater throughout

the north and northeast than the national average.308

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Brazilian Constitution and the 1990 Statute on Children and Adolescents (ECA)

provide the legal framework that defines and implements children’s rights policy in Brazil.309 The

Constitution specifies 16 years as the legal minimum working age and 14 years as the legal

minimum apprenticeship age.310 Children or adolescents under the age of 18 are prohibited from

participating in night work and activities that risk their psychological, social, or moral

development.311

The ECA defines and protects the rights of minors and establishes a structure for the

implementation of such rights.312 The Ministry of Labor and Employment (MLE) is the

government agency responsible for training inspectors to determine work site violations

according to the definitions of the ECA.313 The inspection of child labor policy is directed by a

special core group, which specifically focuses on the elimination of child labor. This group is

present in each of Brazil’s 27 states and is responsible for developing plans of action and

providing data to inform inspection activities.314 In practice, most inspections are reactive rather

than proactive, and occur in response to allegations and tips brought to regional offices of the

MLE by workers, teachers, unions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the media.315

Employers that violate Brazil’s child labor laws are subject to fines of approximately

US$223, although repeat offenders may be subject to fines equal to twice this amount. Initial

levying of fines, however, generally occurs only after several violations.316

308 EFA 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/brazil/rapport_1.html). 309 O Ministerio Publico do Trabalho na Erradicacao do Trabalho Infantil e na Protecao do Trabalho do

Adolescente (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/trabinfantil/atuacao.html). 310 These standards were raised from 14 and 12, respectively, after a 1998 amendment. Unclassified telegram, 9/18/

00. Because mandatory schooling ends at age 14 and the minimum legal age for work is 16, the government,

businesses, and civil society are attempting to address this difference by promoting more apprenticeships for 14-

and 15-year-olds. The Toy Manufacturers’ Foundation for Children’s Rights (ABRINQ) Foundation website, Nova

lei deve ampliar oportunidades para a formacao profissional do adolescente (www.fundabrinq.org.br/peac/lei/

texto%20FADC.htm).

311 Ministerio Publico do Trabalho, Procuradoria Geral do Trabalho, O Ministerio Publico do Trabalho na

Erradicacao do Trabalho Infantil e na Protecao do Trabalho do Adolescente (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/trabinfantil/

index.html).

312 Estatuto da Crianca e do Adolescente, Lei No. 8.069, de 13 de Julho de 1990 (www.pgt. mpt.gov.br/cnti/

legislacao%20-%20ECA.html) [hereinafter Estatuto da Crianca e do Adolescente].

313 Unclassified telegram 001439. 314 Ibid. 315 Ibid. 316 Ibid. In the state of Alagoas, the State Forum for the Eradication of Child Labor reports that low fines and poor

fine collection contribute to a sense of impunity among many violators of child labor laws. Mark Mittelhauser,

Labor attaché at U.S. Consulate, Sao Paolo, Brazil, e-mail to Sharon Heller, international analyst, Bureau of

International Labor Affairs, International Child Labor Program, U.S. Department of Labor, October 10, 2001.
52

Article 227 of the Brazilian Constitution states that anyone who abuses, commits violent

acts against, or sexually exploits a child or adolescent will be severely punished.317 According to

Articles 240 to 241 of the ECA, it is considered a crime to photograph or produce pornographic

material involving children or adolescents. Punishments include incarceration between 1 and 4

years and a fine.318

The Brazilian Penal Code includes sanctions against any person who lures workers with

the motive to transport them to another state or national territory. Violators can be fined and

incarcerated from between one and three years. The punishment increases if the victim is less

than 18 years of age.319

Brazil ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 on Minimum

Age for Employment on June 28, 2001,320 and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of

Child Labor on February 2, 2000.321 A number of activities considered to be among the most

hazardous by the federal Ministry of Welfare and Social Assistance (MPAS) are the following:

in rural areas, the harvesting of sisal, sugar cane, cotton, tobacco and citrus; the production of

wood, brick, charcoal, ceramics and flour; working in salt and other mines; weaving; and fishing.

Some urban sector activities include drug trafficking, trash picking, shoe shining, and

commerce.322

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

Government efforts to raise awareness and develop programs to combat and prevent child

labor are widespread in Brazil. The Ministry of Labor and Employment (MLE) has established a

system of specialized child labor training for labor inspectors and incentives to encourage

enforcement of child labor laws. The design of a more proactive approach involves strengthening

links with unions, NGOs and businesses; sharing information; and developing more effective

policies.323 Efforts to reduce child labor in the MLE are led by Special Groups to Combat Child

Labor, which are present in every Brazilian state. These groups collect data on child labor and

help to promote labor inspection in activities with high rates of child labor.324

317 Banco de Dados Politicos das Americas, Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil

(www.georgetown.edu/pdba/constitutions/Brazil/Brazil99.html).

318 Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente. Titulo VII, Dos Crimes e Das Infraçes administrativas, Capítulo I, Seção

I, Artigos 240-241 (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/cnti/legislacao%20-%20ECA.html).

319 O Ministerio Publico do Trabalho na Erradicacao do Trabalho Forcado (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/trabescravo/

atuacao.html).

320 For a full list of countries that have ratified ILO Convention No. 182, see International Labor Organization,

International Labor Standards and Human Rights Department, ILOLEX online (http://ilolex.ilo.ch:1567/scripts/

ratifce.pl?C138).

321 Ibid. (http://ilolex.ilo.ch:1567/scripts/ratifce.pl?C182). 322 Unclassified telegram 001439. 323 Ibid. 324 Ibid.
53

On March 15, 2000, the MLE established a Tripartite Commission with the goal of

defining Brazil’s worst forms of child labor.325 The commission produced a list of 82 activities to

be considered “worst forms” by the Brazilian Government. The list includes such activities as

harvesting citrus fruits, driving tractors, civil construction, garbage picking, cutting sugar cane,

selling alcohol, and working in bars and brothels. The list produced by the Tripartite Commission

led to an additional 27 activities being banned for workers between 16 and 18 years old.326

The ECA calls for the creation of councils in defense of the rights of children and

adolescents on the federal, state, and municipal levels. Councils are comprised of both

governmental and nongovernmental organizations and have contributed to raising the awareness

and participation of civil society in reducing child labor.327 Implementation of these councils has

been uneven, however, and many municipalities have not instituted councils due to payroll cost

considerations and a failure to prioritize the creation of such councils.328

MPAS launched Programa Sentinela to create centers and networks to assist children and

adolescents who are victims of sexual abuse and exploitation. The centers serve as clearinghouses

for allegations; offer psychological, social and legal counseling; and attempt to create safer

environments for victims. Sentinela currently has 40 centers and aims to have 200 by the end of

2001. Centers work with a network of NGOs and public officials to guarantee the rights of

victims of abuse and of children working as prostitutes.329

The federal government administers more than 33 programs under five separate ministries

aimed at combating child labor. To avoid duplication of efforts, the National Council for the

Rights of Children and Adolescents approved a comprehensive plan incorporating data

requirements, legal aspects, program coordination, education, inspection, and income

generation.330

A new Parliamentary Investigative Commission on Sexual Tourism began functioning in

September of 2001 under the direction of the city of Fortaleza’s Municipal Chamber.331

The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) has contributed to a 3-year International Labor

Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) regional

project to combat the child domestic worker problem in Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru.

USDOL has also supported a 3-year IPEC project to address the commercial sexual exploitation

325 Ibid. 326 Mark Mittelhauser, Labor attaché at U.S. Consulate, Sao Paolo, Brazil, e-mail to Sharon Heller, international

analyst, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, International Child Labor Program, U.S. Department of Labor,

February 5, 2001 [hereinafter Mittelhauser e-mail, 2/5/01].

327 Estatuto da Crianca e do Adolescente. See also unclassified telegram 001439. 328 Mark Mittelhauser, Labor attaché at U.S. Consulate, Sao Paolo, Brazil, e-mail to U.S. Department of Labor

official, March 05, 2001.

329 Ibid. 330 The various programs of the federal government to eradicate child labor are listed in the Government of Brazil’s

multiyear plan (PPA). See unclassified telegram 001439. 331 O Povo- CE. P.18.
54

of minors in the border towns of Foz de Iguacu, Brazil and of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.332 In

1999, USDOL provided funds to ILO-IPEC to begin a statistical survey of child labor through the

Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC). The survey will be

implemented by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in October 2001 as

part of Brazil’s National Household Survey and will reach approximately 120,000 households.333

Currently, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is funding a project

that addresses child labor in the states of Recife, Fortaleza and Salvador. It targets children

working in child prostitution and domestic service as well as garbage picking and street vending,

and it aims to support and strengthen basic education; remove children from abusive labor; and

develop scholarships and alternative income-generation opportunities for needy families.334

Labeling systems are also being used to combat child labor in Brazil. The Toy

Manufacturers’ Foundation for Children’s Rights (ABRINQ) has developed a child-friendly seal

to provide incentives for firms to support child-friendly policies. The seal is granted to companies

that make the commitment to undertake activities that benefit children and not to employ minors.

The program includes nearly 25 out of Brazil’s largest 100 companies.335 The Pro-Child Institute

also uses social labeling in the municipalities of Birigui, Franca to indicate that footwear

producers have signed agreements with suppliers requiring that they do not employ children.336

Members pay a small fee to use the label, and the program has a monitoring component that, with

the help of local students, assesses local factory practices.337

The federal government has formed various commissions to address issues related to

child labor in Brazil. Among these is the Executive Group to Combat Forced Labor

(GERTRAF), the National Forum for the Eradication of Child Labor and the Protection of the

Adolescent Worker, and the National Office of Coordination for Combating the Exploitation of

Child and Adolescent Labor. State governments have also formed local commissions, such as the

State of Rio de Janeiro’s Commission on the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor.338

b. Educational Alternatives

In the early 1990s, the Brazilian educational community embarked on the United Nations

Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s Education for All (EFA)

initiative. The project identified and targeted major shortcomings in Brazil’s educational system,

332 USDOL-IPEC internal project document, 2000. 333 U.S. Department of Labor, International Child Labor Program (USDOL-ICLP) internal document; Technical

Cooperation Summaries 2000.

334 Brazil Child Labor/Education Strategy. Notes from Child Labor Coalition Meeting, n.d. 335 U.S. Embassy-Brazil, unclassified telegram no. 001905, December 21, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

001905]. The ABRINQ Foundation reached new agreements with the Sao Paulo state sugar producers; with

Abecitrus, the citrus export organization; with shoe manufacturers in the city of Franca; and with Volkswagen and

General Motors.

336 This program will soon be implemented in the state of Rio Grande do Sul as well. See unclassified telegram

001905.

337 Ibid. 338 Ministerio Publico do Trabalho, Procuraduria Geral, Comissoes, August 8, 2001 (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/

comissoes.html).
55

including the age/grade gap,339 regional differences, and deficient teacher training.340 The

National Education Guidelines and Framework Law of 1996 and Constitutional Amendment 14

provided for the legal reorganization of the Brazil’s educational system.341

During the past five years, the Brazilian Government has been working to improve the

quality of education by raising the average wage paid to teachers by 13 percent and up to 50

percent for teachers who work in the municipal school system in the country’s Northeast

region.342 Teacher training is also being addressed, and over the past few years more than

225,000 teachers have received at least the minimum training required for teaching.343

The approval of Amendment 14 to the Constitution in 1996 created Brazil’s Fund for the

Maintenance and Development of Basic Education and Teacher’s Valorization (FUNDEF) which

began implementation in 1998.344 The objective of FUNDEF is to correct distortions between the

number of students and expenditures per student, guaranteeing a minimum investment per student

and reducing regional differences.345 Amendment 14 requires that, of the 25 percent of state and

municipal fiscal revenues earmarked for education purposes, 60 percent will go specifically

toward primary education. Accordingly, 15 percent of state and municipal tax revenues are

required to be sent to the FUNDEF for this purpose. Sixty percent of FUNDEF expenditures

must go toward teacher salaries.346

The centerpiece of the government’s strategy for reducing the worst forms of child labor

is its Program for the Eradication of Child Labor (PETI). PETI removes children under 15 years

from hazardous work activities and promotes education as a long-term solution. The program

provides cash stipends to low-income families (usually to mothers) in exchange for making sure

their children remain in school and refrain from working. Since public schooling in Brazil

typically occurs for four hours a day, PETI also provides extracurricular activities for

participating children to ensure that they are not tempted to re-enter the work force.347

PETI is a joint effort by the three levels of government. Overall, MPAS provides

guidelines and most of the funding, but state and municipal governments are charged with

implementing the bulk of the program locally. PETI has grown from a pilot project in a few

municipalities in two states in 1996 to more than 160 municipalities in 13 states by the end of

1999.348 The number of children in the program has also risen from 3,710 in 1996 to over

339 The age/grade gap, or the fact that students are often older than the corresponding cohort for each grade, is

caused by late entry into the school system and grade repetition. See EFA 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/

countryreports/brazil/contents.html).

340 Ibid. 341 Ibid. 342 Ibid. 343 EFA 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/brazil/rapport_1.html). 344 Ibid. 345 Ibid. 346 Ibid. 347 Unclassified telegram 001439. 348 Unclassified telegram 001439. One of the major protests the Ministry of Welfare and Social Assistance (MPAS)

plan has provoked from local implementers and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) is that the program is only
56

600,000 by the end of 2001.349 PETI’s budget, meanwhile, has grown from US$517,500 in 1996

to US$45,880,000 in 1999. The government plans to increase PETI’s range in coming years,

eventually more than doubling the number of children reached, to 866,000 by the end of 2002.350

Bolsa Escola is the Ministry of Education’s (MEC) preventive counterpart to the PETI

program that aims to prevent child labor by improving access to education.351 Bolsa Escola

provides mothers with a card similar to an automated teller machine banking card that contains a

fixed sum of $6 per month per child (aged 6 to 15) for a maximum of 3 children. In return, the

mothers agree to ensure that their children maintain at least an 85 percent attendance rate in

school.352 The MEC is responsible for overall coordination of the program, but the local

municipalities are charged with its daily management and maintenance.353 By the end of 2001,

the program was already providing stipends to the families of nine million children.354

To address problems of overcrowding that result from high repetition rates and late

entries of children into school, the Government of Brazil initiated a Program for Accelerated

Learning in 1998. This program designs special classes to advance children quickly through

earlier grades so that they can become enrolled in the classes that are appropriate for their age. In

1998, the program enrolled 1.2 million students in the classes.355

Another important national program, Merenda Escolar, seeks to promote children’s

access to schooling through a school lunch program. By the end of 1999, the federal government

had provided approximately US$2.25 billion to support this program. In 1999, administration of

the program was passed to the municipalities, granting autonomy to communities and schools to

create the lunch menu.356

In compliance with a constitutional provision, Congress approved a National Education

Plan which raised the portion of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the budget earmarked for

able to fund children up to the age of 14, which is short of the legal working age. The PETI and minimum income

program has yet to incorporate these children into their plans.

349 Mittelhauser e-mail, 2/5/01. See also U.S. Embassy-Brazil, unclassified telegram no. 00370, April 2, 2002

[hereinafter unclassified telegram 00370].

350 Unclassified telegram 001439. 351 This initiative was developed in a number of municipalities and was adopted in 2001 at the federal level as part

of Project Dawn. Mark Mittelhauser, Labor attaché at U.S. Consulate, Sao Paolo, Brazil, telephone conversation

with Sharon Heller, international analyst, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, International Child Labor Program,

U.S. Department of Labor, October 9, 2001.

352 Mark Mittelhauser, Labor attaché at U.S. Consulate, Sao Paolo, Brazil, e-mail to Sharon Heller, international

analyst, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, International Child Labor Program, U.S. Department of Labor,

October 9, 2001 [hereinafter Mittelhauser e-mail, 10/9/01].

353 Ibid. The ILO in Brazil reports that many municipal Bolsa Escola programs have successfully reduced poverty

and increased school attendance, but no evaluation has yet been performed on the federal MEC Bolsa Escola

program. Child Labor News Service (www.globalmarch.org/clns/clns-15-5-2001.htm), Brazilian Project Could Be

Model for Africa. 354 Unclassified telegram 00370. Local experts have expressed concern, however, about the likely effectiveness of

the program due to its rapid implementation, the low value of the stipend, and the lack of comprehensive oversight

by the Ministry of Education; see Mittelhauser e-mail, 10/9/01. 355 Educacao Brasileira: Politicas e Resultados, Ministry of Education, Brasilia, Brazil, 1999. 356 Ibid.
57

education from 5 to 7 percent, combining resources coming from the government at the

municipal, state and national levels.357 Per student, Brazil still spends less than US$350

annually.358

UNICEF has worked with local NGOs to develop awareness-raising campaigns to

educate parents and help them to understand why education is important for their children’s

future.359

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.360

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

357 IPS World News, “Education—Brazil: Government Promises to Wipe Out Illiteracy by 2010”

(www.oneworld.org/ips2/jan01/00_27_004.html).

358 Aldo Rodriguez Villouta, “Mercosur Ministers to Formulate Social Agenda for Trade Bloc,” September 21,

2000, EFE News Service (Westlaw).

359 Patrice M. Jones, “Brazil Struggles with Child Labor,” Chicago Tribune, June 25, 2000. 360 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
58

CAMBODIA

1. Child Labor in Cambodia

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 24.1 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Cambodia were working.361 The 1999 Cambodia

Socioeconomic Survey estimated that 313,811 children between the ages of 5 and 14 worked

within or outside households in the production of goods and services.362 Rates of participation

increase with the child’s age. In 1999, an estimated 4.5 percent (71,601) of children between the

ages of 5 and 9 and 14.9 percent (242,210) of children between ages 10 and 14 were

economically active.363 Beginning at around the age of 12, the percentage of economically active

girls begins to outnumber that of boys. Whereas approximately one-half of all girls between the

ages of 14 and 17 work, only one-third of boys in the same age group work.364 The Cambodia

Human Development Report (CHDR)365 found that the incidence of working children between

the ages 10 and 13 declined between 1997 and 1999. The CHDR speculates that this may relate

to improved access to primary education, particularly in rural areas.366

Many children work long hours and do not attend school. In 1999, approximately 65,000

children aged 5 to 13 years worked over 25 hours a week and did not attend school.367 The

Cambodia Socioeconomic Survey (CSES) found that in 1999 the average working child between

the ages 5 and 9 worked almost 33 hours per week. Working children between the ages of 10 and

13 worked an average of 37 hours, while working children between the ages of 14 and 17 worked

an average of 47 hours per week.368

The rural labor force participation rates for children are much higher than those of urban

children, in large part because of the greater access to education and higher standards of living in

361 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 362 Report on the Cambodia Socioeconomic Survey 1999 (Phnom Penh: National Institute of Statistics, Ministry of

Planning, 2000), 39 [hereinafter Cambodia Socioeconomic Survey 1999]. 363 Ibid. at 40. 364 Cambodia Human Development Report 2000: Children and Employment (Phnom Penh: Ministry of Planning,

2000), 29 [hereinafter Cambodia Human Development Report 2000]. 365 The report was compiled by using data from the Cambodia Socioeconomic Survey conducted in 1999. Due to

the methodology (a two-round survey with only 3,000 households per round) and the general scope of the survey, it

does not provide adequate information on some forms of child labor, particularly worst forms such as prostitution,

and hidden sectors such as domestic work, and may therefore underestimate the magnitude of child labor in the

country. See comments on the reliability of the data in Rapid Assessment Report: Child Labor on Rubber

Plantations in Kampong Cham Province, Cambodia (Phnom Penh: ILO-IPEC, January 2000), 8 [hereinafter Rapid

Assessment Report]. 366 Cambodia Human Development Report 2000 at 35-36. Other experts dispute this finding, claiming that there

are still an insufficient number of teachers to meet educational needs. Interview with Mar Sophea, national

program manager, ILO-IPEC Cambodia, by U.S. Department of Labor official, October 17, 2000 [hereinafter

Sophea interview, 10/17/00]. See also interview with Mom Thany, CRC Senior Advisor for Redd Barna

Cambodia, by U.S. Department of Labor official, October 19, 2000.

367 Cambodia Human Development Report 2000 at 57. 368 Ibid. at 32.
59

urban areas.369 In rural areas, approximately 277,000 children between the ages of 5 and 14

worked in 1999, while in urban areas, almost 31,000 worked.370

The vast majority of working children in Cambodia are found in the agriculture, forestry

and fishing industries. Ninety-two percent of working children aged 10 to 13 and 86 percent of

children ages 14 to 17 work in these sectors. Of working children ages 10 to 13 and ages 14 to

17, 7.4 percent and 10.4 percent, respectively, work in the trade and manufacturing sector

(including brick making and salt production), and services and construction industries comprise

0.7 percent of workers ages 10 to 13 and 2.9 percent of working children ages 14 to 17.371

Children have been found working in hazardous conditions, including construction, domestic

servitude, plantation work, salt production, stone cutting and fish processing, and as porters or

street vendors.372 There have also been reports of children working in brick and plywood

factories, in salt production, in sawmills and small family enterprises, and on rubber

plantations.373

In the formal sector, children working on rubber plantations in Kampong Cham, in central

Cambodia, assist their families by collecting latex, preparing trees for production, and performing

other light tasks. They are exposed to diseases, including malaria, and may incur minor injuries,

such as cuts and bruises.374

Children work in the salt fields in the southern province of Kampot. They carry heavy

loads in hot weather for long hours and suffer foot injuries from walking on the salt. 375 Children

in Sihanoukville, in southern Cambodia, work in the shrimping industry, as fisherman, and as

shrimp processors.376 There are also reports that children work in shoe factories in

Sihanoukville.377

369 Cambodia Socioeconomic Survey 1999 at 39. 370 Ibid. at 40. 371 Cambodia Human Development Report 2000 at 33-34. Despite a high-profile allegation of child labor in a

garment factory in October 2000, sources generally agree that there are few children in the Phnom Penh garment

factories below the legal working age of 15. For example, see Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for

2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, February 2001), Section 6d [hereinafter Country Reports

2000—Cambodia]. See also Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia: Report of the Secretary-General for Human

Rights in Cambodia, Mr. Peter Leuprecht, submitted in accordance with resolution 2000/79, U.N. Document E/

CN.4/2001/103 (Geneva: 57th Session of the Commission on Human Rights, January 24, 2001), 20. 372 Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia: Report of the Secretary-General, U.N. Document A/52/489 (Geneva:

52nd Session of the General Assembly, October 17, 1997), Point 167. 373 Information based on a 1996 ILO-IPEC survey, as cited in U.S. Embassy-Phnom Penh, unclassified telegram

no. 001077, June 12, 2000.

374 Rapid Assessment Report at 10-13. 375 Child Labor and Salt Production in Kompot Province, Cambodia: A Situation Analysis of Rapid Assessment

Findings (Phnom Penh: ILO-IPEC, May 2000). 376 “Life at Sea for a 16-Year-Old Fisherman,” and “Toiling in a Factory—Vann Doeun, 12, Shells Shrimps,”

Bamboo Shoots—English Summary (Phnom Penh: Redd Barna, no. 6, 1999), 2-4. 377 Interview with Cambodian labor union leaders of the Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of

Cambodia (FTUWKC), NIFTUC, CFITU, CUF, and CLO, by U.S. Department of Labor officials, October 24,

2000.
60

In the informal sector, children work as garbage pickers, prostitutes, domestic servants

and porters. The director of the Vulnerable Children Assistance Organization (VCAO) asserts

that more than 100 children per day search for recyclable material at the municipal dump in Stung

Meanchey.378 The CHDR 2000 reports that about 1,000 street children, either living alone or

with their families, engage in begging, shoe polishing and other income generating activities, and

are particularly at risk of drug use or prostitution.379 The CHDR 2000 conservatively estimates

that at least 6,500 children work as domestic workers in Phnom Penh alone.380 Most of these

children are girls between the ages of 12 and 15 and are from remote provinces. Many have

never attended school.381

Children are used as porters to haul goods back and forth across the border with Thailand.

It is estimated that every day over 300 Cambodian children cross the border illegally, carrying

goods in order to help traders avoid import taxes. They haul heavy loads of up to 60 kilos—often

more than their own body weight—and face immediate punishment from border guards if they

are caught.382

Many children reportedly are also involved in prostitution. A 1997 government report

found that of approximately 15,000 prostitutes working in brothels nationwide, 15.5 percent were

children below the age of 18.383 An estimated 30 percent (5,000) of sex workers in Phnom Penh

are girls under the age of 18.384 Overall, the International Labor Organization’s International

Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) estimates that approximately one-third of

Cambodia’s 55,000 prostitutes are children.385 There are reports that children are held in debt

bondage as commercial sex workers until they work off the loans provided to their parents. Some

parents report that they are tricked into sending their daughters to the cities.386

Cambodia is reported to be a country of origin, transit and destination for trafficking in

persons for the purposes of prostitution, work and begging.387 In 2000 alone, the International

Office of Migration assisted in the repatriation of 247 Cambodian children under the age of 18

378 Chea Pyden, “Garbage Collection Children,” in Child Workers in Asia, vol. 16, no. 1, 2000.

(www.cwa.tnet.co.th/vol16-1/vcaocambodia.htm).

379 Human Development Report 2000 at 39. 380 Ibid. at 41. 381 Chea Pyden and Un Chanvirak, “Child Labor in Cambodia,” from the Fifth Regional Consultation of Child

Workers of Asia on the Asian Economic Crisis (www.cwa.tnet.co.th/booklet/cambodia.htm). The NGO “Friends”

(Mith Samlanh) states that the overwhelming majority of these street children are boys.

382 “Poverty Fuels Thriving Child-Labor Market in Cambodia,” Asian Economic News (Kyodo News International,

Inc., October 11, 1999).

383 Report on the Problem of Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: Commission on

Human Rights and Reception of Complaints of the National Assembly, May 1997), 2, 6. The commission noted

that this was a minimum estimate, as it did not cover all districts or include commercial sex workers employed in

other venues such as massage parlors and karaoke bars.

384 Human Development Report 2000 at 36. 385 Sophea interview, 10/17/00. 386 Human Development Report 2000 at 37. 387 Ibid at 38. The report notes that most trafficking for prostitution occurs internally. See also Annuska Derks,

Trafficking of Cambodian Women and Children to Thailand (Phnom Penh: International Organization for

Migration and Center for Advanced Study, October 1997). For qualitative information on patterns of trafficking,
61

from Thailand.388 The majority of Cambodian children who are trafficked to Thailand to work as

beggars are young boys.389 According to the international nongovernmental organization (NGO),

Redd Barna, at least 40 children, who were sold by traffickers, are turned over to Cambodian

authorities by the Thai police every day.390

2. Children’s Participation in School

Articles 65 and 68 of Cambodia’s Constitution provide for 9 years of free schooling to all

citizens, but there are no compulsory education laws.391 Educational opportunities are limited.

Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Cambodia, but it is reported that over 20

percent of children aged 6 to 11 are not in school. 392 While enrollment rates indicate a level of

commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in school.393

According to the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MOEYS), enrollment in primary

school has stayed relatively steady at roughly 85 percent from 1996 to 1999. Enrollment in

grades 6 to 9, however, has declined from 23 percent in 1996 to 14.4 percent in 1999.394

In 1996, 49 percent of children enrolled in primary school reached grade five.395

Only one-half of Cambodia’s primary schools provide a full six years of instruction.396

Moreover, a 1999 Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports (MOEYS) report noted that 28

districts are without a lower secondary school, and many children, especially girls, do not have

access to secondary schools.397 The lack of dormitories in towns with schools makes it

impossible for children of both genders from outlying areas to attend those schools.398

see Annuska Derks, Trafficking of Vietnamese Women and Children to Cambodia (Phnom Penh: International

Organization for Migration and Center for Advanced Study, March 1998). See also Annuska Derks, Trafficking of

Cambodian Women and Children to Thailand (Phnom Penh: International Organization for Migration and Center

for Advanced Study, October 1997). See also Kritaya Archavanitkul, Trafficking in Children for Labour

Exploitation including Child Prostitution in the Mekong Sub-region (Bangkok: ILO-IPEC and the Institute for

Population and Social Research of Mahidol University, July 1998).

388 Lauren Engle, coordinator, external relations and information/trafficking focal point of the International

Organization for Migration, Washington, D.C., office, e-mail to U.S. Department of Labor official, April 17, 2001.

389 Cambodia Human Development Report 2000: Children and Employment (Phnom Penh: Ministry of Planning,

2000), 38.

390 “Poverty Fuels Thriving Child-Labor Market in Cambodia,” Asian Economic News (Kyodo News International,

Inc., October 11, 1999). See also Mary Ann Guzman and Yang Daravuth, Study on the Current Programmes,

Existing Mechanism of Coordination, Cooperation and Networking among Relevant NGOs and Provincial

Government Departments Working on the Issue of Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children (Phnom Penh:

Cambodian National Council for Children, January 1999), 25 [hereinafter Study on the Current Programmes]. 391 Interview with the director of the Nonformal Education Department of the Ministry of Education, Youth, and

Sports (MOEYS), by U.S. Department of Labor official, October 17, 2000 [hereinafter MOEYS interview].

392 MOEYS data, as cited in U.S. Embassy-Phnom Penh, unclassified telegram no. 001719, September 12, 2000. 393 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

394 MOEYS data, as cited in U.S. Embassy-Phnom Penh, unclassified telegram no. 001719, September 12, 2000. 395 World Development Indicators 2000. 396 Education in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport’s Department of Planning, July

1999), 14.
62

Girls are under-represented at all levels of education. Only 45 percent of girls are

enrolled at the primary level and 40 percent at the lower secondary school level. Dropout rates

for females are twice those of males.399 Forty-two percent of girls over age 15 have never

attended school, compared with 21 percent of boys. Among the factors frequently cited are long

distances to school facilities and resulting safety concerns, lack of sanitary facilities, and the

societal expectation for girls to take care of siblings while their parents work.400 Education is

often inaccessible to minority groups, as classes are conducted only in Khmer, and promotion

rates to the second grade for children in minority regions are significantly lower than the national

average.401

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Cambodia’s Labor Law contains various provisions related to child labor. The minimum

work age is 15, though children between the ages of 12 and 15 may do light work that is not

hazardous and that does not affect regular school attendance or participation in other training

programs. Lists of working children below the age of 18 must be kept by employers and

submitted to the labor inspector. These children must have their guardian’s consent in order to

work. Employers who violate these laws may be fined 31 to 60 days of the base daily wage.402

In many cases, however, the precise age of young workers is difficult to determine because

registering births in Cambodia is not a widespread practice.403 Underage workers are known to

secure employment by providing false identification papers or offering bribes to recruiters.404

 The Labor Law prohibits hazardous work for people under the age of 18, but the law

does not define what constitutes hazardous work.405 The Cambodian Labor Advisory Committee

(LAC) is tasked with officially determining hazardous work for minors, but has yet to provide

a list.406

397 Ibid. 398 Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia: Report of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General for

Human Rights in Cambodia, Mr. Thomas Hammarberg, Submitted in Accordance with Commission Resolution

1998/60, U.N. Document E/CN.4/1999/101 (Geneva: 55th Session of the Commission on Human Rights, February

26, 1999), Points 100-102 [hereinafter Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia]. 399 Asian Development Bank’s Country Assistance Plan, 2000-2002 (December 1999), 13. 400 Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia, Points 100-102. 401 Ibid. at Point 108. 402 Cambodian labor law, Section VIII, Articles 172-181 [hereinafter Cambodian labor law]. 403 Committee on the Rights of the Child: Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 44 of

the Convention: Cambodia, U.N. Document No. CRC/C/11/Add.16 (Geneva, June 24, 1998), Point 39. 404 Interview with Chea Vichea, president of Free Trade Union of Workers of the Kingdom of Cambodia

(FTUWKC), by U.S. Department of Labor official, October 16, 2000. See also Sophea interview, 10/17/00. 405 Cambodian labor law. Hazardous work is defined as “hazardous to the health, the safety, or the morality of an

adolescent.” Article 360 defines the base daily wage as “the minimum wage set by a joint Prakas [declaration] of

the Ministry in charge of Labour and the Ministry of Justice.”

406 Country Reports 2000—Cambodia at 6d.
63

Prostitution and trafficking in persons are prohibited by Article 46 of Cambodia’s

Constitution.407 Under the 1996 Law on the Suppression of Kidnapping and Sale of Human

Beings, penalties of 10 to 20 years imprisonment are imposed on individuals who prostitute

others or brothel owners and operators. The law stipulates penalties of 10 to 15 years

imprisonment for traffickers and their accomplices.408 Penalties increase under Cambodian law if

the trafficking victim is a child below the age of 15. Customers of child prostitutes under age 15

face penalties of 10 to 20 years imprisonment.409 Police crackdowns on prostitution, however,

are reportedly sporadic.410

The Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour Vocational Training and Youth Rehabilitation

(MOSALVY) is responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with child labor laws. The

Ministry’s Child Labor Unit (CLU) receives complaints and forwards them to the Minister, who

designates responsibility for the investigation and application of relevant laws. The CLU’s

operations to date have been limited and coverage is weak in the provinces.411

Because the majority of Cambodia’s workers are in the informal sector, the labor law

effectively covers only a small fraction of the country’s workers. Informal employment, such as

illegal activities and work in the commercial sex industry, and family-based production such as

agriculture are unregulated. Even in the formal sector, the law is inadequately enforced. Labor

inspectors conduct routine inspections in some industries (such as garment manufacturing), but in

many industries where child labor is prevalent (such as brick making), investigations occur only

after complaints have been received.412

The Anti-Trafficking Office under the Ministry of Women’s and Veteran’s Affairs,

established in September 2000, focuses on trafficking and sexual exploitation to raise awareness

among government officials. It seeks to ensure that victims are protected and to study whether

laws are adequately applied.413

Cambodia ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment on

August 23, 1999.414

407 Constitution of Cambodia (www.cambodian-parliament.org/constitution1/constitution1.htm). 408 Law on the Suppression of the Kidnapping, Trafficking and Exploitation of Human Beings, as promulgated by

Royal Decree No. 0296/01, Article 4.

409 Country Reports 2000—Cambodia at Section 6f. 410 See, for example, Situation of Human Rights in Cambodia: Report of the Secretary-General, U.N. Document A/

53/400 (Geneva: Commission on Human Rights, September 17, 1998). See also Situation of Human Rights in

Cambodia. 411 U.S. Embassy-Phnom Penh, unclassified telegram no. 001719, September 12, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified

telegram no. 001719].

412 Unclassified telegram no. 001719. 413 Electronic correspondence from Mar Sophea, ILO-IPEC, to U.S. Department of Labor official, March 15, 2001.

See also UN Wire, “Cambodia: New Department to Fight Sexual Exploitation,” September 19, 2000. 414 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.
64

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

Cambodia became a member of ILO-IPEC in 1996 and signed a Memorandum of

Understanding (MOU) with the ILO in May 1997. A national subcommittee under the

Cambodian National Council for Children (CNCC) was created in 1997 and National Program of

Action for Children in Cambodia has been developed.415

The CNCC’s Five-Year Plan Against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children,

2000-2004, was adopted by the government in March 2000. It establishes specific roles for

various government ministries and NGOs in several main areas: prevention through awareness

raising at various levels, and protection through strengthening the legal system and through

provision of services to victims, recovery, and reintegration.416

Various anti-child-labor activities are under way in Cambodia. MOSALVY works with

the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the International Organization for Migration

(IOM) to return trafficked Cambodian children to their homes and repatriate trafficked foreign

children to their home countries.417 World Vision operates a joint project with the Ministry of

Interior (MOI), UNICEF, IOM, and Redd Barna to develop training materials and procedures for

ongoing MOI police training to combat sexual exploitation.418 Several NGOs conduct awareness

raising activities on trafficking and prostitution and provide services to victims, such as providing

vocational training, legal services and medical assistance, and maintaining emergency shelters.419

An ILO-IPEC project in Kandal province aims to remove children engaged in child labor in the

brick-making sector.420

The Cambodian Government, with support from ILO-IPEC, conducts training on child

labor for labor inspectors and awareness-raising programs through radio broadcasts. Various

ministries have conducted training seminars to help victims of trafficking and sexual

exploitation.421 The number of labor inspectors, however, is limited, with no more than four labor

inspectors per province.422

In 2001, the ILO also started a first of its kind project to monitor working conditions in

Cambodia’s dominant garment industry. To date, the project has monitored 64 factories and

uncovered only one minor instance of child labor.423

415 National Programme of Action for Children in Cambodia, 1998-2000 (Phnom Penh: Cambodian National

Council for Children, n.d.), 17. See also unclassified telegram, 9/12/00. 416 Five-Year Plan against Trafficking and Sexual Exploitation of Children, 2000-2004 (Phnom Penh: Cambodian

National Council for Children, April 2000).

417 Unclassified telegram 001719. 418 Interview with Laurence Gray, World Vision’s CEDC Program Manager, by U.S. Department of Labor official,

October 17, 2000.

419 Study on the Current Programmes at 7-12. 420 Unclassified telegram 001719. 421 Ibid. 422 Sophea interview, 10/17/00.
65

b. Educational Alternatives

In 1999, the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport (MOEYS) set a goal for 75 percent

of all primary schools to have a complete range of classes through grade six by 2004. Currently

less than one-half (48 percent) of schools meet this standard.424 MOEYS outlined four main

education policies in 1999: to make 9 years of basic education available country-wide and to

promote literacy; to improve the quality of education; to make education relevant to society and

the labor market; and to develop education subsectors such as nonformal education.425 A

Nonformal Education Department within MOEYS focuses on delivering tailored education

services to meet the needs of people of all ages.426 MOEYS also began a Priority Action

Program in 10 provincial towns, whereby no fees are charged in school and books are provided

on loan, but students must still provide other materials such as paper and pens.427

The government works with various donors and NGOs on education issues, focusing on

improving the quality of education and access to primary school. ILO-IPEC is currently working

with the government to create a non-formal education program for former child workers.428 The

Asian Development Bank (ADB) has funded a Basic Education Textbook project that designed

and printed new primary school textbooks.429 The ADB also supports the Education Sector

Development Program to assist MOEYS in developing a basic education plan that is responsive

to the needs of the poor.430 Additionally, the World Bank’s International Development

Association is supporting the Cambodia Education Quality Improvement Project to facilitate

MOEYS’ development of a participatory approach to improving school quality and performance

through the effective management of available resources, and The Second Social Fund Project for

the construction of schools in rural areas in 1999.431

Despite these efforts to improve the education system, public expenditures on education

declined, from 11.8 percent of the national budget in 1996 to only 7.7 percent of the budget in

1999.432

423 First Synthesis Report on the Working Conditions in Cambodia’s Garment Sector,November 2001 (Phnom

Penh: International Labour Organisation Garment Sector Working Conditions Improvement Project, Kingdom of

Cambodia), See Also Second Synthesis Report on the Working Conditions in Cambodia’s Garment Sector,April

2002 (Phnom Penh: International Labour Organisation Garment Sector Working Conditions Improvement Project,

Kingdom of Cambodia).

424 Education in Cambodia (Phnom Penh: Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport’s Department of Planning, July

1999), 14.

425 Ibid. 426 MOEYS interview. 427 Ibid. 428 Unclassified telegram 001719. 429 Asian Development Bank’s Country Assistance Plan, 2000-2002: Cambodia (Asian Development Bank,

December 1999), 7.

430 Cambodia Education Sector Development Plan, PPTA: CAM33396-01 (www.adb.org/Documents/ Profiles/

PPTA/33396012.ASP).

431 “The World Bank and Cambodia” (http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/eap/eap.nsf/236c318fc341033852567

c9006baf9a/a327463333316f90852567d700792a4c?OpenDocument).

432 Unclassified telegram 001719.
66

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of gross national product (GNP). The chart considers government expenditures on

education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of

government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also

shown.433

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader

a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

433 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
67

COSTA RICA

1. Child Labor in Costa Rica

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 4.7 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 in Costa Rica were working.434 The 1998 Survey of Costa Rican

Homes estimated that 15.4 percent (147,087) of children between the ages of 5 and 17 work.

Approximately 45 percent (66,762) of these working children are between the ages of 5 and

14.435 The Office of the Ombudsman estimated that 44 percent of working children are employed

above the adult limit of 48 hours weekly, and 30 percent of these children receive no salary for

their work.436

In rural areas, children and adolescents work in agriculture and cattle raising, primarily on

family-owned farms. Children have traditionally helped with harvests of coffee beans and sugar

cane.437 During the coffee harvest, many children work in the fields, including children from

Nicaragua.438

In urban areas, children are involved in many kinds of work. They work as domestic

servants and are involved in activities related to construction, carpentry, furniture making,

baking, sewing, and the small-scale production of handicrafts. Children bag groceries at

supermarkets, sell goods and food on public streets and highways, and watch over parked

vehicles in exchange for small fees.439

Costa Rica is a growing destination for sex tourism,440 which is particularly prevalent in

urban areas.441 According to the National Institute for Children (PANI), street children in the

urban areas of San José, Limón, and Puntarenas are among those at greatest risk. PANI estimates

434 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 435 “Informe sobre el trabajo infantil y adolescente en Costa Rica,” Patronato Nacional de la Infancia, San José,

Costa Rica, April 1999.

436 U.S. Embassy-San José, unclassified telegram no. 002193, August 20, 1999 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

002193].

437 U.S. Embassy-San José, unclassified telegram no. 000515, February 20, 1998 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

000515].

438 Interview with Bruce Harris, director, Casa Alianza, by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 11, 2000. 439 Unclassified telegram 000515. 440 “Foreigners and Sex Tourism in Costa Rica,” La Prensa Libre, February 4, 1999, as cited in “Child Labour in

Costa Rica - Latest News,” The Global March Against Child Labor (www.globalmarch.org/cl-around-the-world/

un-concerned-over-sex-tourism.html).

441 A study of the 160 foreigners detained in Costa Rica for sexual abuse of children between 1992 and 1994, 25

percent were from the United States; 18 percent from Germany; 14 percent from Australia; 12 percent from the

United Kingdom; and 6 percent from France. “Foreigners and Sex Tourism in Costa Rica,” La Prensa Libre,

February 4, 1999, as cited in “Child Labour in Costa Rica - Latest News,” The Global March Against Child Labor

(www.globalmarch.org/cl-around-the-world/un-concerned-over-sex-tourism.html).
68

that as many as 3,000 children in Metropolitan San Jose alone are involved in prostitution.442

According to the Office of the Ombudsman, an estimated 50 percent of women involved in

prostitution began working when they were between the ages of 8 and 13.443

Girls from Costa Rica are reportedly trafficked through Central America to work in the

sex trades of the United States, Canada, and Europe. Costa Rica has also been used as a

destination country for girls trafficked from the Philippines to work in the country’s sex trade.444

2. Children’s Participation in School

Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Costa Rica. While enrollment rates

indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in

school.445 In 1997, gross primary net enrollment was 103.5 percent, and net primary school

enrollment was 89 percent in Costa Rica.446 The Ministry of Public Education (MOPE) reports

that approximately 184,000 children between the ages of 5 and 17 (or 20 percent of children in

this age group) do not attend school at all.447 In 1996, 87 percent of students reached grade

five.448 MOPE estimates from May 2000 showed that 64 percent of students in Costa Rica finish

secondary school.449

According to official government statistics, slightly more than one-half of all children

who work also attend school.450 Currently, 36 percent of children do not go to school, and 4.4

percent of children drop out before completing the required years of schooling.451

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Costa Rican Labor Code prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15.452

The Youth and Adolescent Law also prohibits employment of children under the age of 15.453

442 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.:U.S. Department of State, 2000),

Section 5 [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica]. 443 Unclassified telegram 002193. 444 Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica at Section 6f. 445 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

446 World Development Indicators 2000. 447 Unclassified telegram 002193. 448 World Development Indicators 2000. 449 U.S. Embassy-San José, unclassified telegram no. 001586, June 23, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

001586].

450 Unclassified telegram 002193. 451 Mauricio Herrera Ulloa, “Costa Rica: National Plan Sets Goals for Child Rights,” La Nación, September 19,

2000, as cited in the UN Wire, September 20, 2000 [hereinafter “Costa Rica: National Plan Sets Goals”]. 452 Unclassified telegram 002193.
69

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS), however, may issue waivers to this

provision.454

Adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18 are permitted to work for a maximum of 6

hours daily and 36 hours weekly. Following a 1993 incident in which two adolescents died from

chemical poisoning as a result of exposure while working on banana plantations, Costa Rican

authorities prohibited the employment of youths under the age of 18 in the banana industry.455

Costa Rica’s Constitution provides special employment protection for women and youth456 and

prohibits forced or bonded labor, including instances involving children.457

The PANI, in cooperation with the MLSS, enforces child labor regulations in the formal

sector, but child labor remains an integral part of the informal economy.458 While the ministry

has no inspectors dedicated solely to enforcement of child labor laws, all 130 labor inspectors

receive child labor awareness training.459 According to the MLSS, some labor inspectors are

reluctant to remove children from work in the formal sector out of concern that these children

will then enter even worse forms of child labor in the informal sector.460

Although adult prostitution is legal in Costa Rica,461 a 1999 law prohibits prostitution

with minors.462 The Costa Rican Children’s Bill of Rights states that children and adolescents

have the right to be protected against prostitution and pornography.463 Article 170 of the Costa

Rican Penal Code provides for a prison sentence of 4 to 10 years if the victim of prostitution is

less than 18 years old.464 The age of sexual consent in Costa Rica is 16, but all those under the

age of 18 are protected from sexual exploitation, specifically child prostitution and child

pornography.465

Costa Rican law also prohibits trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of

prostitution.466 Article 172 of the Costa Rican Penal Code mandates a 5 to 10 year prison

453 Unclassified telegram 001586. 454 Unclassified telegram 002193. 455 Ibid. at Sections 6c-d. 456 Ibid. at Section 6d. 457 Ibid. 458 Unclassified telegram 002193. 459 Interview with Victor Morales, Minister of Labor and Social Security, by U.S. Department of Labor official,

August 11, 2000.

460 Ibid. 461 Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica at Section 5. 462 Ibid. 463 U.S. Embassy-San José, unclassified telegram no. 001977, August 8, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram no.

001977].

464 Ibid. 465 Ibid. 466 On August 17, 1999, a statute to strengthen this prohibition went into effect. See Country Reports 1999—Costa

Rica at 6f. The Government of Costa Rica has taken some steps to enforce these laws by raiding a number of

brothels and arresting some clients; see Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica at Section 5.
70

sentence for those promoting or facilitating the transport of women or children in or out of the

country for reasons of prostitution.467

The Government of Costa Rica ratified International Labor Organization (ILO)

Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment on June 11, 1976, and ILO Convention

No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on September 10, 2001.468

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

In 1990, the Government of Costa Rica established the National Directive Committee for

the Progressive Eradication of Child Labor and the Protection of Adolescent Laborers, under the

direction of PANI, to research child labor and monitor the progress of the implementation of ILO

initiatives.469 The National Directive Committee has developed a national plan aimed at

addressing child labor and fostered a number of institutions that address child labor, including the

Executive Secretariat for the Eradication of Child Labor, the Office of Eradication of Child Labor

and Protection of Adolescent Laborers, and the National Commission Against the Commercial

Exploitation of Minors and Adolescents.470

The Executive Secretariat for the Eradication of Child Labor is responsible for providing

technical assistance to government organizations involved in programs dealing with child labor.

The Office of Eradication of Child Labor and Protection of Adolescent Laborers, created in

December 1997 under the auspices of the MLSS, is responsible for monitoring and enforcement

of child labor practices with businesses. The National Commission Against the Commercial

Exploitation of Minors and Adolescents is composed of representatives from 5 government

ministries (Health, Labor, Justice, Security, and Tourism) and 15 governmental and

nongovernmental organizations, including the International Labor Organization’s International

Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC), the United Nations Children’s Fund

(UNICEF), and the University of Costa Rica.471

The National Directive Committee has also developed the System of Child Labor-Related

Indicators, an annual report on the effectiveness of government programs dealing with child

467 Unclassified telegram 001977. 468 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

469 Unclassified telegram 001586. 470 Ibid. 471 Ibid.
71

labor. The Costa Rican Office of the Ombudsman monitors such programs and reports directly to

the National Directive Committee.472

In 1996, the MLSS with assistance from ILO-IPEC, established a National Coordinating

Committee for the Eradication of Child Labor. The Committee has developed a national plan to

reduce child labor in Costa Rica and prevent children from entering child labor in the first

place.473

Costa Rica has been an IPEC member since 1996.474 With funding from the U.S.

Department of Labor (USDOL), IPEC began a project in 1998 to combat child prostitution in San

Jose. The project aimed to withdraw children from prostitution, while preventing other children

from entering prostitution. The project involved workshops to inform children about the dangers

of prostitution, vocational and professional training, counseling, recreational opportunities, and

medical and nutrition services. As a result of the project, 212 children received educational and

vocational training opportunities. The government has supported such efforts to address child

prostitution. The Costa Rican Ministry of Health, for example, has agreed to donate a building to

be used as a shelter for rescued girls.475 Currently, it is anticipated that Costa Rica will participate

in a regional ILO-IPEC program to combat commercial sexual exploitation of children in Central

America. Previous IPEC efforts to address the prostitution of children in Costa Rica will be

integrated into this regional project. Moreover, the regional project will build upon the

experience of earlier efforts. Research and design for the regional project began in the Spring of

2001.476

With funding from USDOL, Costa Rica is participating in a IPEC regional project to

address child labor in the coffee sector. The project, which began in 1999 and is scheduled to run

through 2003, aims to withdraw or prevent at least 2,700 children from full-time work in the

coffee industry in Turrialba and Guanacaste. The project also seeks to reintegrate younger

children into the formal education system and provide vocational training for adolescents. It is

anticipated that 850 families of the children in the program will be trained in alternative income

generating activities, and 350 families will be provided with access to micro-credits.477

472 Ibid. 473 Members of the National Coordinating Committee for the Eradication of Child Labor include the ministers or

deputy ministers of Labor and Social Security, Education, and Health, as well as representatives from PANI, the

National Vocational Training Institute, and the National Insurance Institute. See unclassified telegram, 8/20/98. 474 International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC),

regional office located in San Jose, Costa Rica.

475 ILO-IPEC, Contribution to the Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents in

San José, progress report (Geneva, March 2001) [hereinafter Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of

Children]. 476 ILO-IPEC, Preparation and Design of IPEC Project Documents: USDOL Budget FY 2001, project document,

(Geneva, January 2001) [hereinafter Preparation and Design of IPEC Project Documents]. See also Elimination of

Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children. 477 IPEC Progress Report for Prevention and Progressive Elimination of Child Labour in the Coffee Industry in

Costa Rica (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, March 2001).
72

The ILO-IPEC Central American regional office in San Jose has also sponsored several

activities in Costa Rica. One such program seeks to eradicate child labor in the agricultural

market of Cartago.478 Another project seeks the progressive elimination of child labor in the

fishing sector of the Gulf of Nicoya.479 In addition, the MLSS has proposed a 6- to 10-year

project to ILO-IPEC to eliminate all forms of child labor in Cartago, Costa Rica. An assessment

of the child labor situation in Cartago began in the Spring of 2001.480

Recognizing that underage employment exists in the country, Costa Rica’s MLSS

implements a protection program that requires the registration of workers under the age of 15

who are already in the workforce. By August 1999, 108 children under the age of 15 had been

registered by their employers.481 Other efforts have also been undertaken to work with employers

to address child labor. The National Institute of Apprenticeship, working with the MLSS, has

developed an ongoing educational seminar entitled “A Plan for Sensitivity.” Some 550 members

of the business community have participated in this program that addresses child labor issues.482

Costa Rica’s National Agenda for Children and Adolescents (2000-10) guarantees the

restitution of the rights of working children and adolescents and of children who have been

commercially sexually exploited or sexually abused.483 Agenda goals include preventing and

eliminating the worst forms of child and adolescent labor and promoting employment

opportunities for adolescents who have completed their schooling. The agenda also seeks to

guarantee that child and adolescent workers have greater access to health care that can contribute

to their physical, mental, and social well-being; that heads of households with child or adolescent

workers have better opportunities and improved conditions in the workplace; and that adolescent

workers are afforded better protection in the workplace.484

Working closely with the Costa Rican Judicial Investigative Unit (OIJ) and the U.S.

Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the NGO Casa Alianza is involved in investigating cases

of sex tourism involving children in Costa Rica.485 The Public Prosecutor’s Office, meanwhile,

has conducted 112 studies on child prostitution as part of its efforts to increase public awareness

478 Since August 1999, the program has helped place 200 child laborers between the ages of 5 and 15 back into

elementary and secondary school programs; see unclassified telegram, 6/23/00. 479 The project has benefited 430 children from 80 families since September 1999; see 6/23/00. 480 Preparation and Design of IPEC Project Documents. 481 Unclassified telegram 002193. 482 Unclassified telegram 001586. 483 “Agenda nacional para la ninez y la adolescencia, 2000-2010: Compromisos y temas prioritarios,” Costa Rica,

September 2000, 19 [hereinafter “Agenda national”].

484 Ibid. at 21. 485 To date, the Casa Alianza has investigated and helped prosecute sex tourists and other adults from Germany,

Switzerland, the United States, Chile, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Sweden who sexually abused

children in Central America. See “U.N. Deeply Concerned” over High Levels of Child Sexual Tourism in Costa

Rica,” April 16, 1999 (http:www.globalmarch.org/cl-around-the-world/un-concerned-over-sex-tourism.html).
73

about the problem,486 and the PANI is designing a safe-haven for minors at Ciudad Quesada in

Alajuela Province.487

A number of private organizations have also organized programs to reduce child labor

and aid street children.488 The Catholic Church, for example, is constructing a shelter that will

provide food, housing, and vocational training for children who would otherwise live and work

on the streets of San Jose.489

ILO-IPEC’s Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC),

with funding from USDOL, is developing a national survey on child labor for Costa Rica. The

survey will collect information on the number of children working under hazardous conditions in

the country, the nature of the work children do, as well as factors contributing to children’s

premature participation in the country’s labor force.490

b. Educational Alternatives

Costa Rican law requires six years of primary and three years of secondary education for

all children.491 The Government of Costa Rica has pledged to have 95 percent of children in

school in the next 10 years.492

Costa Rica’s National Agenda for Childhood and Adolescence (2000-2010), in addition

to promoting the rights of children who have been exploited, seeks to guarantee children

educational opportunities. The agenda’s goals include ensuring that children under the age of 18

have access to formal education and that these children continue their education through formal

or informal schooling or through alternative systems such as the National Institute of Learning.493

Government programs aimed at promoting children’s access to primary school include

publicity campaigns sponsored by the MLSS and the MOPE, using print, television, and radio.

One program, entitled “Let’s Be Better Moms and Dads,” focused on the importance of keeping

children enrolled in primary school. The MOPE’s budget has increased by 22 percent within the

past 5 years in an effort to keep secondary students in school.494 The MOPE has also established

486 Unclassified telegram 002193. 487 Ibid. 488 Unclassified telegram 000515. 489 Ibid. 490 IPEC Progress Report: Child Labour Survey and Development of Database on Child Labour in Costa Rica

(Geneva: ILO-IPEC, June 2001).

491 Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica at Section 5. 492 “Costa Rica: National Plan Sets Goals.” 493 “Agenda national” at 21. 494 Unclassified telegram 001586.
74

a Program for the Integrated Recuperation of Children (PRIN) in an effort to encourage children

to return to school.495

In Costa Rica, the World Bank’s Basic Education Project, a US$23 million investment,

is working toward improving basic education for children in grades 1 to 9, particularly in

disadvantaged rural and marginal urban areas. The project is involved in revising curricula;

producing and distributing textbooks, teaching manuals and other educational materials; and

piloting the use of computers in the classroom.496

In 1996, public spending on all levels of education was 5.4 percent of Costa Rica’s gross

national product (GNP)497 and public spending on primary education was 3.1 percent.498 In June

of 1998, the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly passed a constitutional amendment increasing

spending on education from 4 percent to 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).499

495 Unclassified telegram 002193. 496 The World Bank Group, Countries: Costa Rica [online] (www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/offrep/lac/cr2.htm). 497 World Development Indicators 2000. 498 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics [CDROM], Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—A Decade of Education, Country Report, Costa Rica (Paris,

2000).

499 Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica at Section 5. 500 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
75

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending

on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.500

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader

a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments

in each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.
76

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

1. Child Labor in the Dominican Republic

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 14 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 in the Dominican Republic were working.501 Preliminary results

from a national child labor survey conducted in the Dominican Republic in 2000 indicated that 18

percent (443,000) of children between the ages of 5 and 17 worked.502

Children work in the informal economy, in agriculture, such as on sugar plantations, in

small businesses, and in clandestine factories, where working conditions are often poor,

unsanitary, and dangerous.503 In the sugarcane sector, many parents bring their children to work,

where they may perform a variety of tasks, including the application of fertilizers. Many of these

workers are Dominican-born Haitians.504 Children born in Haiti are also found working on

sugarcane farms in the Dominican Republic, particularly in the Barahona province.505 Labor

inspectors often do not record when Haitian children are found working, since they are not

considered part of the Dominican workforce.506

Homeless children are particularly vulnerable to being exploited. Some adults, known as

palomas, place the children into gangs or put them to work begging and selling goods on the

street, in some cases in return for shelter.507

In some instances, poor Dominican and Haitian parents arrange for wealthier Dominican

families to adopt their children, in exchange for money or goods. These children may be

expected to work in households or businesses. In some cases, this type of work may be a kind of

501 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 502 International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC),

Preparatory, project document, Activities for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Dominican

Republic (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, September 2001), 1 [hereinafter Activities for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of

Child Labor]. 503 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 1999),

Section 6d (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/domrepub.html) [hereinafter Country

Reports 1999—Dominican Republic]. See also Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington,

D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000), Section 6d.

 Interview with Jacobo Ramos, Zona Franca, FENATRAZONA (San Pedro de Macorís), by U.S. Department of

Labor official, August 28, 2000. 504 Interview with Gabriel Antonio de Río, Confederación Autónoma Sindical Clasista (CASC), by U.S.

Department of Labor official, August 29, 2000. 505 Interview with Agustin Vargas-Saillant, Domingo Jimenez, and Rufino Alvarez, Unitary Confederation of

Workers (CTU and Futrazona), Dominican Republic, by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 29, 2000.

506 Interview with María Elena Asaud, UNICEF, by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 29, 2000. 507 Country Reports 1999—Dominican Republic at Section 5.
77

bonded labor. Some children, especially girls, may be trafficked for the purpose of

prostitution.508

An estimated 25,000 to 30,000 children in the Dominican Republic are involved in

prostitution.509 Needy adolescents may be enticed into performing sexual acts by the promise of

money, food, or clothing, and then be held against their will by individuals who sell their sexual

favors to others. Some of these minors are reportedly lured from their homes, while others are

already living on the streets, due to their families’ inability to provide for them.510 According to a

study sponsored by UNICEF and the National Planning Office, 75 percent of minors involved in

prostitution work in brothels, discos, restaurants, and hotels.511 The tourism industry, according

to some accounts, has facilitated the sexual exploitation of children. Reportedly, tours are

marketed overseas emphasizing the availability of boys and girls as sex partners. Children are

affected by this problem in urban areas, as well as in tourist locations throughout the country.512

Trafficking of women and children is a problem in the Dominican Republic. The

Directorate of Migration has estimated that there are approximately 400 rings operating within

the country who profit by facilitating the trafficking of persons for the purposes of prostitution to

countries such as Spain, the Netherlands, and Argentina.513

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1996, the primary net attendance rate was 71.4 percent,514 and the primary net

enrollment rate was 86.9 percent.515 In 1999, 80 percent of children reached grade five.516

This statistic does not include children who do not possess a birth certificate, or approximately

24 percent of all children in the Dominican Republic. Children without a birth certificate often

508 Country Reports 1999—Dominican Republic at 6c. 509 World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation, August 1996, and Mainstreaming Gender in IPEC

Activities 1999, as cited in “Worst Forms of Child Labor Data: Dominican Republic,” The Global March Against

Child Labor (www.globalmarch.org/worstformofchild labour/dominican-republic.html). Another source cites a

figure of 25,000 boys, girls, and adolescents working in the country’s commercial sex sector. See Mercedes

González, “La explotación sexual y laboral de niños,” El Siglo, August 20, 2000 [hereinafter “La explotación

sexual y laboral de niños”].

510 Country Reports 1999—Dominican Republic at 5. 511 The government is also concerned that some individuals traveling to the Dominican Republic to adopt children

may actually intend to use the children in the production of pornography or in the sex trade. See “La explotación

sexual y laboral de niños.”

512 Ibid. See also Country Reports 1999 – Dominican Republic at 5. 513 Country Reports 1999—Dominican Republic at 5, 6f . 514 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 515 World Development Indicators 2000. 516 Activities for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor.
78

cannot register in the school system, although some children are permitted to enroll in school on

an informal basis as approved by each individual school.517

 The 1996 Demography and Health survey revealed that of children ages 7 to 14, only

46.3 percent attended school without being involved in economic activity. The remaining 53.7

percent of children either did not attend school or combined school with work.518

The absence of educational opportunities in the implementation area of the project is one

of the factors responsible for the entry of children into the labor market. Other factors include

families’ lack of financial means to buy uniforms and books; the lack of facilities; the

absenteeism of teachers; and the lack of birth certificates required for school enrollment.519

According to reports, the training of teachers in the country is poor, and the performance of

teachers is not monitored.520

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Labor Code prohibits the employment of children under 14 years of age and places

restrictions on the employment of children between the ages of 14 and 16.521 Children in this age

group may only work with medical certification and not to an excess of six hours per day.

Children under 14 may only work with parental consent, or the consent of their tutor.522 Children

have the right to be paid at a rate equal to that of adult workers, and they are restricted from

performing night work, overtime, ambulatory work, or work in dangerous places.523 Children

between the ages of 14 and 16 are allowed to work in apprenticeship and artistic programs.524

Article 254 of the Labor Code requires employers of minors to make special provisions for

workers that may be able to continue their schooling and attend professional training schools.525

The law also prohibits forced or bonded labor by children.526

In 1997, the Government of the Dominican Republic placed a new restriction on

agricultural laborers entering the country, prohibiting them from bringing their spouses or

517 Ibid. 518 Ibid. 519 Ibid. 520 U.S. Embassy-Santo Domingo, unclassified telegram no. 001782, April 25, 2001 [hereinafter unclassified

telegram 001782].

521 Código de Trabajo de la República Dominicana 1999 [hereinafter Código de Trabajo], Articulos 245-254. 522 Ibid. Articulos 17, 247, 248. Permission is required from both the child’s mother and father; if this is not

possible, authorization can be gained from the child’s tutor. If there is no tutor, authorization can be granted by a

judge from the child’s area of residence. This permission only applies to work in public events, radio television, or

in acting.

523 Ibid. Articulos 244, 246, 249, 251. 524 Country Reports 1999—Dominican Republic at Section 6d. 525 Código de Trabajo at Article 254. 526 Country Reports 1999—Dominican Republic at Section 6d.
79

children. This action affected mainly migrant workers from Haiti. Employers are required to

repatriate employees and families who violate this law or face prosecution themselves.527

Several laws in the Dominican Republic prohibit trafficking in persons. An alien

smuggling law, issued in August 1998, increased the penalties for those found guilty of various

types of trafficking in persons. Civil and criminal laws dealing with domestic violence and the

Minor’s Code protect against the traffic in persons, whether children or adults. Laws also

prohibit individuals from acting as intermediaries in prostitution transactions, and the government

has used this law to prosecute third parties who derive profit from prostitution. 528

Child prostitution is defined as a crime in the Law Against Family Violence and in the

Minor’s Code.529 Child pornography is also a criminal offense under the Minor’s Code.530

According to reports from community organizations, however, in many cases children who are

the victims of sexual exploitation are the ones seized by police, while the perpetrator of the

crimes go untouched, allegedly due to a lack of evidence.531

The executive branch of the government established an Oversight Organization for the

Protection of Children to coordinate the approaches of various agencies involved in combating

the trafficking of children, including the Attorney General’s office, the Public Health Ministry,

and the Migration office. The Department of Family and Children focuses on identifying

children who are victims of abuse of any kind and prosecutes offenders under the heightened

penalties contained in the domestic violence law.532 A primary concern of the Oversight

Organization has been to prevent the use of the child adoption process by those who intend

exploit children through prostitution or child pornography. The Department of Family and

Children has also been concerned with kidnappings, especially of infants. Some kidnapped

children have allegedly been sold to foreigners. Government officials have made foreign

adoptions much more difficult, with the hopes of deterring would-be traffickers.533

Currently, the Government of the Dominican Republic has approximately 232 labor

inspectors charged with enforcement of the minimum wage, child labor laws, and health and

safety legislation. The Ministry of Labor has taken employers in violation of the law to court.534

527 U.S. Embassy-Santo Domingo, unclassified telegram no. 002499, June 26, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified

telegram 002499].

528 Under the Minor’s Code, “adolescent” is defined as a child between the ages of 13 and 18, and the age of sexual

consent is defined as 18. See Country Reports 1999 – Dominican Republic at 6f. 529 U.S. Embassy-Santo Domingo, unclassified telegram no. 003141, August 8, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified

telegram 003141].

530 Ibid. 531 “La explotación sexual y laboral de niños.” 532 Country Reports 1999—Dominican Republic at 6f. 533 Ibid. 534 Unclassified telegram 002499.
80

The Dominican Republic ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for

Employment on June 15, 1999, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

on November 15, 2000.535

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

The Dominican Republic became a member of the International Labor Organization’s

International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) in 1997.536 The

Government of the Dominican Republic committed to set aside RD$3 million (US$187,481) in

2001 to execute programs to eliminate the worst forms of child labor.537 The first lady of the

Dominican Republic formed a task force to eliminate the worst forms of child labor throughout

the country.538

In 1999, IPEC and UNICEF conducted a joint training of 160 labor inspectors.539 The

Ministry of Labor, with the support of UNICEF, also held seven workshops on the legal aspects

of child labor for its inspectors.540 In collaboration with labor inspectors, UNICEF plans to

conduct a small survey in selected agricultural areas to assess the extent of child labor.541

In 1999, the Ministry of Labor took steps to increase public awareness of child labor laws,

including through dissemination of brochures at regional meetings with employers, and the airing

of a video entitled “El Menor en el Trabajo.”542

In December 1998, a successful, 2-year pilot project was launched for the elimination and

prevention of child labor in the municipality of Constanza. Developed as an ILO-IPEC action

program and funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), collaboration was fostered

among the Ministry of Labor, a local nongovernmental organization (NGO), farm workers,

growers, and schools that yielded encouraging results. The project exceeded expectations with

the removal of over 460 children from high-risk agricultural work activities.543

535 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

536 “La explotación sexual y laboral de niños.” 537 Mercedes González, “Gobierno aportara recursos para eliminar trabajo infantil,” El Siglo, November 11, 2000. 538 E-mail from Cesar Peña, ILO national program manager, to U.S. Department of Labor official, October 20,

2000.

539 Interview with María Elena Asaud, UNICEF, by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 29, 2000

[hereinafter Asaud interview].

540 Unclassified telegram 002499. 541 Asaud interview. 542 Unclassified telegram 002499. 543 IPEC, Combating Child Labour in High-Risk Agriculture Activities in Constanza, progress report (Geneva: ILOIPEC, March 2001) [hereinafter Combating Child Labour in High-Risk Agriculture Activities], 7.
81

The Dominican Republic is participating in an ILO-IPEC regional project funded by the

USDOL to combat child labor in the coffee sector. This project targets 6,000 children,

adolescents, and their families. 544 The Dominican Republic is also participating in a project

called, Prevention and Elimination of Child Labor in Tomato Production. This project aims to

remove at least 900 children from work and prevent an additional 6,500 children from entering

work. In addition, at least 300 families of the removed children will be provided with alternative

income support. The Dominican Republic anticipates to be participating in a regional project to

eliminate commercial sexual exploitation of children.545 Preparatory work has begun in support

of a comprehensive, national Time-Bound Program to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in

the Dominican Republic.546

The National Survey on Child Labor in the Dominican Republic, developed by the ILOIPEC Statistical Information Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC) and funded by the

USDOL, was conducted in late 2000.547

b. Educational Alternatives

The 1994 Minor’s Code requires eight years of formal education.548 The Government of

the Dominican Republic is currently developing a 10-year education plan, to be implemented

from 2002-2011. This plan is expected to focus on improving the quality of education, the

formation of teachers, an improvement of didactic materials, and improving the evaluation

system.549

 In 1995, the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and the World Bank funded a

US$100 million Basic Education Improvement Program to improve monitoring and evaluation of

the education sector and improve student assessment methodologies and teacher training. The

program also sought to improve physical infrastructure by maintaining schools and educational

materials, and providing access to private education for low-income students. Other components

of this program included improving services and lowering associated costs of education and

improving the facilities and technology available to all students.550

544 IPEC, Prevention and Progressive Elimination of Child Labor in the Coffee Industry in the Dominican Republic,

Project Document, (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, November 1999).

545 ILO-IPEC, Contribution ot the Prevention and Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,

Draft Project Document, (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, December 2001), 5.

546 Activities for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor. 547 IPEC, SIMPOC, progress report (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, March 2001). Data processing is ongoing. Results from

the survey should be available in 2002.

548 Country Reports 1999—Dominican Republic at 6d. 549 Unclassified telegram 001782. 550 Inter-American Development Bank, Basic Education Improvement Program (www.iadb.org/exr/PRENSA/

1995/cp23695e.htm), September 28, 2001.
82

The government has launched a Poverty Eradication Plan that includes specific provisions

in support of education for children. In addition to providing a monthly grant of US$18 per

family to the country’s poorest families, this plan provides the children who are enrolled in

school with uniforms, books and a school breakfast.551 In 1997, public spending on education as

a percentage of GNP was approximately 2.3 percent.552

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.553

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

551 Combating Child Labour in High-Risk Agriculture Activities. 552 World Development Indicators 2000. 553 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
83

EGYPT

1. Child Labor in Egypt

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 10 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 in Egypt were working.554 According to a 1988 national survey

conducted by Egypt’s Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS),

approximately 1.47 million children between the ages of 6 and 14 worked.555 Other sources

suggest that the number of working children in Egypt reached 1.5 million in 1999, making up 9

percent of the country’s total labor force.556 According to one study, nearly 65 percent of poor

families in Egypt send at least one child to work.557

Government studies reveal that the concentration of working children is higher in rural

than in urban areas.558 Nationally, the greatest number of working children is in agriculture, and

younger children are more likely to work in agricultural areas.559 According to a report released

by Human Rights Watch in 2001, over one million children between the ages of 7 and 12 are

hired each year to work in agricultural cooperatives. Employed to work on pest management,

these children manually remove and destroy leaves infected by cotton leaf worms.560 They do

554 World Development Indicators 2000. 555 The total population in 1988 was estimated to be 48.3 million. The latest census in Egypt (1996) found the

population to be 61.4 million. Consecutive CAPMAS studies indicate that between 1979 and 1988, there was an

increasing trend in the employment of 6- to 12-year-olds. CAPMAS. Labor Force Sample Survey (LFSS). Cairo:

The Central Agency for Public Mobilizationa nd Statistics (CAPMAS), 1988, as cited in Philip L. Graitcer and

Leonard B. Lerer, The Impact of Child Labor on Health: Report of a Field Investigation in Egypt, July 2000, 33

[hereinafter The Impact of Child Labor on Health]. A UNICEF-funded survey published in 1992 found that 20

percent of all Egyptian children between the ages of 6 and 14 work. F., Nassar, Economic Aspects of Children’s

Vulnerability in Egypt (Cairo: UNICEF, 1995), as cited in The Impact of Child Labor on Health at 33. 556 Al-Wafd (Egypt), issue no. 3807, 1999, as quoted in Land Center for Human Rights, Series of Reports on the

Economic and Social Rights, no. 13, March 2000; Children-Labors of the Stone Crashers in Egypt at 5. Estimates

from some nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) also indicate that up to 1.5 million children are working

throughout the country. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S.

Department of State, 2000), Section 6d, 20 [hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Egypt]. 557 Nadia Ramsis Farah, Child Labour in Egypt within the Context of the CRC (Cairo: Center for Development

Studies, UNICEF, June 1997), 29 [hereinafter Child Labour in Egypt within the Context of the CRC], as cited in By

the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol. 5, at 42. 558 Country Reports 2000—Egypt at Section 6d. 559 The CAPMAS surveys indicate that among rural working children, 41.9 percent are 6 to 11 years old and 58.1

percent are between the ages of 12 and 14. In urban areas, however, only 32.8 percent are in the 6-11 age group,

and 67.2 percent are 12-14 years old. See The Impact of Child Labor on Health at 34. 560 According to an agricultural engineer assigned to a cooperative, children are hired because they are cheaper,

more obedient, and are the appropriate height for inspecting cotton plants. Human Rights Watch. Underage and

Unprotected: Child Labor in Egypt’s Cotton Fields. Vol. 13, No. 1 (E) (New York: Human Rights Watch, January

2001), 10-12 [hereinafter Underage and Unprotected]. In November of 1999, the Ministry of Social Affairs

reported that 1 million children worked in this sector. Country Reports 2000—Egypt at Section 6d. See also

Anthony Shadid, “Year After Tragic Deaths, Egypt’s Young Return to Cotton Fields,” Associated Press, September

24, 1998, as cited in U.S. Department of Labor, International Child Labor Program, By the Sweat and Toil of

Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor, vol. 5 (Washington, D.C., 1998), 18 [hereinafter By the Sweat and Toil

of Children , vol. 5].
84

seasonal work for 11 hours per day, seven days a week, far above the number of hours permitted

under Egypt’s Child Law. The children are exposed to heat and pesticides and suffer beatings

from foremen who supervise their work.561

While the number of working children is nearly equally divided between boys and girls in

rural areas, boys account for approximately 70 percent of working children in urban areas.562

According to a survey in urban Cairo, most girls work in clothing or textile manufacturing, while

most boys work as mechanics or in the retail or service sector jobs.563

In Egypt’s formal economy, children work in the carpet, leather tanning, and textile

industries.564 Children from economically disadvantaged families often work as apprentices, for

example, as apprentices in auto repair and craft shops, in heavier industries such as construction,

and in brick making and textile production.565 Children also work in hide tanneries, where they

are involved in unskilled manual activities, such as cleaning hides, preparing materials, and

packaging.566

In the informal economy, children commonly work as unpaid labor in family or cottage

industries such as carpet weaving. Carpet making is a traditional craft in Egypt, and girls

between 10 and 14 years of age often learn to make knots and follow patterns at home from older

family members.567 Some child weavers attend school for half a day while others do not attend

school at all.568

Many children, especially daughters from poor families, work as domestic servants in the

homes of wealthy families.569 Local culture supports this role for girls.570 Girls working in

domestic service are often deprived of an education, and many suffer physical and sexual abuse

within the homes where they work.571 In urban areas, street children sell items or resort to

begging to meet their basic needs and are frequently controlled by gang leaders.572

561 Underage and Unprotected at 2. 562 The Impact of Child Labor on Health at 34. 563 Ibid. at 51. 564 Bjorne Grimsrud and Liv Jorunn Stokke, Child Labour in Africa: Poverty or Institutional Failures? The Cases

of Egypt and Zimbabwe (Fafo Institute for Applied Social Science, Report No. 233, 1997), 35 [hereinafter Child

Labour in Africa]. 565 Ibid. at 35. See also Country Reports 2000—Egypt at Section 6d, 20. 566 Child Labour in Africa at 34. 567 Carpets made in family or cottage industries are generally sold to local factories. Child Labour in Africa at 33. 568 Ibid. 569 Country Reports 2000—Egypt at Section 6d. 570 Child Labour in Africa at10. 571 Salah Nasrawi, “Activists Denounce Child Labor in Egypt,” Associated Press, April 14, 2001 (http://

rmedia.boston.com/RealMedia/ads/click_lx.ads/www.boston.com/news/default/27887/TILE1/h_boscom_).

572 Child Labor News Service, “News Brief: About Ten Million Street Children in Arab World”

(www.globalmarch.org/clns/clns-15-06-2001.htm).
85

2. Children’s Participation in School

Between 1995 and 1996, the primary gross attendance rate was 94.9 percent, and the

primary net attendance rate was 83.3 percent.573 In 1996, the primary gross enrollment rate was

100.5 percent, and the primary net enrollment rate was 9 4.9 percent.574

Based on findings from a 1994 study, as much as 37 percent of Egyptian children do not

complete basic education.575 Poverty is the main reason cited for children dropping out of school

prematurely, with poor families preferring the money children can earn at work to the benefits of

schooling.576 In the case of girls, cultural and social traditions can also be a significant factor,

with families choosing to keep them at home and out of school.577

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Egypt’s Labor Law No. 137 prohibits children 12 years old or younger from working

under any conditions.578 The Labor Law also states that all working children must have a health

fitness certificate and an annual health examination, and special health insurance is compulsory

for all child workers over the age of 12.579

Ministerial Decree No. 12 limits the employment of children under the age of 15 in 11

specified sectors.580 A governor has the authority to waive this decree, which occurs frequently

in the case of seasonal work. Under the waiver, children between the ages of 12 and 14 must

secure permission from the Ministry of Education to work under certain, predefined

conditions.581

Egypt’s Child Law of 1996 raised the minimum work age from 12 to 14, but allowed for

provincial governors, with the consent of the Ministry of Education, to allow children between

the ages of 12 and 14 to be employed in seasonal agricultural work that is not hazardous and does

not interfere with their education.582 Children in the 12 to 14 age group may also participate in

vocational training provided by employers.583 Article 66 of the law prohibits children from

working over six hours a day or more than four consecutive hours. Children are required to take

573 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 574 World Development Indicators 2000. 575 Mona El Baradei, The Impact of Structural Adjustment and Stabilisation Policies on Educationand Health in

Egypt (1994), as cited in Child Labour in Africa at 29. 576 Child Labour in Africa at 29. 577 Ibid. at 32 578 The Impact of Child Labor on Health at 38. 579 Ibid. at 39. 580 J. L. Guirguis, “Children Work in Hazardous Jobs” (1998) [on file from International Child Labor Program,

Report 5].

581 Child Labour in Egypt within the Context of the CRC. 582 U.S. Embassy Cairo, Unclassified telegram no. 006469, October 11, 2001, [hereinafter unclassified telegram

006469]. See also Underage and Unprotected at 8. 583 Underage and Unprotected at 8.
86

one or more breaks totaling at least one hour during a work shift and may not work overtime

or at night (between 8 p.m. and 7 a.m.).584 Articles 67–69 require employers to issue each child

employee (aged 15 or younger) an identification card that has a Ministry of Manpower and

Migration (MOMM) stamp, and to display the child’s name on a board in the workplace.585

In April 2001, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Agriculture and Land

Reclamation Affairs issued Ministerial Decree No. 1454, making it illegal to employ children

below the age of 14 in agriculture, as specified by the Child Labor Law No. 12.586

The Child Law No. 12 of 1996 recognizes all children under the age of 18 as juveniles.587

Employers are prohibited from hiring a juvenile without first obtaining a medical certificate

guaranteeing that he or she is physically capable of work and free from any diseases.588 MOMM

Decree 14 modified the Child Law to require that a juvenile’s wages be paid only to the

juvenile.589

In 1997, Egypt’s MOMM issued two decrees restricting the employment of children in

hazardous work. According to these decrees, children under the age of 15 are prohibited from

work involving furnaces or ovens in bakeries, freezing and refrigeration units, fertilizers, acids, or

chemicals; work in cement factories, petroleum and distillation labs, or pressurized gas industries;

cotton bailing; work involving bleaching, dyeing, and textile printing; or jobs requiring heavy

lifting. Children under the age of 17 are prohibited from employment in a number of areas,

including mining, smelting of metals, working with explosives, welding, tanneries, fertilizer

industries, or butchering of animals.590

According to the Penal Code, prostitution and sex tourism are prohibited in Egypt.

Penalties are more severe for child prostitution or child pornography involving children under the

age of 16.591

The MOMM is responsible for labor inspections, and maintains approximately 2,000

inspectors who are charged with investigating safety, health, and age violations. Inspectors work

out of 450 different MOMM offices in Egypt’s 26 governorates.592 In 2000, the MOMM issued

584 Unclassified telegram 006469. See also Country Reports 2000—Egypt at Section 6d and Underage and

Unprotected at 8. 585 These articles also require that the employer supply the same information to the Office of Work and Insurance.

Land Center for Human Rights (LCHR), Child Workers in Egyptian Rural Areas are Victims with No Means of

Redress, no. 1 (December 1997), 11 [hereinafter Child Workers in Egyptian Rural Areas]. 586 “USAID/Egypt’s Actions/Follow-up on Child Labor” [facsimile], May 7, 2001. See also unclassified telegram,

10/11/01.

587 Child Workers in Egyptian Rural Areas at 10-11. 588 Mohamed Abd-Elkader El-Hussainy, “Child Labor: A Case Study for Greater Cairo on Car Workshops, GlassMaking and Foundries,” The Arab Republic of Egypt’s Cairo Demographic Center, March 1998, 16.

589 Ibid. 590 Unclassified telegram 006469. 591 Law No. 10 and Chapter 4 of the Penal Code of 1964. See unclassified telegram 006469, and Country Reports

2000—Egypt at Section 6f. 592 Unclassified telegram 006469.
87

Decree No. 117 which established a specialized Child Labor Unit within the labor inspection

department. The MOMM is currently working with the International Labor Organization’s

International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) and the Arab Labor

Organization to train and educate inspectors in the Unit.593

Local trade unions have reported that the MOMM adequately enforces child labor laws in

state-owned enterprises, but there has been much criticism that the MOMM has not enforced the

restrictions of the 1996 Child Law in the informal sector. Article 74 of the Child Law calls for the

owners of establishments where working children are found to pay a fine of between US$27 and

US$133 per illegal child worker. Fines are doubled in the case of repeat offenders.594 In addition,

governors at the provincial level have the power to rescind the license of a workshop that hires

children under the age of 14. Finally, parents and employers can be fined from US$59 to $147

for forcing their children to work and not allowing them to go to school, or they can be sent to

prison for up to one month.595 In 1999, two cases of illegal child labor were reported.596

Egypt ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment on June 9,

1999, and ratified ILO Convention No. 182 on May 6, 2002.597

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

In 1988, Presidential Decree No. 54 created the National Council for Children and

Motherhood. The Council’s principal responsibility is to formulate a national plan for the

protection of mothers and children, focusing in particular on the areas of social welfare, health,

education and social protection. The Council includes active participation by the Ministers of

Social Affairs, Health, Culture, Education, Manpower and Vocational Training, Planning,

Information, the chairman of the High Council for Youth and Sports, and the First Lady.598

Various initiatives have targeted child welfare and child labor in Egypt. UNICEF has

been working in urban slums and other impoverished regions of rural Egypt supporting microcredit schemes since 1993. It makes small loans to women under the condition that they ensure

that their children attend classes.599 Other efforts have targeted specific sectors. USAID, for

example, is working with the Alexandria Cotton Exporters Association to develop a logo that

593 Ibid. 594 Country Reports 2000—Egypt at Section 6d. 595 Interview with Sallama Shaker, deputy assistant minister, North American Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

by U.S. Department of Labor officials, May 9, 1998, as cited in By the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol. 5, at 45. 596 Country Reports 2000—Egypt at Section 6d. 597 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

598 Country Reports 2000—Egypt at Section 6d. 599 UNICEF, Family Development Fund Project [online], Cairo, 1996 (www.unicef.org/credit/ creegypt.htm),

August 1, 2001.

600 Child Labor Coalition Notes, March 14, 2001, Washington, D.C.
88

publicizes a child-free certification.600 In addition, the ILO in Cairo is currently implementing a

rapid assessment survey that will provide updated estimates on the number of working children in

Egypt.601

b. Educational Alternatives

Egypt’s Constitution mandates that education should be free for all children.602 The

Education Law No. 139 (1981) calls for compulsory primary education through eighth grade and

requires children to attend school until they reach the age of 15.603

In February 1996, the Ministry of Education established the Mubarak Program for Social

Cooperation to offset school fees and indirect costs of schooling. School grants are provided

through the Ministry of Social Affairs to school children whose families earn less than 100

Egyptian pounds (US$29.41) per month. During 1996-1997, about 169,000 children received

grants, either in-kind or cash, to cover the costs of school uniforms, books, supplies, and school

fees. The average annual grant per child was equal to US$4.17.604

The Ministry of Education has been encouraging working children and school dropouts in

rural areas to attend school by increasing the number of one-classroom schools being built.605 In

the last five years, nearly 8,500 new schools have been built in poor rural communities under this

program.606 The location of these new school buildings are within walking distance of many of

the community homes, and an increase in the number of female teachers adds incentive for girls

to continue their schooling. In addition, the Egyptian Ministry of Education provides a meal to

children during the school day as an additional incentive to attend classes.607

UNICEF is building Community Schools in Egypt and over 300 are already in operation.

In some communities in the north where the program is operating, girls’ enrollment has increased

from 30 percent to 70 percent. Attendance rates have remained consistently high (between 95

and 100 percent), and students have performed well on national exams.608

601 The National Council on Childhood and Motherhood is implementing a yearlong child labor awareness-raising

campaign and the rapid assessment with support from ILO-IPEC. See Agence France-Presse, “ILO Asks Egypt to

Set Deadline for End of Child Labour,” April 10, 2001.

602 UNICEF reports, however, that the Egyptian Ministry of Education imposes school fees as high as 15.85 pounds

(US$4.66) for primary education. Child Labour in Egypt within the Context of the CRC at 59. 603 Article 59 of the 1996 Child Law, 12. UNESCO Statistical Yearbook 1997 (Paris: UNESCO, 1997), Table 3.1

at 3-7.

604 Nadia Ramsis Farah, Child Labour in Egypt Within the Context of the Committee on the Rights of the Child

(Cairo: Cairo Center for Development Studies/UNICEF, June 1997), 27. Grants fall short of the estimated costs of

sending children to school, where average primary school fees range from 11.35 to 15.85 pounds (US$3.33 to

$4.66), and the Ministry of Education estimates that average annual cost paid by poor families for primary school

education amounts to 348 pounds (US$102.35) per child.

605 Interview with Hussein Kamel Bahaa El-Din, Minister of Education, by U.S. Department of Labor official, May

12, 1998.

606 Ibid. 607 Ibid. 608 UNICEF, Global Girls’ Education Programme: Country Highlights, World Education Forum: Dakar, 2000, at

www.unicef.org/efa/firlsed.htm.
89

Spending by the Government of Egypt on education ranged from between 4.4 and 4.8

percent of gross national product (GNP) from 1991 to 1995.609 According to the United Nations

Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s Statistical Yearbook for 1997,

the government dedicated 15 percent of its total expenditures to education (1990 to 1997) and the

largest percentage of education spending to primary education (67 percent from 1993 to 1997).610

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.611

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader

a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

609 World Development Indicators 2000. 610 UNESCO Statistical Yearbook 1997 and 1998 (Paris: UNESCO, 1997, 1998). 611 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
90

EL SALVADOR

1. Child Labor in El Salvador

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 14.3 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 were working.612 A joint study by the Salvadoran

Institute for the Protection of Children (ISPM), a government agency, and UNICEF, based on

nationwide data collected in 1996, found that 12.4 percent (223,200) of children between the ages

of 5 and 17 work in El Salvador and that 91,500 of those children were under the age of 14.

Moreover, approximately 6.6 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 17 (118,800) worked

full-time and did not attend school, while 5.8 percent (104,400) of children worked part-time.613

Children work, often alongside their parents, in commercial agriculture, particularly

during the coffee and sugar harvests.614 The nongovernmental organization (NGO) Redd Barna

reports that children work for 10 to 12 hours a day in seasonal agriculture, often under hazardous

conditions, and that only about 30 percent receive any type of compensation.615 Children also

work in charcoal and firework production, shellfish harvesting, and family fishing.616

Children, girls in particular, work as domestic servants. According to a study by

FEPADE, girls as young as 11 years old migrate from rural to urban areas to work as domestics.

FEPADE estimates that as many as 115,000 girls between the ages of 7 and 18 work as domestic

servants.617

Orphans and children from poor families frequently work as street vendors and general

laborers in small businesses.618 Many children also beg in the streets.619 According to the office

of the Ombudsman for the Defense of Human Rights (PDDH), not only do these children lose

their opportunity for an education, they also often fall victim to sexual exploitation and are forced

into prostitution.620

612 World Development Indicators 2000. 613 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000),

Section 6d [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—El Salvador]. In 1998, the Foundation for Enterprise Development

(FEPADE), estimated that there were as many as 400,000 child laborers in El Salvador. Tania Urías, “La Hipoteca

del Futuro,” El Diario de Hoy, El Salvador, September 19, 1999 [hereinafter “La Hipoteca del Futuro”]. 614 U.S. Embassy-El Salvador, unclassified telegram no. 005508, February 1998 [hereinafter unclassified telegram,

005508]; see also U.S. Embassy-El Salvador, unclassified telegram no. 002066, June 2000 [hereinafter unclassified

telegram 002066].

615 “La Hipoteca del Futuro”; see also IPEC, Combating Child Labor in the Coffee Sector of El Salvador, project

document (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 1999) [hereinafter Combating Child Labor in the Coffee Sector of El Salvador]. 616 Unclassified telegram 005508; see also unclassified telegram 002066. 617 “La Hipoteca del Futuro.” 618 Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at 6d. 619 Jesús Corvera, “12.4% of Children in El Salvador Work,” El Pais, as cited in UN Wire [translation], October 27,

2000 [document on file].

620 Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 5.
91

Children, especially girls, are known to be involved in prostitution.621 A 1998 study

found that children between the ages of 13 and 18 accounted for nearly 45 percent of the

estimated 1,300 prostitutes in three major San Salvador red-light districts.622 There is also

growing concern about the extent of voluntary and forced child prostitution in the port city of

Acajulta and in San Salvador.623

El Salvador is both a point of origin and a destination for girls trafficked for the purpose

of commercial sexual exploitation. There are reports of regional trafficking of young girls both to

and from El Salvador for the purposes of prostitution. Interpol, the international police

organization, has identified a trafficking network bringing young girls from neighboring

Honduras and Guatemala into El Salvador to work in bars along the Salvadoran/Guatemalan

border.624 Over the past three years, Interpol has reportedly rescued approximately 20

Salvadoran girls from prostitution rings.625

Initiatives by the Government of El Salvador and the private sector have reportedly

eliminated underage labor in the formal industrial sector, 626 including the Export Processing

Zones (EPZs). A PDDH report on the maquila industry found no workers under the age of 17,

and only 0.5 percent who were age 17.627

2. Children’s Participation in School

Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for El Salvador. While enrollment rates

indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in

school.628 In 1997, the primary gross enrollment rate was 97.3 percent, and the primary net

enrollment was 89.1 percent.629 According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO), 77 percent of primary school entrants reach the fifth grade.630

Children in particularly difficult financial circumstances often do not complete compulsory

schooling, despite schooling being officially compulsory through the ninth grade.631

621 Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 6c. 622 According to a 1998 study on child prostitution conducted by the Commission on the Family, the Woman, and

the Child by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, among the major factors contributing to

children engaging in prostitution are poverty, a lack of a strong nuclear family, discrimination against women, and

organized crime; see Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 5. 623 Unclassified telegram 005508; see also unclassified telegram 002066. 624 “Casa Alianza News Briefs” (www.casa-alianza.org/EN/newsbrief/1999/september1999.shtml), September 9, 1999. 625 Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 6f. 626 Unclassified telegram, 6/00. 627 Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 6d. 628 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

629 World Development Indicators 2000. 630 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), “The Right to Education:

Towards Education for All throughout Life,” World Education Report 2000, June 27, 2000, 145; see

www.unesco.org/education/highlights/wer/wholewer.pdf [hereinafter World Education Report 2000]. 631 Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 6d; see also Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador, 1982,

Section 3, Chapter II, Education, Science, and Culture [hereinafter Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador].
92

Although there has been progress in increasing the availability and quality of schooling

throughout the country, rural areas still fall short of providing a ninth grade education to all

students.632 A study conducted in 1997 by the Business Foundation for Educational

Development indicated that 17 percent of urban children and 34 percent of rural youth were not

attending school.633

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Salvadoran Constitution prohibits the employment of children under the age of 14.

However, minors who are at least 12 years old may receive special permission from the Labor

Ministry to work, but may only do so where such employment considered is absolutely necessary

for the minor’s and his/her family’s survival. Additional rules dictate that children under the age

of 18 may only legally work under certain conditions. For example, minors between the ages of

14 and 18 may not work more than 6 hours per day and not for more than 36 hours per week.634

The Labor Code prohibits the employment of persons under 18 years of age in occupations

considered hazardous.635 Forced or compulsory labor, including forced and bonded labor by

children, is prohibited by the Constitution. 636 The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing

child labor laws.637

El Salvador’s Penal Code does not criminalize prostitution. 638 Article 169 of the Penal

Code, however, provides for specific penalties for the “inducement, facilitation, or promotion of

prostitution.”639 The penalty increases, under Article 170 of the Penal Code, if the victim is less

than 18 years old.640 The Penal Code also prohibits sexual relations with persons under 16 years

of age, even with their consent, and the government considers that children under 18 must be

protected from sexual exploitation, child prostitution, and child pornography.641 In June 1999,

the Legislative Assembly approved a new provision to the Criminal Code that mandates a 6- to 8-

year prison sentence for individuals convicted of sexual aggression against minors.642

The Salvadoran Institute for the Protection of Children (ISPM), a government entity, is

responsible for protecting and promoting children’s rights.643 In recent years, police, local

prosecutors, and the ISPM have responded to several long-running advocacy and media programs

632 Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 5. 633 Ibid. 634 Articles 114-17 of the El Salvador Labor Code, 1995, 43-45; see also Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at

Section 6d.

635 “La Hipoteca del Futuro.” 636 Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 6c. 637 Ibid. at Section 6d. 638 U.S. Embassy-El Salvador, unclassified telegram no. 002731, August 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

002731].

639 Ibid. 640 Ibid. 641 Ibid. 642 Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 5. 643 Ibid.
93

focusing on child prostitution and pornography by increasing efforts to enforce the law and

rescue children from houses of prostitution.644

El Salvador ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 on

Minimum Age for Employment on January 23, 1996, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst

Forms of Child Labor on October 12, 2000.645

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

The Minister of Labor has pushed for an integrated approach among the government,

donor institutions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and regional labor ministries to

combat child labor.646 The Government of El Salvador is in the process of creating a National

Committee to Fight Child Labor to help the government formulate a coherent child labor policy

and coordinate public and private programs to combat child labor, address the causes pressuring

children to work, and develop alternatives and options for children and their families.647

The government has collaborated with the ILO’s International Program on the

Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) on four projects, funded by the U.S. Department of

Labor, aimed at combating child labor in specific sectors. These projects are designed to remove

children from exploitative work, promote schooling and recreational opportunities for them, and

help develop new economic options for their families in order to reduce reliance in the labor of

their children. In August 1999, representatives from government, ILO-IPEC, and the ISPM

inaugurated a project in the southeastern shore area to remove children involved in harvesting

mangrove clams. In September of the same year, the government (including the ISPM), local

NGOs, the Coffee Growers Association, and ILO-IPEC joined resources to start a project in the

coffee sector to help remove children from the fields and enroll them in school.648 Also in

September 1999, a joint effort by the government, ILO-IPEC, and an NGO led to the

implementation of a project focusing on removing children from the cottage production of

fireworks.649 Another ILO-IPEC program currently under way in El Salvador seeks to gather

statistical information on children engaged in economic activities as part of an ILO-IPEC

statistical project in eight Central American countries.650

644 Unclassified telegram 002066. 645 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

646 Unclassified telegram 002066. 647 Ibid. 648 Combating Child Labor in the Coffee Sector of El Salvador. 649 IPEC, Combating Child Labor in Fireworks Industry of El Salvador, project document (Geneva: ILO-IPEC,

1999); see also Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 6d. 650 IPEC, SIMPOC: Child Labor Survey and Development of Database on Child Labor in El Salvador (Geneva:

ILO-IPEC).
94

In June 2001, Minister for Labor and Social Welfare, Nieto Menéndez, announced that El

Salvador would become one of the first countries to initiate a comprehensive, national program to

eliminate the worst forms of child labor in a set time frame.651 The Time-Bound Program” in El

Salvador, which is expected to begin in late 2001, will seek to eliminate exploitative child labor

associated with fishing, sugar cane production, the commercial sex industry, and scavenging

around garbage dumps. The program aims to withdraw children from hazardous work and

promote access to quality basic education through a national program.652

b. Educational Alternatives

Education is officially compulsory through the ninth grade, according to Salvadoran

law.653 The Ministry of Education is carrying out programs designed to improve the quality of

public schooling and increase the availability of primary education for urban and rural families.654

One of these program, a $34 million Basic Education Modernization Project, is designed to

improve access to and the quality of basic education, and to promote gender equality in education

through the EDUCO community-based education program. Another program, a $58 million

Secondary Education Project, seeks to enhance access to secondary education, especially in

rural areas, improve the relevance and content of curriculum, target the needs of female students,

enhance the role of the private sector in education, and help prepare students to enter the labor

market.655 In 1996, the government dedicated 14.1 percent of its spending on education.656

In that same year, public spending on education as a percentage of gross national product (GNP)

was 2.35 percent.657 Public spending on primary education as a percentage of GNP was

1.33 percent in 1995.658

651 Mr. Nieto Menéndez, Minister for Labour and Social Welfare, El Salvador, speech at the Special High-Level

Session on the Launch of the Time-Bound Programme on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in the Republic of El

Salvador, the Kingdom of Nepal and the United Republic of Tanzania, International Labour Conference, 89th

Session, June 12, 2001, Geneva. For the full text of Mr. Nieto’s speech, see www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/

relm/ilc/ilc89/a-menendez.htm.

652 Combating the Worst Forms of Child Labor in El Salvador: Supporting the Time-Bound Program for the

Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in El Salvador (Geneva: ILO-IPEC). 653 Constitution of the Republic of El Salvador, 1982, Chapter 2, “Education, Science, and Culture,” Section 3; see

also Country Reports 1999—El Salvador at Section 5. 654 Unclassified telegram 002066. 655 The World Bank Group, Country Report for 1998: El Salvador, Washington, D.C. 656 World Education Report 2000. 657 World Development Indicators 2000. 658 UNESCO, Institute for Statistics [CD-ROM], Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—A Decade of

Education, Country Report, El Salvador (Paris, 2000).
95

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.659

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

659 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
96

ETHIOPIA

1. Child Labor in Ethiopia

In 1999, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 53.7 percent (3.9

million) of children between the ages of 10 and 14 were working in Ethiopia.660 Children in

Ethiopia work both in the informal and formal sectors. Despite the government’s assurances that

children are not engaging in economic activities in the formal sector, particularly on governmentowned plantations,661 a joint study conducted by the ILO regional office in Addis Ababa and the

Eastern Africa Multidisciplinary Advisory Team (EAMAT) discovered children working on

state-owned farms.662 Children were found working on cotton, sugarcane, coffee, and tea

plantations.663

Children work long hours on plantations for little pay, usually without any meal breaks,

and are often exposed to environmental toxins that can be detrimental to their health, especially

on cotton farms. The cotton plantations are located in the kolla zone, where children tend to be at

a higher risk of malaria, yellow fever and snakebites.664

In urban areas of Ethiopia, children are found working as domestic servants, street

peddlers, and as employees in private enterprises. 665 Children have also been reportedly shipped

to Saudi Arabia and elsewhere in the Middle East to work as house servants or nannies.666

Children working as domestic servants, most of whom are girls, are often victims of physical,

emotional and sexual abuse, including rape.667

Girls as young as 11 years old are recruited to work in the commercial sex industry in

brothels, bars, and hotels, where they are at great risk of contracting sexually transmitted

660 International Labor Organization, Yearbook of Labour Statistics (Geneva, Switzerland, 2000). In 2001,

Ethiopia’s Central Statistics Office conducted a child labor survey (of children between the ages of 5 and 17) in

consultation with International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor

(ILO-IPEC). Results from the national child labor survey in Ethiopia should be available early 2002. E-mail

correspondence from ILO-IPEC to U.S. Department of Labor official [10/15/01]. ILO-IPEC: Results of Ethiopia

SIMPOC.

661 U.S. Embassy-Addis Ababa, unclassified telegram no. 003616, October 18, 2000. 662 “A Study on Child Labour in Rural Ethiopia,” Working Paper No. 1, ILO/EAMAT (Addis Ababa, 1999), 4-10

[hereinafter “A Study on Child Labour in Rural Ethiopia”].

663 For example, on the Bebeka Coffee Plantation an estimated 490 children, ranging from 7 to 16 years of age were

found working on the farm; see “A Study on Child Labour in Rural Ethiopia” at 4. 664 “A Study on Child Labour in Rural Ethiopia” at 3,5,6. 665 “A Study on Child Labour in an Urban District of Addis Ababa,” ILO-EAMAT Working Paper on Child Labour

No. 2 (Addis Ababa, 2000), 6 [hereinafter “A Study on Child Labour in an Urban District of Addis Ababa”].

666 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999, Sections 5, 6c, and 6f. (www.state.gov/ www/global/

human_rights/1999_hrp_report/ethiopia.html) [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Ethiopia].

See also El Barometer, “Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector” (Brussels: Education

International, 1998), 46 [hereinafter El Barometer]. 667 “A Study on Child Labour in an Urban District of Addis Ababa” at 3.
97

diseases, particularly HIV infection. Furthermore, the underground child sex trade and sex

tourism in Ethiopia is reportedly on the rise, and more organized than once believed.668

Children’s involvement in the commercial sex trade occurs mainly in resort towns and truck stops

in Addis Ababa.669

Recruitment of children into the armed forces was reported to occur in Ethiopia in 1999,

prior to the border conflict with Eritrea, but there is no evidence that underage recruitment by the

government continues to take place.670 Although the Ministry of Defense does not permit

individuals under the age of 18 to enlist, the policy is difficult to enforce since an estimated 95

percent of Ethiopians have no birth certificates.671 Children as young as 14 years of age are

reportedly allowed to join local militias.672

2. Children’s Participation in School

Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Ethiopia. While enrollment rates

indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in

school.673 In 1996, the gross primary school enrollment rate was 42.9 percent, and the net primary

school enrollment rate was 32.4 percent.674 Gender disaggregated data indicate that gross

primary enrollment was higher for boys (55 percent) than for girls (31 percent).675 For children

that have the opportunity to go to school, over 40 percent drop out of school before reaching the

second grade of primary school.676

Although primary school and secondary education are officially free in Ethiopia, there are

not enough schools to accommodate students.677 Most schools are located in urban districts, so

children living in rural areas of Ethiopia do not have the same educational opportunities available

to them. In 1999, there were 8,120 primary schools in the country that operated in 3 daily shifts

to accommodate all the students.678 Class sizes averaged between 80 and 100 students.679

668 U.S. Embassy-Addis Ababa, unclassified telegram no. 001343, April 17, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

001343]. See Also Country Reports 1999—Ethiopia. 669 Country Reports 1999—Ethiopia. 670 Ibid. 671 Interview with Seife Tadelle, president, Ethiopian Youth League, by U.S. Department of Labor official, August

8, 2000. See Also Country Reports 1999—Ethiopia. 672 Country Reports 1999—Ethiopia. 673 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

674 World Development Indicators. 675 In 1996, net primary enrollment rates were also higher for boys (40.1 percent) than for girls (24.8 percent). See

Ibid.

676 Country Reports 1999—Ethiopia. 677 El Barometer at 45. See also U.S. Embassy-Addis Ababa, unclassified telegram no. 001965, June 8, 2000

[hereinafter unclassified telegram 001965].

678 “A Study on Child Labour in Rural Ethiopia” at 1. 679 El Barometer at 45.
98

One of the major reforms in Ethiopia’s education system is the decentralization of

education responsibilities to provincial authorities.680 This devolution to “ethnic federalism”

allows provincial governments to use their primary ethnic language for instruction in schools,

instead of Amharic.681 The Ethiopian Teachers Association (ETA) has expressed concern that

the switch to ethnic federalism will result in a dearth of qualified teachers, and will hinder the

implementation of an effective education policy since most of the teachers to date (and most of

their members) have been trained and certified in Amharic.682

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Ethiopia’s Labour Proclamation No. 42/1993 sets the basic minimum working age at 14

years.683 The Proclamation also sets forth laws on the working conditions of young workers,

defined as children between the ages of 14 and 18.684 Employers are forbidden to employ young

workers where the environment or nature of the job may pose health risks or endanger children’s

lives in any way. Some prohibited activities defined in the proclamation are transporting goods

by air, land, or sea, working with electric power generation plants, and quarrying in mines.685

Moreover, the work hours of children should not exceed seven hours a day; overtime work is

prohibited; and children may not work between the hours of 10 p.m. and 6 a.m., during weekly

rest days, and on public holidays.686

Enforcement of child labor laws is reportedly weak, due in large part to an insufficient

number of labor inspectors. Currently, about 50 labor inspectors in the Ministry of Labor and

Social Affairs (MOLSA) enforce all the country’s labor laws in the formal sector, and the

government maintains child labor is not a problem in the formal economy. 687

Since 1942, the Constitution of Ethiopia forbids slavery and prohibits the forced or

compulsory labor of children.688 Ethiopia’s Penal Code (Articles 605 through 613) includes

provisions specifically dealing with the issues of child trafficking, child prostitution, and bonded

child labor.689 The trafficking of women and children is illegal under Article 605, and is

punishable by imprisonment of up to five years with fines up to 10,000 birr ($US1,250).690

680 Devolution of education responsibilities from national to provincial authorities began in 1993. 681 Eighty local languages are spoken in Ethiopia; see El Barometer at 45. See also Interview with Girma Abebe,

Foreign Service national at the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia, by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 7, 2000.

682 Interview with Girma Abebe, Foreign Service national at the U.S. Embassy in Ethiopia, by U.S. Department of

Labor official, August 7, 2000.

683 Negarit Gazeta, Proclamation No. 42/1993, Part 6, Chapter 2, Article 89 (Addis Ababa, Ethiopia: Negarit

Gazeta of the Transitional Government of Ethiopia), 295.

684 Ibid. 685 Ibid. 686 Ibid. 687 Interview with Getaneh Mitiku, Head of Ethiopian Department of Labor, Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs,

by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 7, 2000.

688 Country Reports 1999—Ethiopia. 689 Interview with Tilahun Teshome, Dean of the Faculty of Law, Addis Ababa University, by U.S. Department of

Labor official, August 10, 2000.
99

Ethiopia ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment on May 27,

1999.691

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

Ethiopia does not yet have a national agenda concerning child labor, and is not yet a

participating country in the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the

Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) program.692 The ILO regional office in Addis Ababa

organized a Child Labor Forum to bring together Ethiopian Government ministries, United

Nations agencies, trade unions and employer organizations, embassies, and nongovernmental

organizations (NGOs).693

Through the ILO, the Italian Government has allocated funding for small research and

demonstration projects. These include a project to prevent and eliminate child labor on

plantations in rural Ethiopia (to be implemented by the National Federation of Farms, Plantations,

Fishery and Agro-Industry Trade Unions) and a project to assess the magnitude and nature of

domestic child labor in Addis Ababa (to be implemented by the Department of Community

Health, Faculty of Medicine at Addis Ababa University).694

The Forum on Street Children in Ethiopia (FSCE) works with 20 NGOs to help street

children, victims of child prostitution, and child laborers. FSCE has established child protection

units (CPUs) in police stations to educate law enforcement officials on the rights of children, and

to assist children when they become victims of crime. 695 In addition, FSCE runs a drop-in center

that provides counseling and rehabilitation services, along with a “safe-home,” for children who

are victims of prostitution.696

The Ministry of Labor and Social Affair is working with the Ethiopian Central Statistical

Authority (CSA) and ILO-IPEC’s Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child

Labor to conduct a national household survey on child labor.697

690 The exchange rate on August 7, 2000, was US$1.00 = 8 birr. 691 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

692 Unclassified telegram 001343. 693 The forum meets three times a year. See unclassified telegram 1343. 694 “Initiatives on Child Labour in Ethiopia,” ILO Addis Ababa (Addis Ababa: ILO, 2000) 1 [fact sheet on file]. 695 Interview with Fassil W. Mariam, executive director, Forum on Street Children in Ethiopia (FSCE), by U.S.

Department of Labor official, August 7, 2000.

696 Unclassified telegram 001343. 697 The survey includes 2000 sample sites, 547 of which will be in urban areas. Interview with Dr. Abdulaki

Hasen, General Manager of the Ethiopian Central Statistical Authority, by U.S. Department of Labor official,

August 9, 2000.
100

b. Educational Alternatives

The Ethiopian Government aims to provide universal primary education by the year

2020.698 An Educational Sector Development Program was adopted in 1999 to construct new

schools, increase the availability of textbooks in local languages, train additional teachers, and

expand vocational training.699 At the moment, the Ethiopian Government does not plan to modify

its three-shift school day with both primary and secondary schools conducting sessions during the

morning, afternoon, and evening.700

Public spending on education as a percentage of gross national product (GNP) was

4 percent in 1996.701

698 Unclassified telegram 001965. 699 Ibid. 700 Ibid. 701 World Development Indicators 2000.
101

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending

on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.702

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

702 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
102

GHANA

1. Child Labor in Ghana

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 12.5 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Ghana were working.703 The Core Welfare Indicators

Survey conducted in 1997 estimated that 9.2 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 14

were working.704 Approximately 8.2 percent of boys and 10.2 percent of girls in this age group

were working.705 A majority of child workers are found in rural areas.706

The majority of working children are unpaid and can be found on family farms and family

enterprises.707 While traditionally, working on the family farm was seen as a means of training

for adulthood, deteriorating economic conditions have led to an increase in the number of

children working on a regular basis to earn a living for themselves or supplement family income.

These children either forgo an education or combine work and school.708

Deteriorating economic conditions in rural areas and conflicts in northern regions of the

country have led to increased migration of children into urban areas, particularly Accra.709 This

migration has reportedly led to an increase in the numbers of street children and working children

in urban areas.710 In August 2000, Ghana’s Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare reported

that out of 800,000 children working countrywide, 18,000 children were working in Accra.

Seventy percent of these urban working children are estimated to receive no schooling, while 21

percent complete only their primary education.711

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) report that children as young as 7 years old work

as trolley and head porters, domestic servants, street vendors, rock breakers in quarries, small

scale miners, farmers and fishermen. In May 2000, the acting executive director of the Ghana

National Commission on Children (GNCC) expressed concern about the increasing use of child

labor in inland fishing enterprises, especially in villages around the Volta Lake and the Volta

703 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 704 Country Statistics in Ghana, Core Welfare Indicators Survey, 1997 (www.ucw-project.org) [hereinafter Core

Welfare Indicators Survey, 1997].

This figure includes children who were working only and children who combined work and school.

705 Core Welfare Indicators Survey, 1997 . 706 Sudharshan Canagarajah and Harold Coulombe, Child Labor and Schooling in Ghana (Washington, D.C.:

World Bank, 1997) [hereinafter Child Labor and Schooling in Ghana]. 707 Ibid. 708 The Ghana National Commission on Children. The First Decade of the Ghana National Commission on

Children (Accra: The Ghana National Commission on Children, 1990). 709 Interview with Mrs. Margaret Sackey, executive director, Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC), by

U.S. Department of Labor official, Accra, August 4, 2000 [hereinafter Sackey interview].

710 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2001),

Section 6d [hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Ghana]. 711 Ibid.
103

River.712 Newspapers have reported that 10 to 12 year old boys often work for fisherman in

exchange for a yearly payment to their families. This practice was found to be rampant in 156

fishing villages along the Afram River and in settlements along the Volta Lake in the Afram

Plains.713 Small children are used to dive down to the riverbeds for oysters, and there have been a

number of reports of children drowning.714

Some girl children migrate from rural areas to urban centers to serve as kayayoos, girl

porters who carry goods on their heads as petty traders.715 The girls are usually come from

villages and towns in the poorer northern regions and end up living on the streets or in poor

accommodations.716 Children as young as 8 years old work as kayas. Earnings in the kayayoo

trade are approximately 2,000-2,500 cedis a day (approximately US$1), with younger girls

getting 50–100 cedis (US$0.02-US$0.05) per load and older girls and women getting 200-500

(US$0.10–US$0.25) cedis per load.717 Kayayoos suffer from various skeletal and muscular

problems which they often address by taking excessive drugs to numb the pain. Some kayayoos

also reportedly practice prostitution to add to their earnings.718

Ghana is both a source and a destination for trafficked children.719 In a report

commissioned by the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the

Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC), a Ghanaian NGO found that the majority of trafficked

victims are girls between the ages of 10 to 15 years who either dropped out of primary school or

had not attended school at all.720 These girls, largely from rural areas, are frequently used as

household help in Accra and the other major cities. Major complaints included mistreatment and

poor working conditions, including little or no remuneration; beatings, rape and forced marriages

were also reported.721 Trafficking also occurs between Ghana and neighboring countries and is

multi-directional. Cases of cross-border trafficking and abduction have been reported between

Ghana and Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria, with boys and girls lured into

prostitution or hard labor.722

712 Sackey interview. Also cited in Country Reports 2000—Ghana. 713 U.S. Embassy Accra cites June 1999 report in Country Reports 2000—Ghana. 714 Sackey interview. 715 Seema Agarwal et al., Bearing the Weight (Legon: Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana, May

1997), 1 [hereinafter Bearing the Weight]. 716 Ibid at 3. 717 Ibid at 10. 718 Nana Araba Apt and Ebenezer Q. Blavo, Street Children and AIDS (Legon: Centre for Social Policy Studies,

University of Ghana, May 1997).

719 Country Reports 2000—Ghana at Section 6f. 720 African Centre for Human Development, Ghana Country Study: Combating the Trafficking in Children for

Labour Exploitation in West and Central Africa, Accra, Ghana, April 2000, 6 [hereinafter Combating the

Trafficking in Children for Labour Exploitation]. 721 Ibid. at 7. 722 Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labor Exploitation in West and Central Africa (Phase II): Ghana

Country Annex, ILO-IPEC, 2000 [hereinafter Combating the Trafficking in Children for Labour Exploitation,

Phase II].
104

There are reports of girls (some as young as 10 years old) being bound to shrines as part

of a traditional practice known as the Trokosi system.723 In 1998, the Parliament passed

legislation that banned the practice of Trokosi.

724

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1998, the primary net attendance rate for children between the ages of 6 and 11 years

was 76 percent.725 Low attendance in school has been noted as a particular problem in certain

areas of the country and among certain groups of children. In 1998, there was an 87 percent

primary attendance rate in urban areas compared to a primary attendance rate of 72 percent in

rural areas.726 Teachers’ salaries are considered inadequate and it is difficult to attract teachers to

rural areas.727 Many teachers in rural areas earn their primary income through farming. In the

past, teachers sometimes used students as a source of farm labor, a practice that has become less

common with adverse publicity.728 In order to attract teachers to rural areas and supplement low

salaries, the government has offered accelerated promotion and perks, such as bicycles, to

teachers willing to take assignments in such areas.729

Expenses such as school fees and taxes, and associated costs such as books and uniforms,

reportedly make education costly and preclude some children from attending school.730 In 1992,

education costs accounted for more than 15 percent of a household’s mean per capita

expenditure.731

Although there is little or no systematic discrimination against female children in terms of

basic education, societal and economic pressures increase girls’ dropout rates.732 The

government has actively campaigned for the education of girls and in 1997 established a girls’

education unit within the basic education division of the Ghana Education Service. According to

government estimates released in September 1999, the percent of girls nationwide enrolled in

primary school had increased from 75 percent in 1992 to 81 percent in 1997.733

723 Found primarily among the ethnic Ewe group, the practice involves young girls who are indentured by their

families to a fetish shrine for several weeks or years as a means of atoning for offenses committed. The girls,

known as Trokosi or Fiashidi, become the property of the shrine and are under the direction of the fetish priest. See

U.S. Embassy Accra, unclassified portion of telegram no. 002509, October 1, 2001.

724 Country Reports 2000—Ghana at Section 3. 725 USAID, DHS EdData Education Profiles for Africa: Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, Ghana

DHS EdData Education Profile, 1993 and 1998 [hereinafter Ghana DHS EdData Education Profile].

726 Ghana DHS EdData Education Profile. 727 Interview with Emmanuel Acquaye, director of basic education, Ghana Education Service, by U.S. Department

of Labor official, Accra, August 1, 2000 [hereinafter Acquaye interview]. Also attending were Chris DokiunaHammond and Yaw Danso, deputy director of basic education.

728 Interview with Janet Leno, senior education specialist, World Bank, by U.S. Department of Labor official,

Accra, August 3, 2000.

729 Acquaye interview. 730 Ibid. See Also Child Labor and Schooling in Ghana at 11. 731 Child Labor and Schooling in Ghana at 11. 732 Country Reports 2000—Ghana at Section 5. 733 Ibid. at Section 5.
105

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The government strengthened legal protection of children by passing the Children’s Act

of 1998 (Act 560). Act 560 incorporates the existing labor legislation’s minimum age for

employment of 15 and prohibits exploitative child labor, defined as labor that deprives the child

of health, education, and development.734 The act sets a minimum age of 18 years for hazardous

employment and a minimum age of 13 years for light work.735 Act 560 requires employers to

provide apprentices with a safe and healthy work environment, along with training and tools.736

Ghana’s Constitution prohibits slavery and the law also prohibits forced or bonded

labor. Nevertheless, NGOs criticize the government for failing to put resources into enforcing

these provisions, especially with respect to the trafficking of children.737 They allege that law

enforcement agencies have regarded trafficking cases as falling under the domain of the

Department of Social Welfare and that police in frontier posts lack the training and logistical

support needed to take enforcement action.738 It is often difficult for law enforcement officials to

identify victims due to the complex family relations that exist in some trafficking situations.739

Inspectors from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare are responsible for enforcement

of child labor regulations and make spot checks when they receive allegations of violations.

However, violators of regulations that prohibit heavy labor and night work for children are only

occasionally punished in practice.740

Ghana ratified ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on June 13,

2000.741

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

In March 2000, the Government of Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding

(MOU) with ILO-IPEC to initiate activities in Ghana. With financial support from the U.S.

Department of Labor (USDOL), and in collaboration the Government of Ghana, ILO-IPEC

734 Government of Ghana, Act 560, The Children’s Act, 1998, Part V, Employment of Children, Sub-Part I, Child

Labour, 27 [hereinafter The Children’s Act, 1998].

735 Ibid. at Sections 89, 90. 736 Country Reports 2000—Ghana at Section 6d. The Children’s Act 560: Violation of any subpart pertaining to

child labor of the Children’s Act 560 is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 10 million cedis or to

imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both. And failure to register children commits an offence and

is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 500,000 cedis.

737 Combating the Trafficking in Children for Labour Exploitation at 25. 738 Ibid. 739 For example, acquaintances of an older age may be referred to as “auntie” even when no blood relation exists. 740 Country Reports 2000—Ghana at Section 6d. 741 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.
106

country program aims to formulate a national policy and plan of action to combat child labor,

with a focus on the worst forms of child labor, and has established a national steering

committee.742 Ghana is also receiving technical support from the ILO-IPEC Statistical

Information and Monitoring Program (SIMPOC), with funding from USDOL, to conduct a

national survey on child labor.743

In 1999, Ghana joined eight other countries participating in phase one of a 3-year ILOIPEC regional project to combat the trafficking of children for labor exploitation in West and

Central Africa. The project, with USDOL financial support, was a follow-up to the July 1998

subregional workshop on trafficking in child domestic workers sponsored by the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the ILO. As a participant in this project, Ghana is developing

concrete measures against trafficking of children at a variety of levels. Efforts will be made to

channel identified children to NGOs which provide social protection and support services for

victims of trafficking. During the project’s second phase, demonstration projects will provide

rehabilitation services for child victims, raise public awareness, strengthen partner organizations,

encourage multi-disciplinary preventive measures, and develop inter-country cooperation efforts.744

The Government of Ghana has initiated a number of policies and programs aimed at

curbing the vulnerability of children to all forms of child labor exploitation. These include the

promulgation of the Children’s Act of 1998, the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education

(FCUBE) program, and the Universal Children’s Law enacted out of the Constitutional provision

on Children’s Rights. Furthermore, the Ministry for Employment and Social Welfare is

attempting to address the problems of street children through the “Jobs for Africa” program,

through direct grants to street children, and through tax exemptions for NGOs, which work with

children in need. 745 In addition, numerous donors have supported the FCUBE program that was

designed to increase access for children of school-going age, targeting especially ages 6 through 9.746

NGOs, churches, and other religious organizations have a variety of programs targeting

needy children. The Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child (GNCRC) was established

in response to the 1995 report by the Government of Ghana to the U.N. Committee on the Rights

of the Child.747 The GNCRC works with NGOs, the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare,

and the Ghana National Commission on Children on such issues as HIV/AIDS, child labor, basic

education, health, environment, and advocacy for children. The GNCRC has conducted an

742 IPEC Summary of Individual Country Programs: National Program on the Elimination of Child Labor

[hereinafter National Program on the Elimination of Child Labor].

743 Ibid. 744 Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labour Exploitation, Phase II. 745 Statement by The Honorable Ms. Ama Benyiwa-Doe, deputy minister for employment and social welfare,

delivered at the opening of a photographic exhibition by Catholic Action for Street Children and Street Girls Aid at

the British Council, Accra, August 2, 2000.

746 Acquaye interview. Also attending were Chris Dokiuna-Hammond and Yaw Danso, deputy director of basic

education.

747 Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child: Membership Directory, 1999-2000 (Accra, Ghana: National

Democratic Institute for International Affairs).
107

educational series on child labor, including television commercials aimed at informing the

public.748 It has trained NGOs in the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.749

Both the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the largest trade union confederation in Ghana,

and the Ghana Employers’ Association (GEA) have devoted increased attention to the problem of

child labor in Ghana. The TUC held a leadership seminar on child labor and street children in

June 2000.750 In collaboration with the ILO, the GEA organized four regional workshops during

July 2000 on combating the worst forms of child labor.751 With help from the ILO, the GEA is

also undertaking a research project on child labor, which will include an establishment survey to

complement the household survey that SIMPOC and the Ghana Statistical Services are

conducting.752

A Ghanaian NGO reporting for the ILO on trafficking in children noted that while many

NGOs focused on street children and their rehabilitation, there were no specific programs by

either the government or NGOs to address the concerns of trafficking victims.753 The Ghana

National Commission on Children (GNCC) has noted that the problems of street children, child

labor, and prostitution are worsening. Yet, judges are often unfamiliar with the law or with

sentencing guidelines for cases of child rape and defilement. The GNCC sees the education of

law enforcement officials as critical and is working with police units to familiarize them with the

Children’s Act of 1998. 754

b. Educational Alternatives

Six years of primary education and three years of secondary education (through grade

nine) are free and compulsory in Ghana. 755 The government continues to strive to provide free

compulsory basic education through the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE)

program for grades one through nine, and aspires for the attainment of this goal by the year

2005.756 The FCUBE program is supported by a variety of donors and is reviewed every 2

years.757

748 Interview with Susan Sabaa, national coordinator, Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child (GNCRC),

by U.S. Department of Labor official, Accra, August 3, 2000.

749 Ibid. 750 Interview with Kwesi Adu-Amankwah, deputy secretary general, Trade Union Congress (TUC), by U.S.

Department of Labor official (Accra, August 1, 2000). Also attending from the TUC were Mr. S. O. Nunoo-Quaye,

head of the International Department, and Mr. James Anquandah, deputy head of the Organization Department.

751 Interview with Kwasi Ampadu Yeboah and Alex Frimpong, industrial relations managers, Ghana Employers’

Association, by U.S. Department of Labor official, Accra, August 4, 2000. Regional workshops were held in

Accra, Takoradi, Kumasi, and Tamale.

752 Ibid. 753 Combating the Trafficking in Children for Labour at 29. 754 Sackey interview. 755 Acquaye interview. 756 U.S. Embassy-Accra, unclassified telegram no. 003474, June 27, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

003473].

757 Unclassified telegram 003473.
108

 The government has supported a variety of initiatives to make education more affordable.

The “Needy Child Fund” helps up to 50 children in each of Ghana’s 110 districts qualify for help

with basic school needs.758 The government has allocated 2 million cedis (approximately

US$340) to each district for this program.759 The Ghana Education Service (GES) has

emphasized girls’ education and that enrollment for girls has improved.760 The GES has also

placed increased emphasis on making sure students progress from one school grade to another.761

The Department of Social Welfare runs some vocational schools for the disadvantaged but, due to

budget limitations, does not have formal programs to help these children attend school. 762

Districts are responsible for providing school infrastructure and receive assistance from

international NGOs and donors to construct new classroom facilities and infrastructure.763 The

World Bank is aiding districts to open approximately 80 new primary schools.764 Other NGOs

conduct school meal programs, provide in-service training to teachers, provide management

training to district education officials, and help families defray the cost of children’s school fees

and other expenses.765 The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is also

implementing an education program to reduce the dropout rate among girls. USAID reports

increased evidence that individual communities are taking an active interest in their schools.766

758 Meeting of U.S. Department of Labor official with Mr. Emmanuel Acquaye, director of basic education, Ghana

Education Service, August 1, 2000. Also attending were Chris Dokiuna-Hammond and Yaw Danso, deputy

director of basic education.

759 Acquaye interview. 760 Ibid. 761 U.S. Embassy-Accra, unclassified telegram no. 00042, January 2001. 762 Interview with Bridget Katsriku, chief director, Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare (MESW), by U.S.

Department of Labor official. Also present were Mr. J. Y. Amankrah, project manager, the SIMPOC child labor

survey, and deputy director for statistics, MESW, Accra, August 2, 2000.

763 Plan International, World Vision, and the European Union have helped with the provision of classroom

facilities. Acquaye interview.

764 Acquaye interview. 765 Unclassified telegram 003473. 766 Ibid.
109

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of gross national product (GNP). The chart considers government expenditures on

education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of

government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also

shown.767

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

767 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
110

GUATEMALA

1. Child Labor in Guatemala

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 15 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 in Guatemala were working.768 According to the National Census

of 1994, an estimated 46 percent of Guatemala’s population was under 15 years old, and more

than 13 percent (500,000) of children between the ages of 7 and 15 work.769 In 1994, working

children represented approximately 12 percent of the total economically active population in the

country.770 A high percentage of working children in rural areas are members of the indigenous

population, who comprise nearly half the total population of Guatemala. 771 Many children under

the age of 14 work without legal permission and, increasingly, with falsified age documents.

Such children generally receive no social benefits, social insurance, vacations, or severance pay,

and earn below-minimum salaries.772

A majority of working children in Guatemala work in the informal sector and in

agriculture. Most children who work in rural areas are not paid for their labor. Children of the

rural poor frequently join other family members to work on family plots or as seasonal migrant

laborers on commercial farms producing crops such as coffee and sugarcane.773 Children are also

employed in stone quarries, where they crush stones to make gravel. Children who work in stone

quarries risk injury from flying shards of rock, suffer from muscular-skeletal problems associated

with lifting heavy loads, and are susceptible to other risks stemming from harsh working

conditions with few or no safety measures.774

Children also work as domestic servants, shoeshine boys, beggars, street performers, and

in construction.775 The Guatemalan Ministry of Labor estimates that between 3,000 and 5,000

children are employed in the fireworks industry. 776 Approximately 10 percent of the children in

this industry work in factories, while younger children, under the age of 14, typically work in

home-based workshops on piecework taken in by their families.777 Children working in the

768 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 769 Government of Guatemala, National Census, 1994 National Statistics Institute (INE), 1996, as cited in

Progressive Eradication of Child Labor in Gravel Production in Retalhuleu, Guatemala, project document

(Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 2001) [hereinafter Progressive Eradication of Child Labor in Gravel Production in

Retalhuleu, Guatemala]. 770 Ibid. 771 Ibid. 772 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2001),

Section 6d [hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Guatemala]. 773 U.S. Embassy-Guatemala City, unclassified telegram no. 01865, June 22, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified

telegram 01865].

774 Progressive Eradication of Child Labor in Gravel Production in Retalhuleu, Guatemala. 775 U.S. Embassy-Guatemala City, unclassified telegram no. 02084, July 17, 2000. 776 Country Reports 2000—Guatemala at Section 6d. 777 Ibid.
111

fireworks sector are exposed to explosive chemicals such as potassium nitrate and gunpowder,

which can cause burns if ignited and deleterious health effects through prolonged exposure.778

Most factories have inadequate safety and protective equipment, and home-based workshops

generally provide no protective equipment.779

The Ministry of Labor has noted an increase in child prostitution in the towns along the

borders with Mexico and El Salvador.780 Thirty-six years of armed conflict has left an estimated

50,000 widows and 150,000 orphans, mostly within the indigenous population. Since many of

those affected lost sources of income from the deaths of family members, they are vulnerable to

being drawn into prostitution as a means of earning a living. There have been instances of

women and children from El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Honduras being trafficked into Guatemala

by organized rings for the purposes of prostitution. Guatemala has also been reported as a transit

point for smuggling of persons into the United States.781

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1995, the primary net attendance rate was 69.8 percent,782 and the primary net

enrollment rate was 73 percent.783 Approximately 50 percent of children in 1995 enrolled in

primary school reached grade five. In 1997, primary gross enrollment was 88.1 percent, and

primary net enrollment was 73.8 percent. 784

School attendance tends to be lower in rural areas.785 Many children who live in the rural

areas are indigenous, and nearly one-half of the population of children who do not attend school

are of indigenous heritage.786 There is also a social separation in the schools between those who

speak an indigenous language and those who speak only Spanish.787 Though the Government of

Guatemala is making efforts to reduce matriculation fees and other direct costs of education, the

indirect costs of education, such as books, supplies, and uniforms, contribute to lower attendance

by children of poor families.788

778 Combating Child Labor in the Fireworks Sector of Guatemala, project document (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 1999). 779 Ibid. 780 Country Reports 2000—Guatemala at Section 6f. 781 Ibid. 782 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 783 World Development Indicators 2000. 784 Ibid. 785 Country Reports 2000—Guatemala at Section 5. 786 Unclassified telegram 01865. 787 Ibid. 788 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics, Education

for All: Year 2000 Assessment, Country Report, Guatemala (Paris, 2000) [hereinafter Education for All: Year 2000

Assessment—Guatemala].
112

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Article 102 of the Guatemalan Constitution prohibits minors under the age of 14 from

being employed in any kind of work without authorization from the Ministry of Labor.789 Article

102 also states that employers may not employ children under 14 in work that is incompatible

with their physical capacity or likely to harm their moral health.790

According to the Labor Code, children younger than 14 may not work for more than six

hours a day, and children between 14 and 18 years of age may not work for more than seven

hours a day. Furthermore, minors under the age of 18 may not be employed in hazardous or

unhealthy places.791 Work permits may be issued for children under the age of 14, provided that

the child is working due to conditions of extreme poverty, is engaged in light work that is not

harmful to the child’s physical or moral health, and is meeting the compulsory education

requirements in some way.792 The Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare is responsible for

granting work permits to underage workers. Between 1995 and 1999, the Ministry granted only

507 permits to underage workers.793

The Childhood and Youth Code was drafted to support the implementation of the

Convention on the Rights of the Child and established additional protections against economic

exploitation for children. As of February 2000, however, implementation of this code has been

suspended indefinitely.794

Although adult prostitution is not illegal in Guatemala, child prostitution is addressed

under Penal Code Article 188, entitled “Corruption of Minors,” which protects all minors under

18 years of age.795 Procuring and inducing a person into prostitution are crimes that can result in

either fines or imprisonment, with heavier penalties if minors are involved.796

Guatemala’s law does not specifically prohibit trafficking of persons; however, various

laws can be used to prosecute traffickers.797 On January 23, 1999, a new immigration law came

into effect, which makes alien smuggling a crime punishable by imprisonment.798

789 Gisbert H. Flanz, ed., Constitutions of the Countries of the World (New York: Oceana Publications, January

1997), 27 [hereinafter Constitutions of the Countries of the World]. 790 Ibid. 791 Código de Trabajo de la Republica de Guatemala (Guatemala City: Ministerio de Trabajo y Previsión Social,

1996), 44, 51-53.

792 Ibid. 793 Country Reports 2000—Guatemala at Section 5. 794 Ibid. 795 U.S. Embassy-Guatemala City, unclassified telegram no. 002507, August 22, 2000. 796 Country Reports 2000—Guatemala at Section 6f. 797 Ibid. 798 Ibid.
113

799 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

800 Progressive Eradication of Child Labor in Gravel Production in Retalhuleu, Guatemala [hereinafter

Progressive Eradication of Child Labor]. 801 Ibid. 802 Country Reports 2000—Guatemala at Section 6d. 803 Progressive Eradication of Child Labor. See also Country Reports 2000—Guatamala at Section 6d. 804 IPEC, Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor Central America, project document

(Geneva: ILO-IPEC, October 1999).

805 Interview with Juan Francisco Alfaro, Minister of Labor for Guatemala, by U.S. Department of Labor official,

August 16, 2000. In an effort to reduce accidents in home-based fireworks production, the president has issued a

decree, which is expected to be approved in 2001, outlining safety and monitoring regulations to guide the

production, storage, and sale of fireworks. Draft Presidential Decree, “Proyecto de Reglamento para la

Importación, Almacenaje, Transporte, Uso y Comercialización de los Componentes para Fines de Fabricación de

Pirotécnicos,” 2000 [document on file].

Guatemala ratified ILO Convention 138 on the Minimum Age for Employment on April

23, 1990, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on October 11,

2001.799

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting School

a. Child Labor Initiatives

The Government of Guatemala signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the

International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor

(ILO-IPEC) in 1996.800 In 1999, the Government of Guatemala adopted a National Plan of

Action on Child Labor.801 In 2000, a National Plan for the Prevention and Eradication of Child

Labor and Protection of Adolescent Workers was finalized by public and private sector

stakeholders. Institutional weaknesses within the Ministry of Labor are being addressed through

this National Plan.802 In its’ 2000-2004 agenda for social programs, the Government of

Guatemala set a goal of reducing the incidence of child labor by 10 percent by 2004.803

The Government of Guatemala has collaborated with ILO-IPEC on several projects

aimed at combating child labor. These projects are designed to remove children from

exploitative work, prevent other children from entering child labor in the first place while

promoting schooling and recreational opportunities, and develop economic alternatives for their

families. The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) has provided funding to support IPEC

projects in Guatemala, which include efforts to withdraw children from work in stone quarrying,

the coffee sector, the fireworks industry, and broccoli cultivation. The USDOL has also provided

funding to support a National Survey on Child Labor, developed by ILO-IPEC’s Statistical

Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC), which was conducted in

Guatemala in 2001.804

The Ministry of Labor has reached an agreement with the fireworks manufacturers

whereby the manufacturers made a commitment not to hire children under the age of 14. The

Ministry of Labor anticipates that this agreement will protect at least 2,000 children.805
114

b. Educational Alternatives

According Guatemala’s Constitution (Article 74), schooling is compulsory and free from

preschool to ninth grade. Children generally start preschool between the ages of 5 and 6 and

enter the first grade of primary school at the age of 7. Children typically complete their

compulsory education between the ages of 15 and 18.806

The Government of Guatemala became a member of the Education for All initiative in

1990, and subsequently developed a plan of action to realize the goals of the Initiative in 1991-

1992. Since then the government has been working to progressively increase access to education

and decentralize the provision and management of education. 807 The key concern of the

government has been to improve the quality and relevance of education to children. The

government has focused on improving curricula to increase literacy among Guatemalans with

multilingual and inter-cultural education, and on promoting non-formal and vocational options

for education. Institutionally, the goals have been to increase the budget of the Ministry of

Education and optimize its efficiency by promoting increased stakeholder participation and

decentralizing the management of education.808 The recently released Government Plan for the

Educational Sector for the years 2000-2004 continues to focus on these goals.809

Some of the programs established to address the educational needs of non-formal students

fall under the auspices of Guatemala’s “Extra-school” program. The “Extra-school” program

uses correspondence courses and modified school hours to provide working children with a basic

education. For example, one program allows students to complete 1,000 hours of school with no

time restriction to get primary school certification. Another program involves mail

correspondence education with no time restrictions for completion.810 The Ministry of Education

has tried to reduce the cost of education by providing a bag of school supplies to all children in

primary school and eliminating matriculation fees for primary school.811 During 1999, the

Ministry of Education provided incentive scholarships to 46,000 girls in an effort to promote

girls’ education.812

In 1996, public spending on total education was 1.7 percent of Guatemala’s gross national

product (GNP).813 In 1998, public spending on primary education as a percentage of GNP was

0.77 percent.814 Public spending on primary education was about 51.8 percent of the total public

expenditure on education.815

806 Constitutions of the Countries of the World at 27. 807 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Guatemala. 808 Ibid. 809 Interview with Nery Macz, Guatemalan Ministry of Education, and Demetrio Cojti, vice minister of Education,

by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 16, 2000.

810 Ibid. 811 Ibid. 812 Country Reports 2000—Guatemala at Section 5. 813 World Development Indicators 2000. 814 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Guatemala. 815 Ibid.
115

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending

on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.816

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader

a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

816 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
116

HAITI

1. Child Labor in Haiti

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 24 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 in Haiti were working.817 Children work as domestic servants and

in streets trades, assist their families in subsistence agriculture, and are drawn into commercial

sexual exploitation.818 Child labor in Haiti is generally non-existent in the industrial and

commercial agriculture sectors because of high adult unemployment.819

A 1997 UNICEF study estimated that there were some 250,000 to 300,000 child domestic

workers in Haiti, 80 percent of whom were girls under the age of 14.820 In Haiti, child domestic

workers are commonly referred to as restaveks, a Creole word meaning “to stay with.” They are

among the most vulnerable and exploited of all children in Haiti. Isolated from family and peers,

restavek children are largely unprotected from abuse.821

According to UNICEF, most restaveks reach the age of 15 without ever having been to

school.822 Most restaveks work 10 to 14 hours per day and do not receive any compensation for

their work.823 They are often psychologically and physically punished by the master or mistress

of the house and sometimes even by their children.824 Girl restaveks are sometimes sexually

abused by the males in the employing families. If a girl becomes pregnant, she will generally be

released into the streets. Many such girls become street children or prostitutes.825

In the neighboring Dominican Republic, between 10,000 to 14,000 Haitian workers are

contracted annually to work in the sugarcane industry where Haitian children are found working,

particularly in the Barahona province.826

817 World Development Indicators 2000. 818 Interview with Cecile D. Francoise, vice president, Coalition Haitienne Pour La Défense des Droit de L’enfant

(COHADDE), by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 3, 2000.

819 U.S. Embassy-Port au Prince, unclassified telegram no. 003160, June 3, 1997. 820 UNICEF, The State of the World’s Children, 1997 (New York: UNICEF, 1996), 30. See also “Haiti Faces

Major Education Challenge,” UNICEF Information Newsline, at www.unicef.org/newsline/99pr16.html.

821 National Coalition for Haitian Rights (NCHR), Our Hope for Our Children (New York: NCHR, 1999). 822 NCHR, “Helping Child Servants Who Are Virtual Slaves” (www.unicef.org/media/storyideas/946.htm), updated

November 30, 2000; cited October 26, 2001.

823 Ibid. 824 Ibid. 825 Statement by Jean Robert Cadet on Restavek Servitude before the United Nations Commission on Human

Rights, Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Working Group on Contemporary

Forms of Slavery, 25th Session (Geneva, June 2000) [document on file]. 826 Interview with Agustin Vargas-Saillant, Domingo Jimenez, and Rufino Alvarez, Unitary Confederation of

Workers (CTU and Futrazona), Dominican Republic by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 29, 2000.
117

2. Children’s Participation in School

Between the years of 1994 and 1995, the primary gross attendance rate was 141.6 percent,

and primary net attendance rate was 70.8 percent.827 Recent estimates on primary school

enrollment rates are unavailable.828 However, 70 percent of the children in school are reportedly

over-aged for their grade. 829 The majority of enrolled children drop out of school, sometimes

several times.830 In 1998, 64 percent of school children passed the primary school-leaving exam

and completed grade five. By 1999 and 2000, this number had fallen to 45 percent.831 On

average, children complete six years of schooling when they are 18 years of age.832 About 23

percent of children who attend school finish secondary school.833

Some 500,000 children in Haiti do not attend school.834 Private institutions account for

90 percent of primary schools and 75 percent of primary school gross enrollment.

There are no fees to attend public school, but the cost of uniforms, books, and the required

contribution of 50 gourdes (US$2) for the school year prevent many parents from sending their

children to school.835 Schooling costs per child account for as much as 15 percent of family

income,836 and students who attend private school must pay for tuition in addition to the costs for

books, and uniforms.837

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Haiti’s Labor Code (Article 335) states that the minimum employment age in all sectors is

15 years, except in the case of children working in domestic service.838 The Labor Code (Article

341) sets the minimum employment age for domestic work at 12 years of age. All working

children between the ages of 15 and 18 must be registered with the Ministry of Social Affairs.839

827 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 828 World Development Indicators. 829 Interview with Mr. Paul Bien-Aime, Minister of Education, by U.S. Department of Labor official (August 1,

2000) [hereinafter Bien-Aime interview].

830 USAID, “FY2002 Haiti Activity Data Sheet” (http://www.usaid.gov/country/lac/ht/521-004.html), October 1,

2001 [hereinafter “FY2002 Haiti Activity Data Sheet”].

831 Ibid. 832 Bien-Aime interview. 833 Interview with Ms. Lyne Godmaire, responsible for the Education Section, UNICEF, by U.S. Department of

Labor official, August 2, 2000.

834 Bien-Aime interview. 835 Ibid. 836 “FY2002 Haiti Activity Data Sheet.” 837 U.S. Embassy-Port au Prince, unclassified telegram no. 003035, October 31, 2000. See also Bien-Aime

interview.

838 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999—Haiti (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State,

1999), Section 6d [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Haiti]. 839 Républic d’ Haiti Ministère des Affaires Sociales, “Eléments d’Informations sur le Travail des Enfants”

(Geneva: Haitian Mission to the United Nations), 1.
118

The Labor Code prohibits minors from working under dangerous conditions and prohibits

children under the age of 18 from working at night in industrial enterprises. Penalties for child

labor violations are 1,000 to 3,000 gourdes (US$42 to US$126).840

The Labor Code prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including forced or compulsory

labor by minors. 841 Laws do not prohibit trafficking in persons. 842

The Ministry of Social Affairs’ Institute of Welfare and Research (IBESR) has the

authority and the mandate to protect children. The IBESR has approximately 12 social service

workers working throughout the Port-au-Prince Metropolitan area.843

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

In December 1999, the Government of Haiti signed a Memorandum of Understanding

(MOU) with the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of

Child Labor (ILO-IPEC).844 As part of Haiti’s participation in ILO-IPEC, a National Steering

Committee on child labor has been established, which is charged with preparing a national plan

of action on child labor.845

The Ministry of Social Affairs implements a program called SOS Timoun,846 under which

the IBESR works in collaboration with the “Service de la Protection de Mineurs” to withdraw

children from abusive households. Since its inception, the program has registered 250 calls from

institutions, police commissariats, distressed children, individuals, and radio and television

stations.847 The program has withdrawn 240 children, including children in domestic work.848

Of the child domestic servants withdrawn from abusive situations, 19 were sent to a receiving

home or shelter, while 14 were reunited with their parents.849

840 Code du Travail de la Republique D’haiti (Port-au-Prince: Presses de L’université Quisqueya, December 1992),

143-46.

841 Country Reports 1999—Haiti at Section 6d. 842 Ibid. 843 Interview with the Minister of Social Affairs, Madame Mathilde Flambert, and the Chef du Cabinet, Mr. Pierre

Richard Painson, by U.S. Department of Labor official (August 3, 2000).

844 ILO-IPEC, Combatting the Exploitation of Child Domestics in Haiti, Technical Progress Report, project no.

INT/95/M05/USA, May 2000 [document on file].

845 Electronic correspondence from ILO-IPEC Regional Office in San Jose, Costa Rica, to U.S. Department of

Labor official, October 24, 2001 [document on file].

846 Interview with the Minister of Social Affairs, Madame Mathilde Flambert and the Chef du Cabinet, Mr. Pierre

Richard Painson, by U.S. Department of Labor official (August 3, 2000). See also electronic correspondence from

Department of State official to Department of Labor official, October 13, 2000 [document on file].

847 Electronic correspondence from Department of State official to Department of Labor official, October 13, 2000

[document on file].

848 Ibid. 849 Ibid.
119

With funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, ILO-IPEC is coordinating a 3-year

country program in Haiti to benefit children working as domestic servants. The government and

ILO-IPEC are also collaborating with nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to conduct a

survey on child domestic work. The survey on child domestics will provide qualitative and

quantitative information which will be used to prepare a national plan of action to eliminate child

domestic service.850

b. Educational Alternatives

Primary schooling is supposed to be free and compulsory in Haiti.851 Haiti has launched a

program called “Ed 2004” with funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development

(USAID), the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) and other donors to improve the

quality of primary education. The Ed 2004 program has established a public private partnership

commission to reform national educational policy in order to foster increased collaboration

between private and public school and promotes resource sharing between schools.852

The Ed 2004 program also aims to address the needs of orphans and other at-risk children,

to improve non-formal education, and to improve access to information and communications

technology.853 As part of ED 2004, a Food Aid program has been instituted in nearly 2,000

schools.854

The Ministry of Education works with NGOs to implement educational initiatives such as

Gestion de Proximite. This initiative provides children with access to education and helps link

schools to communities, by supporting the idea that schools should be open to parents and the

community.855

From 1995 to 2000, the proportion of the national budget allocated to primary and

secondary education increased from 13.5 percent to 20.1 percent.856 In 2001, the Government of

Haiti allocated 16 percent of its budget to the Ministry of National Education.857

850 ILO-IPEC, Combatting the Exploitation of Child Domestics in Haiti, ILO-IPEC project document, January 1,

1999 [document on file].

851 Country Reports 1999—Haiti at Section 5. Bien-Aime interview. 852 “FY2002 Haiti Activity Data Sheet.” 853 Ibid. 854 Ibid. 855 Bien-Aime interview. See PNEF Le Plan National d’Education et de Formation (Port au Prince, May 1998), 73. 856 Electronic correspondence from Department of State official to Department of Labor official, October 18, 2000

[document on file].

857 “FY2002 Haiti Activity Data Sheet.”
120

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of gross national product (GNP). The chart considers government expenditures on

education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of

government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also

shown.858

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader

a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

858 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
121

HONDURAS

1. Child Labor in Honduras

Statistics on the number of working children vary widely in Honduras. In 1999, the

International Labor Organization (ILO) indicated that 17.3 percent (820,834) of children between

the ages of 10 and 14 were working.859 In 1998, the ILO’s International Program on the

Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) estimated that some 240,000 children between the ages

of 11 and 17 were working.860 The National Commission for the Gradual and Progressive

Eradication of Child Labor, an organization created by the Government of Honduras, estimated

that in 1999, there were 350,000 children working, and that of these children, 161,000 were

involved in agricultural activities.861

According to a study undertaken by the Ministry of Labor and Social Security in

association with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the Honduran Institute for

Childhood and the Family (IHNFA), approximately 97,000 children between the ages of 10 and

14, and another 260,000 adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18, have left school to work.862

The study found that nearly one-half of all working children are employed in agriculture, cattle

farming, or fishing, representing nearly 6.5 percent of the country’s agricultural workforce. 863

About 20 percent of children work in the manufacturing, mining, electricity, gas, and

construction sectors, constituting close to 3.5 percent of this sector’s labor force. The remaining

30 percent of children work in commerce, transportation, finance, or service industries,

accounting for 3.5 percent of the industry’s workforce. Nearly two-thirds of working children

work on family farms or for small family businesses and receive no compensation for their labor.

Children between the ages of 10 and 14 who receive remuneration for their work earn, on

average, between 100 and 500 Honduran Lempiras (US$ 6.75 and US$ 33.78) per month.864

Children in Honduras work as hired hands on small family farms, as street vendors, and

in small workshops. They work in food processing factories where they may work with

industrial knives and slicing machines.865 Children work on coffee866 and tobacco plantations,

859 International Labor Organization, Yearbook of Labour Statistics (ILO: Geneva, 1999). 860 “Honduras Vows to Combat Child Labor,” CNN/World/Americas, April 24, 1998 [hereinafter “Honduras Vows

to Combat Child Labor”]; see also IPEC project document, Prevention and Elimination of Child Labor in the

Melon Plantations in Honduras (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, October 2000), 2 [hereinafter Prevention and Elimination of

Child Labor]. 861 Diagnostic and National Plan to Gradually and Progressively Eliminate Child Labor, Honduras, 2000, 3, 8

[hereinafter Diagnostic and National Plan]. 862 U.S. Embassy-Honduras, unclassified telegram no. 002159, June 19, 2000 (hereinafter unclassified telegram

002159].

863 Ibid. 864 Ibid. 865 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000),

Section 6d (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/honduras.html) [hereinafter Country

Reports 1999—Honduras]. 866 IPEC Progress Report, Combating Child Labor in the Coffee Industry of Central America and the Dominican

Republic (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, October 2000), 17 [hereinafter Combating Child Labor in the Coffee Industry].
122

and melon farms.867 They manufacture fireworks, and are involved in lime production, mining,

and domestic service.868 Children also work on building sites pushing wheelbarrows and

operating power saws.869 In the maquila sector over the past few years, there have been few

reports of child labor. Children found working were using false work permits to bypass age

regulations in the sector.870

Children are involved in prostitution, in many cases as part of sex tourism.871

Government estimates show that nearly 40 percent of street children regularly engage in

prostitution.872 Honduran girls from Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula, and El Progreso have been

found working in brothels in nearby Central American countries and in Mexico. Some of these

minors have been victims of trafficking.873 Children have also been used to peddle drugs. A

recent report indicates that 200 Honduran children between the ages of 10 and 13 were involved

in selling cocaine in Canadian cities.874

2. Children’s Participation in School

Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Honduras. While enrollment rates

indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in

school.875 In 1997, net primary school enrollment was 87.5 percent.876 Only 60 percent of

children, however, actually finish the sixth grade, and only about 35 percent reach the ninth

grade.877 The government estimates that up to 175,000 children fail to receive schooling of any

kind each year because their families lack sufficient financial resources or because parents rely on

867 Diagnostic and National Plan at 5. 868 Ibid. 869 Country Reports 1999—Honduras at Section 6d; see www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/

1999_hrp_report/honduras.html.

870 Minimum age requirements have been raised in the maquila industry, with some plants now hiring only those

above 18 years of age. This practice has reduced the number of legal job opportunities available to minors. Country

Reports 1999—Honduras at Section 6d. 871 According to the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Casa Alianza, Central America, including Honduras,

has become a new destination for sex tourism, “Swiss Sex Tourist Arrested in Honduras,” August 28, 1998, as cited

in The Global March Against Child Labor (www.globalmarch.org/cl-around-the-word/swiss-sex-tourist-arrestedin-honduras.html).

872 Approximately 50 percent (4,000) of street children do not have shelter on any given day. See Country Reports

1999—Honduras.

873 “More Honduran Girls Prostituted,” Reuters, February 28, 1998, as cited in Factbook on Global Sexual

Exploitation: Honduras (www.uri.edu/artsci/wms/hughes/catw/honduras.htm). 874 “Honduras Children Trafficked to Canada to Sell Drugs,” Reuters Limited, September 24, 1998, as cited in The

Global March Against Child Labor (www.globalmarch.org/cl-around-the-word/honduras-children-tragfficked-tocanada.html).

875 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

876 World Development Indicators 2000. 877 Electronic correspondence from Susan Fleck, U.S. Embassy Honduras, to U.S. Department of Labor official,

February 15, 2001. The Government of Honduras has recently redefined basic education as compulsory through

the ninth grade, raising the age to 16, as well as adding an obligatory pre-basic year; however, the law has not yet
123

their children’s labor to meet family needs.878 The Ministry of Labor, moreover, estimates that

97,000 children between the ages of 10 and 14 years of age have left school in order to work.879

Poverty and lack of schools prevent many children in Honduras from receiving an education.

Indirect costs, such as matriculation fees, school uniforms, and transportation costs also present

barriers to many children.880 The destruction of more than 3,000 schools nationwide in 1998 as a

result of Hurricane Mitch affected many children in the country.881 The Minister of Education

has acknowledged the need for more teachers and for incentives to encourage teachers to work in

rural areas.882

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Constitution of the Republic of Honduras (1982) prohibits the employment of

children under the age of 16, except in cases when their labor is indispensable to the family’s well

being and does not interfere with schooling.883 The Ministry of Labor may grant permission

along with parental consent to allow minors to work.884 Children under the age of 16 are

prohibited from engaging in night work. They cannot work for more than 6 hours per day or a

maximum of 30 hours per week.885 The Honduran Children’s Code prohibits a child 14 years of

age or younger from working even with parental permission. 886 Employers hiring 15-year-old

children must certify that they have completed or are in the process of completing their required

years of schooling.887 Individuals who allow children to work illegally are subject to prison

sentences, ranging from three to five years.888

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security’s Labor Inspections Division is responsible

for investigating child labor violations. Currently, the Ministry has less than 30 inspectors

been changed or put into practice. Electronic correspondence from Diane Leach and Marco Tulio, USAID/U.S.

Embassy-Honduras, to U.S. Department of Labor official, April 6, 2001.

878 Country Reports 1999—Honduras at Section 5 (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/

honduras.html); see also Prevention and Elimination of Child Labor at 2. 879 Unclassified telegram 002159. 880 Prevention and Elimination of Child Labor at 2. 881 Background Notes: Honduras (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 1999) (www.state.gov/www/

background_notes/).

882 Meeting/interview with ILO-IPEC and Honduran Minister of Education, by U.S. Department of Labor official,

August 30, 2000.

883 Constitución de la República de Honduras, 1982, Chapter V, Article 128, Section 7 [hereinafter Constitución,

Article 128]. Relevant Honduran laws protecting the rights of children are found in Chapter IV, Articles 119

through 126, of the Constitution; Articles 127 through 148 of the Labor Code; and in the entirety of the Code on

Childhood and Adolescence, which defines the rights, liberties, and protection of minors, particularly as they relate

to child labor. See Constitución de la República de Honduras, 1982, Chapter IV, Articles 119-26, and Country

Reports 1999—Honduras at Section 5 (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/honduras.html). 884 Constitución, Article 128. The Ministry of Labor annually grants a limited number of work permits to 15-yearold children. Country Reports 1999—Honduras at Section 6d (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/

1999_hrp_report/honduras.html).

885 Constitución, Article 128. 886 Country Reports 1999—Honduras. 887 Ibid. 888 Ibid at Section 6d.
124

nationwide889 and few vehicles for enforcement related travel.890 Labor inspectors are often

denied access to businesses and industrial parks when trying to conduct labor inspections.891 The

Ministry of Labor reportedly does not effectively enforce child labor laws outside of the maquila

industry, and Labor Code violations are frequent in rural areas and in small companies.892

Article 148 of the Minor’s Code criminalizes child prostitution. Children under the age of

18 are protected under this law against sexual exploitation, child prostitution, and child

pornography.893

In September 1998, the Honduran Government established the National Commission for

the Gradual and Progressive Eradication of Child Labor to coordinate all public activities to

combat child labor and reincorporate working minors into educational programs.894 The National

Commission includes a number of public and private organizations including government

ministries, official family welfare agencies, and local nongovernmental organizations (NGOs). It

is charged with defining public policies through which the government can safeguard the rights of

working children. It is also responsible for mobilizing civil society to combat child labor, and

securing foreign assistance for government efforts in this area. 895

The Government of Honduras ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for

Employment on June 9, 1980, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

on October 25, 2001.896

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

The National Commission for the Gradual and Progressive Eradication of Child Labor is

the entity coordinating efforts of the government and civil society to combat child labor.897 The

Commission has six regional offices and consists of 175 people.898 The National Commission is

889 Actuación de la Secretaría de Trabajo y Seguridad Social en La Prevencion y Solución de los Conflictos

Laborales, Anexo 3: Tema: Labor Inspectiva (Tegucigalpa, Honduras, July 1999).

890 Interview with Mr. José Navarro, Office of the Inspector General, by U.S. Department of Labor official,

September 1, 2000.

891 Ibid. 892 Country Reports 1999—Honduras at Section 6d. 893 U.S. Embassy-Honduras, unclassified telegram no. 002902, August 24, 2000. 894 Country Reports 1999—Honduras. 895 Unclassified telegram 002159. 896 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

897 Informe, Trabajo Infantil en Honduras, Secretaría de Trabajo y Seguridad Social, June 2000. The Spanish

Agency for International Cooperation (AECI) will assist the National Commission in collecting information on

child labor in high-risk areas and on threats to the physical, mental, or intellectual well-being of children. AECI will

also fund a national publicity campaign against child labor, including a children’s theater. Unclassified telegram

002159.

898 Unclassified telegram 002159.
125

researching the nature and extent of child labor in different sectors, drafting a national plan to

combat child labor, adding a child labor module to the national household statistical survey, and

supporting informational initiatives such as planning a national publicity campaign against child

labor.899

In 1998, the government launched a program to remove children from work at building

sites and factories and help them return to school. The program reached nearly 250,000 children

employed in these sectors.900

With technical assistance from IPEC and funding from the U.S. Department of Labor,

Honduras is targeting children working on melon farms in Choluteca, on coffee plantations in

Santa Barbara, and on tobacco plantations in El Paraíso. In September 2000, a two-year ILOIPEC program was initiated, which seeks to remove 960 children from full-time and hazardous

work and prevent 240 children from entering work in the melon sector of the Department of

Choluteca. The project aims to provide these children with health and social services and enroll

them into schools, as well as assist 500 families with viable alternative income generation

activities.901 In November 1999, Honduras joined a regional ILO-IPEC project to remove 21,300

Central American children from full-time and hazardous work in the coffee sector and to provide

the children and their 6,000 families with viable alternatives. In Honduras, this project will work

to remove and prevent 1,200 children from work in the coffee plantations of Santa Barbara

(Trinidad).902 The Honduras National Institute of Statistics (INE) in consultation with the

Secretariat of Labour and Social Security (STSS) will be conducting a National Survey on Child

Labor with the assistance of ILO-IPEC’s Statistical Information Monitoring Program on Child

Labor (SIMPOC) to enumerate the number of working children between the ages of 5 and 17 in

the country.903

UNICEF is helping the Government of Honduras to finance six regional centers to

combat child labor by providing training for their 175 employees, 40 Labor inspectors, and 40

Ministry of Labor employees. UNICEF is also supporting the national public awareness

campaign about child labor by producing an informational pamphlet and poster.904 Save the

Children Britain is providing assistance to focus groups in the Mosquitia region on the dangers

faced by child divers.905

The San Juan Bosco Center Project supports efforts to eradicate child labor in the

informal sector in the city of Tela, particularly targeting girl prostitutes and children working as

garbage pickers. In the town of Comayeguela, a project carried out by the Alternatives and

899 Ibid. 900 “Honduras Vows to Combat Child Labor.” 901 Prevention and Elimination of Child Labor at 7. 902 Combating Child Labor in the Coffee Industry at 17. 903 IPEC project status report, Reporting on the State of the Nation’s Working Children: A Statistical Program for

Advocacy on the Elimination of Child Labour and the Protection of Working Children in Central America (Geneva:

ILO-IPEC, October 2000). 904 Unclassified telegram 002159. 905 Ibid.
126

Opportunities Project (PAYO) is combating child labor in the informal sector, while Project

Prodim is seeking to help girls involved in prostitution.906

b. Educational Alternatives

The María Auxiliadora Institute and Save the Children Honduras are providing informal

education and vocational training to adolescents in domestic service in Tegucigalpa,

Comayaguela, and other cities in the country, 907 and the World Bank approved a US$41.5

million loan in 2001 to expand access to quality preschool and primary education in rural areas of

Honduras.908

In 2000, the Government of Honduras allocated 32 percent of its budget to public

education and health care.909 The Education for All Plan in Honduras aims to universalize

primary education for six years, provide basic health and nutrition services to the primary school

population, reduce the dropout rate, improve the quality of the curriculum, and strengthen the

educational administration at departmental, municipal, and local level.910

906 Ibid. 907 Ibid. 908 World Bank, Honduras: World Bank Approves US$41.5 Million Credit to Improve Preschool and Primary

Education at http://wbln0018.worldbank.org/external/lac/lac.nsf/c2e12c369e771d17852567d6006b402b/

dd6630466c08d2fe852567de0059188d?OpenDocument

909 Country Reports 1999—Honduras at Section 5. 910 Unesco,12/07/01, Honduras:Evaluación del Plan Nacional de Acción de Educación Para Todos at http://

www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/honduras/contents.html
127

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of gross national product (GNP). The chart considers government expenditures on

education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of

government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also

shown.911

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

911 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
128

INDIA

1. Child Labor in India

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 13 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 in India were working.912 India’s 1991 national census reported

that 11.3 million out of the country’s 210 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 worked,

indicating a labor force participation rate of 5.4 percent. Some speculate that the number of

working children is much higher than official statistics indicate, since one-half of all children

ages 5 to 14 (105 million) were not enrolled in school.913 Unofficial estimates from

nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international organizations find that the number of

working children ranges between 44 million to 55 million.914 The recently concluded 2001

Census of India will update figures from the 1991 national census, including estimates of the

number of children who are economically active in the country.915

 Child labor is most common in rural areas and in the informal sector.916 Children often

work in hazardous industries or perform hazardous tasks. In the glass manufacturing industry of

Firozabad, in northern India, children work under exploitative conditions in small workshops or

private homes for low wages. Children weld the ends of glass bangle bracelets, sort bangles,

engrave them on grinding wheels, and collect melted glass from boiling stations with iron rods.917

In the leather tanning industry, children are exposed to corrosive chemicals and bacterial

contamination from hides.918 In the footwear industry of Agra, children work in small workshops

and homes919 for up to 12 hours per day and are exposed to glue fumes and other chemicals.920

912 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 913 D. P. Chaudhri, A Dynamic Profile of Child Labour in India, as cited in UNICEF press release, “Child Labour in

India” (New Delhi: UNICEF Information Service, 1996), 1-2. Some NGOs, like the Bangalore Centre for Concern

for Working Children, developed estimates that take into account the official number of children out of school, as

stated in S. Sinha, Collection and Dissemination of Data on Child Labour in Asia (Bangkok: ILO-IPEC, 1998),

Table 1, 107 [document on file].

914 U.S. Embassy-New Delhi, unclassified cable no. 01401, February 20, 1998. 915 “Census of India,” Registrar General and Census Commissioner, India (www.censusindia.net/). 916 States with high child labor rates include Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

Annual Report 1996-97 (New Delhi: Ministry of Labour, 1997), 100 [hereinafter Annual Report 1996-97]. These

statistics are based on data from the 1991 census.

917 Lakshmidhar Mishra, Child Labour in India (London: Oxfam University Press, April 2000), 50-57 [hereinafter

Child Labour in India]. The data are based on a 1992 study of the industry performed by the Giri Institute of

Development Studies, Lucknow. Firozabad is located in Uttar Pradesh.

918 “Children in Hazardous Work,” fact sheet from Abolishing Extreme Forms of Child Labour (Geneva: ILO,

1998) [hereinafter “Children in Hazardous Work” fact sheet]. See also By the Sweat and Toil of Children:

Consumer Labels and Child Labor, vol. 4 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 1995), 70-73 [hereinafter

By the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol. 4]. 919 Interview with Abhinay Prasad, Secretary, AADHAR (Welfare Society) [hereinafter Prasad interview], and R.

K. Pandey, regional director, Council for Leather Exports, by U.S. Department of Labor official, May 17, 1998.

Children are reportedly not employed by companies producing shoes directly for the export market, although it is
129

Child labor is used in the labor-intensive hand-knotted carpet industry in India, where

children frequently work in confined, dimly-lit workshops and may develop respiratory illnesses

and spinal deformities from long hours crouched at the looms.921

In the stone quarries of the southern state of Tamil Nadu, children break stones into small

pieces and carry explosives.922 In the stone quarries of Faridabad outside New Delhi, children

work seven days a week assisting their parents; few are able to attend school.923 Children also

labor in brick-kiln operations and the construction industry.924

In the gemstone industry, children work in private homes or small workshops.925 The

International Labor Organization (ILO) estimates that at least 20,000 children are involved in

processing diamonds by cutting and polishing the stones in hazardous conditions.926

Anti-child labor groups calculate that the fireworks industry employs about 50,000

children, primarily girls, some as young as 10 or 11 years old.927 Children also stitch and

assemble soccer balls, volleyballs, and boxing and cricket gloves in their homes or at small

stitching centers.928

unclear whether shoes and shoe parts produced under subcontracting arrangements in the cottage industry are

destined for the domestic or export market. Agra is located in the state of Uttar Pradesh, south of New Delhi.

920 Prasad interview. 921 See By the Sweat and Toil of Children: The Use of Child Labor in U.S. Agricultural Imports and Forced and

Bonded Child Labor, vol. 2 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 1995), 85-94 [hereinafter By the Sweat

and Toil of Children, vol. 2], and By the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol. 4, at 19-22. 922 Frequent accidents sometimes result in lost limbs and even death. Interview with S. P. Gnanamoni, Secretary of

the Quarry Workers Development Society, Dindigal, by U.S. Department of Labor official, May 7, 1998. See also

interview with Isabel Austin, State Representative for UNICEF for Tamil Nadu and Kerala, by U.S. Department of

Labor official, May 5, 1998 [hereinafter Austin interview].

923 “Children in Mining and Quarries” fact sheet from Abolishing Extreme Forms of Child Labour (Geneva: ILO,

1998).

924 Interview with R. K. Rai, executive secretary, U.P. Voluntary Health Association, by U.S. Department of Labor

official, May 8, 1998. See also By the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol. 2, at 104-8, and “Children in Hazardous

Work” fact sheet, and Austin interview.

925 In small shops on the back streets of Jaipur in northern India, where most gems are processed, children sort,

clean and polish semiprecious stones for eight to 10 hours a day. Precious Lives: Child Labour and Other Labour

Rights Violations in the Diamond and Gemstone Industry (Geneva: ILO and the Universal Alliance of Diamond

Workers), updated June 16, 1998 (www.ilo.org/public/english/dialogue/actrav/child/proj/childiam.htm), in the

“Child Labour in the Diamond Industry” fact sheet [hereinafter Precious Lives: Child Labour and Other Labour

Rights]. See also interview with Amar Nath, director of Inter Gold (India) Limited, and others, by U.S. Department

of Labor official (May 12, 1998) and notes from the site visit by U.S. Department of Labor officials to Jaipur, May

15, 1998, for eyewitness accounts of conditions in the gemstone workshops.

926 India is a large producer of processed diamonds, which are typically mined in other countries and exported to

India for processing. See Precious Lives: Child Labour and Other Labour Rights. For details on a study funded by

India’s Gem and Jewelry Export Promotion Council (GJEPC) that found a significant decrease in the incidence of

child labor in India’s diamond processing sector, see “Final Report: Follow-up Study on Prevalence of Child

Labour in Diamond Cutting and Polishing Industry in India” (Mumbai: A. F. Ferguson & Co., June 1998).

927 Jill McGivering, “Festival of Lights without Fireworks” (http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/

south%5Fasia/newsid%5F990000/990606.stm); cited October 25, 2000.

928 A Sporting Chance: Tackling Child Labour in India’s Sports Goods Industry (London: Christian Aid, 1997), 4.
130

Small hotels, restaurants, and tea shops employ children to work in kitchens, clean dishes

and utensils, serve customers and perform menial tasks. Children work six days a week, usually

for about 12 hours a day.929 In circuses, children are forced to perform for three to four shows a

day, risking their lives in often dangerous activities.930 It is estimated by NGOs that at least 14

million working children under the age of 13 are employed as domestic servants.931

There are reports of bonded child labor in several sectors, including the carpet

manufacturing industry,932 agriculture (particularly on small-scale, rural farms),933 and in the

construction industry.934

India is a source, destination and transit country for trafficking victims. Children from

India are trafficked to countries in Asia, the Middle East, and the West.935 Thousands of women

and children are trafficked into the country annually, destined for the sex trade. Nepal and

Bangladesh are primary sender countries for children trafficked into India. Trafficking victims are

subject to extortion, physical abuse and rape. It is estimated that out of the country’s 2.3 million

prostitutes, 15 percent (345,000) are children. Other trafficking victims in the country are pressed

into forced labor or domestic service. Young boys are known to be trafficked from India to the

Middle East to serve as camel jockeys.936

2. Children’s Participation in School

Approximately 59 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 14 attend school.937

Primary school net enrollment rates remained relatively steady between 1995 and 1997, standing

929 Interviews conducted at the Peace Trust School, Dindigul with 33 children ages 9-15 and 10 school officials and

teachers, by U.S. Department of Labor officials, May 7, 1998.

930 Roy Mathew, “India: Total Ban on Child Labour Likely,” The Hindu in World Reporter,TM Asia Intelligence Wire,

Friday, October 6, 2000 [hereinafter “India: Total Ban on Child Labour Likely”].

931 “Future in Chains,” Pioneer, New Delhi; see www.globalmarch.org/cl-around-the-world/index.html; cited December

31, 1999. A study in Tamil Nadu showed that 26.5 percent of child domestic workers are employed by government

staff (see Ramya Kannan, “India: Study Shows Lack of Follow-up Action,” The Hindu in World Reporter Asia

Intelligence Wire (Wednesday, September 20, 2000). In July 2000, the government banned its employees from using

child domestic servants. See Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department

of State, 2001), Section 6d [hereinafter Country Reports 2000—India]. 932 By the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol. 2, at 85-94; By the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol. 4, at 19-22. 933 By the Sweat and Toil of Children, vol. 2, at 125-32. Bonded labor in the farm sector occurs when landless peasants

and tenant farmers must turn to landlords for loans in the form of cash or food, to be repaid with labor. Instead of

decreasing with the time worked, however, the loans often increase, and bondage becomes a way of life for generations.

934 Austin interview. A 1996 Human Rights Watch report found bonded child labor in the silk industry, in the

production of bidis, carpets, silver, synthetic gemstones and leather products, and in agriculture; see The Small Hands of

Slavery: Bonded Child Labor in India (Human Rights Watch, U.S., September 1996), available at www.hrw.org/hrw/

reports/1996/India3.htm. See also Country Reports 2000—India. 935 Department of State, Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report,

Washington, D.C., 2001, 51.

936 Country Reports 2000—India at Section 6f. 937 Ibid. at Section 5.
131

at 77.2 percent in 1997.938 Only 52 percent of children who enroll in primary education,

however, reach grade five.939

Access to educational facilities is limited for some children in rural areas. The need to

purchase uniforms and textbooks, as well as other associated costs, discourages many children

from attending school.940 Large concentrations of the estimated 32 million children who have

never attended school come from the impoverished states of Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan

and Uttar Pradesh.941

There is a significant gender gap in school enrollment and attendance nationally,

particularly at the secondary level, with families tending to place higher priority on boys’

education.942 In 1997, the net primary school enrollment rate was 83 percent for boys and 71

percent for girls.943 The enrollment gap grows at the secondary level, with gross enrollment rates

of 59 percent for boys and 39 percent for girls.944

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

India has laws restricting work by children and limiting the sectors and activities in which

children may legally work. The Child Labor (Prohibition and Regulation) Act of 1986, which

was extended in 1999 to encompass more employment activities, prohibits the employment of

children under 14 years old in 13 occupations and 51 work processes.945 These include carpet

weaving, any work involving soldering in electronics, cement manufacture, work in

slaughterhouses, and the manufacturing of matches, explosives, fireworks, and bidi cigarettes.946

While child labor in the specified sectors and activities is prohibited, children are permitted to

work up to six hours per day in other sectors.947

938 World Development Indicators 2000. 939 The State of the World’s Children 2001 (New York: UNICEF, December 2000), 91, Table 4 [hereinafter The State of the

World’s Children 2001]. 940 Ministry of Human Resources Development, Education for All (EFA) 2000 [online], Country Report, India, Section 2

(www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/india/contents.html) [hereinafter EFA 2000].

941 “Children March To Go to School” (http://news6.thdo.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/south%5Fasia/ newsid%5F700000/

700342.stm); cited April 3, 2000.

942 Convention on the Rights of the Child, Country Report for India (New Delhi: Ministry of Human Resource Development’s

Department of Women and Child Development, February 1997), Sections 4.15-4.17; available from: http://wcd.nic.in/

CRCFEBmr.htm [hereinafter Convention on the Rights of the Child]. According to EFA 2000, in 1993 more than 16 percent of

rural populated areas did not have access to a primary school within one kilometer of the area; however, the government

initiated various responses, such as an Education Guarantee Scheme in Madhya Padesh, to facilitate community involvement

in starting schools and maintaining high usage of them (more than 19,000 schools were started) through September 1998. The

report also indicates that access to education may not ensure that schools are well utilized, noting that Bihar, which has a low

percentage of the population without access to primary schools, has the lowest literacy rate of any state in India.

943 World Development Indicators 2000. 944 The State of the World’s Children 2001. However, EFA 2000, Section 2, states that throughout the 1990s enrollment of

girls grew in India at a much faster rate than for boys, although it still lags behind boys.

945 Unclassified telegram, 6/22/00. The occupations and processes in which children cannot work were expanded from 7 and

18, respectively.

946 Annual Report 1996-97. 947 Ibid. at 99.
132

In 1996, India’s Supreme Court established a penalty of 20,000 rupees (US$570) for

persons employing children in hazardous industries and directed national and state governments

to identify and withdraw children from hazardous work and provide them with education.948

Bonded child labor is prohibited under the Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act of

1976, however enforcement by state and local officials is weak and prosecutions rarely occur. 949

The Prevention of Immoral Trafficking Act (PITA) of 1986 is the principal law applied to the

trafficking of children and prostitution. The act establishes procedures for interviewing,

protecting and rehabilitating girls rescued from brothels and establishes penalties for the

trafficking of children.950

The enforcement of child labor laws falls under the jurisdiction of state-level labor

ministries, but implementation of the law is limited.951 India’s National Human Rights

Commission (NHRC) found that labor inspectors often conduct poor quality inspections;

prosecutions are faulty; medical officers charged with determining the ages of working children

frequently falsify reports at the behest of employers; and the efforts of employers and employers’

associations to address problems are often unsuccessful.952

Some employers, such as hotel owners and circuses, reportedly violate laws prohibiting

night work by children with impunity. Hotels often escape punishment by producing false

certificates stating that their workers are age 14 or above.953

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

In August 1987, the government established National Child Labor Projects (NCLPs) in

12 states with a high proportion of working children, along with a national policy on child

labor.954 In 1994, then-Prime Minister Rao announced a national program to combat child

948 Country Reports 2000—India at Section 6d. See Also Child Labor in India, IPEC India Briefing Note, 2-3

[document on file]. The 1996 Supreme Court decision established a fund to be created from the proceeds of this

fine to provide supplemental income to parents and guardians of child workers on the condition that the children be

sent to school. The Court also ordered that a survey of the child labor situation in the country be conducted.

949 Country Reports 2000—India at Section 6c. 950 Ibid. at 6f. 951 For example, in 1998 the large state of Tamil Nadu had only 29 labor inspectors on staff to monitor all labor

laws. Interview with D. Sarangi, Secretary of Labor, Tamil Nadu, by U.S. Department of Labor official, May 6,

1998. There are allegations that inspectors receive bribes or other benefits from enterprise owners in exchange for

lenient inspections. Interview with child laborer in Dindigal, by U.S. Department of Labor official, May 8, 1998.

952 Interview with R. V. Pillai, Secretary-General, National Human Rights Commission, by U.S. Department of

Labor official, May 4, 1998.

953 “India: Total Ban on Child Labour Likely.” 954 Vocational Training for Children in NCLP Schools, Report of a Workshop on Vocational Training for Children

in NCLP schools (Noida: National Resource Center on Child Labor, V. V. Giri National Labor Institute, 1998), 61

[hereinafter Vocational Training for Children in NCLP Schools]. According to the government, 94 child labor
133

labor.955 These projects provide children with nonformal education, health care, nutrition, and

vocational skills training.956 The projects are implemented by NGOs, with the government

covering up to 75 percent of the project costs.957

India became a member of the International Labor Organization’s International Program

on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) in 1992. The ILO-IPEC country program has

reached more than 90,000 children in India since its inception and was renewed in January 2000

for a further two years.958 In August 2000, the United States and India signed a Joint Statement

committing both countries to support new ILO-IPEC projects aimed at reducing the incidence of

child labor in 10 selected hazardous industries. The targeted sectors include bidis, brassware,

bricks, fireworks, footwear, glass bangles, locks, matches, stone quarries, and silk. The project,

which is scheduled to begin activities in January 2002, will also include a review of existing

efforts underway in the carpet industry.959

Soccer ball manufacturers in India, under the auspices of the Indian Sports goods

Manufacturers and Exporters Association, have developed plans for a project to phase out

employment of children in soccer ball stitching and ensure their attendance in school. Under the

proposed plan, a new foundation, funded by exporter contributions, will promote education and

ensure that underage working children are replaced by older siblings or parents.960

In 1992, India was one of four countries selected to participate in an ILO-sponsored

experimental survey. The survey, which comprised both household surveys and enterprise

surveys, was conducted in two districts of Gujarat state.961

b. Educational Alternatives

India has no national laws establishing mandatory schooling.962 Legislation at the state

and/or provincial level establishes compulsory primary education in 14 of the 24 states and four

Union territories.963

projects were established by February 2001, as stated in “Social Sectors: Labour and Employment,” Economic

Survey 2000-2001 (India: Ministry of Finance, February 2001) (www.indiabudget.nic.in/es2000-01/social.htm). 955 Written Submission by the Embassy of India, Public Hearings on International Child Labor (Washington, D.C.:

U.S. Department of Labor, 1998), 3 [hereinafter Public Hearings on International Child Labor]. 956 Vocational Training for Children in NCLP Schools. 957 Submission of Embassy of India at 9-10. 958 Unclassified telegram, 6/22/00. 959 “Preventing and Eliminating Child Labour in Identified Hazardous Sectors” (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, September

2001).

960 Operation Education: A Commitment to Rehabilitate Children under 14 Involved in Stitching Footballs

(Jalandhar: The Sports Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association, 1998), 2-3 [document on file].

961 Child Labour Surveys: Results of Methodological Experiments in Four Countries, 1992-1993 (Geneva:

International Labor Office, 1996) (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/stats/child/surveys.pdf), 7-8.

962 Public Hearings on International Child Labor. 963 These states and union territories are Assam, Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Jammu and

Kashmir, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal,

Chandigarh, Pondicherry, and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands. See Public Hearings on International Child

Labor and UNESCO Statistical Yearbook 1997, Table 3.1, 3-10, 3-14.
134

Under the NCLP projects, 1,800 nonformal schools have been opened and approximately

105,000 children have been enrolled in these schools.964 In response to lessons learned and

budget constraints, some NCLP centers are being consolidated by increasing funding to areas

with high levels of child labor and other under-utilized centers are being closed.965

The Ministry of Human Resource Development operates several education programs.

The Ministry’s Department of Women and Child Development’s Early Childhood Education

(ECE) Program began in 1987 and targets pre-school-aged children in nine states with low

educational achievement statistics. The Ministry’s Department of Education has various

programs to improve the quality of education.966 Many non-formal education programs focus on

children with special needs such as working children. The programs provide part-time instruction

with locally relevant curricula.967 The government has also organized special camps to provide

girls with the necessary assistance to meet their educational needs. Thirty-two Indian states and

territories have taken similar measures to promote girls’ education.968

In Andhra Pradesh, the state with the highest number of working children, the M.

Venkatarangaiya (MV) Foundation, an NGO established in 1990, operates a multi-faceted

program to enroll and keep children in schools, increase parental support for their children’s

education, improve existing government schools, and put pressure on political leaders at all levels

to make education more accessible to children.969 In 1997, Andhra Pradesh began a program to

identify and enroll children who have never attended school or who dropped out of school at

young ages. Special emphasis is placed on bonded children, children working as domestic

servants, and children from socially disadvantaged groups.970

Both national and state governments contribute to educational expenses. Although no

combined figure is published, approximately 5.9 percent of the national budgets goes to

education.971 In 1996, education spending was 3.2 percent of the country’s gross national product

(GNP), 972 while primary education spending was approximately 1 percent.973

964 Child Labour in India. 965 U.S. Embassy-New Delhi, unclassified telegram no. 07257, September 4, 1998. 966 Convention on the Rights of the Child. 967 ESA 2000 at Section 2. 968 “Committee on Rights of Child Continues Consideration of Report of India” (www.unhchr.ch/huricane/

huricane.nsf/(Symbol)/HR.CRC.00.4.En?OpenDocument) (HR/CRC/00/411, January 2000).

969 Annual Report 1997-98 (Hyderabad: M Venkatarangaiya Foundation, April 1998), Annex V. See also Reaching

the Unreached (Secunderabad: M. Venkatarangaiya Foundation, n.d.) [informational booklet on file]. According to

Reaching the Unreached, the program began in 1991 with 68 students in three villages. The MV Foundation Annual

Report (page 2), states that, to date, the program is credited with the enrollment and retention of about 80,000

children in school. Between March 1997 and April 1998, 30,000 children were enrolled. To cope with the large

increase in enrollment, the MV Foundation mobilized and trained 1,640 education activists to assist the existing

1,470 government school teachers.

970 Interview with S. Ray, principal secretary, Department of Social Welfare, Andhra Pradesh, by U.S. Department

of Labor official, May 14, 1998.

971 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2001),

Section 5 [hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Indonesia]. 972 World Development Indicators 2000.
135

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.974

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

974 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
136

INDONESIA

1. Child Labor in Indonesia

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 8.5 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 in Indonesia were working.975 According to the 2000 assessment

by the Indonesian Central Bureau of Statistics (BPS), approximately 2.3 million children between

the ages of 10 and 14 were economically active. However, this does not include children who

worked in the informal sector.976 Almost 40 percent worked on the islands of Java and Bali,

according to data compiled by the National Child Protection Commission. 977 A 1999 National

Socioeconomic Survey found that 10 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14

worked.978 The World Bank estimates that between 2.3 to 2.9 million children work in

Indonesia’s informal and industrial sectors alone (excluding agriculture).979 According to BPS

data, more boys in the 10- to 14-year age group tend to work than girls of the same age.980

Child labor is prevalent in rural areas where the majority of children work in

agriculture.981 Researchers have noted that in the period prior to the Asian Economic Crisis

(1970-1996) national rates on children’s labor force participation had been declining. However,

while children’s labor force participation rates were falling in rural areas, they climbed in urban

areas.982

975 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 976 Irwanto, Fentiny Nugroho, and Johanna Debora Imeldak, Trafficking of Children in Indonesia (Jakarta: ILOIPEC, 2001), 25.

977 Jakarta Post, August 9, 2001, as cited in Electronic Correspondance from U.S. Department of State Official, Eric

Barboriak, to U.S. Department of Labor Official, April 24, 2002 [hereinafter Jakarta Post].

978 P. Irwan, H. Hendriati and Y. Hestyani, Alternative Education Strategies for the Young Disadvantaged Groups

in Indonesia (Jakarta: UNESCO, 1999), as cited in Peter Stalker, Beyond Krismon: The Social Legacy of

Indonesia’s Financial Crisis (UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, Italy, December 2000), 20 [hereinafter Beyond

Krismon]. However, given the percentage of children out of school, some analysts suggest that a more likely figure

is 20 percent.

979 Irwanto, Mohammad Farid, and Jeffry Anwar, Situational Analysis of Children in Need of Special Protection in

Indonesia (Jakarta: CSDS Atma Jaya, Department of Social Affairs, and UNICEF, 1998), 2 [hereinafter Situational

Analysis of Children in Need]. 980 Some theorists find that this trend is unlikely, as it is contradicted by education rates of participation in which

girls drop out of school earlier and at higher rates than boys. Indonesian Experience with Child Labor at 19-20. 981 1997 Central Bureau of Statistics data, as cited in Challenges for a New Generation: The Situation of Children

and Women in Indonesia, 2000 (Jakarta: Government of Indonesia and UNICEF, September 2000), 140-41

[hereinafter The Situation of Children and Women in Indonesia]. 982 Situational Analysis of Children in Need at 56. See also Indonesian Experience with Child Labor at 19-20,

which states that participation of children in the workforce decreased between 1977 and 1996, while it has

increased in urban areas. In fact, participation rates by girls ages 10 to 14 in the urban workforce have more than

doubled. Additionally, while data are not yet available, the Asian crisis is presumed to have had a significant

impact on child labor. Ten million workers lost their jobs, and the rupiah radically devalued, particularly impacting

the poor. For further discussion of this issue, see Henri Sitorus and Yayasan Handal Mahardika, “The Economic

Crisis and Child Workers in Indonesia: The Case of Child Plantation and Industrial Workers in North Sumatra”; see

www.cwa.tnet.co.th/booklet/Indonesia.html.
137

Children also work in industries such as furniture, garment and footwear manufacturing,

food processing, toy making, and small mining operations.983 In North Sumatra, boys work on

fishing platforms called jermals between 12 to 13 hours per day for periods of up to three months

in often dangerous conditions. These children face threats of physical and sexual abuse, injury

from fishing nets, poisonous snakes in the ocean, and the possibility of falling into the sea and

drowning.984 Children also split and dry fish, gather shellfish, shell shrimps, crabs and other

kinds of shellfish.985

Many children work on plantations on an informal basis. On palm oil plantations, they

apply pesticides and clear and collect palm oil seeds.986 On sugar plantations, they cut, plant and

harvest the cane. Children on tobacco plantations use insecticides, and fertilize plants, while on

cacao plantations children harvest and clear trees.987

A 2000 report by the Government of Indonesia and the United Nations Children’s Fund

(UNICEF) found an increase in the incidence of children working in exploitative and hazardous

activities such as garbage scavenging, domestic servitude and prostitution.988 Other children

work in the informal sector in newspaper sales, shoe shining, car parking, and begging.989 A

recent study by the National Child Protection Commission suggests that about 40,000 to 50,000

children live on the streets in Indonesia’s cities where they are at risk of sexual abuse and

prostitution. Many of them do not attend school.990

According to a 1999 Central Bureau of Statistics survey, up to 3 million persons in

Indonesia work as domestic servants, of which 310,378 are between the ages of 10 and 18 years

old.991

983 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, February

2000), 1150-51 [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Indonesia]. 984 ILO-IPEC Programme to Combat Child Labor in the Fishing Sector in Indonesia and the Philippines (Phase 1),

project document (Geneva: ILO, 1999), 2-3.

985 Chairil Chaniago, “Girl Workers in the Fisheries Sector in Belawan,” in Child Workers in Asia (Bangkok: Child

Workers in Asia, vol. 16, no. 2, May-August 2000), 12-13.

986 On one plantation, owned by the state of Indonesia, children living near the plantation make up almost 30

percent of the 1,500 workers. They work roughly the same hours as adults but are paid much less. See Henri

Sitorus and Yayasan Handal Mahardika, “The Economic Crisis and Child Workers in Indonesia: The Case of Child

Plantation and Industrial Workers in North Sumatra” at (www.cwa.tnet.co.th/booklet/Indonesia.htm) [hereinafter

“Economic Crisis and Child Workers in Indonesia”].

987 “Economic Crisis and Child Workers in Indonesia. See also interview with SBSI labor union officials, by U.S.

Department of Labor official, October 13, 2000, and interview with Dr. Soedarti Surbakti, director general of BPS,

Statistics Indonesia, by U.S. Department of Labor official, October 9, 2000, who finds the rate of child work in

agriculture is declining. Dr. Surbakti said that only about 58 percent of child laborers are working in agriculture

today [hereinafter Surbakti interview].

988 The Situation of Children and Women in Indonesia at vi. 989 U.S. Embassy-Jakarta, unclassified telegram no. 003129, June 28, 1999 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

003129].

990 Jakarta Post. 991 ILO, Trafficking of Children in Indonesia, 34, as cited in Electronic Correspondance from U.S. Department of

State Official, Eric Barboriak, to U.S. Department of Labor Official, April 24, 2002 [hereinafter Electronic

Correspondance 4/24/02]. A 1995 survey estimated roughly 700,000 children below age 18 at work as domestic

servants in Jakarta; see Blagbrough, Child Domestic Work in Indonesia: A Preliminary Situation Analysis (London:
138

The conflicts in Indonesia have also contributed to the increase of child labor because of

the economic impact it has had on the country. Children are forced to work in order to help

support their families. In some cases, children have been recruited as child soldiers in armed

conflicts.992 The Medical Emergency Rescue Committee (MER-C) estimates that 7,000 children

have dropped out of school in order to work, including some girls who engage in prostitution to

meet basic needs.993

A recent study found widespread involvement of children in prostitution in Indonesia. An

estimated 30 percent of all children in prostitution are under the age of 18 (between 40,000 to

70,000 children).994 Prostitution is particularly prevalent on the islands of Riau province, where

the clientele is often international.995

Trafficking of children is a growing problem.996 Children, primarily girls, are trafficked

into prostitution both within Indonesia and to international destinations that include Malaysia,

Singapore, Brunei, Persian Gulf countries, Hong Kong, Australia, Taiwan, South Korea, and

Japan. There are also reports of children sold into marriage by their parents and trafficked to

other countries.997

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1997, the primary net attendance rate was 88.4 percent,998 and the primary net

enrollment rate was 99.2 percent.999 Net enrollment rates are similar for both genders at the

primary school level.1000 About 5.5 million children between 7 and 15 years of age do not attend

school. 1001 The percentage of children who reached grade five in 1998 was 88 percent.1002

Anti-Slavery International, 1995), as cited in Innocenti Digest 5: Child Domestic Work (UNICEF International

Child Development Centre, Italy, May 1999), 3.

992 Children have been reported in militia groups that formed in East Timor and in the separatist region of Aceh and

in the Maluku Islands. Reports from the Malukus indicate that children between the ages of 7 and 12 years of age

have participated in both sides of the conflict. “Asia Report: Indonesia and East Timor,” May 2000, 2, 7; see

www.child-soldiers.org/reports_asia/indon_and_et.html. According to this source, sources within the churches in

the region said at least 200 boys had been forcibly recruited and trained as fighters.

993 W. E. Santi Soekanto, “Traumatized Children Left Neglected,” Jakarta Post, October 7, 2000. 994 Mohammad Farid, “Sexual Abuse, Sexual Exploitation, and the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,”

in Situational Analysis of Children in Need at 96-97. According to the National Commission for Child Protection,

there are 390,000 children in prostition. See Electronic Correspondance 4/24/02. 995 Country Reports 1998—Indonesia at 1152. 996 Country Reports 2000—Indonesia at Section 6f (www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/eap/index.cfm?docid=707).

See also The Situation of Children and Women in Indonesia at vi. 997 Country Reports 1998—Indonesia at 1152-53. See also Electronic Correspondance 4/24/02. 998 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. According to the 2000

UNICEF Situation Analysis, about 5.5 million children between 7 and 15 years of age do not attend school. See

Electronic Correspondance 4/24/02.

999 World Development Indicators 2000. 1000 Indonesian Experience With Child Labor at 26. 1001 UNICEF Situation Analysis 2000, as cited in Electronic Correspondance 4/24/02. 1002 World Development Indicators 2000.
139

Twenty percent of children, however, fail to complete their primary education, and 30 percent of

children ages 13 to 15 years old are not in school.1003 The number of school age dropouts rose

from 2.8 million in 1997 to 8 million at the end of 1998, mainly for economic reasons. 1004

According to Indonesian Ministry of Education and International Labor Organization (ILO) data,

between 11.7 and 11.9 million school-age children did not attend school in 1999.1005

Various factors reduce children’s participation in schooling in Indonesia. Families must

pay school fees, which increase with grade levels, and also pay for books and school

uniforms.1006 While public transportation costs are subsidized by the government, schools may

be located far from home, which affects girls in particular due to safety concerns. The quality of

schooling is reportedly often inadequate, and the curriculum sometimes fails to meet the needs of

children.1007 The 1958 Citizenship Law, which states that citizenship is passed paternally, has

had the effect of prohibiting children of foreign fathers from attending public schools.

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

In April 1999, an Indonesian statute raised the legal age for employment from 14 to 15

years.1008 The law prohibits children under the age of 15 from working more than four hours a

day, but enforcement of this law is reportedly rare.1009 The Protection of Children Forced to

Work Law Regulation of 1987 allows children under the age of 14 to work in certain types of

work with parental consent and for a limited number of hours dependent on a family’s financial

need. Employers must report the number of children working under this law.1010 A 1998

Circular Letter from the Governor of North Sumatra set the minimum age for employment on

jermals at 18 years.1011 The Law on National Defense of 1982 set 18 years as the minimum age

for voluntary recruitment into the armed forces.1012

1003 Beyond Krismon at 19. 1004 Unclassified telegram 003129. 1005 Country Reports 2000—Indonesia at Section 5. 1006 U.S. Embassy-Jakarta, unclassified telegram no. 004679, September 29, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

004679].

1007 The Situation of Children and Women in Indonesia at 143. 1008 Unclassified telegram 004679. According to the ILO, several laws relating to child labor are currently being

reviewed by the Government of Indonesia, including an omnibus Manpower Development and Protection Act, but

due to public opposition and political constraints, these bills have not yet been approved.

1009 Unclassified telegram 003129. The Department of Manpower includes 1,300 labor inspectors responsible for

enforcing labor laws, including those related to child labor. The size of the force is reportedly inadequate for the

effective monitoring or response to child labor. Training specifically on child labor issues is provided to labor

inspectors.

1010 Country Reports 1999—Indonesia at 1150. See also unclassified telegram 004679. 1011 “Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: Experience in Handling Child Labor in North

Sumatra,” in Child Workers in Asia, vol. 15, no. 3 (September-December 1999) (www.cwa.tnet.co.th/V15-3/

indonesia.htm).

1012 “Asia Report: Indonesia and East Timor,” May 2000 (www.child-soldiers.org/reports_asia/indon_and_et.html).
140

Indonesia ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment on June 7,

1999, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on March 28, 2000.1013

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

The Government of Indonesia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the

International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor

(ILO-IPEC) in 1992 becoming one of the first countries to participate in the ILO-IPEC program.

Indonesia has established a national steering committee and developed a draft National Plan of

Action for addressing exploitative child labor.1014

Various child labor projects are under way in Indonesia. ILO-IPEC, with funding from

the U.S. Department of Labor, is currently working to address the situation of children involved

in the deep sea fishing sector on jermals, in informal footwear production, and in scavenging.1015

Various nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and international agencies work to assist street

children, including the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the International Labor Organization (ILO), and open houses

have been established in several provinces.1016

The BPS collects data on children ages 10 and older annually, and every three or four

years conducts a survey on working children from 5 to 9 years of age.1017 BPS also conducts

smaller surveys of targeted populations on an ad hoc basis.1018

b. Educational Alternatives

In the 1970s, the Indonesian Government began a major initiative to raise enrollment

rates among children from ages 7 to 12 through the construction of primary school buildings.1019

The increases in school enrollment at the primary level resulted in an extension of basic education

by three years.1020 In 1994, compulsory basic education was extended from six to nine years,1021

1013 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1014 Electronic correspondence from Pandji Putranto, ILO-IPEC, to U.S. Department of Labor official, March 18,

2001.

1015 Indonesian Experience with Child Labor at 77-79. 1016 Country Reports 2000—Indonesia. 1017 Since 1998, only information for age 15 and above has been published. 1018 Surbakti interview. 1019 Esther Duflo, Schooling and Labor Market Consequences of School Construction in Indonesia: Evidence from

an Unusual Policy Experiment, National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), NBER Working Paper Series No.

7860 (Massachusetts: August 2000), 2. Ultimately, more than 61,000 schools were constructed. 1020 The Situation of Children and Women in Indonesia at 98. 1021 Ibid.
141

but this measure has not been fully implemented because of the lack of legal mechanisms for

enforcement.1022 In addition to formal schooling, two “packets” have been developed by the

government to provide nonformal education to children, based on their needs and ages.1023

During the 1998 school year, in response to increasing numbers of school dropouts, the

government began a supplementary program to provide grants to schools in the poorest areas and

to distribute monthly scholarships, awarded by school-level committees, to children based on

financial need. In its first year, the program dispensed between 1.2 and 1.6 million

scholarships.1024 In 1999 Indonesia’s Central Planning and Development Board earmarked 10

percent of educational safety net funds for working children to alleviate the growing trend of

children dropping out of school for economic reasons.1025

In January 2001, the ILO launched a program to provide 19.2 million children with

improved basic education by improving the non-formal education system to suit the needs of

working children.1026

In 2001, central government spending on total education was equivalent to US$ 1.3

billion or 6 percent of central government spending, according to the 2001 revised budget.

Figures are not available for amounts that regional governments spent on education under the

fiscal decentralization program. Nonetheless experts agree this sector is severely

underfunded.1027

1022 Interview with Darmastuti Soetrisno, director of kindergarten and primary education, Ministry of Education, by

U.S. Department of Labor official, October 13, 2000.

1023 Ibid. 1024 Beyond Krismon at 10-11. 1025 Unclassified telegram, 6/28/99. Funds provided by the Asian Development Bank, the World Bank, and the

Indonesian Government.

1026 UN Wire, “Indonesia: ILO Targets 19.2M Children for Improved Education,” January 4, 2001

(www.unfoundation.org/unwire/index.asp).

1027 Electronic Correspondance 4/24/02.
142

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1028

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1028 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
143

KENYA

1. Child Labor in Kenya

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 40 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 in Kenya were working.1029 According to a child labor survey

conducted by the Kenyan Central Bureau of Statistics, an estimated 17.4 percent (1.9 million) of

children between the ages of 5 and 17 were economically active in 2000.1030 Among the factors

contributing to child labor in Kenya are growing poverty and the effects of the HIV/AIDS

pandemic.1031

Children in Kenya do housework and work in agriculture.1032 Children quarry soapstone

in Kisii, mine sand in Ukambani and other river beds throughout the country, and mine gold in

Western Kenya.1033 They wash cars, sell goods on the street, and collect and sell waste materials

for money. Children also engage in illegal activities such as crime, prostitution, pornography,

and the peddling of drugs.1034

In 2000, approximately 34 percent of children were working in commercial agriculture,

while 23.6 percent of children were working in subsistence agriculture.1035 In commercial

agriculture, children are reported to work primarily on small to medium scale sugar, coffee, and

rice plantations, and the small scale production of sisal, tea, corn, wheat, and pineapples.1036

However, during peak seasons, Kenyan children account for close to one-half of the work force

planting, weeding, and harvesting on sugar estates, and between 50 and 60 percent of the work

force on coffee plantations.1037

Eleven percent of Kenya’s child domestic workers are 10 years old.1038 Many child

domestics work for little or no pay, while enduring isolation from their families, and many suffer

psychological, physical, or sexual abuse.1039

1029 World Development Indicators 2000. 1030 U.S. Embassy-Nairobi, unclassified telegram no. 007028, November 5, 2001 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

007028]. See Also ILO-IPEC, Kenya Country Program 1992-2001, Brief Profile of Activities (Nairobi: ILO-IPEC,

May 2001), 1 [hereinafter ILO-IPEC Kenya Country Program].

1031 Benson Oyuga, Collette Suda, and Afia Mugambi, A Study of Action Against Child Labour in Kenya:

Towards a Best Practice Guide on Sustainable Action Against Child Labour for Policy Makers (Nairobi: ILOIPEC, 1997), 27-28 [hereinafter Action Against Child Labour in Kenya]; U.S. Embassy-Nairobi, unclassified

telegram no. 003560, April 19, 2000.

1032 International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor—Kenya, IPEC Implementation Report for Kenya

1995-1997 (Nairobi: IPEC, 1998), 2-4 [hereinafter IPEC Implementation Report for Kenya]. 1033 Unclassified telegram no. 007028. 1034 IPEC Implementation Report for Kenya at 2-4. 1035 Unclassified telegram no. 007028. 1036 U.S. Embassy-Nairobi, unclassified telegram no. 008147, October 19, 2000. 1037 Federation of Kenya Employers, “Child Labor in Commercial Agriculture in Kenya” (Dar es Salaam, FKE,

August 1996), 15-16.

1038 ILO-IPEC, Targeting the Intolerable (Geneva: ILO, 1998), 12. 1039 Child Domestic Workers: Child Labour in the Domestic Sector, 35-37 [on file].
144

There are an estimated 200,000 street children in Kenya.1040 In order to survive, a

significant number of street children engage in theft, drug trafficking and other illegal activities,

while many young girls living on the street resort to prostitution.1041 A majority of the children

participating had contracted sexually transmitted diseases, including AIDS, from local adults and

tourists. In addition to health risks, many of these children suffered from serious psychological

disorders due to the prison-like conditions in which they were held, and most have lost all contact

with their families.1042 Cases of forced labor, in which children are loaned out to creditors to pay

off family debt, have also been documented in Kenya.1043

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1998, the gross primary attendance rate was 115 percent, and the net primary

attendance rate was 87.5 percent.1044 Gross enrollment rates have since fallen from 95 percent in

1989 to 78 percent in 1996.1045 A report prepared by the Institute for Policy Analysis and

Research attributes the decline in enrollment rates to the increase in schooling costs, a scarcity of

education materials, and a decline in educational quality and access since 1989.1046 In 2001,

President Moi issued a directive prohibiting school levies in all public primary schools.

However, school still charge substantial fees which limit the ability of many families to send their

children to school. A baseline study of Kenya’s salt mining regions found that 79 percent of the

children surveyed in these regions worked on salt farms in order to pay for schooling

materials.1047

Completion rates at the primary level averaged only 44 percent and in 1995 only 26

percent of those completing primary school transitioned to secondary school. While enrollment

rates for boys and girls in primary school tends to be similar, only 35 percent of the girls

completed grade 8 in 1995, as compared to 55 percent of boys.1048

1040 U.S. Embassy-Nairobi, unclassified telegram no. 003560, April 19, 2000. 1041 Rights of the Child: Report of Ms. Ofelia Calcetas-Santos, Special Rapporteur, on the Sale of Children, Child

Prostitution, and Child Pornography, Kenya Addendum, U.N. Document No. E/CN. 4/1998/101/Add. 1 (Geneva:

U.N. Commission on Human Rights, January 28, 1998), 6. Among the groups of Kenyan children victimized by

commercial sexual exploitation are schoolgirls and boys, young girls who migrate to urban areas, unskilled

domestic servants, school dropouts, “second-generation” prostitutes, and beach boys.

1042 Hearing on Street Children in Kenya (Nairobi: African Network for the Prevention and Protection Against

Child Abuse and Neglect, 1995), 21, as cited in By the Sweat and Toil of Children, Volume V: Efforts to Eliminate

Child Labor, (USDOL, 1998), 33. 1043 U.S. Embassy-Nairobi, Unclassified telegram no. 008147, October 19, 2000 [hereinafter Unclassified telegram

008147].

1044 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 1045 Government of Kenya and UNICEF, 1999-2003 Country Programme of Cooperation: Master Plan of

Operations (Nairobi: UNICEF, 1999), 5 [hereinafter Country Programme of Cooperation]. 1046 Okwach Abagi, National Legal Frameworks in Domesticating Education in Kenya: Where to Begin (Nairobi:

Institute of Policy Analysis and Research, 1998), 11.

1047 Malindi Children’s Advisory Committee, Report on a Survey on Child Labor in Salt Harvesting Farms in

Kenya: The Case of Gongoni Location in Malindi Subdistrict (Nairobi: ILO, 1995). 1048 Country Programme of Cooperation at 5.
145

There are numerous reports of sexual abuse of children by school teachers, particularly in

rural schools. According to the law, a child under the age of 14 who is sexually abused is not

“raped” but “defiled.” Defilement carries a maximum five year sentence, while rape carries a

maximum life sentence. 1049 Efforts to address the rape of young children while at school have

been sporadic and have not succeeded in curbing the practice.1050

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Employment Act (Cap. 226), 1976, defines a child as an individual who has not

attained the age of 16. The provisions of the act prohibit employment of children in any

“industrial undertaking,” including mines, quarries and other works for the extraction of any

substance from under the surface of the earth, factories, construction sites, transportation of

passengers or goods, and open cast workings or sub-surface workings which are entered by

means of a shaft. The act excludes, however, sectors such as agriculture, where the majority of

children are reported to work.1051 Industrial labor by children under the age of 12 is prohibited by

the Employment of Women, Young Persons and Children Ordinance of 1948.1052

The Employment (Children) Rules, 1977, outline procedures for employing children,

specifying hours when a child may be employed with the official permission of an authorized

officer. The maximum penalty for breaking this law is 4,000 shillings (US$70). The rules apply

to all instances of child labor, except in the case of children employed as apprentices or as

indentured learners.1053 Wages of apprentices and indentured learners and children under the age

of 18 are governed by the Regulations of Wages and Conditions of Employment Act (Cap. 229)

1951.1054

The minimum age for hazardous work in Kenya is 18. The Factories Act of 1951 sets

forth detailed health and safety standards that employers must follow. In 1990, the Factories Act

was amended to include agricultural and other workers.1055 As a result of amendments in 1990,

Ministry of Labor health and safety inspectors may issue citations to employers for practices or

activities that involve a risk of serious personal injuries, an authority previously vested only in

magistrates.1056 The number of factory inspections has increased significantly since 1992.1057

There are a variety of actors involved in enforcing Kenya’s child labor laws. The

Ministry of Labor, Child Labor Unit was recently elevated to the position of a permanent

division with 10 full time labor officers and charged with coordinating the formulation and

1049 Unclassified telegram no. 008147. 1050 Ibid. 1051 Action Against Child Labour in Kenya at 101. 1052 Ibid. at 27. 1053 FKE Guidelines on Employment of Children (Nairobi: Federation of Kenya Employers, 1996), 2 [document on

file].

1054 Action Against Child Labour in Kenya at 27. 1055 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, February

2000), Section 6e [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Kenya]. 1056 Ibid. 1057 Ibid.
146

application of child labor laws.1058 Labor inspectors and Occupational Health and Safety Officers

have been trained on child labor issues headed by the Deputy Director of Occupational Safety

and Health Services.1059 The unit oversees the work of ten divisions and is charged with

coordinating the formulation and application of labor laws. The Ministry of Home Affairs,

Department of Children’s Services, has been working with UNICEF to set up community-based

District Children’s Advisory Committees (DCACS), which handle child labor issues at the

district and local level. These committees monitor school dropout rates, and ensure that funds

raised for school projects benefiting children.1060

Kenya ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 on the

Minimum Age for Employment on April 9, 1979, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst

Forms of Child Labor on May 7, 2001.1061

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

The Government of Kenya became a member of the International Labor Organization’s

International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) in 1992. Since then, ILOIPEC Kenya has launched 67 action programs on child labor and several more mini-programs in

collaboration with 22 partner agencies, including government agencies, employers and labor

organizations, a wide range of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and media-based

organizations. In all, some 7,000 children have been helped through ILO-IPEC child labor

programs.1062

With funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, Kenya is participating in an ILO-IPEC

regional program to eliminate child labor in commercial agriculture in five countries in Eastern

and Southern Africa. The primary objective of the project is to prevent, withdraw, and

rehabilitate children working in harmful conditions in commercial agriculture and provide their

families with alternative income generating activities.1063 The program seeks to increase the

capacity of relevant stakeholders to identify and eliminate hazardous child labor on sugar, rice,

tea and coffee plantations.

UNICEF is working in Kenya to help formulate policy on issues affecting children, and

monitoring and evaluating public sector and civil society child labor efforts. Since 1999,

1058 ILO-IPEC Kenya Country Program at 2. 1059 Ibid. 1060 Ibid. 1061 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1062 ILO-IPEC Kenya Country Program at 1. 1063 Targeting the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Tea, Tobacco and Coffee Sectors in Uganda (Geneva: ILOIPEC, September 2000) [document on file]. Among the institutions anticipated to play an active role in the project

are the Federation of Uganda Employers, National Organization of Trade Unions, National Union of Plantation and

Agricultural Workers, World Food Program, UNICEF, Save the Children Norway, various government ministries,

and other nongovernmental and community-based organizations providing direct services to child laborers.
147

UNICEF and the Government of Kenya have implemented a project for children in need of

special protection, focusing on street children.1064

With international donor support, the Government of Kenya has amended the structure of

the Ministry of Labor and the guidelines for inspection in order to increase the capacity to

monitor and combat child labor. Since 1992, ILO-IPEC Kenya has trained 104 labor inspectors

and 65 occupational health and safety officers. Increased inspections have resulted in

identification of 8,074 child workers in the commercial services, agriculture, building, and

construction and forestry sectors.1065 The Occupational Health and Safety Officers have

identified 4,294 children working in hazardous conditions and 2,123 children have been removed

from hazardous work.1066

The District Children Advisory Committees (DCAC), which falls under the direction of

the Ministry of Home Affairs, have been working on the local level with schools in four pilot

areas. These committees have provided assistance to 2,803 children (1,454 boys and 1,349 girls).

Of the children, 1,252 were working in hazardous conditions and 297 were working under forced

labor conditions.1067

Civil society groups are also undertaking policy advocacy efforts. The Central

Organization of Trade Unions (COTU), the umbrella organization for Kenyan labor unions, has

been active in addressing child labor in the country. 1068 ILO-IPEC has supported a series of

surveys, conducted by COTU, to identify the extent of child labor by sector in the Kenyan

economy, and the development of a child labor unit within COTU.1069

In April 1999, the American Center for International Labor Solidarity (Solidarity Center)

and the COTU began a child labor project, the Pilot Program to Assist in the Elimination of the

Worst Forms of Child Labor in Kenya. The program is a grassroots, family- and communitylevel effort focusing on the commercial agriculture sector, primarily coffee plantations.

According to the midterm evaluation of the project, 152 children had enrolled in formal schools

after the project had been in operation for six months.1070 COTU-Solidarity Center also estimated

that 105 children had been prevented from dropping out of school to join the workforce. As part

of its awareness raising activities, COTU’s child labor unit also publishes Grassroots, a child

labor advocacy newsletter.1071

Employer organizations like the Federation of Kenyan Employers (FKE) have also

launched efforts to eliminate child labor. With ILO-IPEC support, the FKE conducted surveys to

1064 UNICEF-Kenya, Country Project Proposals 1999-2003 (Nairobi: UNICEF, October 1998), 31-44. 1065 ILO-IPEC Kenya Country Program at 2. 1066 Ibid. 1067 Ibid. 1068 Country Reports 1999—Kenya at Section 6e. 1069 See Campaign Against Child Labour (Nairobi: Kenyan Central Organization of Trade Unions [COTU], May 1,

1998).

1070 American Center for International Labor Solidarity and Central Organization of Trade Unions (Kenya),

“Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Kenya: Mid-Term Report and Evaluation,” September 1999, 12.

1071 Ibid.
148

assess the use of child labor in production of coffee, rice and sugar and launched an awareness

raising program using questionnaires, interviews, field trips, circulars and newsletters to create a

general child labor awareness among employers.1072 The FKE has also issued guidelines on the

employment of children to all of its members.1073

Most NGO efforts have focused on direct intervention to prevent, protect and rehabilitate

child laborers. Representatives from some of the established NGOs, like the Undugu Society,

which has been active in poverty alleviation in Nairobi since 1972, have been part of Kenya’s

National Steering Committee on Child Labor, along with government officials and labor union

and employer organization representatives.1074 To date, ILO-IPEC has worked with at least 22

organizations directly to support their efforts to end child labor, including at least 14 NGOs.1075

One such organization, Sinaga Women and Child Labour Resource Center, has been working in

Kenya since 1995, raising awareness about girls working in domestic service and providing them

with assistance.1076 With support from ILO-IPEC, OXFAM, United Nations Children’s Fund

(UNICEF) and other donors, Sinaga has aided girls in domestic service through the provision of

basic education, skills training, counseling, legal advice, and a rescue shelter for girls who have

been abused by their employers. Sinaga also publishes a working paper series and a quarterly

newsletter as part of its efforts to raise awareness about the plight of child domestics.1077 Another

organization, the Child Welfare Society of Kenya, works specifically with street children, and in

1999, published a report on Street Children in Nairobi to inform policy making on the plight of

street children.1078

b. Educational Alternatives

Education is compulsory for eight years, between the ages of 6 and 14.1079 In 1990,

Kenya became a signatory to the World Declaration on Education for All. The government has

since produced a Master Plan on Education and Training for 1997 to 2010.1080

1072 U.S. Embassy-Nairobi, Cable 5357, May 5, 1999. 1073 Interview with Labor Commissioner Mwadime and Child Labor Department officials, by U.S. Department of

Labor officials, May 5, 1998.

1074 Action Against Child Labour in Kenya at 47. 1075 ILO-IPEC Kenya Country Program at 1. 1076 Action Against Child Labour in Kenya at 119-22. 1077 Ibid. 1078 ILO-IPEC Kenya Country Program at 1. 1079 UNESCO, “Kenya – Education System: Structure of Education System,” at www.unesco.org/iau/cd-data/ke.rtf

on 3/18/01.

1080 Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development, Education for All: Assessment of Progress

(Government of the Republic of Kenya, 1997), 3- 4 [hereinafter Education for All—Kenya].
149

Since 1990, there has been an increase in the number of primary (public) teacher training

colleges in Kenya from 15 to 21, with a similar rise in the number of trained teachers. As of

1998, only 3.4 percent of Kenya’s primary school teachers did not meet the country’s national

standards.1081

Kenya’s Ministry of Education has sought to address gender discrepancies in the

country’s educational system. In 1995, the Government of Kenya created a Gender Unit within

the Ministry of Education. This unit works with other ministries within the government, with

NGOs, and community leaders to promote girls’ education. In addition, the Ministry of

Education has worked with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on a Girl Child

Program, which aims to close the gender gap in education.1082

From 1990 to 1996, spending by the Kenyan government on education as a percentage of

gross national product (GNP) has ranged from 6.5 percent to 7.1 percent.1083 Public spending

dedicated to primary education as a percentage of GNP has ranged from 3.1 percent to 3.9 from

1990 to 1996.1084 Since 1993, the Kenyan Government has allocated over 50 percent of the

Ministry of Education’s recurrent expenditure to primary education.1085

1081 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Education for All (EFA) 2000

[online], Country Report, Kenya, “Progress toward EFA Goals and Targets,” Section 5 (www2.unesco.org/wef/

countryreports/kenya/rapport_1_1.html); cited October 30, 2001 [hereinafter EFA 2000].

1082 Ibid. 1083 World Development Indicators 2000. 1084 UNESCO, Institute for Statistics [CD-ROM], Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—A Decade of

Education, Country Report, Kenya (Paris, 2000). 1085 EFA 2000 at Section 4.0, “Investment in EFA Since 1990” (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/kenya/

rapport_1_1.html); cited October 30, 2001.
150

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of gross national product (GNP). The chart considers government expenditures on

education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of

government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also

shown.1086

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1086 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
151

LESOTHO

1. Child Labor in Lesotho

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 21.3 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Lesotho were working.1087 A 1997 survey by the

Government of Lesotho found that nearly 19,000 children between the ages of 10 and 14 were

economically active in the country. Boys make up a disproportionate percentage of this group,

accounting for over 16,000 of the economically active children, as compared to slightly over

2,700 girls.1088

There are contested reports that children under the age of 14 have been identified as

working in the textile and garment sector. After conducting visits in 1994 of all garment factories

in the country, however, the ILO was not able to confirm these allegations.1089 In the footwear

sector, homeworking is known to involve children in the stitching of leather footwear.1090

Child labor is most prevalent in rural areas. Over 82 percent of economically active

children between the ages of 10 and 14 are employed in rural areas.1091 Young boys are involved

in herding livestock. This rigorous and occasionally dangerous work has traditionally been

considered a right of passage to manhood and important to the welfare of families.1092 One of the

reasons why boys participate in herding is because animals represent a traditional form of wealth

in the Basotho culture. Parents often hire out boys as a way of earning money or increasing herd

stock.1093

1087 World Development Indicators 2000. 1088 The survey reported that the total population between the ages of 10 and 14 was 224,579 children. “Labour

Force Survey 1997” (Maseru: Employment Policy Formulation and Labour Market Analysis (LES/004/94),

Ministry of Labour and Employment, Bureau of Statistics, 1998), 32-34.

1089 A 1994 study by a foreign government found that children between the ages of 12 and 15 made up as much as

15 percent of the workforce in Lesotho’s textile sector. This finding was refuted by Lesotho’s Ministry of Labor.

Furthermore, in response to a complaint by trade unions in the textile and clothing industry, the ILO visited all 14

of the country’s garment producers in 1994 but could not confirm allegations of illegal child labor. See Country

Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 1999) (www.state.gov/

www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report) [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Lesotho]. 1090 Interview with Makatleho Nyabela, Marake Makhetha, and Elliot Ramochela, Lesotho Federation of

Democratic Unions, by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 1, 2000. The union representatives noted that

they had not identified child labor in Lesotho’s formal sector and that child labor occurred primarily in the informal

sector.

1091 The survey reported that the total population between the ages of 10 and 14 was 224,579 children. “Labour

Force Survey 1997” (Maseru: Employment Policy Formulation and Labour Market Analysis (LES/004/94),

Ministry of Labour and Employment, Bureau of Statistics, 1998), 32-34.

1092 Country Reports 1999—Lesotho (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report). 1093 U.S. Embassy-Maseru, unclassified telegram no. 00422, June 21, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

00422].
152

After completing primary schooling, some girls who are unable to afford continuing their

education begin work as domestic servants in urban areas.1094 Others are reported to resort to

prostitution, placing them at risk of HIV/AIDS infection and unplanned pregnancy.1095 In many

instances, girls are expelled from school when it is learned that they are pregnant, limiting their

future prospects.1096

The growing number of HIV/AIDS orphans in Lesotho is reportedly placing an increasing

number of children at risk of exploitation. There are an estimated 117,000 AIDS orphans in the

country. Despite the growing numbers of AIDS orphans, however, little information is available

about how they are fairing.1097 According to complaints received by the Women and Law in

Southern Africa (WLSA), orphaned children are being hired out to work by their guardians.1098

2. Children’s Participation in School

Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Lesotho. While enrollment rates

indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in

school.1099 In 1996, the gross primary school enrollment rate was 107.7 percent, and the net

primary school enrollment rate was 70.1 percent.1100 Statistics from Lesotho’s Ministry of

Education indicate that 40 percent of children do not attend primary school.1101 The problem of

school non-attendance affects boys more than girls. Many boys involved in herding forgo even

the most basic levels of primary education.1102

A variety of factors are reported to affect children and their families’ ability to access

education. Parents may be unable to pay school fees or the costs of school uniforms.1103 This

problem is particularly pronounced in rural areas where children contribute to family welfare

1094 Interview with Esther Sakoane of the Lesotho Association of Non-Formal Education, by U.S. Department of

Labor official, August 1, 2000 [hereinafter Sakoane interview].

1095 Interview with Dr. Tibebu Haile-Selassie, program coordinator, UNICEF Country Office for Lesotho by U.S.

Department of Labor official, July 31, 2000.

1096 Complementary Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child in Lesotho

(NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child/Save the Children U.K., June 2000), 13-14 [hereinafter Complementary

Report]. 1097 Ibid. at 25. UNAIDS estimates that there are 117,000 AIDS orphans in Lesotho. 1098 Ibid. at 18. 1099 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

1100 World Development Indicators 2000. 1101 Complementary Report at 13, 33. Among the factors this report cited as contributing to the high dropout rate

and low completion rate among students were the quality of teaching and a decline in the means of livelihood in the

country generally.

1102 Ibid. at 11. 1103 Ibid. at 13.
153

through work in subsistence activities.1104 Another major obstacle in rural areas is the distance

and difficult terrain that children often must travel to reach school.1105

Attitudes concerning the value of education also affect children’s participation in school.

According to some reports, parents and children often do not see the value of education given the

large number of persons in Lesotho who are unemployed irrespective of whether they have

completed their schooling.1106

Most schools in Lesotho are operated by Christian missions under the direction of the

Minister of Education. Around 360,000 children attend primary school annually, while about

53,500 pupils attend secondary and vocational schools. There are roughly 1,200 primary schools

throughout the country.1107

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Constitution of Lesotho prohibits “the employment of children and young persons in

work harmful to their morals or health or dangerous to life or likely to hamper their normal

development.”1108 Lesotho’s Labor Code of 1992 defines a “child” as any person under the age

of 15.1109 The code prohibits the employment of any child below the age of 15 in any

commercial or industrial undertaking.1110 The law does not apply to agriculture.1111 In general,

the use of boys for herding has been outside of the scope of the country’s labor laws. The code

provides for exceptions in the case of private undertakings in which only members of the child’s

own family, up to five in number, are employed. In addition, children between the ages of 13 and

15 may do light work if the work is done in a technical school or institutions where the labor has

been approved by the Department of Education. The penalty for employing a child in violation

of the law includes a fine of 300 maloti (US$32), imprisonment for three months, or both. More

generally, the code also prohibits the employment of children in any work that would be

“injurious to [their] health or morals, dangerous or otherwise unsuitable.”1112

The Labor Code further states that persons under the age of 16 years should not be

required or permitted to work for more than four consecutive hours without a break period of at

least one hour. Moreover, no person under the age of 16 is permitted to work for more than eight

1104 Country Reports 1999—Lesotho (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report). 1105 Exposing Geographic Inequity: Lesotho’s Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, A District-Level Report,

Measuring Progress Towards the World Summit, Goals for Children (Maseru: The Bureau of Statistics, 1998), 32-

33 [hereinafter Exposing Geographic Inequity]. 1106 Complementary Report at 31. 1107 El Barometer, “Human and Trade Union Rights in the Education Sector” (Brussels: Education International,

1998), 61.

1108 The Constitution of Lesotho (Maseru: Government Printing Office), 44 [hereinafter Constitution of Lesotho]. 1109 Lesotho Government Gazette Extraordinary, vol. 37, no. 118 (Maseru: Government Printer, 1992), 1208

[hereinafter Lesotho Government Gazette Extraordinary]. 1110 Ibid. at 1303-7. 1111 Unclassified telegram 00422. 1112 Lesotho Government Gazette Extraordinary at 1303-7.
154

hours a day. The penalty for breaking these provisions includes a fine of 600 maloti (US$63)

imprisonment for six months, or both. The code prohibits those under the age of 15 years from

employment at night in any commercial or industrial undertaking.1113 Except for boys over the

age of 16 years, children are restricted from employment in mines and quarries.1114

Lesotho’s Constitution bans slavery and forced labor.1115 The Labor Code prohibits

forced labor and sets forth a fine of 2,000 maloti (US$211) imprisonment not to exceed one year,

or both, for violations.1116 The 1987 Employment Act also prohibits forced and bonded labor,

including by children.1117

Enforcement of prohibitions against the employment of minors in commercial, industrial

or non-family enterprises involving hazardous or dangerous working conditions is reportedly lax.

The Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE) is responsible for conducting inspections of

industrial and commercial enterprises to ensure compliance with the Labor Code.1118 The

Ministry’s Inspectorate suffers from understaffing.1119 According to MOLE, approximately 15

labor inspectors are responsible for monitoring adherence to the full range of labor laws

throughout the country.1120

The Government of Lesotho ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for

Employment on June 14, 2001, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

on June 14, 2001.1121

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

Efforts to address child labor in Lesotho have thus far mainly involved initiatives to

increase children’s access to basic education. The Ministry of Labour and Employment,

however, has applied to the ILO’s regional office in Pretoria, South Africa, to become a member

of the ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC).1122

1113 Ibid. 1114 Ibid. 1115 The Constitution of Lesotho at 21. 1116 Lesotho Government Gazette Extraordinary at 1222. 1117 Country Reports 1999—Lesotho. 1118 Unclassified telegram 00422. 1119 Country Reports 1999—Lesotho. See also “Child Labour around the World” (www.globalmarch.org/cl-aroundthe-world/barometre-africa1.html) and interview with Labor Commissioner L. Mandoro by U.S. Department of

Labor official (August 1, 2000) [hereinafter Mandoro interview].

1120 Mandoro interview. 1121 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1122 Unclassified telegram 00422.
155

b. Educational Alternatives

Education is not compulsory in Lesotho.1123 In the Constitution, “education is not a

government obligation, but a principle of state and not a right enforceable by a court of law.”1124

The 1995 Education Bill “provides for the establishment, administration and control of education.

It tries to ensure that the child is protected from practices which may foster discrimination or

prejudice.”1125

In 2000, the Government of Lesotho introduced free education for children in their first

year of primary schooling in those schools complying with the Education Act.1126 In its 2000-

2001 budget, for the first time, the Parliament made its allocation for education the largest share

of the budget.1127 Reacting to the access issues of distance and difficult terrain identified by the

Bureau of Statistics, the Ministry of Education is supporting a community school initiative.1128

The Government of Lesotho is working on three major projects with UNICEF to promote

opportunities for children to attend school. The Non-Formal Education Project, run by the

Lesotho Distance Teaching Center (LDTC), promotes non-formal learning opportunities in the

country. The LDTC’s Basic Education Unit coordinates literacy and numeracy courses and nonformal education for children and adults. Herdboys represent a large portion of the children that

benefit from this program. The Early Childhood Education Project, run by the Ministry of

Education’s Early Childhood Unit, monitors all pre-primary schooling in the country. Finally,

the Free Primary School Education (FPSE) Program, which began in January 2000, involves all

schools in Lesotho, except for private schools that chose not to participate.1129

In 1996, government spending on education as a percentage of gross national product

(GNP) was 8.4 percent.1130

1123 Country Reports 1999—Lesotho. 1124 Complementary Report at 30. 1125 Ibid. at 31. 1126 Ibid. at 8. 1127 Ibid. 1128 Exposing Geographic Inequity at 32-33. 1129 Unclassified telegram 00422. 1130 World Development Indicators 2000.
156

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1131

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1131 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
157

MALI

1. Child Labor in Mali

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 52.5 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Mali were working.1132 Child labor occurs in the

agricultural sector. Children also work as artisans and apprentices, in the service and informal

commercial sectors, as domestic laborers, in mining, and in gold panning.1133 In towns and urban

areas, children also work as street vendors and beg for money and food.1134 In some instances,

street begging comes at the urging of Koranic teachers who send their students to urban areas to

collect money and food.1135

Young Malian girls from rural areas migrate to find work in urban areas. In 2000, some

4,000 girls reportedly left rural areas to work as child domestics in urban areas, largely to support

their families or pay for their dowries.1136

Mali is a point of origin for trafficked children, most of whom are sold into forced labor

on commercial farms or forced into domestic service in Cote d’Ivoire.1137 In many cases,

children are picked up or intercepted by professional traffickers at markets or while in towns.1138

Children working on plantations often work 12 hours per day without pay and are often abused

physically. 1139 Since the beginning of 2001, 500 children trafficked from Mali and Burkina Faso

have been intercepted by legal authorities in Côte d’Ivoire and returned to their home

countries.1140

1132 World Development Indicators 2000. 1133 Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Mali, U.N. Document No. CRC/C/15/

Add.113. (Geneva: United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, November 2, 1999) [hereinafter

Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child]. 1134 Ibid. 1135 Ibid. 1136 Committee on Rights of Child Begins Consideration of Report of Mali, U.N. Document No. HR/CRC/99/48

(Geneva: United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, September 28, 1999).

1137 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000), 6f

[hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Mali]. 1138 Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labor Exploitation in West and Central Africa (Phase II): Mali

Country Annex (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, December 2000) [hereinafter Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labor

Exploitation]. 1139 Country Reports 2000 – Mali, at Section 6f. 1140 Ministry of Families, Women and Children. Combating Trafficking and Economic Exploitation of Children in

Côte d’Ivoire (Abidjan: Republic of Côte d’Ivoire, July 2001).
158

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1996, the gross primary attendance rate was 40.6 percent and the net primary

attendance rate was 29.4 percent. 1141 In 1995, girls comprised 39.7 percent of the gross

enrollment in primary schools, while boys comprised 58.1 percent. In terms of net enrollment,

only 24.8 percent of girls are enrolled in school as compared to 37.8 percent of boys in the same

age group. In the 1997/1998 school year, girls comprised 40 percent of gross enrollment in

primary schools, while boys comprised 60 percent. 1142

Schooling rates also differ between urban and rural areas, and across different regions of

the country.1143 For the 6- to 15-year age group, school attendance is more than three times

higher in urban areas than in rural areas.1144

For those children who are in school, the quality of education is often inadequate.1145 The

national student-teacher ratio is 70 to 1, with class size exceeding 80 students in rural schools.1146

Typical primary classrooms lack equipment and materials, and teachers’ academic and

professional qualifications are usually low.1147

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Labor Code, adopted in 1996, sets the basic minimum working age at 14.1148

Children between the ages of 12 and 14 may work up to two hours per day during school

vacations with parental approval.1149 Children between the ages of 14 and 16 may work up to 41/2

hours per day with the permission of the Labor Inspectorate but not during nights, holidays, or

Sundays. Children between the ages of 16 and 18 may work in jobs that are not physically

demanding.1150

Implementation of child labor regulations is erratic.1151 Although Labor Inspectors

conduct surprise inspections and complaint-based inspections, inspectors operate only in the

formal sector due to a lack of resources for enforcement.1152

1141 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C.,2000 at

http://www.usaid.gov/educ_training/ged.html.

1142 World Development Indicators 2000. There has been a marked increase in enrollment rates in Mali since 1989.

Data provided by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) shows primary school gross

enrollment rates rose from 22 percent in 1989 to 34 percent in 1994, a 60 percent increase, with a 67 percent

increase in girls’ enrollment. Sixth-grade completion rates increased by 65 percent between 1989 and 1993.

USAID, Basic Education Programs in Africa—Mali Country Profile (www.usaid.gov/regions/afr/basiced/

mali.html), August 14, 2001.

1143 Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labor. 1144 Mali – General Information at http://home-2.worldonline.nl/~sprunkys/mali.htm. 1145 Ibid. 1146 Ibid. 1147 Ibid. 1148 Child Labor in Africa: Targeting the Intolerable (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 1998), 36. 1149 Country Reports 2000—Mali at 6d. 1150 Ibid.
159

The Constitution of the Republic of Mali prohibits forced or compulsory labor, including

that performed by children.1153 Articles 187, 188 and 189 of the Malian Criminal Code forbid

trafficking in children.1154

On July 14, 2000, the Government of Mali ratified ILO Conventions No. 182 on the

Worst Forms of Child Labor.1155

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

In June 1998, the Government of Mali signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

with the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child

Labor (ILO-IPEC).1156 Since signing the MOU, the Government of Mali has cooperated with

ILO-IPEC in launching direct interventions to assist children working in mines, wood working

and metalworking, as mechanics, in service sector establishments, and as domestic workers.1157

In 1999, Mali joined eight other countries involved in the first phase of the ILO-IPEC

regional project to combat trafficking of children for exploitative labor in West and Central

Africa, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor. The project included assessments of the

trafficking problem in the nine countries and a subregional report synthesizing the main findings.

Efforts were also made to channel identified children to nongovernmental organizations (NGOs)

providing social protection and support services for victims of trafficking. A second phase of this

project, also funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, began in July 2001, and involves providing

rehabilitation services for children who are victims of trafficking, raising awareness about

trafficking, strengthening local capacity to address the problem, and enhancing regional

cooperation among the nine participating countries to address trafficking.1158

A national forum on child begging was held in 1998 and resulted in a plan to include

Koranic teachers in the campaign to end child begging. A vocational training program has also

been established for the garibou in Mopti to discourage begging. Many children, however,

continue to be exploited and are encouraged to beg.1159

1151 Ibid. 1152 Ibid. 1153 Ibid. at Section 6c. 1154 Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labour Exploitation at 2. 1155 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1156 “Etat d’Execution du Programme National de Lutte contre le Travail des Enfants au Mali” (Bamako: Ministere

de l’Emploi. de la Fonction Publique et du Travail, Ministry of Labor, Mali), 2000.

1157 Ibid. 1158 Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labour Exploitation. 1159 Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child.
160

b. Educational Alternatives

According to the Constitution of the Republic of Mali, Article 18, every citizen has a right

to an education, and public education is mandatory, free, and non-religious.1160 The Government

of Mali recently implemented the Ten-Year Program for the Development of Education

(PRODEC). This program aims to establish parity between boys and girls in terms of school

recruitment and enrollment, expand the use of national languages in education and improve the

overall quality of education.1161

The government has established a special unit to promote girls’ education within the

Ministry of Basic Education, and is implementing policies, which would allow pregnant

schoolgirls to continue their education. 1162 The government has also tried to introduce or

revitalize school canteens in economically disadvantaged communities and improve the

infrastructure by building new schools and classrooms and refurbishing existing ones.1163

The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) has supported a program called

Basic Education Expansion to improve the efficiency of the educational system. National,

regional, and local offices have been established to administer a girls’ education initiative, student

testing has been initiated and institutionalized, and a legal framework and decentralization policy

has been defined and put in place to foster private and community schools. A key feature of the

government’s Education Sector Program is an increase in the percentage of national budget

resources for education and accompanying intra-sectoral reallocations in support of primary

schooling.1164 In 1997, total government spending on education as a percentage of gross national

product (GNP) was 2 percent.1165

1160 Constitution of the Republic of Mali, Article 18 (http://confinder.richmond.edu/Mali.html#title1). 1161 Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child. 1162 Ibid. 1163 Ibid. 1164 USAID Basic Education Programs in Africa. 1165 World Development Indicators 2000.
161

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending

on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1166

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1166 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
162

NEPAL

1. Child Labor in Nepal

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 43.3 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Nepal were working.1167 A 1996 child labor survey

conducted by Tribhuvan University’s Central Department of Population Studies and ILO’s

International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) estimated 42 percent (2.6

million) of children between the ages of 5 and 14 in Nepal were working. The survey also found

that 48 percent of girls between the ages of 5 and 14 years were working, while 36 percent of

boys in the same age group worked.1168

An overwhelming majority of working children (95 percent) participate in family-based

subsistence agriculture, while less than 1 percent work in manufacturing facilities.1169 Nepali

children are known to work in the hand-knotted carpet industry, although the number has

declined significantly over the years.1170 In addition, child workers are found in brick-kiln

operations, tea shops, construction, portering, and domestic service.1171 More than 80 percent of

children working in Nepal do not receive wages.1172 Most children who work in urban areas have

migrated from rural villages. Having been separated from their families, they are vulnerable and

often forced to work under exploitative and hazardous conditions.1173

Although forced labor is not widespread, a system of agricultural bonded labor, known as

kamaiya, has been prevalent in the far-western and mid-western regions of the country. One

study has estimated that 33,000 children work as bonded laborers, out of which 13,000 are

thought to be kamaiya children. 1174

Nepali children are trafficked mostly for the purposes of prostitution, but also at times for

domestic service, and manual or semi-skilled labor.1175 Although it is extremely difficult to

1167 World Development Indicators 2000 (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2000). 1168 The survey was sponsored by the International Labor Organization (ILO), Migration and Employment Survey

of Nepal, Central Department of Population Studies of Tribhuvan University, 1995-1996, Table 5.

1169 U.S. Embassy-Kathmandu, unclassified telegram no. 001216, June 9, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

6//9/00]. Nepali people are heavily dependent on agriculture, which accounts for almost 42 percent of the country’s

gross domestic product (GDP). ILO-IPEC, Sustainable Elimination of Bonded Labor in Nepal (Geneva, December

2000), 1 [hereinafter Elimination of Bonded Labor in Nepal]. 1170 Unclassified telegram 001216. 1171 By the Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor, vol. 5 (Washington, D.C.: U.S.

 Department of Labor, 1998), 20-29; see also (www.ilo.org/public/english/region/asro/kathmandu/projects/

child_1.htm).

1172 ILO-IPEC, “Child Labor Situation in Nepal,” fact sheet, 9. 1173 “National Plan for Immediate Action Against the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Nepal: Summary Strategy

Paper 2001-2005” (Geneva: ILO-IPEC), 3 [hereinafter “Action Against the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Nepal.”] 1174 ILO-IPEC, “IPEC Country Profile: Nepal,” at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/timebound/

nepal.pdf on 2/14/02.

1175 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000),

Section 6f [hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Nepal].
163

approximate the number of children trafficked, Maiti Nepal, a local NGO, estimates that as many

as 5,000 to 7,000 Nepali girls are trafficked to India each year; many are lured away or abducted

from their homes to work in brothels.1176 A recent study by the ILO estimates that there may be

between 150,000 to 200,000 Nepalese girls working as prostitutes in Indian brothels. 1177 Child

prostitution also occurs in urban centers like Katmandu. It is believed that 20 percent of the

prostitutes in Nepal are younger than 16 years old. 1178

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1996, the gross primary attendance rate was 104.3 percent, and the net primary

attendance rate was 66.2 percent.1179 For that same year, the gross primary enrollment rate was

113 percent, ant the net primary enrollment rate was 79.2 percent.1180 Fifty percent of children

enrolled in primary school are expected to drop out.1181 Only 37 percent of first graders passed on

to the second grade in 1997, with the majority repeating the class or dropping out.1182 Girls make

up nearly 42 percent of the students in primary school, but only about 38 percent of the over 1

million students in secondary school. Non-enrollment, repetition and dropout rates are

consistently higher in rural areas than in urban areas.1183

In Nepal, most children (roughly 60 percent) who work also attend school. More working

boys (70–75 percent) go to school than working girls (50–60 percent).1184

The lack of trained teachers continues to be a fundamental problem for the country’s

education system. For example, statistics show that less than half of all primary school teachers

are trained and only 38 percent of the female primary teachers have received training.1185

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Constitution of Nepal (Article 20) prohibits the employment of minors in factories,

mines or other hazardous work.1186 Nepal has various laws that address child labor, including the

1176 South Asian Sub-Regional Programme to Combat the Trafficking of Children for Exploitative Employment in

Bangladesh, Nepal and Sri Lanka, project document (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, February 2000), Section 1.2.3.

1177 ILO-IPEC, Time-Bound Pamphlet on Nepal, 2001. Of those girls who are rescued or are able to return to their

villages from India, a sample study found that 37 percent were infected with HIV. ILO-IPEC, Nepal

Implementation Report, 1998-1999, Section 1.2.3 [hereinafter Nepal Implementation Report]. 1178 Country Reports 2000—Nepal at Section 6f. 1179 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 1180 World Development Indicators. 1181 Sustainable Elimination of Bonded Labor in Nepal at 1. 1182 Nepal Implementation Report at Section 1.2.1. 1183 Sustainable Elimination of Bonded Labor in Nepal at 1. 1184 Country Reports 2000—Nepal at Section 6d. 1185 MOE National Centre for Education Development, Development of Training Package on Child Rights, Human

Rights and Gender Equality for Primary School Teachers, report to ILO-IPEC (Kathmandu, 2000), as cited in

Sustainable Elimination of Bonded Labor in Nepal at 2. 1186 National Planning Commission of Nepal, Situation Analysis of Child Labor in Nepal (Kathmandu, July 1997),

71 [hereinafter Situation Analysis of Child Labor in Nepal].
164

Labor Act of 1999 and the Children’s Act of 1992, which prohibit the employment of children

under 14 years old from working in any kind of employment.1187 While the Children’s Act

prohibits the employment of children in hazardous work, there is no definition in the legislation

of what constitutes hazardous work. The restrictions on child labor do not apply to businesses

with 10 or less employees.1188

On July 17, 2000, the government declared the practice of kamaiya and the incurrence of

their debt, known as saunki, illegal.1189 The Ministry of Land Reforms and Management

(MOLRM), with technical assistance from the ILO, drafted a Bill on the Abolition of Bonded

Labour. The proposed bill provides the legal framework for enforcement of the ban by

prohibiting the inheritance of private debt and annulling outstanding loans.1190

The 1990 Constitution (Article 20) and Nepali law prohibits trafficking. The maximum

penalty for trafficking is a prison sentence of 20 years.1191 There is no law that criminalizes

prostitution or child pornography. However, based on the Children’s Act, the Women

Trafficking Act of 1986, the National Code of 1963 and the Public Offense Act of 1971, they are

considered illegal practices.1192

Enforcement and effective implementation of child labor laws is weak, mostly because

child labor procedures, jurisdictions and penalties are inadequate and ambiguous.1193

The Government of Nepal ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for

Employment on May 30, 1997, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

on January 3, 2002.1194

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

Nepal became a member of ILO-IPEC in 1994. Since then, almost 12,000 working

children and their families have benefited from more than 100 ILO-IPEC action programs and

mini-programs.1195

1187 The Labor Act defines a minor as anyone between the ages of 14 and 18, and the Children’s Act identifies a

child as below the age of 16 years; see Situation Analysis of Child Labor in Nepal at 70-71. See also Yubaraj

Sangroula, “Child Labor: Legislation and Enforcement Situation” (Kathmandu: Tribhuvan University, Faculty of

Law, 1997), 8-10 [hereinafter “Child Labor: Legislation and Enforcement Situation”].

1188 Situation Analysis of Child Labor in Nepal at 71, 73. 1189 Sustainable Elimination of Bonded Labor in Nepal at 3-4. 1190 Ibid. at 3. 1191 Country Reports 2000—Nepal at Section 6f. 1192 U.S. Embassy-Kathmandu, unclassified telegram no. 001664, August 21, 2000. 1193 “Child Labor: Legislation and Enforcement Situation” at 15. 1194 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1195 ILO-IPEC Country Profile: Nepal (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 2001), 1-2.
165

In 2001, Nepal became one of three countries—the only one in Asia—to launch a

comprehensive Time-Bound Program aimed at eliminating the worst forms of child labor within

a specified time period. The ILO-IPEC program, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor

(USDOL) targets trafficked children and children working in domestic labor, portering, rag

picking, mines, and the carpet sector.1196 The government is currently consolidating several

sectoral plans of action against child labor to form a single master plan of action to eliminate

child labor in the next 10 years, with priority action beginning on the worst forms.1197

The Government of Nepal has drawn up a proposal for immediate action for rescue and

rehabilitation of recently freed bonded laborers. The Ministry of Land Reforms and Management

provided 60 million rupees (US$ 892,000) for fiscal year 1999/00 and 2000/01 for debt relief,

housing, rehabilitation, and training of formerly bonded child workers and their families.1198 With

funding from USDOL, ILO-IPEC launched a major project to achieve the sustainable liberation

of an estimated 14,000 formerly bonded labor families, including 16,000 formerly bonded

children. The project will offer vocational training, education, legal and counseling services,

small business loans, and other support for newly freed bonded laborers in order to prevent them

from reentering exploitative forms of labor.1199

The government has a National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking and is in the

process of developing legislation that addresses trafficking as well as sexual abuse of children.1200

With funding from USDOL and the technical assistance of ILO-IPEC, the Ministry of Women

and Social Affairs and the NGO Maiti Nepal have implemented a program to eliminate

trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation of children.1201 Additionally, Nepal is one of three

counties participating in the ILO-IPEC South Asian subregional project to combat trafficking of

children for exploitative labor, also funded by USDOL.

 b. Educational Alternatives

Nepal has no specific education laws. However, the government has adopted various

policies on education, including the New Education Strategy and Policy (NESP), which provides

state funding for establishing schools throughout the country.1202 Although education is not

compulsory, the government provides free primary education for all children between the ages of

6 and 12. Children up to grade three receive books free of charge, and children from designated

remote areas receive free books up to grade five. Still, public primary schools commonly charge

non-tuition fees to offset their expenses1203 and families frequently do not have the money to pay

for school supplies and clothing.1204

1196 ILO-IPEC, “Supporting the Time-Bound Programme in Nepal: The IPEC Core TBP Project” (Geneva,

September 2001), 26.

1197 “Action Against the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Nepal” at 9. 1198 “Action Against the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Nepal” at 9. 1199 Sustainable Elimination of Bonded Labor in Nepal at 28. 1200 Unclassified telegram 001216. 1201 ILO-IPEC, Setting National Strategies for the Elimination of Girls’ Trafficking and Commercial Sexual

Exploitation of Children in Nepal (Geneva, 1997), 1.4, 2.5. 1202 Sustainable Elimination of Bonded Labor in Nepal at 2. 1203 Ibid. at 1. 1204 Country Reports 2000—Nepal at Section 5.
166

With the realization that many of the country’s children, including child workers, do not

have access to adequate primary schooling, the government and NGOs have been trying to meet

the needs of many out-of-school children. The 2000-2001 federal budget calls for a 52 percent

increase in government spending on education.1205 In its Ninth-Year Plan (1997-2001), the

government aims to make primary education easily accessible and compulsory and is currently

implementing a pilot program in six districts to test compulsory primary education. In order to

achieve sustainable long-term objectives, the government is working with international donors to

implement a $106 million dollar Basic and Primary Education Project (BPEP). 1206

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of gross national product (GNP). The chart considers government expenditures on

education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of

government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also

shown.1207

1205 Unclassified telegram 001216, 6/9/00. 1206 Sustainable Elimination of Bonded Labor in Nepal at 2. 1207 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
167

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.
168

NICARAGUA

1. Child Labor in Nicaragua

Estimates on the number of working children in Nicaragua vary considerably. In 1998,

the ILO’s Yearbook of Labour Statistics estimated that 10.8 percent (74,180) of children between

the ages of 10 and 14 in Nicaragua were working.1208 Using a broader age range, the National

Commission Against Child Labor estimated that in 1998 there were approximately 160,000

children under the age of 17 working in Nicaragua.1209 According to the latest estimates by the

Nicaragua Center for Human Rights (CENIDH), a non-profit organization, there are

approximately 322,000 working children.1210

Child labor in Nicaragua is reported in the production of export crops such as coffee,

cotton, bananas, tobacco, and rice.1211 A study conducted by the National Commission Against

Child Labor in 1998 found that as many as 140,000 children were employed in rural activities

including the harvesting of crops.1212 Children often work for less than US$1 per day alongside

their parents on banana and coffee plantations.1213

There are reports of children forced to work in the streets of Managua as vendors and

beggars by their parents; in some cases, these children are “rented” by their parents to organized

networks of beggars. Between 4,000 and 5,000 children are estimated to work on the streets of

the capital city, selling merchandise, cleaning automobile windows, or working in other

activities.1214

Child prostitution has risen in Nicaragua, particularly in Managua and in port cities along

the Honduran and Costa Rican borders.1215 According to the United Nations Children’s Fund

(UNICEF), prostitution among children between the ages of 12 and 16 has grown significantly; in

towns, taxi drivers often operate as “middlemen” in the commercial sexual exploitation of these

children. The Organization of American States (OAS) has also noted increased sexual

exploitation of girls as young as 10 years old. Truck drivers and other travelers, including

foreigners, are known to engage in the commercial sexual exploitation of young girls in rural

areas, particularly in towns along the Pan-American Highway.1216

1208 International Labor Organization, Yearbook of Labour Statistics (Geneva: ILO, 1999). 1209 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000),

Section 6d [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Nicaragua].

 Ibid. at Section 5. 1210 U.S. Embassy-Nicaragua, unclassified telegram no. 001775, June 23, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

001775].

1211 Internationally Recognised Core Labour Standards in Nicaragua: Report for the WTO General Council Review

of the Trade Policies of Nicaragua (Geneva, October 1999), 3. 1212 Country Reports 1999—Nicaragua at Section 6d. 1213 Ibid. 1214 Country Reports 1999—Nicaragua at Section 6d. 1215 Ibid. at Section 5. 1216 Ibid. at Sections 5.
169

 The Ministry of the Family sponsored a six-month investigation into child prostitution in

five municipalities between December 1998 and May 1999. Eighty-two percent of the children

surveyed indicated that they started engaging in prostitution within the past year. Many of the

children interviewed reported prostituting themselves to purchase basic necessities such as food

and clothing. Others spoke of prostitution as a means of supporting their drug habit.1217 Cases

involving the trafficking of girls for the purposes of prostitution have also been reported in

Nicaragua.1218

2. Children’s Participation in School

Between the years of 1997 and 1998, the gross primary attendance rate was 105.1 percent,

and the net primary attendance rate was 73.1 percent. In 1997, the gross primary enrollment rate

was 101.6 percent, and the net primary enrollment rate was 78.6 percent.1219 Children of the

urban poor completed an average of three years of schooling in 1998, while children of the rural

poor completed an average of 1.6 years.1220 In 1996, 51 percent of primary school entrants

reached the fifth grade. 1221

An estimated 35 percent of public schools were in need of repair in 1996. Poor teaching

quality, however, is reported as the most visible constraint to quality education in Nicaragua, as

teachers are not adequately trained or paid.1222

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Nicaragua’s Constitution prohibits employment of children that could adversely affect

normal childhood development or interfere with a child’s schooling. It also prohibits forced or

compulsory labor and provides protection from any type of economic or social exploitation.1223

Nicaragua’s 1996 Labor Code raised the country’s minimum age for employment from

12 to 14 years. Parental consent is required for children between the ages of 14 and 16 to be

employed.1224 The Labor Code limits the work of children between the ages of 14 and 17 to a

maximum of six-hours per day and prohibits them from working at night. The employment of

youth is prohibited in places that endanger their health and safety such as mines, garbage dumps,

1217 Ibid. at Section 5. 1218 Ibid. at Section 5. In July the local media reported the arrest of three Guatemalan citizens involved in trafficking

girls and young women, including Nicaraguan citizens, for forced prostitution in Guatemala.

1219 World Development Indicators. 1220 In 1998 the average years of schooling completed by all students nationwide was 4.5 years; see World Bank,

“Nicaragua: Second Basic Education Project,” Washington, D.C., 1998 [hereinafter “Nicaragua: Second Basic

Education Project”].

1221 World Development Indicators 2000. 1222 “Nicaragua: Second Basic Education Project.” 1223 Political Constitution of Nicaragua, Article 84. 1224 Nicaraguan Labor Code, 1996, Article 131. See also Unclassified telegram 001775.
170

and night entertainment venues (night clubs, bars, etc.).1225 Employers violating the law by

employing children illegally face steep fines ranging from 500 to 5,000 córdobas (US$40 to

US$400) per violation.1226

The Children and Adolescent Code of 1998 affords children additional protections.

Article 76 calls for the different sectors of society—government, private institutions, family,

community, and schools—to share responsibility for ensuring the welfare of children who are

abandoned, abused, exploited, disabled, orphaned, pregnant, working, addicted to illegal

substances, or faced with other circumstances requiring special protection.1227

The Labor Ministry has created a separate child labor investigations department. This

department monitors occupational safety and health in the agricultural sector. The Ministry has

also signed agreements with nightclub and restaurant owners who have pledged to comply with

the country’s child labor laws. A government resolution prohibits employment of minors in

“Free Trade Zones.”1228

Nicaragua’s Penal Code prohibits individuals from promoting or engaging in the

prostitution of children. Articles 200 and 201 of the code provide for a penalty of four to 10

years in prison for a person who entices or forces a child under the age of 12 to engage in sexual

activities. Individuals who do the same to persons between the ages of 12 and 18 years may be

sentenced to between one and five years in prison.1229

Nicaragua ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment on

November 2, 1981, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on

November 6, 2000.1230

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

Through the National Commission for the Eradication of Child Labor, the Government of

Nicaragua, in collaboration with international organizations, nongovernmental organizations

(NGOs), and the private sector, has developed a strategic plan for addressing child labor in the

1225 Ibid. at Article 133, 134. 1226 Unclassified telegram telegram 001775. 1227 1998 Nicaraguan Children and Adolescents Code. 1228 Unclassified telegram telegram 001775. 1229 Nicaraguan Penal Code, Article 200, as cited in U.S. Embassy-Nicaragua, unclassified telegram no. 002462,

September 1, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram 002462]. It is important to note that prostitution of children is

reportedly sometimes camouflaged under the guise of “sexual consent.” See unclassified telegram 001775. 1230 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.
171

country. Under the Commission’s guidance, the Ministry of Labor’s International Relations

Committee plans to inspect industries where children have historically worked.1231

The Commission has initiated a variety of activities aimed at combating child labor.

These include development of a national program for the care and protection of child and

adolescent workers, a project to strengthen child labor inspections, and a national campaign,

“Study First, Work Later.” In addition, the Commission has instituted initiatives aimed at the

progressive elimination of child labor in the indigenous community of Subtavia, Leon, on the

streets of Managua, and in the market of Santos Barcenas.1232

The Ministry of Family sponsors several programs targeting minors. The programs,

which reach nearly 10,000 minors nationally, assist parents with childcare, provide incentives for

minors to return to school, and offer skills training through technical and vocational programs.

The Ministries of Family and Education have also collaborated to assist children working as

windshield cleaners in city intersections, 75 percent of whom are homeless and as many as 60

percent of whom are school dropouts. This program has reached 647 children, providing them

with housing and schooling.1233

The ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) is

currently working with the Ministry of Labor on five projects to eliminate child labor:

• In partnership with the Mayor of Managua’s office and with funding from the U.S.

Department of Labor (USDOL), one ILO-IPEC program seeks to eliminate child labor in

the capital’s largest garbage dump, Acahualinca. The program, which began in 2000,

aims to reach at least 700 children, enroll them in school, and provide them with

transportation to and from school.1234

• A second ILO-IPEC project, which works through a local NGO, the Mary Barreda

Association, aims to address the problem of children in prostitution in León. The

program began in 1998 and has reached over 100 children engaged in prostitution, as well

as 73 at-risk families.1235

• A third ILO-IPEC project, also supported by USDOL, targets children working in coffee

farms in the rural areas of Matagalpa and Jinotega. The program aims to provide

educational opportunities for over 4,000 children and income generating alternatives for

1231 Three hundred twenty-four employees operating with an annual budget of US$935,000 are responsible for

carrying country-wide inspections. U.S. Embassy-Nicaragua, unclassified telegram no. 000619, February 27, 1998

[hereinafter unclassifed telegram 000619].

1232 Activities Realized to Eradicate Child Labor in Nicaragua (Managua: Ministry of Labor, April 1999), 8-12

[hereinafter Activities Realized to Eradicate Child Labor in Nicaragua]. 1233 Unclassified telegram telegram 001775. 1234 IPEC, “Elimination of Child Labor at La Chureca DumpYard,” project document (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 2000),

13; see also unclassified telegram telegram 001775. 1235 IPEC, Elimination of Child Labor and Risk of Sexual Exploitation of Girls and Teenagers in the Bus Terminal

of the Municipality of Leon, Progress Report (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, March 2001), 4 [hereinafter Elimination of

Sexual Exploitation in the Bus Terminal of Leon].
172

500 families. The National Commission and local coffee farmers have committed to

finance construction of 24 schools on their farms to provide instruction for children

during the harvest season.1236 In Matagalpa, the coffee industry has also committed to

provide parents with land for growing coffee as an alternative source of income that can

help to reduce their dependence on the labor of their children.1237

• A fourth ILO-IPEC project, with USDOL support, aims to eliminate child labor in

farming and stockbreeding in the Department of Chontales. This program aims to

withdraw children between the ages of 7 and 14 from work and provide 5,000 of them

with educational opportunities as well as pre-school for another 720 children. Income

generating alternatives will also be provided to 300 families in the Department of

Chontales. The National Union of Farmers and Stockbreeders (UNAG) is also seeking to

mobilize the participation of other agricultural and rural associations so that child labor

can be gradually phased out of Nicaragua’s commercial agricultural sector.1238

• And fifth, Nicaragua’s Ministry of Labor has begun a national child labor survey, with

support from USDOL, through ILO-IPEC’s Statistical Information and Monitoring

Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC) and with the participation of the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The survey, which will target children between the ages of 5

and 17, will be the first of its kind in the country.1239

Other organizations are also active in combating child labor in Nicaragua. Save the

Children is involved in teaching parents and employers about the detrimental effects of child

labor and assists working children to return to school.1240 In November 2000, UNICEF began

collaborating with the Nicaraguan Labor Ministry to conduct a national survey on street

children.1241

b. Educational Alternatives

The Nicaraguan Children and Adolescents Code establishes free primary education, and

school is compulsory through the sixth grade.1242 This provision, however, is generally not

enforced.1243 A Constitutional mandate requiring the government to utilize 6 percent of its budget

1236 IPEC, “Prevention and Progressive Elimination of Child Labor in the Coffee Industry in Nicaragua,” project

document (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 1999); see also unclassified telegram telegram no. 001775. 1237 Interview with ILO-IPEC by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 11, 2000 [hereinafter ILO-IPEC

interview].

1238 IPEC, “Prevention and Elimination of Child Labor in the Farming and Stockbreeding Sectors in the

Department of Chontales,” project document (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 1999).

1239 SIMPOC Program Document, Central America (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, Sept. 21, 1999). See also ILO-IPEC

interview.

1240 Unclassified telegram, 2/2718. 1241 UN Wire, “Nicaragua: Survey to Assess Number of Street Children,” November 15, 2000. 1242 Article 43 of the 1998 Nicaraguan Children and Adolescents Code. See also Country Reports 1999—

Nicaragua at Section 5. 1243 Country Reports 1999—Nicaragua at Section 5.
173

to fund higher education limits resources available for primary and secondary programs in the

country.1244

In 1993, the Government of Nicaragua and the World Bank launched a project to improve

basic education by enhancing infrastructure and training at the school level. The project was also

intended to increase school autonomy by devolving management to the local level while

increasing the Ministry of Education’s capacity to monitor schools and reducing costs of

education by providing textbooks and other inputs.1245

According to the Government of Nicaragua, by 1998 primary curriculum reform had been

implemented in approximately 98 percent of the country’s schools, and pre-school enrollment of

boys and girls in rural areas had reportedly increased.1246 Recently, the Ministry of Education

and other government and nongovernmental entities have taken measures to expand educational

opportunities, such as opening “extra-age” classrooms in urban elementary schools.1247 In

addition, the Ministry of Labor has undertaken a national campaign entitled, “Study First, Work

Later.”1248

In 1997, public spending on all education as a percentage of gross national product (GNP)

was 3.9 percent.1249 In that same year, government spending dedicated to primary education as a

percentage of GNP was approximately 2.2 percent.1250

1244 Ibid. 1245 “Nicaragua: Second Basic Education Project.” 1246 Nicaragua Supplementary Report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, March 19, 1999, 3. 1247 Elimination of Sexual Exploitation in the Bus Terminal of Leon at 2. 1248 Activities Realized to Eradicate Child Labor in Nicaragua at 10. 1249 World Development Indicators 2000. 1250 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics [CDROM], Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—A Decade of Education, Country Report, Nicaragua (Paris, 2000).
174

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1251

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader

a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1251 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
175

NIGERIA

1. Child Labor in Nigeria

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 24.6 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Nigeria were working.1252 In 1994, the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF) reported that approximately 24 percent (12 million) of all children

under the age of 16 worked.1253

Child labor is found predominately in the informal sector. In rural areas, children are

found working in agriculture and on family farms. They are seldom employed by state-owned

commercial agriculture plantations, which are responsible for much of the agricultural production

for export.1254 In cottage industries and mechanical workshops, children work as apprentices in

various crafts or trades such as weaving, tailoring, catering, hairdressing, and auto repair. 1255

In urban areas and towns children work on the streets as vendors, car washers, scavengers,

beggars, head-load carriers, feet-washers and bus conductors. 1256 In 1996, the Child Welfare

League reported that in Lagos alone there were 100,000 boys and girls living and working on

the streets.1257 In northern Nigeria, children, known as the almajirai, survive on the street by

begging.1258

Children in prostitution and trafficking of children are reported in Nigeria. According

to a 1998 report by the International Labor Organization (ILO), the incidence of child prostitution

has been growing.1259 A separate report revealed that 19 percent of the school children and

40 percent of the street children surveyed had been trafficked, and nearly all of the trafficked

children were economically active.1260 Trafficked children are employed in agriculture and

herding, and as domestic servants, sex workers, drug peddlers, hawkers, petty traders, beggars,

car washers, and bus conductors.1261

1252 World Development Indicators 2000. 1253 The Progress of Nigerian Children, UNICEF/Nigeria Federal Office of Statistics, 1995. 1254 U.S. Embassy-Lagos, unclassified telegram no. 003774, April 11, 1995 [hereinafter unclassified telegram no.

003774].

1255 U.S. Embassy-Lagos, unclassified telegram no. 002617, August 15, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

002617].

1256 Ibid. 1257 Child Welfare League of Nigeria, Alternative Report on the Implementation of CRC, submission to the CRC,

September-October 1996 [hereinafter Alternative Report], as cited in The Worst Forms of Child Labor: CountryWise Data October 2000 (New Delhi: The Global March Against Child Labour, 2000). 1258 Facsimile from Jon P. Dorschner, U.S. Embassy-Lagos, to U.S. Department of Labor official (April 21, 1995). 1259 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2001)

[hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Nigeria] at Section 6d. 1260 U.S. Embassy-Lagos, unclassified telegram no. 000569, February 18, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

000569].

1261 See Unclassified telegram 000569. See also “IPEC Summary of Individual Country Programs—Nigeria”

(Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 1999) [hereinafter “IPEC Summary of Individual Country Programs—Nigeria,” National

Program on the Elimination of Child Labour in Nigeria, project document.
176

Child traffickers take advantage of a cultural tradition of “fostering,” where a poor,

usually rural family sends a child to live and work with a family in an urban area for educational

and employment purposes. Often, children in these situations do not receive any formal

education. Instead, they are forced to serve as domestic servants, become street hawkers, or

engage in other activities, and many of them are vulnerable to physical and sexual abuse by their

guardians. There are also credible reports that poor families sell their daughters into marriage

under the guise of fostering as a means of supplementing their income.1262

Nigeria is a source, destination, and country of transit for trafficking of children. Children

are trafficked to and from Cameroon, Gabon, Benin, Equatorial Guinea, Togo and other West

African countries to work in agricultural enterprises, as domestic servants, or as prostitutes.

Trafficking of children has been particularly pronounced in eastern Nigeria and in some southern

states.1263 There are also reports of trafficking of children to non-African countries, such as to the

United States and Europe.1264

2. Children’s Participation in School

Recent primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Nigeria.1265 While enrollment

rates indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s

participation in school.1266 Gross primary school enrollment has declined in Nigeria from

approximately 86.2 percent in 1993 to 70.3 percent in 1996.1267 Dropout rates for both males and

females in primary school remained high, around 10 to 15 percent between 1990 and 1994 for

each level of education.1268 Only 64 percent of the students in primary school completed grade

five, and only 43.5 percent continued on to junior secondary school.1269

School quality has reportedly deteriorated in Nigeria, and recent school reforms have

been slow to take effect.1270 Teachers are not well trained and are poorly paid, making them less

motivated and contributing to poor or irregular school attendance among children.1271

1262 “IPEC Summary of Individual Country Programs—Nigeria.” 1263 Country Reports 2000—Nigeria at Section 6f. 1264 Ibid. 1265 In 1990, the gross primary attendance rate was 83.4 percent, and the net primary attendance rate was 54.4

percent. See USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 1266 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

1267 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics [CDROM], Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—A Decade of Education, Country Report, Nigeria (Paris, 2000)

[hereinafter Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Nigeria] . 1268 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Nigeria; see also Education for All (EFA) 2000, Country Report,

Nigeria [online] (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/country.html) [hereinafter EFA 2000].

1269 Ibid. 1270 Ibid. 1271 Ibid.
177

A bias frequently exists against girls’ education, particularly in rural and northern areas of

Nigeria. Only 42 percent of rural girls are enrolled in school compared with 72 percent of urban

girls.1272 In the north, girls are often withdrawn from school and placed into early marriages,

domestic and agricultural labor, or commercial activities such as trading and street vending.1273

In addition, there are reports that school-based gangs target girls, raping or killing them as part of

gang activity.1274

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Labor Act of 1974 prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15 in

commerce and industry and restricts labor performed by children to home-based agricultural or

domestic work.1275 The Labor Act of 1974 stipulates that children may not be employed in

agricultural or domestic work for more than eight hours per day, and that children under the age

of 12 cannot be required to lift or carry loads that are likely to harm their physical

development.1276 The Labor Act of 1974 also prohibits forced labor.1277

The Ministry of Labor and Productivity’s Inspections Department is responsible for

enforcing legal provisions relating to conditions of work and protection of workers.1278 There are,

however, fewer than 50 inspectors for the entire country, making it difficult for them to fulfill

these responsibilities.1279 Moreover, the Ministry conducts inspections only in the formal

business sector, although most child labor occurs in the country’s informal sector.1280

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

On August 8, 2000, the Government of Nigeria signed a Memorandum of Understanding

with the ILO, becoming a member of the ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of

Child Labor (ILO-IPEC). As part of efforts to address child labor in the country, the

Government of Nigeria and IPEC, with funding support of the U.S. Department of Labor

(USDOL), have launched a country program and established a National Steering Committee that

includes representatives from the government, labor, industry, and nongovernmental

organizations (NGOs). The steering committee is responsible for developing and overseeing

implementation of a national plan of action on child labor. In addition, Nigeria has carried out a

1272 Country Reports 2000—Nigeria at Section 5, 6f. 1273 Country Reports 2000—Nigeria; see also Alternative Report. 1274 Electronic correspondence from Women’s Health Organization of Nigeria to U.S. Department of Labor official

(December 16, 1999).

1275 Country Reports 2000—Nigeria at Section 6d. 1276 U.S. Embassy-Lagos, unclassified telegram no. 002617, August 15, 2000. 1277 Country Reports 2000—Nigeria at Section 6c. 1278 Ibid at Section 6d. 1279 Ibid. 1280 Ibid.
178

national child labor survey with technical support from ILO-IPEC’s Statistical Information and

Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC) and funding from USDOL.1281

Nigeria is also active in an ILO-IPEC regional project, funded by USDOL, to combat

trafficking of children for labor exploitation in West and Central Africa. The first phase of the

project involved an assessment of the trafficking problem in nine African countries, including

Nigeria, and workshops at the national and regional level to review country-level findings.

A national plan of action to combat trafficking in Nigeria has been developed by the Federal

Ministry of Women Affairs and Youth Development with support from ILO-IPEC and the

UNICEF.1282 In July 2001, a second phase of the project began focusing on direct action to assist

children who are victims of trafficking, raising awareness, strengthening local capacity to address

the problem, and enhancing regional cooperation to address trafficking.1283

UNICEF has established a series of programs for street children in Nigeria and launched a

collaborative project with ILO-IPEC specifically aiding the almajirai children.1284 The United

Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) funded a study on street

children in 1995, which was implemented by the Child Life Line, a local NGO. The Child Life

Line opened centers to rehabilitate street children in Lagos based upon its findings, and in 1999,

hosted a workshop to help other NGOs set up effective street children focused programs.1285

Many other NGOs, such as the Child Project, Galilee Foundation, Kingi Kids, the Friends of the

Disabled, and the Samaritans are also involved in efforts to rescue and rehabilitate street

children.1286

b. Educational Alternatives

In September 1999, the president of Nigeria launched the new Universal Basic Education

plan that requires the first nine years of schooling to be free and compulsory.1287 The plan aims

to improve the relevance, efficiency, and quality of schools and to create programs to address the

basic education needs of nomadic and out-of-school children, youth and adults. 1288 In its 2000

budget, the Government of Nigeria budgeted 46 billion naira (US$460 million) to support this

plan.1289

The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare has worked in collaboration

with UNICEF and the Centre for Non-Formal Education and Training (CENFET) on a non1281 “IPEC Summary of Individual Country Programs—Nigeria.” 1282 Ibid. 1283 “Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labor Exploitation in West and Central Africa (Phase II),” Project

Document (ILO-IPEC, 2000), 3-4.

1284 “IPEC Summary of Individual Country Programs—Nigeria.” 1285 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Nigeria; see also EFA 2000). 1286 EFA 2000 at Section 12.2.9, “Rescuing, Rehabilitation and Returning Street Children” (www2.unesco.org/wef/

countryreports/nigeria/rapport_3_1.html); cited October 30, 2001.

1287 “IPEC Summary of Individual Country Programs—Nigeria”; see also EFA 2000. 1288 Ibid. 1289 Felix Machi Njoku, “Nigeria Initiates an Ambitious Literacy Program,” Pan-African News, Johannesburg,

December 8, 1999.
179

formal education curriculum for girls, children without access to school, and school dropouts,

particularly those from Koranic schools where girls account for 60 percent of all dropouts.1290

These efforts have contributed to an increase in enrollment, particularly among girls, and

enhanced opportunities for non-formal and nomadic education.1291 In a pilot project in Sokoto

state in Northern Nigeria, enrollment in basic education rose from 914 pupils in 1996 to 115,525

pupils in 2000, of which 73,291 had passed their exams.1292 The project recorded a less than 0.2

percent dropout rate, with fewer girls dropping out than boys.1293

From 1989 to 1995, public spending on education as a percentage of gross national

product (GNP) in Nigeria has ranged from 0.5 percent to 1.0 percent.1294

1290 Country Reports 2000—Nigeria at Section 5. 1291 ILO-IPEC, “National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour in Nigeria,” 1999, 3. See also Country

Reports 1999—Nigeria at Section 5. 1292 “IPEC Summary of Individual Country Programs—Nigeria.” 1293 Ibid. See also Country Reports 1999—Nigeria. 1294 World Development Indicators 2000.
180

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending

on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1295

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1295 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
181

PAKISTAN

1. Child Labor in Pakistan

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 16.3 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Pakistan were working.1296 According to a 1996

national child labor survey conducted by Pakistan’s Federal Bureau of Statistics, an estimated 8.1

percent (3.2 million) of children between the ages of 5 and 14 were economically active, with 46

percent of working children active beyond the standard 35-hour work week. Boys accounted for

73 percent (2.4 million) of working children in this age group, and girls accounted for 27 percent

(0.8 million) of working children in the same age group.1297 The survey further revealed that

children in rural areas were eight times more likely to be economically active than those in urban

areas.1298 The 1997-98 national labor force survey found that 13 percent of children 10 to 14

years of age worked.1299

Based on the 1996 national child labor survey, a majority (71 percent) of working

children in Pakistan were involved in unskilled occupations.1300 More than two-thirds of the

working children (67 percent) are engaged in the agricultural sector, and about one in 10 (11

percent) worked in manufacturing. Overall, about 70 percent of working children are unpaid

family helpers (75 percent in rural areas but under 33 percent in urban areas). Thirteen percent of

the children worked 56 or more hours per week, and about 7 percent suffered from frequent

illnesses or injuries.1301

1296 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 1297 Government of Pakistan, Child Labour Survey 1996: Excerpt from Main Report, vol. 1, 1996, Summary

Results and Tables at 3, 7 (www.statpak.gov.pk/Childlab2.doc) [hereinafter Child Labour Survey 1996].

1298 Of the 3.3 million working children, 1.94 million worked in Punjab Province (8.6 percent of the province’s 5–

14-year-olds), 0.30 million in Sindh Province (3.5 percent), 1.06 million in the North West Frontier Province (15.8

percent), and 0.01 million in Balochistan (0.5 percent), Tables 7 and 8. The survey was conducted with assistance

from the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC).

See International Labor Organization, “IPEC in Action: Asia, ILO-IPEC Programme in Pakistan” at www.ilo.org/

public/english/standards/ipec/action/31asia/pakist98.htm; cited June 16, 2000 [hereinafter “IPEC in Action”]. See

also Child Labour Survey 1996 at 4. 1299 Labour Force Survey 1997-98 (Karachi: Government of Pakistan, Federal Bureau of Statistics, Statistics

Division, June 2000), Statistical Appendix Table 6 at 112. Children aged 10 to14 years accounted for about 18

percent of the nation’s total population, 2.4 percent of its total labor force, and 2.1 percent of all employed persons.

Table 5, 97.

1300 Child Labor Survey 1996 at 4. Elementary (unskilled) occupations includes sales and services; agricultural,

fishery, and related laborers; and laborers in mining, construction, manufacturing, and transport. See S. M. Younus

Jafri, “Nature and Extent of Child Labour in Pakistan,” paper presented at the seminar “Elimination and

Rehabilitation of Child Labour Especially from the Exportable,” Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry and

the German Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, Lahore, Pakistan, January 5, 1996, 6 [hereinafter“Nature and Extent of Child

Labour in Pakistan”].

1301 Most of the illnesses and injuries suffered by working children (71 percent) were in the agricultural sector,

followed by mining, construction, manufacturing, and transport. See “Nature and Extent of Child Labour in

Pakistan” at 6-9.
182

Children in Pakistan are reportedly involved in many of the worst forms of child labor.

Reports indicate that children are trafficked to the Middle East for purposes of sexual

exploitation, bonded labor, and domestic service.1302 Young boys are kidnapped and trafficked to

the Gulf States to work as camel jockeys.1303 There are also reports that some children and their

families suffer under a system of debt bondage in the brick kilns industry.1304 Children engage in

garbage scavenging and carpet weaving, and are used in the smuggling of contraband and drugs.

However, there is little reliable evidence on the magnitude or extent of children’s involvement in

these informal sector and/or illegal activities.1305

A 1996 Punjab Labor Department child labor survey of the soccer ball and surgical

instruments industries in Sialkot found that children accounted for 17 percent (7,000 working

children) of all workers engaged in the area’s soccer ball manufacturing and 31 percent (7,700

working children) of all workers engaged in the manufacture of surgical instruments in

Sialkot.1306 A 1998 child labor area/sector survey by the same agency found that children

accounted for 16 percent (2,740 working children) of workers in Sialkot’s brick manufacturing,

60 percent (5,221 working children) of those in Sialkot’s automobile workshops, 27 percent (123

working children) of workers in the Baghbanpura’s (an area of Lahore) steel furnaces and spare

parts manufacturing, and 7 percent (167 working children) of those engaged in Kasur’s tanneries.

In 1999, the Punjab Labor Department found 2,100 children working in Faisalabad’s textile

power looms (5 percent of all workers) and 3,378 working children in automobile workshops in

Lahore (18 percent of all workers).1307

1302 Department of State, Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report

(Washington, D.C., 2000), 92.

1303 Ibid. 1304 Kevin Bales, Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy (Berkeley and Los Angeles: University

of California Press, 1999), 150-71. The bonded labor system consists of an employer or creditor providing a cash

advance or loan (called peshgi) to a worker, with the workers’ labor being held as collateral for the loan. The

worker (debtor) is obligated (bound) to work for his or her employer or creditor until the debt is completely paid.

In some cases, the debts of bonded workers are “sold” by their employer or creditor to another employer, and the

workers’ obligations are passed from one creditor to another. Children can also “inherit” debt from deceased

parents. See also All Pakistan Federation of Labour (APFOL), Bonded Brick Kiln Workers: 1989 Supreme Court

Judgement and After (Rawalpindi: APFOL, 1998) for more information on bonded labor in Pakistan. 1305 Interview with Dr. Zafar Mueen Nasir, senior research economist, Pakistan Institute of Development

Economics, by U.S. Department of Labor official, July 24, 2000.

1306 Activities for 1998: Surveys of Child Labour (www.dolpunjab.gov.pak/r4.htm); cited July 6, 2000.

In 1996 the United States partially removed Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) trade benefits from Pakistan

due to child labor concerns in three sectors: surgical instruments, sporting goods, and specific hand-knotted carpets;

see Kantor Recommends Partial GSP Suspension of Pakistan, press release 96-21 (Washington, D.C.: Executive

Office of the President, Office of the United States Trade Representative, March 7, 1996). Since the 1996 Punjab

Labor Department survey was taken, significant efforts have been under way to reduce the incidence of child labor

in the soccer ball industry (www.ustr.gov/releases/1996/03/96-21.html).

1307 Ibid.
183

2. Children’s Participation in School

Recent primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Pakistan.1308 While enrollment

rates indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s

participation in school.1309 Over the decade of the 1990s, school enrollment increased for all

grade levels in Pakistan, as did the percentage of females enrolling in school.1310 In the mid1990s, gross enrollment rates were 70 percent at the primary level, 47 percent at the middle level,

and 42 percent at the upper level. They were higher in urban areas than in rural areas, and higher

for males than females. Sizable differences between gross and net enrollment rates are indicative

of late or postponed school entry and/or repeating a class level.1311

There are significant differences between children’s participation in schooling in rural

areas versus urban areas. The percentage of children from 5 to 19 years of age in rural areas that

have never attended school (43 percent overall) was about double that for urban areas (21 percent

overall).1312 Similarly, rural dropout rates for children 15 to 19 years of age were more than

double those for urban areas.1313 In general, rates for primary school completion were higher for

males than for females and higher for urban areas than for rural areas.1314

In the mid-1990s, a substantial proportion (30 to 52 percent depending on their age) of 7-

to 15-year-olds had fallen one school year behind what was considered normal for their age. The

percentage of school dropouts increased after age 8. Also, about one-third of children ages 8 to

15 never attended school.1315

Generally, school costs rise substantially from the primary level to post-secondary

education. Non-fee expenses, which include uniforms, books and supplies, transportation, and

other related expenses, may be a factor that prevents some poor families from sending their

children to school.1316

1308 Between the years of 1990 and 1991, the gross primary attendance rate was 81.9 percent, and the net primary

attendance rate was 47 percent. See USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington,

D.C., 2000.

1309 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

1310 Central Bureau of Education, Provincial Bureaus of Statistics, and Academy for Educational Planning and

Management, in Pakistan Statistical Year Book 2000 (Islamabad: Government of Pakistan, Federal Bureau of

Statistics, Statistics Division, April 2000), 374, Table 14.3.

1311 Pakistan Integrated Household Survey, Round 2: 1996-97, second edition (Islamabad: Government of Pakistan,

Federal Bureau of Statistics, September 1999), Tables 2.6, 2.7, 2.27, 2.28, 2.31, and 2.32 [hereinafter Pakistan

Integrated Household Survey]. 1312 Education Sector Performance in the 1990s: Analysis from the Pakistan Integrated Household Survey (PIHS)

(Islamabad: Government of Pakistan, Federal Bureau of Statistics, February 1998), Table 4.4, 27 [hereinafter

Education Sector Performance in the 1990s]. 1313 Pakistan Integrated Household Survey at Table 2.17. 1314 Ibid. at Table 2.5. 1315 Education Sector Performance in the 1990s at 28-29. 1316 Pakistan Integrated Household Survey at Table 2.15, 16.
184

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Many of Pakistan’s laws on child labor date back to British colonial times and, for the

most part, prohibit the employment of children below a specified age in certain economic sectors

(i.e., manufacturing, trade and services, transportation, mining, and marine shipping), but not in

agriculture (except for tea plantations) or small shops and family-run enterprises in the informal

sector. Child labor legislation introduced and implemented since independence has focused on

prohibiting child labor in specified occupations and processes involving hazardous or dangerous

operations.

For the purposes of most child labor legislation in Pakistan, a “child” is defined as a

person under 14 years of age while “adolescents” are persons between 14 and 18 years of age.1317

The Employment of Children Act of 1991 prohibits the employment of children less than 14

years of age in certain specified occupations and processes that are dangerous or hazardous to the

health of workers, but excludes children employed in family operations and governmentrecognized schools. 1318 The act regulates the hours of work for children and adolescents to no

more than seven hours of work per day and bans work after 7 p.m. and overtime work.

Employers are required to maintain a register of child workers, and various safety provisions for

children are stipulated. Penalties under the act include terms of imprisonment and fines, or both:

up to one year and/or up to 20,000 rupees (US$327) for a person who employs a child in a

prohibited occupation or process and up to one month and/or up to 10,000 rupees (US$164) for

person failing to comply with child worker registration and notice posting requirements.1319 The

Children (Pledging of Labor) Act of 1933 voids all agreements allowing the labor of children less

than 15 years of age in any employment in return for any payment or benefits.1320

Other laws restricting the employment of children include: The Constitution of the

Islamic Republic of Pakistan of 1973; The Tea Plantations Labor Ordinance of 1962; The Mines

1317 Under section 19 of the Employment of Children Act 1991 (Act No. V), the definition of “child” in the Mines

Act 1923, the Factories Act 1934, the West Pakistan Shops and Establishment Ordinance 1969, were “deemed to

have been amended.” While generally raising the penalties for child labor violations under these acts and

ordinances, an effect of the 1991 act was to lower the age of a child from 15 years to 14 years. See Report of the

Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, “Individual Observation: Pakistan,

Convention No. 59, Minimum Age (Industry) (Revised), 1937” (Geneva: International Labour Conference, 1999),

which is available on the Internet at: (http://natlex.ilo.org/scripts/laborlex.exe?&lang=E&docno=4493&chap=6).

1318 Prohibited occupations are related to railway transport, including work related to operations and servicing

railway stations and premises, port authorities, and selling of fireworks. Processes prohibited for children are the

making of bidis; carpet-weaving; cement manufacture and bagging; cloth weaving, dyeing, and printing;

manufacture of matches, explosives, and fireworks; mica-cutting and splitting; shellac manufacture; soap

manufacture; tanning; wool-cleaning; building and construction industry; manufacture and packing of slate pencils;

manufacture of products from agate; and manufacturing processes using toxic metals and substances such as lead,

mercury, manganese, chromium, cadmium, benzene, pesticides, or asbestos. The Employment of Children Act of

1991 (Act. No. V), Section 3, Schedules Part I – II, as cited in Child Labor: The Legal Aspects at 183-96. 1319 The Employment of Children Act of 1991 (Act. No. V), as cited in Anees Jillani, Child Labor: The Legal

Aspects, vol. II (Islamabad: Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, October 1997), 183-196. 1320 The Children (Pledging of Labor) Act of 1933 (Act. No. II), as cited in Child Labor: The Legal Aspects at

180-82.
185

Act of 1923; The Factories Act of 1934; West Pakistan Shops and Establishments Ordinance of

1969; Road Transport Workers Ordinance 1961; and the Merchant Shipping Act of 1923.1321

The Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act of 1992 abolished the bonded labor system

and terminated all obligations of a bonded laborer to repay any bonded debt or any remaining part

of an unsatisfied bonded debt and prohibited creditors from accepting any payment against any

bonded debt. It also provided rules for enforcement by provincial governments, the

establishment of Vigilance Committees to ensure enforcement, and the establishment of a fund

for the rehabilitation and welfare of freed bonded laborers. Penalties under this act include fines

and terms of imprisonment.1322

While no law in Pakistan prohibits child prostitution on the grounds of child labor,

prostitution is generally prohibited under the country’s criminal laws on a moral and social basis,

with severe punishments for those convicted under the laws.1323

Although basic legislation is in place to address many child labor issues, there are

concerns about the implementation and enforcement. The Punjab Labor Department has found

that the district-level Vigilance Committees, established under the Bonded Labor System

(Abolition) Act of 1992 to advise the district administration on the law and to assist in the

rehabilitation of freed bonded laborers, have not performed well.1324

Some limited aggregated data on enforcement (number of inspections, prosecutions, and

convictions and rupee amount of fines imposed) of child labor-related legislation have been

published for Punjab Province. These data reflect an almost fivefold increase in inspections from

1998 to 1999. In 1999, almost 120,000 inspections were conducted, resulting in over 6,000

prosecutions and more than 3,000 convictions. The average fine imposed was 158 rupees

(US$2.70).1325

The Government of Pakistan ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention

No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on October 11, 2001.1326

1321 The text of the laws are printed in Anees Jillani, Child Labor: The Legal Aspects, vol. 2 (Islamabad, Pakistan:

Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child, October 1997) [hereinafter Child Labor: The Legal Aspects.] 1322 The Bonded Labor System (Abolition) Act of 1992 (Act. No. III), as cited in Child Labor: The Legal Aspects at

167-79.

1323 Child Labor: The Legal Aspects at 130. 1324 “Performance of the Vigilance Committees,” Department of Labour, Government of the Punjab

(www.dolpunjab.gov.pk/r10.htm); cited July 6, 2000.

1325 Government of Pakistan, Ministry of Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, Child Labour Unit, The

Future: News Magazine on Child Labour, vol. 2, no. 8 / vol. 3, no. 9 (Islamabad, October 1999-May 2000), 32 and

“International and National Laws Related to Child Labour,” Enforcement of Child Labour Related Legislations,

1996-April 1999, Labor Department, Government of Punjab (http://www.dolpunjab.gov.pk/r2.htm); cited July 6,

2000.

1326 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.
186

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

Pakistan signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the ILO’s International

Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) in 1994 that articulated the government’s

political commitment against child labor.1327 Pursuant to the MOU, Pakistan developed an action

plan formalizing activities against child labor and seeking to coordinate efforts by the

government, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), trade unions, employers’ organizations,

and other bodies. In March 1998, the government established a Task Force on Child Labour that

was mandated to formulate policies and strategies for the elimination of child and bonded labor in

Pakistan.1328

In May 2000, the Federal Cabinet approved the National Policy and Action Plan to

Combat Child Labour, which was developed after national consultations by the Task Force on

Child Labour.1329 The National Action Plan is based on an integrated approach at the federal,

provincial, district, and local level, with short-term strategies of awareness raising, community

mobilization, situational analysis, monitoring and evaluation, and withdrawal of children from

exploitative child labor on a priority basis, with the immediate eradication of the worst forms of

child labor. The long-term objectives include achievement of universal primary education, full

implementation of the law, empowerment of families, poverty alleviation, capacity building of

relevant Ministries/Departments and expansion of the social safety net.1330 It also calls for

immediate withdrawal and rehabilitation of children from hazardous and exploitative situations.

The strategy notes that girls are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, and lists forced labor,

including debt bondage, and work in illicit activities among the worst forms of child labor.1331

Pakistan Bait-ul-Mal, a government welfare agency created in 1992, 1332 since has opened

a total of 33 centers throughout the country for the rehabilitation of former working children,

each with an initial capacity of 60 children. The rehabilitation centers target children (aged 8 to

14) who have been exposed to hazardous and exploitative labor, providing them with training and

stipends to children and their families. Students who graduate from the centers are guaranteed

full assistance if they want to continue their higher education at any level within or outside the

country.1333

In addition to the National Policy and Action Plan to Combat Child Labour in Pakistan,

NGOs and organized labor federations in Pakistan have adopted similar policies, strategies, and

1327 Initially, the Memorandum of Understanding was valid until the end of 1996, but it was extended until the end

of 2001.

1328 National Policy and Action Plan to Combat Child Labour (Islamabad: Government of Pakistan, Ministry of

Labour, Manpower and Overseas Pakistanis, Child Labour Unit, May 2000), 9 [hereinafter National Policy and

Action Plan]. 1329 Ibid. at 7, 11. 1330 Ibid. at 11. 1331 Ibid. at 19-20. 1332 “IPEC in Action” (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/action/31asia/pakist98.htm); cited June 16, 2000. 1333 National Policy and Action Plan at 45.
187

plans of action to address the issue of child labor in the country.1334 In collaboration with

Pakistani NGOs, ILO-IPEC has engaged in several major projects to remove and rehabilitate

child workers in Pakistan from hazardous and exploitative work. A U.S. Department of Labor

(USDOL)-funded ILO-IPEC project in the soccer ball industry of Sialkot removed over 6,000

children from stitching balls by placing them in educational centers, and through registered

workplaces and community monitoring, the project has ensured that no new children are engaged

in stitching.1335 In Punjab province, another USDOL-funded ILO-IPEC project aims to provide

10,000 child carpet weavers and their younger siblings with educational opportunities.1336 Efforts

are also under way to address the issue of child/bonded labor and children working in the surgical

instruments.1337

Various surveys to determine the magnitude of child labor have been conducted in

Pakistan. In 1996, the Federal Bureau of Statistics with support from ILO-IPEC conducted a

national survey on child labor.1338 In addition, surveys were conducted by the Government of the

Punjab in 1998-99 which examined child labor in different enterprises and occupations within the

province.1339 To date, reliable statistics on the numbers of bonded child laborers have not been

collected.1340

b. Educational Alternatives

Two of the four provinces of Pakistan currently have compulsory primary education laws

in force. In December 1994, the Punjab Assembly passed the Punjab Compulsory Primary

Education Act of 1994. The act makes primary education (Classes I-V) compulsory throughout

the province. In October 1996, the Government of the North-West Frontier Province (NWFP)

passed the NWFP Compulsory Primary Education Act 1996, which introduced compulsory

primary education in the province.1341

In its national strategy to combat child labor, the Government of Pakistan set a goal of 90

percent enrollment in primary schools by 2002-2003, and projected that compulsory primary

education could be feasible by 2004-2005. The government’s policy also emphasized vocational

training and technical education, as well as the creation of literacy programs for school dropouts

and new programs targeted to working children.1342

1334 For a summary of these initiatives, see National Policy and Action Plan at 40-43. 1335 “Elimination of Child Labour in the Soccer Ball Industry in Sialkot (Phase II),” (ILO-IPEC: Geneva, 2000), 7. 1336 “Combating Child Labor in the Carpet Industry in Pakistan” (ILO-IPEC: Geneva, 1999), Section 3. 1337 “IPEC in Action” (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/action/31asia/pakist98.htm). 1338 Child Labour Survey 1996. 1339 National Policy and Action Plan at 16. 1340 International Labor Organization, International Labor Conference, 88th Session, 2000, Report of the Committee

of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations, General Report and Observations Concerning

Particular Countries, Report III (Part 1A) (Geneva: International Labor Office, 2000), 113-14. Also available on

the ILO’s ILOLEX database at http://natlex.ilo.org/scripts/laborlex.exe?&lang=E&docno=4997&chap=6.

1341 Anees Jillani and Zarina Jillani, Child Rights in Pakistan (Islamabad: Society for the Protection of the Rights of

the Child/Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung, January 2000), 125-27. The West Pakistan Primary Education Ordinance

was enacted in 1962 but never came into force by proper ratification of the law. The Ordinance was replaced by the

1994 Compulsory Primary Education Act.

1342 National Policy and Action Plan at 18.
188

The percentage of the federal budget spend on education has been declining, from 1.2

percent in fiscal year 1995 to 1 percent in 1999. Expenditures on education at the provincial level

were 26 percent of the total spending in 1995 and 29 percent in fiscal year 1999.1343

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1344

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1343 Federal data: Federal Government Budget Publication, as cited in Federal Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan

Statistical Year Book 2000 (Islamabad: Government of Pakistan, Federal Bureau of Statistics, Statistics Division,

April 2000), Table 11.2, 306-7; provincial data: Annual Budget Statements of the Provincial Governments, as cited

in Federal Bureau of Statistics, Pakistan Statistical Year Book 2000 (Islamabad: Government of Pakistan, Federal

Bureau of Statistics, Statistics Division, April 2000) Table 11.6, 316-317. In their book on child rights in Pakistan,

Jillani and Jillani observe that the budget for education is both inadequate and misused, so that Pakistan compares

poorly to other countries in the region and spends a disproportionate amount of its education funding on higher

education at the expense of primary schooling. Anees Jillani and Zarina Jillani, Child Rights in Pakistan (Islamabad:

Society for the Protection of the Rights of the Child/Friedrich-Naumann-Stiftung, January 2000), 128-29.

1344 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box, and Appendix B for

further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
189

PANAMA

1. Child Labor in Panama

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 2.9 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 in Panama were working.1345 In 1994, the Government of Panama

reported that 4.5 percent (12,603) of children between the ages of 10 and 14, and 9 percent

(47,692) of children between the ages of 10 and 17 were economically active.1346

More than 60 percent of children who work in Panama are employed in the agricultural

sector.1347 Agricultural work by children, especially among the indigenous population, is

sometimes dismissed as traditional and part of local culture.1348 Children working in agriculture is

particularly common during harvesting periods for crops like sugar cane, coffee, and

tomatoes.1349 On plantations, farm workers are paid according to the amount they harvest, which

encourages parents to bring their children with them to the fields to increase their overall output.

In many rural communities, the lack of day-care possibilities result in entire families participating

in the harvest. Many children are also involved in subsistence farming1350 or work alongside their

families on fields owned by independent producers where there is less scrutiny of child labor.1351

Children in Panama also work as domestic servants and in the urban informal sector.

Sixty-nine percent (5,896) of economically active girls between the ages of 10 and 17 are

employed in domestic work. 1352 A Ministry of Women, Youth, Family, and Childhood survey

found some 50,000 children and adolescents working on the streets of Panama’s towns and

cities.1353 Juvenile delinquency rates among these children working tend to be high. A 1998

study of Panama’s juvenile detention centers found that the vast majority of detainees had been

working as street vendors, car washers, and supermarket packers when they were arrested for

delinquency. Children also perform personal errands for staff and customers, which sometimes

leads to participation in criminal activities.1354

1345 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 1346 Condición del trabajo infantil y juvenil en los cañaverales de las Provincias Coclé y Veraguas (Panama City:

Comisión de los Asuntos de la Mujer, Derechos del Nino, La Juventud y la Familia, 2000), 14 [hereinafter

Condición del trabajo infantil y juvenil]. 1347 Condición del trabajo infantil y juvenil at 16. 1348 U.S. Embassy-Panama, unclassified telegram no. 001934, May 18, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

001934].

1349 Country Reports 2000—Panama at Section 6d. 1350 Ibid. at Section 6d. 1351 Independent producers sell their products to the bigger plantations or producers. Prominent government

officials have called children working as sugar cane cutters a “cultural phenomenon.” Unclassified telegram no.

001934. See Also Condición del trabajo infantil y juvenil at 14. 1352 Ibid. 1353 “Programas y proyectos contra el trabajo infantil” (Panama City: Ministerio de la Juventud, la Mujer, la Niñez y

la Familia, 2000), 2 [hereinafter “Programas y proyectos contra el trabajo infantil”].

1354 Unclassified telegram 001934.
190

Commercial sexual exploitation has become a growing problem in Panama.1355 While

prostitution is legal in Panama, child prostitution and child pornography are not.1356

2. Children’s Participation in School

Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Panama. While enrollment rates

indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in

school.1357 In 1996, the gross primary enrollment rate was 105.5 percent, and the net primary

enrollment rate was 89.8 percent.1358 Ten percent (35,819) of primary school age children were

not enrolled in school in 1997.1359 Nationwide, 78 percent of children reached the fifth grade; in

remote provinces, only 51 percent did so.1360 A Panamanian government study estimated that 80

percent of working children between the ages of 10 and 14 drop out of school.1361

Matriculation fees and indirect costs such as uniforms, books, and school supplies, make

schooling inaccessible for poor families.1362 Lack of transportation and other barriers to access

make school attendance less likely in remote and rural areas, where over 80 percent of school age

children do not attend school during the harvesting season.1363 Language can represent an

additional barrier to pursuing an education for children of the indigenous population, who often

do not speak Spanish as their first language.1364

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Constitution of Panama (Article 66), the Labor Code (Article 117), and the Family

Code (Articles 510-13) establish parameters for employing children between the ages of 14 and

1355 Concluding Observations of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights: Panama. E/C.12/1/

Add.64 (Geneva: United Nations Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights 2001). A recent report on a

Spanish television channel highlighted a network of child prostitution that operates in the capital. According to

local authorities, this report will serve as a basis for a police investigation. The report also indicated that the

network included prominent political figures among its clients. “Autoridades investigaran prostitucion infantil en

Panama,” CNN en Espanol, June 21, 2000 (www.cnnespanol.com/2000/ latin/PAN/06/21/panama/index.html). 1356 U.S. Embassy-Panama, unclassified telegram no. 3133, August 11, 2000, [hereinafter unclassified telegram 3133]. 1357 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

1358 World Development Indicators 2000. 1359 Ibid. 1360 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics,

Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment, Country Report, Panama (Paris, 2000) [hereinafter Education for All:

Year 2000 Assessment—Panama]. According to the same source, 90 percent of school-aged children defined as

poor in 1997 were in primary school, 91 percent of these Panamanian children were from among the urban poor, 91

percent rural poor, and 83 percent children of indigenous origin. In 1997, 37 percent of school-aged poor children

were in secondary school, and 16 percent of these children were of indigenous origin.

1361 “Programas y proyectos contra el trabajo infantil” at 2. 1362 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Panama. 1363 “Programas y proyectos contra el trabajo infantil” at 8. 1364 Interview with Robert Siberski, U.S. Embassy-Panama, by U.S. Department of Labor official, October 25, 2000.
191

18.1365 Article 117 of the Labor Code prohibits the employment of minors younger than 14 years

of age, as well as those younger than 15 who have not completed primary school.1366 Article 716

of the Family Code, however, permits minors between the ages of 12 and 14 to perform farm or

domestic labor as long as the work is light and does not interfere with schooling.1367

According to Article 118 of the Labor Code, minors under the age of 18 are prohibited

from working in nightclubs, bars, or other places where the consumption of alcoholic beverages

is allowed, as well as in other sectors such as transportation and energy, underground work, and

the handling of explosives and flammables.1368 With the exception of work in nightclubs, these

provisions may be waived if a minor performs the job as part of vocational training and work is

conducted under adult supervision.1369 Children younger than 16 may work no more than six

hours a day, and children under 18 may work no more than seven hours a day. Furthermore,

minors under the age of 18 may not do night work.1370

Prostitution is legal in Panama. However, Article 501 of the Family Code and Article

215C of the Penal Code criminalize child prostitution and child pornography for minors.1371

According to Article 226 of the Penal Code, facilitating the seduction of a minor or engaging in

or witnessing a lewd act is punishable by two to four years imprisonment, and this penalty can be

increased if profit, deceit or other circumstances compound the gravity of the crime, or if the

victim is under the age of 12. Facilitating the prostitution of a female under 12 or a male under

14 is punishable by imprisonment for three to five years.1372

The judicial authorities charged with overseeing the protection and care of minors are the

Superior Tribunal for Minors and the Superior Tribunal for Families. The Ministry of Youth,

Women, Children and Family Affairs investigates cases of abuse against children, proposes and

reviews laws, and monitors government performance in regard to children’s issues. The Ministry

of Labor also enforces child labor provisions by responding to complaints and has the authority to

order the termination of unauthorized employment.1373

The Government of Panama is unable to enforce child labor provisions in rural areas and

in many informal sector industries, particularly isolated border areas, due to insufficient staff.1374

Child labor on coffee and banana plantations near Panama’s border with Costa Rica often

receives little attention.1375

1365 Condición del trabajo infantil y juvenil at 38. Article 489 of the Family Code establishes protection from

exploitative labor and labor that would endanger the physical, mental, or moral health of minors or impede a child’s

access to education as a fundamental right of Panama’s children.

1366 Ibid. at 36. 1367 Ibid. 1368 Government of Panama, Labor Code, Employment of Minors, Article 118, Sections 1-6. 1369 Condición del trabajo infantil y juvenil at 36. 1370 Ibid. at 41. 1371 Unclassified telegram 3133. 1372 Laura J. Lederer, “Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Women and Children: A Human Rights Report,

Panama” (Washington, D.C.: The Protection Project, January 2001), 2.

1373 Country Reports 2000—Panama at Sections 5, 6d. 1374 Ibid. at Section 5. 1375 Unclassified telegram 001934.
192

On October 31, 2000, the Government of Panama ratified International Labor

Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Work Age and ILO Convention No.

182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor.1376 Panama has also ratified the Optional Protocols to

the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child

Pornography, and on the Rights of the Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed

Conflict.1377

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

The Government of Panama and ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child

Labor (ILO-IPEC) signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 1996. The Ministry of Women,

Youth, Family, and Childhood has taken the lead in designing and implementing projects

responding to child labor. The Ministry has proposed Training and Assistance Centers for

children living in urban areas such as Panama City and Colón, and for those living in the rural

areas including Chiriquí, Veraguas, and Coclé.1378

The Committee for the Eradication of Child Labor, established by executive decree in

July 1999 was retained by the administration elected in 2000 and operates under the guidance of

the First Lady’s Office. The Panamanian Government is receiving technical assistance from

ILO-IPEC in organizing the committee. The government sent teams into the coffee fields to

investigate the child labor, and ILO-IPEC, with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor

(USDOL), is supporting baseline surveys in the sugar cane and coffee sectors of Panama.1379

A National Child Labor Survey, which is also being funded by USDOL, is being

conducted in Panama as part of ILO-IPEC’s Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on

Child Labor (SIMPOC).1380

b. Educational Alternatives

In Panama, education is compulsory through the ninth grade, and between the ages of 6

and 15.1381 As a member of the Education for All initiative, the Government of Panama has been

1376 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1377 For a full list of countries that have ratified Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on

the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, see (www.unicef.org/crc/opsx-tableweb.htm). For

a full list of countries that have ratified Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the

Involvement of Children in Armed Conflict, see (www.unicef.org/crc/opcac-tableweb.htm). 1378 “Programas y proyectos contra el trabajo infantil” at 10-19. 1379 IPEC, Preparation and Design of IPEC Project Documents: USDOL Budget FY 2001, project document

(Geneva: ILO-IPEC, January 2001).

1380 IPEC, Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor in Central America, project document

(Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 1999).

1381 Country Reports 2000—Panama at Section 5. See Also Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Panama.
193

focusing on improving the quality and accessibility of primary education. The government is in

the process of developing a new curriculum for basic education and conducting evaluations of a

series of basic education pilot programs to determine what strategies to adopt for the national

education programs.1382 The government is also working to increase access to education for the

poor, particularly in rural areas and within the indigenous population.1383

The World Bank has approved a US$35 million loan to improve the quality of basic

education in Panama. The funds will be used to upgrade, expand and rehabilitate run-down or

inadequate school buildings to accommodate a growing number of students in primary and

secondary school. They are expected to benefit about 60 percent of Panama’s children attending

primary and secondary school, primarily children living in remote and poor areas.1384

Government spending on education in 1996 amounted to 5.3 percent of gross national

product (GNP), and accounted for approximately 21 percent of all government spending.1385

1382 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Panama. 1383 Ibid. 1384 “World Bank Supports Better Education for Panama’s Rural and Indigenous Children,” press release no. 2000/

054/LAC, Washington, D.C., September 8, 2000.

1385 UNESCO, World Education Report 2000: The Right to Education—Towards Education for All throughout Life,

June 27, 2000 (www.unesco.org/education/highlights/wer/wholewer.pdf).
194

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1386

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1386 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
195

PERU

1. Child Labor in Peru

In 1999, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 5.5 percent (100,634)

of children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Peru were working.1387 Slightly less than half of

these working children were boys (46,921), while girls accounted for just more than half of

working children in this age group (53,712).1388 In 1999, approximately 44 percent (804,700) of

children between the ages of 15 and 19 were economically active.1389

Some children and adolescents work either in formally established enterprises or as

unpaid workers at home.1390 The majority of working children are active in the country’s

informal economy, which accounts for nearly 50 percent of the country’s economic output.1391

The informal sector escapes government oversight of wages and working conditions, and

government supervision of children and adolescents in this sector is scarce to nonexistent.1392

In 1995, the National Home Survey of the National Institute of Statistics (INEI) indicated

that 55 percent of all working minors between the ages of 6 and 17 lived in rural areas.1393 Child

laborers work long hours in the agricultural sector. Others work in fireworks factories and stone

quarries. Children also load and unload produce in markets, and collect garbage to earn a

living.1394

Child labor is prevalent in the brick-making sector of Huachipa. Working children in this

sector help their parents to meet daily quotas starting as early as 3 years old. Children carry

heavy loads of brick or sand throughout the day. These loads are extremely heavy, and as a

result, many children suffer from spinal and bone deformities. Moreover, malnutrition, constant

contact with mud and sand as part of their work, and lack of access to potable water leads to

many of these children suffering from skin infections, digestive illnesses, and respiratory and

hearing problems.1395

In the small-scale traditional gold-mining sector, young children are commonly found

participating in mining activities and performing all aspects of the work to help boost the

1387 Yearbook of Labour Statistics (Geneva: ILO, 2000), Table 1A. 1388 Ibid. 1389 Ibid. 1390 U.S. Department of State Human Rights Report for 1999, Section 6d (www.state.gov/www/global/uman_rights/

1999_hrp_report) [hereinafter Human Rights Report]. 1391 U.S. Embassy-Lima, unclassified telegram no. 003672, June 22, 2000. 1392 Human Rights Report at Section 6d (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/ 1999_hrp_report). 1393 Asociacion Pro-Derechos Humanos, Trabajo Infantil en Debate: Entrevistas de Cecilia Alvarez, 1999, 1, at

http://ekeko.rcp.net.pe/aprodeh/public/iadesc98/desc9806.htm.

1394 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (www.state.gov/www/global/uman_rights/

1999_hrp_report), Section 6d [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Peru]. 1395 AIDECA Peru, Eliminating Child Labor in the Brickworks of Huachipa, Peru: Changing the Economic

Equation [document on file].
196

family’s income. Children also work inside the mines. They carry heavy loads of ore, often on

their backs. They crush and manually grind ore. They also participate in amalgamating the ore

with mercury, a process that exposes them to hazardous fumes.1396

Children are involved in prostitution in both Lima and in Peru’s provinces.1397 Hotel

administrators, discos, massage parlors, gyms and employment offices are reportedly involved

in organizing adolescent prostitution.1398 A 1999 study revealed that trafficking of girls and boys

for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation occurs in Peru. Minors are taken from rural

areas of the country, promised jobs and the opportunity to earn dollars, and travel to see new

places. Instead, they are brought by pimps to secret bordellos and to the streets of Lima to work

as prostitutes.1399

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1996, the gross primary attendance rate was 114.3 percent, and the net primary

attendance rate was 88.3 percent.1400 For that same year, the gross primary enrollment rate was

123.2 percent, and the net primary enrollment rate was 93 percent.1401 Between 1993 and 1997,

net primary enrollment increased from 87.2 to 93.8 percent.1402 For girls, this rate increased from

85.9 percent in 1993 to 93.3 in 1997, while for boys, the rate increased from 88.4 percent in 1993

to 94.2 in 1997.1403 Gross primary enrollment also increased over the same time period, from

117.7 percent in 1993 to 122.8 percent in 1997.1404 The population of unenrolled children of

primary school age decreased from 426,630 (12.8 percent of primary-age children) in 1993 to

211,630 (6.2 percent) in 1997.1405 In 1993, approximately 231,000 unenrolled primary-age

children were female (14.1 percent of the total primary-age female population) and 196,000 were

male (11.6 percent of the total primary-age male population). The numbers dropped in 1997 to

approximately 112,000 unenrolled primary-age females (6.7 percent of the total primary-age

female population) and approximately 100,000 unenrolled primary-age males (5.8 percent of the

total primary-age male population).1406

Although Peru has been working toward achieving universal access to education, the

UN Committee on the Rights of the Child reported that indigenous children and those from

1396 ILO-IPEC, Children Working in Small-Scale Traditional Gold Mining in Peru: National Baseline Study for the

Project for Prevention and Progressive Elimination of Child Labor in Small-Scale Traditional Gold Mining in

South America, Maria del Carmen Piazza, March 2001, 80-83. 1397 Accion por los iños: Save the Children, “Campana contra la prostitucion infantile: !La vida y la dignidad ni

tienen precio ni se alquilan!” April 2000 (www.accionporlosninos.org.pe/foro/pagina.htm).

1398 Ibid. 1399 Ibid. 1400 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 1401 World Development Indicators 2000. 1402 Ibid. 1403 Ibid. 1404 Ibid. 1405 Ibid.
197

rural areas lack universal access to the education system.1407 School attendance is poorest in rural

and jungle areas, and girls benefit less than boys.1408

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Child and Adolescent Code stipulates that the legal minimum age for work is 12

years. Legislation passed in August 2000, however, changed the legal minimum age for

employment in Peru to 14 years.1409 Children between the ages of 12 and 14 may work if they

obtain special permission from the Ministry of Labor and certify that they are attending

school.1410 As of August 2001, 2,228 special permission requests had been approved for

2001.1411

In more hazardous industrial, commercial or mining sectors, Peru’s legal minimum age is

15; while in the fishing sector, the legal minimum age is 16.1412 Work that might harm a child’s

physical and emotional health, including underground work or work that involves heavy lifting

and carrying, is prohibited.1413

There are statutory limits to the number of hours that children may work. Children

between 12 and 14 can only legally work four hours a day, or up to 24 hours a week.

Adolescents between 15 and 17 years may work a maximum of six hour days, or not more than

36 hours a week.1414 Working adolescents are required to obtain authorization from the Ministry

of Labor if they are performing unpaid family work, however, the head of the household for

which they work must register them in the municipal labor records.1415

1406 Ibid. 1407 International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU) website, Internationally Recognized Core Labour

Standards in Peru: ICFTU Report for the WTO General Council Review of the Trade Policies of Peru, Geneva,

May 30-31, 2000 (www.icftu.org), 3.

1408 U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Report for 1999 (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/

1999_hrp_report), Section 5.

1409 U.S. Embassy-Lima, unclassified telegram no. 005240, September 21, 2001 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

005240].

1410 Unclassified telegram 005240. 1411 Ibid. 1412 Ministerio de Trabajo y Promoción Social, Resolución Ministerial No. 033-2000-TR. 9: Requisitos y

formalidades para la contratacion laboral de adolescente: Edades minimas para el trabajo (www.mtps.gob.pe/

normas/033-2000-tr.htm).

1413 Ministerio de Trabajo y Promoción Social, Resolución Ministerial No. 033-2000-TR. 9: Requisitos y

formalidades para la contratacion laboral de adolescente: Trabajos prohibidos y facilidades y beneficios

(www.mtps.gov.pe/normas/033-2000-tr.htm).

1414 Ministerio de Trabajo y Promoción Social, Síntesis Legal: 7.1.3. jornadas especiales de trabajo adolescentes

(www.mtps.gob.pe/sintesis.htm).

1415 Comision Andina de los Juristas. Red de información Judicial Andina. Ley No. 272337-Ley que Aprueba el

Nuevo Código de los Niños y Adolescentes. Capitulo IV. Regimen Para el Adolescente Trabajador. Articulo 50

(www.cajpe.org.pe/rij/bases/legisla/peru/ley1.html).

1416 Comision Andina de los Juristas. Red de información Judicial Andina. Ley No. 272337-Ley que Aprueba el

Nuevo Código de los Niños y Adolescentes. Libro Primero: Derechos y Libertade: Derechos Civiles. Capitulo I,

Articulo IV (www.cajpe.org.pe/rij/bases/legisla/peru/ley1.html).
198

Prostitution is legal in Peru, but laws prohibit individuals from profiting by prostituting

others. Prostitution or pornography involving children is illegal.1416 Laws prohibiting

kidnapping, the sexual abuse of minors, and illegal employment are enforced and can be used to

sanction individuals who traffic children for exploitative labor.1417

Peru’s Child and Adolescent Code of August 2000 prescribes the framework for child and

adolescent labor practices.1418 The code protects the rights of children and adolescents from

extreme forms of child labor, such as forced and bonded labor, economically exploitative labor,

prostitution and trafficking.1419 According to the Child and Adolescent Code, working children

must be paid at the same rate as adult workers.1420 In practice, government standards are often

violated and are rarely enforced in the informal sector, where many child workers are found.1421

The Ministry of Labor has a total of 150 labor inspectors, and inspections are primarily conducted

in the formal sector.1422

In August 2000, the Peruvian Congress passed legislation to create a new office within

the Ministry of Women’s Advancement and Human Development (PROMUDEH). This office,

the Directorate of Children and Adolescent Affairs, is charged with protecting the rights of

children and adolescents.1423 Also responsible for protecting children are the Municipal Child

and Adolescent Defender Centers (DEMUNAs), which report to PROMUDEH. Together with

local governments, DEMUNAs supervise and apply sanctions in their jurisdiction when the rights

of children and adolescents are threatened or violated.1424 The Public Ministry, by way of the

Special Prosecutor and the Prosecutor of Crime Prevention, supervises the enforcement of the

Child and Adolescent Code.1425 A special group of national police personnel are trained in

specific regulations and laws related to the education, prevention and protection of children.

This group coordinates with PROMUDEH and other related organizations.1426 In December of

1998, legislation was enacted that stipulated that settlements adjudicated by the prosecutor’s

1417 Country Reports 1999—Peru (www.state.gov/www/global/uman_rights/ 1999_hrp_report) at Section 6f

[hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Peru]. 1418 Country Reports 1999 – Peru, Section 6d. 1419 Comision Andina de los Juristas. Red de información Judicial Andina. Ley No. 272337-Ley que Aprueba el

Nuevo Código de los Niños y Adolescentes. Libro Primero: Derechos y Libertades: Derechos Civiles, Capitulo I,

Articulo IV (www.cajpe.org.pe/rij/bases/legisla/peru/ley1.html).

1420 Comision Andina de los Juristas. Red de información Judicial Andina. Ley No. 272337-Ley que Aprueba el

Nuevo Código de los Niños y Adolescentes. Regimen Para el Adolescent Trabajador, Capitulo IV, Artículo 59

(www.cajpe.org.pe/rij/bases/legisla/peru/ley1.html).

1421 Country Reports 1999—Peru at Section 6d. 1422 Unclassified telegram 005240. 1423 Ibid. 1424 Comision Andina de los Juristas. Red de información Judicial Andina. Ley No. 272337-Ley que Aprueba el

Nuevo Código de los Niños y Adolescentes. Contravenciones y Sanciones. Libro Segundo. Capitulo V, Articulo 70

(www.cajpe.org.pe/rij/bases/legisla/peru/ley1.html).

1425 Ibid. at Articulo 71. 1426 Comision Andina de los Juristas. Red de información Judicial Andina. Ley No. 272337-Ley que Aprueba el

Nuevo Código de los Niños y Adolescentes. Libro Cuarto. Capitulo IV. Organos Auxiliares. Seccion II. Policia

Especializada, Capitulo IV (www.cajpe.org.pe/rij/bases/legisla/peru/ley1.html).
199

office of the Public Ministry are legally binding and equal in standing to decisions made by a

court of law.1427

The Government of Peru ratified International Labor Organization Convention (ILO) No.

182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on January 10, 2002.1428

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

In July 1996, the Government of Peru signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the

International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor

(ILO-IPEC).1429 ILO-IPEC’s presence has increased awareness within Peruvian society of the

hazards of harmful child labor.1430 ILO-IPEC programs in Peru include a regional program,

funded by the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), designed to eliminate child labor in the

small-scale, traditional mining sectors of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. Another regional ILO-IPEC

program funded by USDOL aims to eliminate child domestic work in Brazil, Paraguay,

Colombia and Peru.1431

In 1997, Peru put in place a National Plan of Action for Children and Adolescents. This

plan aims to promote and ensure the complete application of children’s rights.1432 In August

1997, PROMUDEH created the National Steering Committee on the Eradication of Child and

Adolescent Labor to carry out the strategies and goals stated in the National Plan.1433

Peru is home to many networks of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), civil society

groups, community members, workers organizations, employers organizations and government

agencies. The National Initiative on the Rights of the Child (GIN), the largest network/NGO of

its kind in Peru, coordinates the efforts of 27 different groups that address children’s issues.1434

The Network for a Future without Child Labor, made up of seven NGOs, is another network that

develops projects to eradicate child labor.1435 The Global March Against Child Labor and its

local NGO affiliates have begun reaching out to children, parents, working children and

1427 Country Reports 1999—Peru at Section 5. 1428 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1429 ILO-IPEC Countries at http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/about/countries/t-country.htm. 1430 Interview with Eliseo Cuadrao, director of IPEC, South America regional office, by U.S. Department of Labor

official (November 13, 2000) [hereinafter Cuadrao interview].

1431 ILO-IPEC project document, Prevention and Elimination of Child Domestic Labour in South America:

Program to Prevent and Progressively Eliminate Child Labor in Small-Scale Traditional Gold Mining in South

America (Geneva: ILO-IPEC) [document on file]. 1432 Comision Interamericana de Derechos Humanos, Derechos del Nino, Capitulo VIII, OAS (www.cidh. org/

countryrep/Peru2000sp/capituulo8.htm).

1433 U.S Embassy-Lima, unclassified telegram no. 003383, June 3, 1999. 1434 Country Reports 1999—Peru at Section 5. 1435 Cuadrao interview.
200

communities to raise awareness on the importance of education. Provincial networks are being

formed as well.1436 PROMUDEH, in coordination with the Labor Ministry and in consultation

with labor unions and employers’ groups, periodically establishes a list of jobs and activities that

are dangerous to the physical or moral health of adolescents.1437

The Instituto Nacional de Bienestar Familiar (INABIF) has developed a program for

working children and adolescents called the Boys, Girls and Adolescent Street Workers program

which offers services including school support, housing, reinsertion into the government school

system, reinsertion into the family, and vocational training.1438 From April to June 2001, the

program provided services to approximately 7,000 children and adolescents a month in 17

cities.1439

Innovative methods have been used by NGOs to address child labor in Peru. For

example, the NGO AIDECA has developed introduced affordable technologies in the brick

making industry of Huachipa to help eliminate the need for child labor, while at the same time,

increasing productivity.1440

In 2000, Peru began a child labor survey with support from the ILO’s Statistical

Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC). The Ministry of Labor, the

INEI, and PROMUDEH have participated in preliminary aspects of the survey.1441

b. Educational Alternatives

According to Peru’s constitution, basic education is free and compulsory through

secondary school.1442 In 2001, basic education consisted of two years at the pre-primary level,

six years at the primary level, and four years at the secondary level. 1443 Children and adolescents

1436 Ibid. 1437 Comision Andina de los Juristas, Red de información Judicial Andina, Ley No. 272337-Ley que Aprueba el

Nuevo Código de los Niños y Adolescentes, Art. 58, (www.cajpe.org.pe/rij/bases/legisla/peru/ley1.html).

1438 Instituto Nacional de Bienestar Familiar, INABIF, Nuestros Servicios (www.inabif.gov.pe/servicio/

servicio2.htm); cited October 16, 2001.

1439 Instituto Nacional de Bienestar Familiar. INABIF, Oficina de Planeamiento y Desarrollo. Area de Estadistica,

INABIF en Cifras I y II Trimestres 2001, Boletin I y II Trimestres, 2001. 1440 AIDECA Peru, Programa para la Erradicacion Progresiva del Trabajo Infantil en las Ladrilleras de Nieveria.

[document on file].

1441 Cuadrao interview. 1442 Constitucion de la Republica de Peru, Capitulo II, Articulo 17 (www.cajpe.org.pe/RIJ/bases/legisla/peru/

consper.htm#3); cited October 16, 2001.

1443 As part of the Education for All initiative in 1999, Peru began to experiment by uniting the secondary level with

the primary level to form a basic education requirement of 10 years. The reform will add an additional year of preprimary to the basic education requirement until it reaches 13 years in 2002. Children will be required to start

school at the age of 3. At the beginning of the 1990s, basic education was only required for a six-year period. See

United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics, Education for

All: Year 2000 Assessment, Country Report, Peru (Paris, 2000). Peru: Informe: Primera Parte: Seccion Descriptiva

(www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/peru/rapport_1.html) [hereinafter Education for All: Year 2000

Assessment—Peru], 10.
201

have the right to education, and the state guarantees education, free of charge, for those in

economic need.1444

Peru’s Child and Adolescent Code guarantees special school schedules that allow children

and adolescents who work to attend school classes regularly. The school directors are responsible

for checking to make sure that work does not affect school attendance and performance. They

are also responsible for periodically informing the proper authority about the performance levels

of the student-workers. The code calls for the state to promote the use of resources and physical

spaces for the development of cultural, sport, and recreational programs for children and

adolescents.1445

Within the framework of the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural

Organization (UNESCO)’s Education for All initiative, Peru has committed resources throughout

the 1990s aimed at educational reform. The goals of this effort included: universal access to

basic education; reduction of illiteracy and gender disparity; and making curricula more relevant

to children.1446

The Education Ministry seeks to address child labor through a project that provides

children with alternatives to working in the streets.1447 Radda Barnen (Save the Children) is

implementing the Ministry’s Work, Education and Health Program (TES), the goal of which is to

reinforce the curriculum in five regional departments to make school lessons more pertinent to

the lives of working children. This program has also incorporated an informal tracking system of

teacher reporting to determine where children work, the kind of work they do, and how it affects

their well being.1448

The Ministry of Education also sponsors the Integrated Protection Program, which is

designed to promote good school performance and prevent the early insertion of children into the

work force. It is a multi-sectoral program which provides nutritious meals to children age 6 and

younger and involves parents and the greater community.1449 The Ministry of Education has also

designed the “Basic Education Program for All” to improve the quality and infrastructure of

education in rural, marginal urban, and border areas of the country with an intensive teacher

1444 Comision Andina de los Juristas. Red de información Judicial Andina, Ley no 272337-Ley que Aprueba el

Nuevo Código de los Niños y Adolescentes, Derechos Economicos, Sociales y Cuturales y Sociales, Capitulo II,

Articulo 14 (www.cajpe.org.pe/rij/bases/legisla/peru/ley1.html). 1445 Comision Andina de los Juristas, Red de información Judicial Andina “Codigo de los Ninos y Adolescentes,”

(www.cajpe.org.pe/rij/bases/legisla/ peru/ley1.html).

1446 Education for All: Year 200 Assessment—Peru. 1447 Ministerio de Educacion. Todos los Proyectos del MED por Oficina. Oficina de Prevencion Integral. El

Programa de Asistencia al Menor con Ocupacion Temprana (www.minedu.gob.pe/proyectos/

dir.php?obj=proyectos.htm).

1448 Interview with Dra. Ballardo, employee from the Ministry of Education, Lima, Peru, by U.S. Department of

Labor official, November 15, 2000.

1449 Ibid.
202

training program and free distribution of educational materials at the pre-primary, primary and

secondary levels.1450 Plan Huascaran (2000-2004) is another Ministry of Education program that

looks to achieve equality of access to education in the rural and border zones of extreme

poverty.1451

Peru’s Ministry of Health has created a School Insurance program. This program is a

child and adolescent health initiative that was developed to decrease school desertion numbers by

encouraging the continuity of education. In exchange for proof from teachers that students are

continuously attending classes, children and adolescents between the ages of 3 and 17 can receive

universal medical coverage. At the start of the program in 1997, two to three million children

were treated.1452 The numbers quadrupled in 1998-99 as the program became more widely

publicized. Coverage under the program includes transportation, lab work, diagnostics,

prescription medicine and surgery costs.1453 Although expensive for the state, the program has

been made a priority. School Insurance has proved to be a strong incentive for parents to keep

their children in school.1454

Labor unions have also begun to participate in the fight against child labor. El Sindicato

Unico de Trabajadores Educadores Peruanos (SUTEP), a union of school teachers, has developed

programs to raise awareness on child labor issues. The General Confederation of Peruvian

Workers (CGTP), consisting of 1300 affiliates, has launched a national awareness-raising

campaign on child workers and has made an effort to encourage unions to incorporate the child

labor issue into their agendas. CONFIEP, a network of 24 employers organizations, has made

efforts to raise awareness amongst employers on the worst forms of child labor.1455

Other initiatives are also being undertaken at the local level. Through its Children and

Adolescent Rights Program, for example, the Center for Social Studies and Publications (CESIP)

promotes education and a reduction of child labor using awareness raising pamphlets and

publications.1456

Public spending on education as a percentage of gross national product (GNP) was 3.9

percent in 1994 and 2.9 percent in 1996.1457 In 1999, government expenditure on primary

education amounted to 1.4 percent as a percentage of GNP.1458

1450 Ministerio de Educacion, Programa de Educacion Basica para Todos (www.minedu.gob.pe/ web/

el_ministerio/el_ministero/Administr/poryect/educ_basic.html); cited October 16, 2001. 1451 Ministerio de Educacion, Plan Juascaran: Moderna tecnologia para escuelas rurales, 1700 Colegios los Primeros

Beneficiarios, 5 Mil Estaran Enlazados el 2004 (www.minedu.gov.pe/ prensa_comunica/notas/octubre-2001/

dir.php?obj=13-10-2001_02.htm).

1452 Interview with Dr. Cecilia Costa, director, People’s Health, Ministry of Health, Lima, Peru, by U.S. Department

of Labor official, November 15, 2000.

1453 Ibid. 1454 Ibid. 1455 Cuadrao interview. 1456 See “Mas Educacion Menos Trabajo Infantil,” Centro de Estudios Sociales y Publicaciones, Programa:

Derechos de niños, niñas, y adolescentes [document on file]. 1457 World Development Indicators 2000. 1458 Ibid.
203

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1459

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1459 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
204

PHILIPPINES

1. Child Labor in the Philippines

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 6.5 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 in the Philippines were working.1460 A 1995 study of child labor

in the Philippines found that 16 percent (3.7 million) of children between the ages of 5 and 17

work, and that approximately 10 percent (2.2 million) of children in this age group work under

hazardous conditions. Results from the survey indicated that boys (1.2 million) in the 5 to 14

year age group were almost twice as likely to work as girls (0.7 million) in the same age group.

Children who are working are more prevalent in rural areas, where 1.3 million children aged 5 to

14 worked, in contrast to 0.6 million in urban areas.1461 With funding from the U.S. Department

of Labor in 2001 and technical assistance from the ILO’s International Program on the

Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC), the Philippine National Statistics Office (NSO) will be

conducting another child labor survey and updating figures from 1995 on the number of working

children in the Philippines.1462

Children in the Philippines work in a variety of sectors and occupations, often under

hazardous conditions. Approximately one-half of all working children in the Philippines work in

agriculture,1463 many on pineapple, banana, rubber and sugar plantations.1464 It is estimated that

more than 300,000 children under the age of 18 work as domestic servants. There are reports of

bonded labor among domestic servants who may be required to work to reimburse advance

money given to their parents.1465 Other children work alongside adult family members

manufacturing footwear in their homes, working without protective gear and enduring exposure

1460 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 1461 Children of the Philippines and Working Children and Their Environment fact sheets on the Survey of Children

5-17 Years Old, July 1995, by the National Statistics Office [fact sheets on file]. With funding from the U.S.

Department of Labor (USDOL), statistics are based on data collected by the Philippine National Statistics Office in

1995, in collaboration with the Philippine Department of Labor and Employment and ILO-IPEC’s National Survey

on Working Children. According to the survey, about 1.9 million children from 5 to 14 years old work (11 percent

of the child population in this age group). The East Asian Crisis or the Asian Financial Crisis may have increased

the labor participation rates of children in the Philippines. See Joseph Y. Lim, The East Asian Crisis and Child

Labor in the Philippines, ILO-IPEC Working Paper 2000 (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/publ/policy/

papers/philippines/indexpr.html). Among the factors contributing to the incidence of child labor in the Philippines

are poverty (particularly the need to contribute income to the family), traditions and cultural practices, and the need

to work to cover school expenses. Adolescents in the Labor Force, Monograph Series No. 3 (Manila: Institute for

Labor Studies, March 1996), 10-16.

1462 Programme Document for the U.S. Department of Labor, July 2001. Statistical Information Monitoring

Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC): Survey of Working Children, Philippines. International Labor

Organization, International Child Labor Program on the Elimination of Child Labor.

1463 Report on National Survey of Working Children in the Philippines (Manila: ILO, 1998), 17. 1464 Interview with Alejandro Apit of Kamalayan Development Foundation by U.S. Department of Labor official in

Manila, April 6, 2000. Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department

of State, 2000), 6d [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Philippines]. 1465 Ibid. at Section 6c. See also Trip notes by U.S. Department of Labor official, testimony given during Visayan

Forum Conference on Domestic Servitude in Davao, April 7, 2000.
205

to dangerous glue and kerosene fumes.1466 Children work in quarries cutting and breaking stones,

blasting rocks, and loading stones onto trucks and in small-scale gold mines.1467 Children haul

cargo from the docks of ports in Mindanao and the Visayas, exposed to harmful dust and

chemicals,1468 and work on pearl farms, diving into the sea to collect shells.1469 An estimated 7

percent of Filipino working children from 5 to 15 years of age work in the deep-sea fishing

sector.1470 Various studies indicate that there are around 1.5 million children nationwide, with at

least 100,000 in Manila, who live on the streets, where they may scavenge, beg, or perform other

tasks to survive.1471

Children as young as 13 are conscripted to serve as soldiers in armed opposition

groups.1472 The Communist New People’s Army (NPA) reportedly recruits children for use in

both combat and non-combat situations. The Muslim insurgent group, the Moro Islamic

Liberation Front (MILF), also reportedly recruits young children to serve in its reserves.1473

Some 60,000 children are involved in the commercial sex industry. Many children are

reportedly trafficked within the Philippines and to other countries and forced into prostitution.

Children are trafficked from the Philippines in some cases through false adoptions for the purpose

of exploitation, including commercial sexual exploitation.1474

2. Children’s Participation in School

Statistics on education in the Philippines indicate improvements over the past decade.

Between 1993 and 1998, net primary attendance increased from 84.9 percent to 90.8 percent,1475

and net primary school enrollment rose from 84.6 percent in 1990 to 95.7 percent in 1998.1476

1466 One explanation given for why children do not use protective gloves when spreading glue to make shoes is that

glue would stick to the gloves, wasting costly supplies for their families. Interview by U.S. Department of Labor

official with children in Biñan during site visit to IPEC footwear project in the Philippines, April 5, 2000.

1467 Juan Escandor, Jr., “Child Labor Extensive in Gold Rush Site,” Philippine Daily Inquirer, July 6, 2000. 1468 Notes for site visit to Sasa Port, Davao, by U.S. Department of Labor official, April 7, 2000; see also Country

Reports 1999—Philippines. 1469 Alejandro W. Apit, Child Recruitment and Some Most Hazardous Forms of Child Labor in the Philippines: A

KDF’s Experience (Metro Manila: Kamalayan Development Foundation, Inc., January 1998), 145-46. 1470 Collection and Dissemination of Data on Child Labour in Asia, Table 11, 147. 1471 For more information on street children in the Philippines, including stories from 25 children, see Cornelio G.

Banaag, Jr., Resiliency: Stories Found in Philippine Streets (Manila: AusAID, the National Project on Street

Children, and UNICEF, 1997). Reports indicate that these numbers are increasing due to high rural unemployment.

Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, February

2001), Section 5 [hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Philippines]. 1472 Child Soldiers Global Report 2001 (www.child-soldiers.org/report2001/countries/philippines.html) [hereinafter

Child Soldiers Global Report 2001]. 1473 Country Reports 1999—Philippines at 1264. See Also Child Soldiers Global Report 2001. 1474 Ibid. See also “Philippine Country Paper and National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking in Women and

Children” (submission of the Government of the Philippines for the March 29-31, 2000, meeting of the Asian

Regional Initiative Against Trafficking in Women and Children (ARIAT)) 2, 3, 16 [document on file].

1475 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 1476 Philippines: Education for All (EFA) 2000, Philippine Assessment Report (Manila: National Committee on

Education for All and the Republic of the Philippines, October 1999), 51-52 [hereinafter Philippines: Education for All].
206

Nationwide, approximately 65 percent of children completed the sixth grade in 1997, an

improvement from 62.7 percent in 1990. However, when disaggregated by region, this increase

can be attributed to increasing rates in urban areas among both males and females; in rural areas,

there was a decrease of almost 14 percent, from 73.8 percent in 1990 to 60.6 percent in 1996.1477

In general, repetition rates are high for both boys and girls in rural areas. However, the repetition

rate for boys is higher than that of girls in both rural and urban areas.1478

Still, for many working children in the Philippines, schooling is not an option. In 1995,

approximately 30 percent of working children did not attend school.1479 Although the

government covers the tuition costs of public primary and secondary schools, many poor families

are unable to meet numerous peripheral costs such as uniforms, school supplies, books, and

transportation. Low quality of schooling, large class sizes, insufficient numbers of teachers and

inadequate facilities are also factors discouraging children from attending school.1480

The Asian Crisis had a negative impact on school enrollment in the Philippines, with an

estimated 240,00 children between the ages of 6 and 12 out of school in 1998 as compared to less

than 100,000 in 1997. The total enrollment for secondary schools also fell by an estimated 7

percent in 1998.1481

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Philippine Labor Code of 1993 prohibits the employment of children below the age

of 15, although children under the age of 15 are permitted to work if they are under the direct

supervision of a parent or guardian, and if the work does not interfere with schooling. Article 139

of the Labor Code restricts children under the age of 18 from engaging in hazardous work.1482

The Department of Labor and Employment’s (DOLE) Order No. 4 of 1999 outlines categories

of hazardous work and prohibits the employment of children in these categories. The list

includes work with dangerous substances (e.g., adhesives used in footwear manufacture), work

hazardous to morals (e.g., employment in dance halls), work that entails exposure to extreme

elements of cold, heat, noise or pressure (e.g., deep-sea diving and underground work), and

work that is hazardous by its nature (e.g., mining, logging and pyrotechnics production).1483

1477 Ibid at 47-48. 1478 Ibid. 1479 Education of the Working Children, fact sheet from the Survey of Children 5-17 Years Old: July 1995, by the

National Statistics Office. The survey also found that more children working in rural areas attend school than those

in urban areas.

1480 Feny de los Angeles-Bautista and Joanna C. Arriola, To Learn and To Earn: Education and Child Labor in the

Philippines: A Country Report (Manila: ILO-IPEC, December 1995), 10-14 [hereinafter To Learn and To Earn]. 1481 Joseph Y. Lim, The East Asian Crisis and Child Labor in the Philippines, ILO-IPEC Working Paper 2000

(www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/publ/policy/papers/philippines/indexpr.htm), 1-2.

1482 Rosario del Rosario and Melinda A. Bonga, Child Labor in the Philippines: A Review of Selected Studies and

Policy Papers (Manila: University of the Philippines, 2000), 173-75 [hereinafter Child Labor in the Philippines].

Under the Labor Code, the Secretary of Labor may determine the hours and times during the day when children

between the ages of 15 and 18 may work.

1483 Department Order No. 4, Series of 1999: Hazardous Work and Activities to Persons Below 18 Years of Age

(Manila: Republic of the Philippines, Department of Labor and Employment, 1999).
207

Policy Instruction No. 23 of 1977 prohibits night work for children under the age of 16 years

from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. and forbids children ages 16 to 18 from working after 10 p.m.1484

Penalties for violating Philippine child labor laws range from fines of 1,000 to 10,000

pesos (US$25 to US$253), imprisonment from three months to three years, or both. Businesses

found to be in repeated violation of these laws may have their operating licenses revoked.1485

Republic Act (R.A.) No. 7610 of 1992, the Special Protection of Children against Child

Abuse, Exploitation, and Discrimination Act, stipulates penalties for the trafficking, prostitution

and abuse of children. The act imposes sentences of 12 years to life on individuals who engage

in or promote specific types of child exploitation such as child prostitution and the trafficking of

children. A sentence of six to 12 years is rendered for various acts of exploitation, such as having

children perform indecent exhibitions. R.A. No. 7658 of 1993 amended the act to set the

minimum work age at 15 years except in the cases provided for by the Philippine Labor Code.1486

The government prosecutes accused pedophiles and has made efforts to expand its law

enforcement in this area.1487

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) is primarily responsible for the

enforcement of child labor laws.1488 DOLE conducts both routine and complaint-driven

inspections to follow up on allegations of child labor law violations. Violations are then reported

to the court system for future action.1489 DOLE maintains responsibility for cases involving wage

and working conditions, while the family courts deal with exploitative child labor suits.1490 In

addition, the government’s Commission on Human Rights maintains child rights centers in all

regions of the Philippines that monitor and investigate cases of child labor.1491

Labor inspectors are given specialized training on child labor issues, and a training

manual on child labor inspections has been produced with the assistance of ILO’s International

Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC). 1492 Despite these efforts, child labor

enforcement is reportedly weak. Nationwide, 253 labor inspectors are responsible for about

82,000 registered businesses concerns, primarily in the formal sector.1493

1484 Opening Doors: A Presentation of Laws Protecting Filipino Child Workers, rev. ed. (Makati City: Ateneo

Human Rights Center and ILO, 1997), 71-72.

1485 Ibid. at 75. 1486 Child Labor in the Philippines at 175-77. 1487 Country Reports 1999—Philippines at 1264. 1488 U.S. Embassy-Manila, unclassified telegram no. 005853, September 11, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

005853].

1489 U.S. Embassy-Manila, unclassified telegram no. 014481, November 20, 1997, and U.S. Embassy-Manila,

unclassified telegram no. 02110, February 20, 1998.

1490 Unclassified telegram 005853. In 1998, the Government of the Philippines initiated a family court system to

help expedite juvenile and domestic relations cases and enhance protections for children against their sale and

trafficking abroad. See also Country Reports 1999—Philippines at 1264. 1491 Unclassified telegram 005853. 1492 For more information on the contents of the course, see A Training Guide for Specialized Training on Child

Labor for the Philippine Labor Inspectorate (Manila: Department of Labor and Employment’s Bureau of Working

Conditions and ILO-IPEC, 1997).

1493 Among the reasons cited as contributing to weak enforcement are inadequate judicial infrastructure and

legislative shortcomings such as absence of coverage in the informal sector, insufficient penalties, and a low rate of
208

The Philippine Government ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for

Employment on June 4, 1998, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor

on November 28, 2000.1494

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

The Philippines became a member of ILO-IPEC in 1994 and developed a national plan of

action to address child labor. The National Child Labor Committee (NCLC), which includes

representatives from several government agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and

trade unions, functions as a steering committee for national child labor programs and promulgates

policies and guidelines on child labor issues.1495 Regional child labor committees work with the

NCLC to coordinate programs with the support of local implementation committees.1496 These

committees have access to government funding for child labor projects.1497

The government’s interagency “Rescue the Child Workers” (Sagip Batang Manggagawa)

Program, was established in 1994 at the regional and national levels to ensure quick responses to

child labor problems and to focus on the most hazardous forms of child labor.1498

The Government of the Philippines has worked to eliminate the illegal recruitment of

children into employment. It has established more stringent standards for youths seeking jobs

abroad, which include standards for age, education, and professional level. In March 2000, the

Philippine Government and the United States co-sponsored a conference as part of the Asian

Regional Initiative Against Trafficking in Women and Children (ARIAT). The conference led to

the development of a comprehensive action plan to combat trafficking within the Asia-Pacific

region through the enhancement of measures for prevention, protection and prosecution.1499

The government has worked with ILO-IPEC on a number of projects addressing child

labor in specific sectors, including quarrying, mining, ports, plantations, domestic service and the

production of pyrotechnics.1500 A 1999 ILO-IPEC program with funding from the U.S.

Department of Labor to combat child labor in the fishing sector focuses on the withdrawal of

conviction. Benedicto Ernesto Bitonio, Jr., Assistant Secretary, Department of Labor and Employment, interview

by U.S. Department of Labor official, Manila, Philippines, 4 March 2002 [document on file].

1494 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1495 U.S. Embassy-Manila, unclassified telegram no. 004103, June 23, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

004103]; see also unclassified telegram 005853. 1496 Unclassified telegram 005853. 1497 Unclassified telegram 004103. 1498 Ibid. 1499 Country Reports 1999—Philippines at 1268. 1500 ILO-IPEC in the Philippines [document on file]
209

children engaged in deep-sea fishing, including the practice known as pa aling.

1501 In 1999, the

Philippines joined an ILO-IPEC subregional project to combat child labor in the footwear sector

in Laguna.1502

The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) is involved in providing

care and assistance to children removed from involvement with the Communist New People’s

Army.1503 DSWD, and various NGOs and local groups provide assistance, including shelters and

rehabilitation centers, to child victims of pornography, prostitution and trafficking.1504

The Philippine Information Agency (PIA) performs opinion surveys on child labor and

promotes awareness raising on child labor issues through a nationwide multimedia campaign,

training for anti-child labor advocates, and workshops on communication strategies for

government officials.1505 Community watch programs through an NGO called the Visayan

Forum Foundation (VF) monitor working children and educate them about their rights.1506 As an

organization, VF focuses its efforts on raising awareness about the plight of child domestic

workers in the Philippines and providing assistance to these children.1507

b. Educational Alternatives

Philippine law mandates six years of compulsory primary education for children between

the ages of 6 and 11.1508 The compulsory education age (11 years) in the Philippines, however,

does not coincide with the minimum age (15 years) for employment.1509

Through DWSD’s Early Childhood Development Project, the government targets young

children under the age of 6 in poor rural and urban areas to prepare them for elementary

schooling.1510 The program, however, has low rates of gross enrollment and is utilized much

more heavily in urban centers than in rural areas.1511 The Department of Education, Culture and

Sports (DECS) conducts various programs for working children, including the Functional

1501 Programme to Combat Child Labour in the Fishing Sector in Indonesia and the Philippines, ILO-IPEC project

document [on file]. The project focuses on Negros Oriental and Cebu.

1502 ILO-IPEC, Programme to Combat Child Labour in the Footwear Sector in Southeast Asia: Indonesia, the

Philippines, and Thailand, project document [document on file]. 1503 Country Reports 1999—Philippines at 1264. See also U.S. Embassy-Manila, unclassified telegram 004103. 1504 Unclassified telegram 004103. 1505 Ibid. 1506 Ibid. 1507 Established in 1991, Visayan Forum Foundation, Inc. (VF) is a nongovernmental organization (NGO) in the

Philippines that focuses on migrant working children. For further information on VF, see Terre de Homme,

“Visayan Forum Foundation, Inc.” (www.tdhsea.org/phil_6.htm); cited October 24, 2001.

1508 Facts and Figures on Philippine Education (Pasig City: Department of Education, Culture and Sports, 1997),

11. See also To Learn and to Earn at 2. 1509 By the Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor, vol. 5 (Washington, D.C.: U.S.

Department of Labor, 1998), 190-91. This discrepancy may contribute to illegal child labor. If children complete

their compulsory education by the age of 11 and are unable to continue their studies, they must either remain

unemployed until they become 15 or work illegally.

1510 Unclassified telegram 004103. Specialized assistance is also available for children with special needs. 1511 Philippines: Education for All at 54.
210

Education and Literacy Program. This program provides basic education and skills training to

children who have dropped out of school and to adults. DECS also provides programs for the

parents and older siblings of child laborers to improve their earnings potential and reduce the

factors that may cause young children to work.1512

The Bureau of Nonformal Education (BNFE) is a fundamental part of DECS’ strategy

to address the problem of child labor, providing remedial instruction for working children

and home study programs. In 1999, BNFE began a non-formal education accreditation and

equivalency system (NFE A&E) to help children over the age of 15 who drop out of school to

gain school certification so that they can enter post-secondary education levels of education.

The government also supports distance learning programs and mobile tent schools. The National

Project on Street Children provides educational assistance to street children through a network of

government, nongovernment and community organizations.1513 In addition, as part of a program

of cooperation (1999 to 2003) between the Government of the Philippines and the United Nations

Children’s Fund (UNICEF), assistance is provided for children in need of special protection,

including working children. The program of cooperation also supports Education for All

initiatives in the country.1514

The government spent 10.8 percent of the national budget on education in 1994.1515

The percentage of the government’s education budget which is spent on primary schools is

increasing, from 40.1 percent in 1990 to 52 percent in 1998.1516 Total government spending on

education as a percentage of gross national product (GNP) from 1995 to 1997 has ranged from

3 percent to 3.4 percent.1517

1512 Unclassified telegram 004103. 1513 Ibid. 1514 CPC VS Program of Cooperation for Child Survival, Protection, Development and Participation in the

Philippines: Master Plan of Operations between the Government of the Philippines and UNICEF, 1999-2000

(Manila: Government of the Republic of the Philippines and UNICEF, February 1999), 99-101, 125-28.

1515 To Learn and To Earn at 5-6. 1516 Philippines: Education for All at 52. As noted in Country Reports 1999—Philippines (Washington, D.C.: U.S.

Department of State, February 2000, 1264), the percentage of the costs of primary schooling covered by the

government has been decreasing, from 80 percent of the costs in the 1980s to 69 percent by the mid-1990s.

However, it is unclear whether this is related to population growth.

1517 World Development Indicators 2000.
211

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending

on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1518

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1518 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
212

ROMANIA

1. Child Labor in Romania

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 0.1 percent of children

between the ages of 10 and 14 were working.1519 Child labor, however, is considered to be an

emerging problem throughout the country.1520 According to the Government of Romania, more

than 400,000 children have abandoned school throughout the 1990s.1521 Moreover, a 1997 survey

conducted by Save the Children Romania questioned children living with their families and found

that approximately 8 percent of children who attend primary school also work.1522

Save the Children Romania’s 1997 survey found that a majority of children living with

families (93 percent) worked on farms, another 6.5 percent in trade/services, and 0.5 percent were

engaged in household work outside the family home.1523 The reinstatement of private farms after

1989 led to many families involving their children in agricultural activities; in some cases,

children dropped out of school prior to completing compulsory education.1524 Similar situations

occur in urban areas, with differences lying in the nature of work activities.1525 As for hours

worked, some children reported working over eight hours a day, though the majority work fewer

than eight hours.1526

The National Agency for Child Protection and Adoption (NACPA) estimated that there

were 2,500 to 3,500 street children in Romania in 2000.1527 Cities reported to have street children

include Bucharest, Craiova, Timisoara, Iasi, Suceava, Galati, Constanta, and Targu-Mures.1528

A 2001 survey on street children in Bucharest established that 49 percent of the children

interviewed belonged to the Roma ethnic group.1529 The survey found children engaged in

1519 World Development Indicators 2000. 1520 U.S. Embassy-Bucharest, unclassified telegram no. 002812, July 2001. 1521 Informational material prepared by the Back to School Foundation in Bucharest [document on file]. Received at

USAID-Romania on July 26, 2001.

1522 Child Labor in Romania (Save the Children Romania, 1997), 1 [hereinafter Child Labor in Romania]. 1523 Ibid. 1524 Romania: Education for All: 1999 (Ministry of Education, Institute for Sciences of Education, Section 3.3

[hereinafter Romania: Education for All]. 1525 Ibid. 1526 Child Labor in Romania at 2-3. 1527 Poverty in Romania: Causes, Anti-Poverty Policies, Recommendations for Action, UNDP and Research

Institute for the Quality of Life (RIQL): Saracia in Romania, Poverty in Romania, 2001, 16 [hereinafter Poverty in

Romania]. The National Agency for Protection of Children’s Rights (NAPCR) was reorganized in 2001 and is now

the National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption (NACPA).

1528 “Half Way Home: Romania’s Abandoned Children Ten Years After the Revolution,” a report to Americans

from the U.S. Embassy, Bucharest, Romania, February 2001, 20.

1529 “Romania—Working Street Children in Bucharest: A Rapid Assessment” (draft) (Bucharest: ILO-IPEC, JulyAugust 2001], 27-28 [hereinafter “Street Children in Bucharest”]. According to the latest statistics, the Roma

population accounts for approximately 10 percent of the overall Bucharest population. The Roma experience a

poverty rate of 87 percent, considerably higher than the national average of 34 percent. The reason for this is a

complex set of factors, including lower levels of education and professional qualifications, involvement in the
213

begging, car washing/parking, selling merchandise, household work, collection of waste

products, and loading and unloading of merchandise.1530 To a much lesser extent, children

reported stealing, engaging in prostitution, and working in construction or in a factory.1531

Anecdotal evidence suggests a rise in economic and sexual exploitation of children.

However, no comprehensive statistics are available on the scope and pervasiveness of the

problem. In July 2001, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) completed the first

report in Romania to investigate human trafficking, identifying the groups and regions most at

risk and constructing a profile of potential victims. The report confirmed that girls coming from

state care institutions are more likely to be trafficked, especially if they have experienced abuse in

the past.1532 Potential victims are most likely to come from the poorer areas of Romania: 39

percent from the province of Moldova, 35 percent from Muntenia, 21 percent from Transylvania,

and 5 percent from the capital Bucharest.1533 Of 279 cases of trafficked victims provided

assistance by the IOM from January 2000 to June 2001, 57 were girls between the ages of 15 and

17 years, and 6 were 14 years old or younger.1534

2. Children’s Participation in School

As of July 1999, compulsory education was increased to 9 years, to include primary

education (grades 1–4), and lower secondary education (grades 5–9).1535 Between 1989 and 1999,

children were required to attend school for eight years; prior to 1989 children were required to

attend until 18 years of age.1536 Children are required to begin school at age 7 (or at age 6 on

informal economy (which can be seen as a coping strategy in the absence of job opportunities, but also prevents this

group from escaping marginalization), large families, negative stereotyping, and discrimination. See Poverty in

Romania at 15. 1530 “Street Children in Bucharest” at 27-28. 1531 Ibid. at 28. 1532 “Romania: Trafficking in Women,” International Organization on Migration Press Release (Bucharest, July 6,

2001) [hereinafter Romania: Trafficking in Women]. Institutionalized children are either abandoned or turned over

by parents to state-run institutions for care. As of March 2001, of the 88,463 children in protected living settings

overseen by Child Protection Services, 64.3 percent reside in state care institutions, and 35.7 percent live in familytype settings such as with foster families or adopted families. See “Specialized Public Services for Child

Protection,” National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption Statistical Bulletin, March 2001, 1. 1533 Romania: Trafficking in Women. 1534 “Cases Assisted by IOM Bucharest,” International Organization on Migration (Bucharest, July 2, 2001). 1535 Romania: Education for All at Section 3.2. Pre-primary school education is not mandatory in Romania, and the

pre-primary school gross enrollment rate (for 3- to 6-year-olds) has fluctuated from 63.3 percent in 1989, to 50.2

percent in 1993, and to 64.2 percent in 1998. See United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO), Institute for Statistics [CD-ROM], Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—A Decade of Education,

Country Report, Romania (Paris, 2000) [hereinafter Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Romania]. Prior to

1998, pre-primary school education was free, but now the growing use of fees means children from poor

households and marginalized groups face problems gaining access. These children stand to gain the most from

investment in their education to enhance their success in school and to help avoid poverty in later life as a result of

inadequate qualifications. See UNICEF, “Children at Risk in Central and Eastern Europe: Perils and Promises: A

Summary,” The MONEE Project Regional Monitoring Report, no. 4, 1997, 9-10. 1536 U.S. Embassy-Bucharest, unclassified telegram no. 003732, August 2000.
214

request by parents).1537 In 1996/97, 6.8 percent of children ages 7-14, the population subject to

compulsory education, did not attend school.1538

Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Romania. While enrollment rates

indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in

school.1539 In 1998, the primary school net enrollment rate was 91.6 percent, and the primary

school gross enrollment rate was 99.8 percent in 1998.1540 In 1996, an estimated 95.7 percent of

children reached grade 5.1541 Four percent of children repeated a grade for that same year.1542 In

1996/97, 9,200 children dropped out from primary education, which rose to 11,696 in 1998/

99.1543 There were 1,284,507 children enrolled in primary school in 1998 with a student teacher

ratio at 18.7 percent.1544

The secondary school net enrollment rate has risen slightly in Romania from 72.8 percent in

1993 to 73 percent in 1996.1545 In 1998/1999, 9,027 children dropped out from urban secondary

education and 8,362 from rural secondary education of the total intake of 1,138,316 children.1546

Vocational education includes children and adolescents over 14 who have completed

their compulsory education. Vocational schools are part of the state education and involve two

to four years of study, depending on the specialization.1547 In 1998/99, the intake was

201,243 students.1548

According to research conducted in 2000, 19.6 percent of Roma children aged 7-18 had

never enrolled in school, 9.2 percent dropped out in primary school, and 6.6 percent dropped out

in secondary school.1549 Of Roma children aged 10-18, 23 percent had no reading skills at all,

16.6 percent reads with difficulty, and 60.4 percent reads well.1550

There has been an increase of non-enrollment or dropout rates among children of

compulsory education age, particularly in rural areas. The main reasons cited for this include the

1537 Romania: Education for All at Section 3.2. 1538 Romania’s Periodic Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention on the Rights of the Child,

National Agency for the Protection of Children’s Rights on the Romanian Government, Section 7.3 (www.copii.ro/

htm/english/rd/1.htm); cited September 27, 2001 [hereinafter Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N.

Convention]. 1539 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

1540 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Romania. 1541 Ibid. 1542 Ibid. 1543 Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention. 1544 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Romania. 1545 World Development Indicators 2000. 1546 Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention. 1547 Ibid. 1548 Ibid. 1549 Pop and Voicu, 2000, as cited in Poverty in Romania at 30. 1550 Ibid.
215

lack of basic necessities such as food, clothing, school supplies and transportation to school,

particularly in rural areas.1551 Other reasons might be faulty communication between the school

and the family as well as a decrease in motivation for education due a child’s desire to earn

money quickly or inadequate support for studying from parents (particularly poor, socially

troubled families).1552

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Article 45 of the Romanian Constitution states that children under the age of 15 may not

be employed for any paid labor, and the exploitation and employment of children in activities that

might be physically or morally unhealthy or put their lives or normal development at risk are

prohibited.1553

Pursuant to Article 161 of the Labor Code, employed children under the age of 18 may

not be placed in hard or hazardous working places and may not be made to work nighttime or

beyond the legal duration of a working day (8 hours), except in emergencies.1554 Young

employees under 18 years are entitled to a minimum of 24 days of holiday with pay (Law No. 6/

1992, Article 1, par. 2).1555

According to Article 7 of the Labor Code, starting at age 16, any person can be engaged

in employment or work. Young persons aged 15 and 16 can be employed with the consent of

their parents or legal guardian on condition that the work performed is in accordance with their

health, abilities and education.1556 Under this law, a young person has a right and duty to

complete compulsory education, and the employer has a duty to support the young person in

completing his or her education.1557 Article 162 of the Labor Code limits work to six hours a day

for 15 and 16 year olds.1558 Medical control and authorization is needed prior to employment or

work of young persons, and parents can withdraw their consent where work endangers the health

of the child according to the Family Code.1559 According to Article 155 of the General Norms of

Labor Protection, children under the age of 16 years shall not be used for loading, unloading, and

handling operations.1560

1551 Poverty in Romania at 30. 1552 Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention. 1553 Romanian Constitution (adopted December 8, 1991), Article 45 (4) (www.uniuerzburg.de/law/ro00000_.html)

[hereinafter Romanian Constitution].

1554 Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention at Section 8.3. 1555 Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity, “National Legislation on Child Labor,” Labor Inspection, 2001,

brochure published as part of the Labor Inspection’s National Campaign on the Elimination of Child Labor

[hereinafter “National Legislation on Child Labor”].

1556 Ibid. 1557 Ibid. 1558 Ibid. 1559 Ibid. 1560 Article 134 of the General Norms of Labor Protection prevents anyone between the ages of 16 and 18 from

handling, carrying, or lifting a load of more than 5 kilograms for women and 12 kilograms for men. See “National

Legislation on Child Labor.”
216

Children over 16 can conclude a labor contract without the approval of their parents or

legal guardian. In this case, children will exert on their own the rights and duties deriving from

their contracts and will be entitled to earnings as a result of their work.1561

Measures to protect employed persons are regulated by Law No. 130/1999, as amended

and modified. Article 15 of this same law imposes fines of 5 to 10 million lei (US$173 to

US$347) on employers who use work persons for which they do not have a labor agreement.1562

If infractions of the legislation on labor protection are numerous or severe, the government may

impose a 3-month to 2-year prison sentence or a fine for those found guilty.1563 Article 191 of the

Penal Code outlaws the act of submitting a person to labor against his/her will or to mandatory

labor, with the penalty of six months to three years in prison.1564

The implementation of child protective policies, including those on child labor, is the

responsibility of several agencies, including the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity, the

Ministry of Health and Family, the Ministry of Education and Research, and the National

Authority for Child Protection and Adoption (NACPA).1565 Enforcement of labor laws that

protect children from labor and all hazards connected to it and imposing fines for failing to

respect laws falls under the mandate of the Ministry of Labor and Social Solidarity, Labor

Inspection (established under Law No. 108/1999).1566

In December 2001, the government passed Law 678, which protects children under the

age of 19 years from trafficking and applies enhanced punishments in the case that the child is

under 15 years of age. 1567 Article 329 of the Penal Code prohibits individuals from prostituting

children, which is punishable with imprisonment from 2 to 7 years.1568 The maximum

punishment is 10 years for anyone convicted of enticing or helping another person to practice

prostitution with a child.1569 Article 18 of Law 678 also criminalizes child pornography,1570 and

Article 325 of the Penal Code prohibits the selling, spreading, manufacturing, and possession of

obscene materials with the purpose of dissemination, punishable by a fine or up to 4 years

imprisonment.1571 From the period of 1990 to early 1997, the prosecutor’s office had 1,254 cases

1561 Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention at Section 2.5. 1562 “National Legislation on Child Labor.” Currency conversion rate is as of November 9, 2001. 1563 Ibid. 1564 Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention at Section 8.3. 1565 “Street Children in Bucharest” at 13. 1566 Report on the Romanian Laws, Actions, and Programs Concerning Combating the Worst Forms of Child

Labor, Romania Ministry of Labor and Social Protection [facsimile], September 25, 2000. 1567 Article 13 establishes the provisions against trafficking of children. See Electronic Correspondance, U.S.

Department of State Official, Eric Barboriak, to U.S. Department of Labor Official, May 2, 2002.

1568 Article 329, Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention at Section 8.3. of the Penal Code of

Romania, as cited in The Protection Project, Country Report, Romania, January 2001 (www.protectionproject.org)

[hereinafter Romania Country Report].

1569 Article 329 of the Penal Code of Romania, as cited in Country Report, Romania. 1570 Electronic Correspondance, U.S. Department of State Official, Eric Barboriak, to U.S. Department of Labor

Official, May 2, 2002.

1571 Ibid.
217

involving a sexual crime against children ages 4-17, some of which have been resolved with

sentences of imprisonment imposed on the perpetrators.1572

Romania ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Conventions No. 138 on the

Minimum Age for Employment on November 19, 1975, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the

Worst Forms of Child Labor on December 13, 2000.1573 In October 2001, Romania ratified the

optional protocols of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, concerning the

Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography.1574

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

In June 2000, the Government of Romania signed a Memorandum of Understanding

(MOU) with the ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC).

Under this MOU, a National Steering Committee was established as a coordinating body to

oversee national program activities.1575 Child Labor Units were formed within the Ministry of

Labour and Social Solidarity’s (MLSS) Labour Inspectorate and the National Authority for Child

Protection and Adoption (NACPA) in June 2000.1576

In collaboration with the ILO-IPEC and with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor

(USDOL), in 2000, Romania launched a National Action Program to Eliminate Child Labor. The

program aims to eliminate child labor and prevent a further increase in child labor in Romania

through building the capacity for government and nongovernmental agencies to effectively

implement and sustain national policy and programs to combat child labor. Under this program,

projects focus on sensitizing the public and the authorities to the issue of child labor, particularly

among families and schools with high dropout rates and communities with high incidences of

child labor and street children.1577 Groups receiving particular attention and access to

rehabilitation services include rural working children, working street children, Roma working

street children and their families, community leaders and teachers.1578

1572 Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention at Section 8.3. 1573 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1574 Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and

Child Pornography (www.unicef.org/crc/opsx-tableweb.htm).

1575 As of September 2001, the National Steering Committee (NSC) consisted of representatives of the National

Authority for Child Protection and Adoption, Ministry of Labour and Social Solidarity’s Labor Inspectorate,

Ministry of Education and Research, Ministry of Health and Family, Ministry of European Integration, General

Inspectorate of the Police, workers’ and employers’ organizations, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) active

in child protection, and representatives from academia. National Action for the Prevention and Elimination of

Child Labour in Romania, Technical Progress Report No. 3 (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, September 2001), Annex 2

[hereinafter Child Labour in Romania, Technical Progress Report No. 3] [document on file]. 1576 Ibid. It is anticipated that the size of the NSC will be reduced. 1577 National Action for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour in Romania, project document (Geneva:

ILO-IPEC, prepared February 1999, revised May 1999), 6 [document on file].

1578 Ibid.
218

As of March 2001, the first of 50 police officers of the General Inspectorate of Police

began training to identify and take actions to address the worst forms of child labor. In May

2001, the first 25 MLSS labor inspectors were trained to investigate and monitor child labor

activities.1579

The National Authority for Child Protection and Adoption (NACPA) looks into all issues

related to child welfare, but currently concentrates on children in difficult situations and those

with disabilities. To date, joint efforts of the Child Labor Unit from the NACPA and the National

Steering Committee have included the drafting and government adoption of the National Strategy

for Child Protection for 2001-4 and of the Operational Plan for the Implementation of the

Strategy (Government Decision 539/June 14, 2001), which includes children exploited by labor

as a special target group of the strategy.1580 The plan recommends improvement of the national

legislation on the exploitation of children; diversification of the rehabilitation services provided

for children; establishment of monitoring mechanisms for children in difficult circumstances;

implementation of action programs to combat child labor; and the provision of training for

professionals working with children in difficulty.1581

The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (NISES), with funding from

USDOL and technical assistance from ILO-IPEC’s Statistical Information and Monitoring

Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC) have been carrying out a national survey on child labor in

Romania since July 2000. Data are being collected on 18,000 households comprising an

estimated 28,800 children 5-17 years old for further analysis.1582

An active civil society in Romania is taking a greater role in combating child labor, child

trafficking, and the problem of street children. There are approximately 30 nongovernmental

organization (NGO) members and an additional 40 non-dues-paying members of the Federation

on NGOs Active in Child Protection (FONPC) that serve children in different risk categories,

including street children and school dropouts.1583 Most NGOs are located in Bucharest, but

FONPC has member representation in 30 of Romania’s 42 counties.1584

b. Educational Alternatives

The Romanian Constitution (Article 32) states that a child has a right to an education and

that public education should be free.1585 Article 6 of the Education Law (No. 84/1995), which

was amended in 1999, increased compulsory education in the country from eight to nine years.

1579 Child Labour in Romania, Technical Progress Report No. 3. 1580 Government Strategy Concerning the Protection of the Child in Difficulty (2001-2004) (Bucharest: Government

of Romania, National Authority for the Protection of the Child and Adoption, May 2001), 15.

1581 Midterm Review Country Program on Child Labor in Romania: Discussion Report (Bucharest: ILO-IPEC, July

2001) [document on file].

1582 SIMPOC Progress Report No. 3 (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, September 2001) [document on file]. 1583 Interview with Dr. Diana Nitorescu, executive director, Federation of Nongovernmental Organizations Active

in Child Protection (FONPC) with U.S. Department of Labor official, Bucharest, July 23, 2001.

1584 Ibid. 1585 Romanian Constitution, Article 32.
219

Article 20 of the law refers to the possibility that special classes can be organized for children

who have not completed their first four years of compulsory education by the age 14.1586 In

addition, Article 15 of the law provides, in the case of individuals who are more than two years

older than the typical age for their school level, that secondary school classes may be organized

as evening classes, as “low-attendance” classes, or as “distance learning” classes.1587

The Education Law recognizes education as a national priority.1588 During Romania’s

period of educational restructuring (1993-1996), curriculum reform was undertaken at all levels

of the country’s educational system, the country’s textbook market was liberalized,

administration and management was decentralized, and teacher training was reorganized.1589

Throughout the transition period, the Romanian Government continued to make cash

payments to families in the form of the state child allowance, raising the amount in 1998 from

50,000 to 65,000 lei (US$5.60 to US$7.95) per child, 18 times the amount granted in 1993, and

25 percent more than in 1997.1590 The payment, which is conditional on school attendance, is

intended to prevent school dropouts. Law No. 61/1993 addresses the issue of the state child

allowance granted until the age of 16; or, if the child is integrated in one of the legally recognized

education systems, until the age of 18. Law No. 261/1998 modifies the state child allowance

provided for under Law 61/1993, making it accessible to young persons over 18 until they

complete high school or vocational education, except in the case of those repeating a school

year.1591

International organizations such as the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank,

the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the European Union, Council of Europe, the

United Nations Development Program, and others have actively supported education and child

protection initiatives in Romania.1592 There is growing involvement of local communities and

local NGOs in the organization of education even for the most marginalized groups in Romania

society.1593

In 1997, primary education was allocated 51 percent of the total public expenditure on

education. That percentage decreased slightly to 49.7 percent in 1998.1594 Expenditures per pupil

as a percentage of Romania’s gross national product (GNP) per capita increased from 7.78

percent in 1997 to 8.39 percent in 1998.1595

1586 “Street Children in Bucharest”at 13. 1587 Ibid. 1588 Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention. 1589 Romania: Education for All at Section 1.2. 1590 The payment amount was increased as a result of Government Decision 173/1998. See Progress Report on the

Implementation of the U.N. Convention. Currency conversion rate is as of June 1, 1998. 1591 Progress Report on the Implementation of the U.N. Convention. 1592 Romania: Education for All at Section 2.2.1. 1593 Ibid. at 1.2.3. For example, NGOs providing service to abandoned children, street children, or children with

special needs include Foundation for an Open Society, SOS Children Association, For Our Children—Bucharest,

Ion Creanga Children’s Home, Foundation for Children, House of Home, and many others.

1594 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Romania. 1595 Ibid.
220

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending

on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1596

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader

a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1596 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
221

SOUTH AFRICA

1. Child Labor in South Africa

In 1999, a child labor survey conducted by the South Africa Statistical Agency in

cooperation with the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination

of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) estimated that 36 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 17 in

South Africa were working.1597 Working children are more prevalent in rural areas and in the

agricultural sector than in urban areas. A higher proportion of children in rural areas worked

(63.5 percent) than children living on commercial farms (47.5 percent), in informal urban areas

(41.5 percent), and in formal urban areas (23.4 percent).1598 Around 59 percent of working

children in South Africa work for at least three hours per week in the agricultural sector, while

roughly 33 percent worked in trade-related activities for three or more hours per week.1599

Within the agricultural sector, working children are more prevalent on subsistence farms than on

commercial farms.1600

Child labor in commercial agriculture is most visible in the Western Cape, Free State,

Mpumalanga, and the Northern Province.1601 Children can be found particularly on smaller,

labor-intensive farms planting and harvesting vegetables, picking and packing fruit, and cutting

flowers.1602 Some children working on commercial farms are children of adult farm workers

while others are from neighboring villages or townships.1603 They are often not employed

directly by farmers but assist their parents, who are paid on a piece-work basis.1604

Children often work as domestic servants. This practice appears to be especially

prevalent on farms, in rural areas, and among children from migrant populations.1605 There are

also reports of children working in coal yards.1606

1597 This statistic includes children who work at least three hours per week in economic activities (fetching wood

and/or water, unpaid domestic work, or economic activities for pay, profit, or family gain), five hours per week in

school labor (school maintenance, cleaning or school improvement activities), and seven hours for household

chores (work in the family home, where the child’s parent, grandparent or spouse is present). Statistics South

Africa, Child Labor in South Africa: Surveys of Activities of Young People 1999 (Draft), tables [hereinafter Surveys

of Activities of Young People 1999] http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/southafrica/report/

index.htm on 12/18/01.

1598 Statistics South Africa and South Africa Department of Labor, Child Labor in South Africa: Survey of Activities

of Young People, 1999 (Pretoria: Statistics South Africa, 2000), 35. 1599 Ibid. at 51. 1600 Ibid. at 35. 1601 U.S. Embassy-Johannesburg, unclassified telegram no. 0655, June 21, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram

000655].

1602 Ibid. 1603 Interview with Zacharia Mohanoe, assistant general secretary, and Ignatius Simone, education coordinator,

National Union of Farmworkers, July 27, 2000.

1604 Unclassified telegram 000655. 1605 Ibid. 1606 One inspection led to the discovery of children working in three coal yards where they were packing sacks with

coal, loading them on carts, and delivering the sacks. The children were being paid on commission. See Interview
222

The incidence of child labor varies amongst children from the four main racial categories

recognized in South Africa: “African,” “colored,” “Indian,” and “white.”1607 Child labor appears

to be most prevalent among African children. According to the 1999 government survey, a

greater percentage of African children work (51.9 percent) than colored children (27 percent),

Indian children (11.5 percent), or white children (11.4 percent).1608 A greater proportion of

African working children (62.9 percent) engage in agricultural work, as compared to colored

working children (39.4 percent), Indian working children (3.1 percent), and white working

children (28 percent).1609 On the other hand, 52.5 percent of Indian and 50.1 percent of white

working children work in trading activities.1610

According to the survey results, child labor appears to be somewhat more prevalent

among female than male children. Among working children between the ages of 10 and 14 years,

girls made up roughly 55 percent of the group as compared to some 45 percent for boys.1611

A larger number of female children than male children were involved in service occupations.1612

There are reports that commercial sexual exploitation of children may be growing in

South Africa. There are no accurate statistics for the number of children engaged in prostitution,

but one NGO estimates that there are 10,000 children among the some 40,000 prostitutes working

in the Johannesburg area alone.1613 In Johannesburg, children as young as 8 years old have been

found in brothels, and a large number of boys, particularly those trying to survive on the streets,

are also reportedly drawn into prostitution.1614 Child prostitutes are particularly sought after

because they are believed to be disease-free or because of the belief that having sex with a virgin

cures diseases such as HIV/AIDS. As South Africa becomes an increasingly popular tourist

destination, cities like Cape Town and Durban are becoming destinations for tourists seeking sex

with minors.1615 Children are also allegedly exploited sexually in return for the liquidation of

family debts or to raise income for the family.1616

with Fatima Bhyat, director of minimum standards, South Africa Department of Labor, by U.S. Department of

Labor official (July 26, 2000) [hereinafter Bhyat interview]. See also Charity Bhengu, “Poverty Condemns Kids to

a Tough Life,” Sowetan, April 19, 2000. 1607 “The terms ‘African’, ‘Coloured’, ‘Indian’, and ‘White’ are apartheid classifiers. Because these racial

classifications correspond so strongly with economic and social status and poverty, they have been retained until

such time as greater equity between race groups has been achieved.” From Convention on the Rights of the Child,

Republic of South Africa, November 1997, 1 [hereinafter Convention on the Rights of the Child]. 1608 Child Labor in South Africa at 37. 1609 Ibid. at 51. 1610 Ibid. 1611 Ibid. at 37. 1612 Ibid. at 51. 1613 Unclassified telegram 000655. 1614 Charity Bhengu, “Children Forced into Prostitution,” Sowetan, March 17, 1998. 1615 ECPAT International, Looking Back, Thinking Forward: The Fourth Report on the Implementation of the

Agenda for Action Adopted at the First World Congress Against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children,

Stockholm, Sweden, August 28, 1966 (1999-2000), Section 3.4. [hereinafter Looking Back, Thinking Forward]. 1616 Ibid. See also South Africa National Council for Child and Family Welfare, Report on the Commercial Sexual

Exploitation of Children in South Africa, June 9, 2000, 10.
223

South Africa is thought to be one of the main trafficking centers in Africa, both as a

receiver country and as a transit point. Young girls from neighboring countries such as

Mozambique and Zambia have reportedly been found working in the sex industry in South

Africa, sometimes lured with promises of employment but then sold into the sex industry.1617 It

is also thought that children are trafficked to countries such as the U.S., Israel, and Russia

through South Africa.1618 There are unconfirmed reports that South Africa may also be a source

country for children trafficked to European countries.1619

There is a growing sense that the HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa is leading to an

increase in the incidence of child labor. As more and more individuals die from the disease, the

number of child-headed households has increased. According to ILO-IPEC, these “HIV/AIDS

orphans” are often forced into the worst forms of labor.1620

2. Children’s Participation in School

Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for South Africa. While enrollment rates

indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in

school.1621 School enrollment in South Africa has increased from 10 million in 1991 to over

12 million in 1998, an annual growth rate of 2.8 percent.1622 The net enrollment rate for primary

schools in 1997 was 87.1 percent,1623 suggesting that universal primary education for the official

primary school age group has not yet been achieved.1624 The net enrollment rate was slightly

higher for male children (87.9 percent) than for female children (86.3 percent).1625

There are numerous barriers to school attendance. From 1948 to 1994, a succession of

apartheid-driven policies resulted in social inequalities along racial lines, and black South

Africans in particular were deprived of opportunities to access basic social services, including

education. Many schools continue to face significant problems that have a negative impact on

the quality of education. There are high student to teacher ratios (36:1 in primary schools in

1996),1626 a high percentage of unqualified or under-qualified teachers, and a poor physical

environment at schools, including lack of sanitation facilities, electricity, and appropriate

teaching materials. Parents must pay school fees, and though no student may legally be denied

1617 Looking Back, Thinking Forward. 1618 Ibid. 1619 Ibid. 1620 Interview with E. Kenneth Andoh, director, Pretoria Area Office, ILO-IPEC, by U.S. Department of Labor

official, July 25, 2000.

1621 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

1622 South Africa Department of Education, Education for All: The South African Assessment Report (Pretoria:

Department of Education, 2000), 29. [hereinafter The South African Assessment Report]. 1623 Ibid. at 31. 1624 Ibid. at 32. 1625 Ibid. at 31. 1626 World Education Report 2000: The Right to Education: Towards Education for All throughout Life (Geneva:

UNESCO Publishing, 2000), 152.
224

admission to a public school if they cannot or do not pay the school fee, there are additional costs

such as transportation and school uniforms that nevertheless prevent many children from

attending school.1627

According to the 1999 survey, relatively few child workers between the ages of 5 and

17 stated that working kept them out of school (0.9 percent of female and 5.9 percent of male

children).1628 Most children between the ages of 5 and 17 were involved in economic activities

for three or more hours per week for pay, profit or family economic gain combined work and

schooling (90.8 percent).1629 Most child workers (50.5 percent) worked after school, while 29.2

percent worked on weekends and holidays, and 3.8 percent worked during school hours.1630

Among older children, 16 to 17 years old, there seems to be no significant difference in

educational attainment between those who worked and those who did not work, but there are

differences among younger children. Among children 13 years of age, for example, only

17 percent of those who worked had completed at least seven years of schooling compared to

40 percent of those who did not work.1631

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Constitution of South Africa includes broad protections for children while specific

laws regulate the conditions under which children are allowed to work. Section 28 of the

Constitution provides that every child, defined as a person under 18 years of age, has the right to

be protected from exploitative labor practices and not to perform work or provide services that

are inappropriate for that child’s age or risk the child’s well-being, education, physical or mental

health, or spiritual, moral or social development.1632 The Basic Conditions of Employment Act,

1997 (BCEA)–the primary piece of legislation governing working conditions–also prohibits the

employment of children in work that is “inappropriate” for their age or that places their wellbeing, education, physical or mental health, or spiritual, moral, or social development at risk.1633

The minimum age for employment in South Africa is 15. Section 43 of the BCEA

prohibits the employment of children who under 15 years of age or who are still subject to

compulsory schooling.1634 For children over the age of 15, the BCEA provides for the adoption

of additional regulations prohibiting or placing conditions on their employment.1635

1627 Statistics South Africa, “Child Labor in South Africa: Tables. Surveys of Activities of Young People 1999”

(draft), 2000 (www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/southafrica/report/index.htm) [hereinafter “Child

Labor in South Africa: Tables”].

1628 Child Labor in South Africa at 64. 1629 Ibid. at 61. 1630 Ibid. at 62. 1631 Ibid. at 66. 1632 Convention on the Rights of the Child. 1633 Basic Conditions of Employment Act (Act No. 75), 1997, Government Gazette, Republic of South Africa (Cape

Town: Creda Communications for the Government Printer, December 1997), 38, 40 [hereinafter Employment Act].

1634 Ibid. 1635 Ibid.
225

Employment of children is defined as a criminal offense in the BCEA and carries a

maximum penalty of three years in jail. In addition, it is a violation to assist an employer who

violates the BCEA or to discriminate against a person who refuses to allow children to be

employed.1636 The South Africa Schools Act also provides for the prosecution of persons who

prevent a child under 15 years of age from attending school in order to work, and labor inspectors

can assist the Department of Education to enforce the requirements of this act.1637

Regulations for children who are working informally, for example as self-employed

workers or service workers, are not as extensive as those for children working as formal

employees. The BCEA does not apply to this type of work unless the work constitutes forced

labor. However, the Child Care Act and the South Africa Schools Act may each be used to

enforce minimum age of employment laws among children who are engaged in these types of

non-formal employment.1638

Laws and regulations regarding the commercial sexual exploitation of children are

currently being revised. The Sexual Offences Act No. 23 of 1957 makes prostitution an offence

regardless of the age of the offender; children who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation

can, therefore, be arrested for prostitution. However, according to an ILO study, the approach of

the office of National Director of Public Prosecutions is to refer such matters to a children’s court

to determine whether the child is in need of care, and the prosecution of persons exploiting

children is pursued.1639 In addition, the South African Law Commission project committee on

sexual offences is currently drafting a new Sexual Offences Act, which reportedly recommends a

complete prohibition on the commercial sexual exploitation of children, including child

prostitution, child pornography, and trafficking in children.1640

Neither child sex exploitation nor child pornography is covered by the BCEA unless the

work constitutes forced labor. However, the government passed an amendment to the Child Care

Act in 1999 that prohibits the commercial sexual exploitation of children in a similar but much

more comprehensive manner than the Sexual Offences Act, 1957.1641 Under this amendment,

any person who is involved, directly or indirectly, in the commercial sexual exploitation of

children is guilty of an offence and is liable for a fine and/or a maximum prison sentence of

10 years. It also makes the owner, lessor, manager, tenant or occupier of property on which the

commercial sexual exploitation of children may occur liable for failing to report such occurrences

to the police. In addition, an amendment to the Films and Publication Act, which came into

force on April 30, 2000, makes it illegal for a person to create, produce, import or possess a

publication of children pornography or to create, distribute, produce or possess such a film.1642

1636 Ibid. 1637 “Child Labor in South Africa: Tables.” 1638 Ibid. 1639 Ibid. 1640 Ibid. 1641 Implementation of the Convention on the Rights of the Child: South Africa’s Supplement to the Initial Country

Report (Pretoria: Office of the President, 2000), 58-59 [hereinafter Implementation of the Convention]. 1642 “Child Labor in South Africa: Tables.” See also Implementation of the Convention at 59.
226

Law enforcement, however, is reportedly lax, and there are problems in the investigation,

charging, and sentencing of offenders.1643

The BCEA prohibits all forms of forced labor.1644 Section 28 of the Bill of Rights of

the Constitution (1996) also prohibits the use of children in armed conflicts or paramilitary

groups.1645

With the passage of the BCEA in 1997, the South African Department of Labor (SADOL) is

now the primary government entity responsible for monitoring compliance with and enforcing

South Africa’s labor laws, including provisions on child labor. There are approximately

600 labor inspectors throughout South Africa who focus on the BCEA,1646 and they check for

child labor incidence as part of their inspections.1647 Social workers often accompany labor

inspectors on their inspections, and labor inspectors are able to assist the Department of Welfare

and the Department of Education enforce the provisions of the Child Care Act and South Africa

Schools Act which have a direct bearing on child labor.1648 However, officials from SADOL

report that few child labor cases have actually been prosecuted,1649 and they attempt to resolve

problems by counseling employers, child workers, and parents.1650

South Africa ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Employment on

March 30, 2000, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on June 7,

2000.1651 South Africa has also ratified the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the

Child, 1990. In 2000, South Africa ratified the optional protocol to the Convention on the Rights

of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict.

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

Governmental bodies and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) in South Africa have

taken steps to address child labor. Before and after promulgating the BCEA, the government

coordinated ad hoc meetings with stakeholders actively involved on child labor issues. These

1643 Looking Back, Thinking Forward. 1644 Employment Act at 40. 1645 As quoted in Convention on the Rights of the Child at 16. 1646 Bhyat interview. 1647 See, for instance, South Africa Department of Labor, “Integrated Labour Inspection Checklist,” received from

Department of Labor officials, August 2000.

1648 Dawie Bosch, Enforcing the Law on Child Labour in South Africa, quotes and summary of the material and

information presented for the Department of Labor training workshop (May 24-26, 1999), 5-6, as reproduced in

Network Against Child Labor, Documents to be Discussed at the Meeting of 17 January 2000 (Johannesburg:

Department of Social Services and Population Development, 2000) [hereinafter Network Against Child Labor].

1649 Bhyat interview. 1650 Unclassified telegram 000655. 1651 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.
227

meetings eventually led to the formation of a national stakeholders forum – the Child Labor Intersectoral Group (CLIG) – in 1997.1652 There are also 10 CLIGS located in the provinces. The

CLIG focuses on raising awareness and coordinates and monitors services provided by the

government and NGOs. The CLIG adopted the South African Child Labor Action Program,

which was developed in February 1998 by a workshop of stakeholders, and presented it to the

National Program of Action Steering Committee (NPA) for formal endorsement.1653 SADOL,

the Department of Welfare, and other stakeholders belonging to the CLIG have developed an

enforcement policy to guide the implementation of the BCEA’s provisions on child labor and to

train labor inspectors.1654

Within the government, other ministries in addition to SADOL have taken an active role

in child labor initiatives. The South African Department of Welfare, a member of the CLIG,

administers a number of social safety net programs that help prevent children from entering the

workforce. These include the Child Support Grant for families with children up to 7 years of age

and the Flagship Programs for Women with Children (under 5 years of age) train women and

build their capacity in business skills, nutrition, and childcare.1655 In addition, the Department of

Welfare administers a family allowance program that provides cash benefits to low income

persons caring for children under the age of 18 and disability and death programs that also

provide cash benefits.1656

In 1997, South Africa developed a National Plan of Action against the Commercial

Sexual Exploitation of Children. This plan has reportedly enabled South Africa to use a

systematic approach to addressing commercial sexual exploitation of children.1657

In 1998, the Government of South Africa signed a Memorandum of Understanding

(MOU) with the ILO. With support from the ILO, SADOL and Statistics South Africa carried

out the Survey of Activities of Young People in South Africa, a comprehensive survey on the

nature and extent of child labor in South Africa.

The government has developed a close working relationship with several children’s rights

NGOs. The Network Against Child Labor (NACL) – dedicated solely to combating child labor –

is made up of about 50 member organizations and was established to feed into structures set up

by the CLIG. The aim of the NACL is to end the economic exploitation of children through their

labor by raising public awareness, advocacy, policy-making, research, networking, and legal and

oral interventions.1658

The South Africa National Council for Child and Family Welfare has been active in

fighting the commercial sexual exploitation of children as part of a general child welfare

1652 Implementation of the Convention at 56. 1653 Network Against Child Labor at “Background.” 1654 Ibid. at “Discussion Document in Relation to Child Labour in South Africa.” 1655 Ibid., “Submission to the Departmental Committee on Developmental Social Services,” at 3. 1656 U.S. Social Security Administration, Social Security Programs throughout the World, 1999 (Washington, D.C.:

U.S. Government Printing Office, 1999), 328-29.

1657 Looking Back, Thinking Forward. 1658 Network Against Child Labor at “Background.”
228

movement. There are 167 child welfare societies around the country with approximately 80 more

in development.1659 The Council instituted a media campaign against child prostitution and other

forms of sexual exploitation and lobbied various government ministries to address the problem of

commercial sexual exploitation of children. The Council has also conducted educational and

awareness-raising programs at schools and has provided services directly to families.1660 There

are shelters that assist children in prostitution in their recovery and reintegration into society; the

Salvation Army Social Services manages the Ethembeni Children’s Home, a residential program

for child prostitutes that sends the children back to school or for skills training.1661

NGOs such as the South African National Council for Child and Family Welfare have

begun working specifically with HIV/AIDS orphans. The government and individual businesses

have also begun numerous HIV/AIDS education and prevention programs in an effort to halt and

reverse the rate of infection among adults.

b. Educational Alternatives

Since the transition to a democratically elected government in 1994, South Africa has

engaged in fundamental education reforms designed to increase access to and the quality of

education. The Constitution states that every person has a right to basic education and that the

State must do all that is reasonable to ensure that everyone receives a basic education.

The South African Schools Act (1996) replaced the Education Acts of the apartheid

government and paved the way for a single, non-racial school system. The Schools Act asserts

that all individuals have a right to access basic and quality education and may not be

discriminated against, and makes schooling compulsory for children between the ages of 7 and 15

years or a total of nine years. The act prohibits public schools from refusing admission to any

student on the grounds that his/her parent is unable to pay or has not paid school fees. The

National Education Policy Act (1996) also prohibits schools from denying admission or

otherwise discriminating against a student for not paying school fees.1662

The South African Qualifications Authority Act (1995) provides for the establishment of

an integrated national framework for learning achievements in order to enhance access to, as well

as mobility and progression within, the educational system. It further aims to enhance the quality

of education and training and accelerate the redress of past discrimination in education, training,

and employment opportunities.1663 The Admission Policy for Ordinary Public Schools 1998

strives to improve the internal efficiency of the education system by curbing the high repetition

1659 Interview with Suohilla Leslie, national program manager, South African National Council for Child Welfare,

July 27, 2000.

1660 Ibid. 1661 South Africa National Council for Child and Family Welfare, Report on the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of

Children in South Africa, June 9, 2000, 4. 1662 Convention on the Rights of the Child at 84. 1663 South African Assessment Report at 10.
229

rate of students. It places the onus on schools to place learners who are above the “normal” age

for a grade in a “fast-track facility” to help bring them in line with their peers.1664

The government is attempting to achieve racial equity and redress past discrimination in

the country’s educational system through reforming expenditure patterns and reallocating funds

to poorer provinces and to predominantly black schools rather than just expanding the budget.1665

In 1998, the government announced new funding norms for schools to further these goals. The

new procedures require education departments to direct 60 percent of their non-personnel and

non-capital recurrent expenditures towards the most deprived 40 percent of schools in their

provinces. The most endowed 20 percent of schools are to receive 5 percent of the resources, and

all students are to receive a minimum package of teaching and learning materials. The National

Curriculum 2005 Framework has helped bridge the gap in educational opportunities between

privileged and under-privileged children by more equitably providing learning support materials

to all schools and standardizing the content of training courses for teachers in all districts.1666

In 1994, the Reconstruction and Development Program (RDP) set education goals and

proceeded to fund several major education initiatives.1667 As part of the RDP, the president

established the National School Building Programme in 1994 in order to address the backlog of

school facility construction needs. Between 1994 and 1996, 1.3 billion rand (US$140 million)

was allocated to school building and rehabilitation, with a goal of building 10,000 new

classrooms by 1999.1668 The rate of implementation has varied from province to province.

Most provinces have concentrated on providing a physical plant for every school.1669

The Ministry of Education launched the Culture of Learning, Teaching and Service

Campaign (COLTS) in 1998 in order to develop a culture of learning, teaching and service that

improves the delivery and quality of education. Among the objectives of the COLTS Campaign

is to encourage parental participation in institutions of learning and to create a safer learning

environment. The COLTS Directorate of the Department of Education coordinates the Campaign,

which is implemented through various projects such as the Yizo Yizo Media Campaign, Creative

Arts Initiative, and the Parental Involvement Project.1670

The National Early Childhood Development (ECD) Pilot Project was launched in 1997 to

conduct research and develop systems and models to ensure children have improved access to

quality education programs. The ECD Pilot Project has reached 2,800 nongovernmental early

childhood learning sites serving approximately 70,000 of the most disadvantaged.1671

1664 Ibid. 1665 Ibid. at 26-27. 1666 Implementation of the Convention at 45. 1667 “Education: Achieving Equality?” Indicator South Africa: A Barometer of Social Trends, June 17, 2000, 40

[hereinafter “Education: Achieving Equality?”].

1668 South African Assessment Report at 19. 1669 Ibid. at 20. 1670 Ibid. at 18-19. See also Convention on the Rights of the Child at 87. 1671 South African Assessment Report at 20-21.
230

South Africa has adopted Outcomes-Based Education (OBE) that is learner-centered and

oriented towards results and outcomes.1672 This new pedagogical approach has been developed

into a curriculum framework for learning at school level, referred to as “Curriculum 2005.” The

Department of Education launched the framework in April 1997, phased it into grade 1 in 1998

and into grade 2 in 1999. Curriculum 2005 was to be phased into grades 3-7 in 2000.1673

The government hopes to reduce the percentage of government expenditure on education

that goes to personnel costs to 85 percent by 2005, freeing up additional funds for equipment,

school supplies, and other materials.1674 A shortage of learning materials has been cited as one

of the most common problems with the current educational system.1675

From 1991 to 1996, the government increased its expenditures on education by

89 percent.1676 After 1996, government expenditures on education continued to increase but

at a much lower rate. In 1995-96, the total expenditure on education was 33,516,495 rand, or

21.7 percent of the total government budget and 6.7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).1677

The estimated total expenditure in 1999-2000 was 46,840,692 rand, or 21.3 percent of the total

government budget and 6.6 percent of GDP.1678

1672 Ibid. at 21. 1673 Ibid. 1674 Ibid. at 33. 1675 “Education: Achieving Equality?” at 42. 1676 South African Assessment Report at 26. 1677 Ibid. at 32. 1678 Ibid.
231

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of gross national product (GNP). The chart considers government expenditures on

education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of

government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also

shown.1679

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader

a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1679 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
232

TANZANIA

1. Child Labor in Tanzania

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 37.9 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Tanzania were working. 1680 A child labor survey

conducted in 2001 by the Tanzania Ministry of Labor, Youth Development and Sports in

cooperation the ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC)

estimated that 39.5 percent (4.8 million) children between the ages of 5 and 17 in Tanzania were

working, 40 percent of working children were boys and 39 percent of working children were

girls.1681 Approximately 27 percent of working children are between the ages of 5 and 9, and 44

percent are between the ages of 10 and 14.1682 Thirty-four percent of rural children were working,

compared to 11 percent of urban children who worked.1683 Forty-eight percent of working

children also attended school.1684

Children in Tanzania work on tea, coffee, sugar cane, and tobacco plantations as well as

in the production of cloves, corn, green algae (seaweed), pyrethrum, rubber, sisal, and wheat.1685

On farms, children often perform tasks, such as spraying agrochemicals, usually without the

appropriate protective gear.1686 Children working in agriculture are also vulnerable to health

hazards.1687

In mining regions, children are employed to work in surface and underground tanzanite

mines. Some children (typically boys) known as “snakes,” crawl through narrow tunnels to help

1680 World Development Indicators 2000. 1681 Statistics on the number of working children refer to “usual” work activities for children who worked during the

12-month reference period. See “Labour Force Survey Preliminary Results (Quarter 1),” Time-Bound Program:

Tanzania, RAP Reports (Tanzania; ILO-IPEC, 2001) [CD-ROM] [hereinafter Time-Bound Program: Tanzania].

 Statistics on the number of working children refer to “current” work activities for children who worked during the

last week of the reference period. The number of children who were currently working was 3.4 million. See TimeBound Program: Tanzania. See also ILO-IPEC, ILO-IPEC Tanzania: Focusing on the Worst Forms of Child

Labour (Geneva, 2001) [hereinafter ILO-IPEC Tanzania: Focusing on the Worst Forms of Child Labour]. 1682 Statistics on the number of working children refer to “current” work activities for children who worked during

the last week of the reference period. The number of children who were currently working was 3.4 million. See

Time-Bound Program: Tanzania. See also ILO-IPEC, ILO-IPEC Tanzania: Focusing on the Worst Forms of Child

Labour (Geneva, 2001) [hereinafter ILO-IPEC Tanzania: Focusing on the Worst Forms of Child Labour]. 1683 Time-Bound Program: Tanzania. 1684 Ibid. 1685 By the Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor, vol. 5 (U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau

of International Labor Affairs, 1998), 165 [hereinafter Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor]. 1686 Situation Analysis Report on Hazardous Child Labor in the Three Sectors: Plantations and Agriculture,

Domestic and Allied Workers Union, and Tanzania Mining and Construction Workers Union (Dar es Salaam,

Tanzania Federation of Free Trade Unions, ILO-IPEC, 1997), 14 [hereinafter Situation Analysis Report]. 1687 Hossea Rwegoshora, Hazardous Child Labor in Tanzania: A Case Study of Selected Worksites in the

Agricultural, Mining and Informal Sectors (Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Child Labor Unit, Ministry of Labor and

Youth Development, 1996).
233

position mining equipment and ignite and assess the effectiveness of explosions.1688 Children in

underground mines work in extreme heat and are exposed to high noise levels. Children in mines

are more prone to stress, cataracts, burns, and hearing loss than adults.1689 Many suffer from

chest pains, tuberculosis, respiratory diseases, and other illnesses due to exposure to harmful

mineral residue.1690

Children, primarily girls from rural areas, work as domestic servants, often working an

average of 18 hours per day.1691 On average child domestic workers receive Tsh 6000 (US$6.41)

per month, since employers frequently deduct the cost of room and board.1692

Children in urban areas work as barmaids, street vendors, car washers, shoe shiners,

carpenters and auto repair mechanics.1693 Children in skilled crafts, carpentry and mechanic work

often receive minimal pay while working as apprentices.1694 Girls as young as 9 years old are

engaged in prostitution.1695 There are estimated to be at least 800 children in prostitution in

Arusha, Dar es Salaam, and Singida alone.1696

According to UNAIDS, over 650,000 children under the age of 15 were living as orphans

in 1999, due to the country’s AIDS epidemic.1697 Many HIV/AIDS orphans leave school

prematurely and become involved in some of the worst forms of child labor.1698

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1996, the gross primary attendance rate was 78.1 percent and the net primary

attendance rate was 51.3 percent.1699 According to Tanzania’s child labor survey, over 4 million

of Tanzania’s 10 million children between the ages of 5 and 14 did not attend school in 2000.1700

1688 Situation Analysis Report at 10. 1689 Situation Analysis Report at 10. 1690 Ibid. at 14. 1691 Situation Analysis Report at 14. 1692 Ibid. 1693 Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor at 165. 1694 International Labor Office, Child Labour in Tanzania (Geneva, 1992), 12. 1695 Alakok Mayombo, Tanzania Media Women Association (TAMWA), “Rights—Tanzania: Children Drawn into

Sex Trade,” Associated Press, April 27, 1998, as cited in Factbook on Global Sexual Exploitation (Amherst,

Massachusetts: Coalition Against Trafficking in Women, 1999). 1696 Ibid. 1697 United Republic of Tanzania: Epidemiological Fact Sheets on HIV/AIDS and sexually transmitted infections

(UNAIDS/WHO, 2000), 3.

1698 Integrated Regional Information Network, “Tanzania: One Million AIDS Orphans by 2000,” June 17, 1999. 1699 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C.,2000, at

http://www.usaid.gov/educ_training/ged.html.

1700 Yaw Ofosu, The Dynamics of Child Labour in Tanzania (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 2001), 1.
234

Throughout Tanzania, the growing incidence of HIV/AIDS infection is placing an

additional burden on an already strained education system, contributing to an increase in teacher

turnover, loss of experienced teachers, and orphans with special needs.1701

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Employment Ordinance of 1956 states that children under the age of 15 are restricted

from using or working in the vicinity of machinery or engaging in any subsurface work that is

entered by means of a mine shaft.1702 The Ministry of Energy and Minerals has also instituted

standard regulations to ensure that children under 16 years are not involved in mine work.1703

Employers are obliged under the Employment Ordinance of 1956 to keep registers that

indicate the age of workers, working conditions, the nature of employment and commencement

and termination dates.1704 The Employment Ordinance also states that any employer found to be

in violation of the minimum age of employment law is subject to a fine and/or three months

imprisonment.1705 If the employer is found to be in subsequent violation, the penalty will be a

fine and or six months imprisonment. Currently the fine charged by the labor inspectorate is Tsh

2,000 to 4,000 (approximately US$2.14 to 4.28).1706

The Sexual Offences Special Provisions Act of 1998 criminalizes child sexual assault or

abuse, and the Penal Code prohibits procuring a female under the age of 21 for prostitution.1707

The Ministry of Labor and Youth Development (MLYD) has primary responsibility for

enforcing laws against child labor; however, other agencies also have jurisdiction over areas

which affect child labor. A Child Labor Unit within the Ministry of Labor Youth and

Development (MLYD) serves as a liaison between the various government ministries and

stakeholders. It is responsible for child labor related projects, conducts the child labor component

of the labor inspector training, and gathers and disseminates data on child labor.1708

1701 “IPEC Country Profile: United Republic of Tanzania,” fact sheet from Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child

Labor: An Integrated Time-Bound Approach (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 2001). 1702 The relevant Cap. 366, Section 77, provisions are in Report of the Commission on the Law Relating to Children

in Tanzania (Dar es Salaam: The Law Reform Commission of Tanzania, 1996), 131. 1703 International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor, Tanzania, “Time-Bound Program on the Worst

Forms of Child Labor in Tanzania: Summary of the Institutional and Policy Study,” National Roundtable

Discussion on the Time-Bound Program on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, Dar es Salaam, April 23-25. 2001, 12

[hereinafter Program for the Elimination of Child Labor].

1704 Report of the Commission on the Law Relating to Children in Tanzania ( Dar es Salaam: The Law Reform

Commission of Tanzania, 1996), 131. See Cap. 366, Section 85. 1705 Ibid. at 132, Part VII, Section 94. 1706 Ibid. at 132. Currency conversion at http://www.carosta.de/frames/convert.htm on 3/20/02. 1707 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000),

[hereinafter Country Reports – Tanzania]. See also Human Rights Reports: Tanzania, Protection Project Database,

at www.protectionproject.org.

1708 Program for the Elimination of Child Labor at 12.
235

The Government of Tanzania ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention

No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Employment on December 16, 1998, and ILO Convention No.

182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on September 12, 2001.1709

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

In March 1994, Tanzania signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the International

Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC).

Since 1995, 40 action programs have been implemented by ILO-IPEC, through various social

partners. These action programs have sought to build institutional capacity, raise public

awareness, and mobilize local communities. The programs have also aimed to withdraw children

from hazardous work and reintegrate them into schools and vocational skills training. In

addition, the programs assist parents of former working children in identifying income generating

alternatives to help reduce their reliance on income earned by their children.1710

In 2000, ILO-IPEC with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor launched a threeyear regional project (including in Kenya, Malawi, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia) to build

institutional capacity and prevent children from entering child labor in commercial agriculture.

The project seeks to remove and rehabilitate 7,500 children engaged in exploitative work in this

sector in the five countries and prevent a further 15,000 at-risk children from entering such work

in the first place. To enhance the effectiveness and sustainability of this program, ILO-IPEC is

utilizing the Community Child Labor Committees for efforts aimed at monitoring, preventing,

and eliminating child labor.1711

The Government of Tanzania, local government actors and civil society organizations

have incorporated child labor issues into their activities. Labor inspectors from the Ministry of

Labor, Youth Development and Sports now report and take actions against child labor as a

regular task of the labor inspectorate division.1712 At the community level, Child Labor

Monitoring Committees have been established which identify and monitor cases of child labor

and work to implement by-laws, directives, and collective bargaining agreements regarding child

labor, to allow community based actions to precede federal legislative reform.1713 Community

initiatives to increase enrollment and retention rates at the primary school level have resulted in a

decrease in the incidence of child labor.1714 Community-based task forces and peer group clubs

also play a role in activities aimed at preventing and rehabilitating children in prostitution.1715

1709 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1710 ILO-IPEC Tanzania: Focusing on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, 14. 1711 ILO-IPEC, Prevention, withdrawal and rehabilitation of children engaged in hazardous work in the

commercial agricultural sector in Africa, Programme Document (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 2000), 6-7. 1712 ILO-IPEC Tanzania: Focusing on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, 14. 1713 Time-Bound Program: Tanzania, 18. 1714 ILO-IPEC Tanzania: Focusing on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, 14. 1715 Ibid. at 15.
236

Various trade unions, the Tanzania Federation of Trade Unions, and the Association of

Tanzania Employers (ATE) have also worked with ILO-IPEC. The efforts of ATE to sensitize

owners and managers of sisal, tea, and coffee plantations to child labor issues have helped

plantation owners and managers to become active collaborators in designing measures to prevent

child labor on plantations.1716 Trade unions have also initiated local community actions to

prevent child labor and to withdraw children from hazardous worksites through collective

bargaining arrangements with employers and dialogue with community leaders.1717 The

Tanzania chapter of the African Network has worked with 800 children to stage awareness

raising street theatre performances about exploitive child labor in the hopes of preventing child

labor on plantations.1718

In June 2001, the Government of Tanzania announced that it would initiate an ILO-IPEC

Time-Bound Program, a comprehensive, national project to eliminate the worst forms of child

labor over a certain period of time. During Phase 1 of the time bound project, Tanzania will

focus on eliminating child labor in the commercial sex sector, mining, abusive forms of domestic

work and commercial agriculture by 2010.1719

b. Educational Alternatives

Education in Tanzania is compulsory for seven years, until the age of 15; however,

education is not free, and costs include enrollment, books, and uniforms.1720

Since 1990, the Government of Tanzania has collaborated with donors and various civil

society and district level actors to increase access to and quality of education. In 1991, national

and district level government representatives, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs),

community-based organizations, religious institutions and private individuals who own schools

set up a Task Force on the Education System for the 21st Century, to improve equitable access to

a quality education, and since then have been working on reforming the country’s educational

system.1721 In 1996, the Government of Tanzania published the blueprint for education reform,

the Basic Education Master Plan 1997-2002 (BEMP), to coordinate the activities of the various

institutions involved in education reform.1722

1716 Ibid. at 14. 1717 Ibid. at 18. 1718 Child Labour in the Tobacco-Growing Sector in Africa: Report Prepared for the IUF/ITGA/BAT Conference on

the Elimination of Child Labour, Eldring, Nakanyane & Tshoaedi, Nairobi, Kenya, October 8-9, 2000, 68. 1719 See “Special High-Level Session on the Launch of the Time-Bound Programme on the Worst Forms of

Child Labour, Address of Mr. Benjamin Mkapa, president of the United Republic of Tanzania,” in International

Labour Conference, Provisional Record, Eighty-Ninth Session, June 12, 2001, Geneva. 1720 Country Reports – Tanzania, at Section 5. 1721 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics,

Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment, Country Report, Tanzania (Paris, 2000) [hereinafter Education for All:

Year 2000 Assessment—Tanzania]; see also Education for All (EFA) 2000, Country Report, Tanzania [online]

(www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/country.html) [hereinafter EFA 2000].

1722 Ibid.
237

The BEMP sought to achieve universal access to basic education and increase primary

school gross enrollment to 85 percent by the year 2000.1723 A related BEMP goal was to ensure

that at least 80 percent of children complete primary education by the age of 15.1724

The Ministry of Education and Culture, with support from UNICEF, has launched a threeyear program to help reintegrate children who have dropped out of the system into schools and

has made it illegal to expel students because of pregnancy.1725 The Ministry of Education has

also launched a Community Education Fund, with World Bank support, to improve the condition

of schools, and is working independently with districts to develop new and relevant curricula.

ILO-IPEC is supporting Ministry of Education efforts to improve pre-primary education and the

German Technological Assistance Agency (GTZ) is supporting an initiative to improve

vocational education.1726

In 1997, Tanzania became one of the first nations to join ILO-IPEC’s Action Against

Child Labor through Education and Training Project. The project mobilized teachers, educators

and their organizations and the general public to launch campaigns against child labor at local and

national levels.1727

In 1998/99, the Government of Tanzania allocated 24.2 percent of its total budget to

education, and according to the BEMP it will allocate 25 percent of the total budget for education

every year to cover operating costs to maintain the current infrastructure (recurrent spending).1728

In 1997/98, the government allocated 68.4 percent of the education budget to primary education,

and according to the BEMP the government plans to allocate 70 percent of the recurrent

education expenditure to basic education.1729

1723 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Tanzania; see also EFA 2000. 1724 “Debt for Poverty Reduction: The Case of Education in Tanzania,” Oxfam International Position Paper, April

1998 (www.oxfam.org.uk/policy/papers/tanzdebt/education.htm#plan). 1725 RAP Reports. 1726 Ibid. 1727 Action Against the Worst Forms of Child Labour through Education and Training, outline paper (Geneva:

International Labor Office, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor, January 1999), 7.

1728 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Tanzania; see also EFA 2000. 1729 Ibid.
238

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of gross national product (GNP). The chart considers government expenditures on

education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of

government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also

shown.1730

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1730 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
239

THAILAND

1. Child Labor in Thailand

According to the International Labor Organization’s (ILO) database on the Economically

Active Population, 13.8 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Thailand were

working in 1998, down from 16.2 percent in 1995.1731 In 1999, the ILO’s Yearbook of Labour

Statistics indicated that 8.6 percent (191,400) of children ages 13 to 14 were in the labor force.1732

Children work in many sectors and are exposed to a variety of hazards in Thailand. In

agriculture, children are frequently exposed to hazardous pesticides and other chemicals.1733 In

the construction sector, children dig and carry heavy loads.1734 In the fishing sector, they work

with sharp knives while preparing seafood.1735

Many children also work as domestic servants outside of the protections of the country’s

labor laws. Migrant children who work as domestic servants are often at increased risk of abuse

because they face cultural and/or language barriers.1736 A 1998 report observed that Cambodian

1731 World Development Indicators 2000. While the number of working children may have decreased in Thailand

over the past decade, statistics from 1995 suggest that those children who are working do so for more hours per day

and that more of them work seven days a week. For a discussion of child labor in Thailand in the 1990s, see Zafiris

Tzannatos, Child Labor and School Enrollment in Thailand in the 1990s, SP Discussion Paper No. 9818

(Washington, D.C.: The World Bank Social Protection Group, December 1998), 7-8 [hereinafter Child Labor and

School Enrollment]. Some researchers have attributed the drop in child labor partly to the impact of the Asian crisis

on Thailand’s economy. The Asian crisis, also known as the East Asian crisis or the Asian financial crisis, began in

mid-1997 as a currency crisis in Thailand that severely impacted the economies of five countries (Thailand,

Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia and the Republic of Korea). See, for example, Dilip K. Das, Asian Crisis:

Distilling Critical Lessons, U.N. Conference on Trade and Development, Working Paper No. 152 (December

2000). The Asian crisis caused factories to close and jobs to become scarce, which may have decreased demand for

the labor of children. See U.S. Embassy-Bangkok, unclassified telegram no. 006420, September 18, 2000

[hereinafter unclassified telegram 006420]. The full impact of the crisis on child labor, however, is not yet known.

Some reports suggest that the incidence of child labor may actually have increased due to the crisis. See Human

Development Report of Thailand 1999 (Bangkok: United Nations Development Program, 1999), 142-43

[hereinafter Human Development Report]. 1732 Yearbook of Labour Statistics 2000 (Geneva: ILO, 2000), Table 1A. 1733 Xinhua English Newswire, “Thailand to Ratify U.N. Convention to Eliminate Child Labor,” November 15,

2000. See also interview with Simon Baker and Sudarat Sereewat, Secretary General of FACE Coalition to Fight

Against Child Exploitation, by U.S. Department of Labor official, October 26, 2000, for information on children’s

involvement in agricultural production.

1734 ILO-IPEC, The Situation of Child Labour in Thailand: An Overview (Bangkok, 1996), 7-8, as cited in By the

Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor, vol. 5 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor,

1998), 35 [hereinafter Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor]. 1735 Kerry Richter and Orathai Ard-am, Child Labor in Thailand’s Fishing Industry (Salaya: Institute for Population

and Social Research, Mahidol University, 1995), 18-19, as cited in Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor at 22. 1736 Historically, work in the domestic service sector was a means of providing patronage to poorer relatives or poor

children in return for housework. See “Behind Closed Doors: Child Domestic Workers, the Situation and the

Response,” in Child Workers in Asia (www.cwa.tnet.co.th/domestic/pages40-42.htm), 40-42. See also interview

with Dr. Lae Dilokvidhyarat, director of Labor and Management Development Center of Chulalongkorn

University, by U.S. Department of Labor official, October 26, 2000.
240

children regularly cross the border with Thailand to work as domestic servants or as porters.1737

Cambodian children were also found working in the Thai fishing industry, peeling shrimp and

sorting the catch, sometimes along with their families. Migrant working children rarely have

access to education.1738

Children are reported to be involved in the trafficking of drugs in Thailand, particularly

amphetamines.1739 There is also growing concern that the use and trafficking of drugs may

contribute to an increase in prostitution among children. One NGO working in northern Thailand

estimated that 90 percent of girls engaged in prostitution use drugs.1740 According to 1994

estimates from Thailand’s Office of the National Commission on Women’s Affairs, between

22,500 and 40,000 children are involved in the country’s commercial sex industry.1741

Thailand is often described as a “regional hub” for trafficking in persons. It is known as a

source, destination and transit country for trafficking victims.1742 Reports from domestic

nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) indicate that girls aged 12 to 18 are trafficked from

Burma, China and Laos to work in Thailand in the commercial sex industry, some in conditions

of debt bondage. In some cases, children must work to repay advances given by a trafficker to a

parent.1743 Children are also trafficked into Thailand to work as beggars or in areas such as

agriculture, fishing, factories, or construction.1744

2. Children’s Participation in School

Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Thailand. While enrollment rates

indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in

school.1745 In 1997, net primary school enrollment was 88 percent, and gross primary school

enrollment was similar at 88.9 percent.1746 In 1996, approximately 96.7 percent of primary

1737 Ratjai Adjayutpokin, Gaysorn Chanya and Piyaphan Chanya, Survey Report on Cambodian Migrant Working

Children (Radda Barnen and Child Workers in Asia, 1998), 1-2, n.p. [document on file]. 1738 Ibid. 1739 Dr. Somphon Chitradub, Child Labour in the Trafficking of Drugs in Thailand: An ILO-IPEC Southeast Asia

Paper (Bangkok: ILO-IPEC, 1999), 2-3. 1740 Chakrapand Wongburanavart, Good Practice in Information Exchange: Country and International Cases—

Thailand, report by the director of Thai Women of Tomorrow at the Regional Forum on Strengthening Information

Exchange on Intolerable Forms of Child Labor, Bangkok, July 19-21, 1999, 41-42.

1741 Estimates of children working in prostitution vary greatly. Herve Berger and Hans van de Glind, Children in

Prostitution, Pornography and Illicit Activities: Thailand (Bangkok: ILO-IPEC, August 1999), 7. 1742 UN Wire, “Trafficking: U.N. Conference Pushes for New Protocol,” September 7, 2000. 1743 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2001),

Section 6f [hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Thailand]. 1744 Bangkok Post, “Fresh Hope for Child Laborers,” November 19, 2000. See also Ratjai Adjayutpokin, Gaysorn

Chanya and Piyaphan Chanya, Survey Report on Cambodian Migrant Working Children (Redd Barna and Child

Workers in Asia, 1998), 1. For a recent report on trafficking from Thailand to Japan, including allegations on

trafficking of Thai children below the age of 18, see Owed Justice: Thai Women Trafficked into Debt Bondage in

Japan (Washington, D.C.: Human Rights Watch, Asia/Women’s Rights Divisions, September 2000). 1745 For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1,

Introduction.

1746 World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM] (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 2000).
241

school-aged children reached grade five.1747 Of the 1.6 million children under the age of 16 who

are not in school, most (1.2 million) are between the ages of 12 and 14.1748 In 1998, an estimated

one-third of the 800,000 children who dropped out of school did so for economic reasons during

the Asian financial crisis.1749

Direct costs, such as uniforms and school supplies, are a significant factor deterring some

families from sending their children to school.1750 In 1998, over 8 percent of children ages 6

through 11 (approximately 600,000 children) were unable to receive an education due to various

reasons, such as living in remote rural areas or being otherwise disadvantaged such as children

living on the streets or in slums.1751

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Thailand’s Labor Protection Act of 1998 (Section 44) sets the legal minimum work age at

15. Employers are required to notify labor inspectors if children under age 18 are hired, and the

law restricts the number of hours that children ages 15 to 18 may work per day and prohibits

work after 10 p.m. Children under age 18 may not be employed in hazardous work, which is

defined by the Labor Protection Act to include any work that involves hazardous chemicals,

harmful temperatures or noise levels, exposure to toxic micro-organisms, driving heavy

equipment, and working underground. 1752 The maximum penalties for violation of the child

labor laws contained in the Labor Protection Act are up to one year imprisonment and fines of up

to 200,000 baht (roughly US$4,500). According to Section 22, however, the act may not cover

work in the agricultural and fishing sectors or work in the family home.1753

The Prostitution Prevention and Suppression Act of 1996 prohibits all forms of

prostitution and provides specific penalties for cases involving children under the age of 19.

Fines and terms of imprisonment are defined under the act based on the age of the child involved,

with more severe terms established for prostitution involving children under the age of 16.

Individuals who engage in prostitution with children ages 16 to 18 are liable for jail terms of 5 to

15 years and fines of 100,000–300,000 baht (approximately US$2,225 to US$6,675); the range of

penalties is nearly twice as much for those patronizing children ages 15 and under. If fraud or

coercion on the part of the patron is involved, penalties also increase. Owners, managers, and

1747 UNESCO Institute for Statistics [CD-ROM], Education for All 2000 Assessment—A Decade of Education,

Thailand (Paris, 2000) [hereinafter Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Thailand]. 1748 Child Labor and School Enrollment. The period of the Asian Crisis corresponded with rising dropout rates at

both the primary and secondary levels, with the majority of lower secondary school dropouts coming from families

whose parent(s) lost work due to the economic downturn. Human Development Report at 136. 1749 Committee on the Rights of the Child: Summary Record of the 491st Meeting, Thailand, October 1, 1998, U.N.

Document No. CRC/C/SR.491 (Summary Record) (Geneva, October 5, 1998), Point 12.

1750 Education for All (EFA) 2000 [online], Country Report, Thailand, Section 1.2, “Problems of Education in

Thailand” (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/thailand/rapport_1) [hereinafter EFA 2000].

1751 Ibid. at Section 4.1.5. 1752 Labor Protection Act of 1998, as translated in the ILO NATLEX database (http://natlex.ilo.org/txt/

E98THA01.htm#c17), Section 49; see also Sections 22, 44-52, 148. 1753 Ibid.
242

supervisors of prostitution businesses or establishments, as well as parents who knowingly permit

their children to become engaged in prostitution, face steep fines and jail terms if found guilty of

violating the terms of the act. Government officials in violation of the act face penalties of 15 to

20 years imprisonment and/or substantial fines ranging between 300,000–400,000 baht

(US$6,675 to US$8,900).1754

The Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Women and Children Act of 1997

increased both the trafficking penalties and provisions for the search for and assistance to

victims.1755 The Penal Code Amendment Act of 1997 also provides penalties for traffickers of

children under the age of 18, regardless of nationality.1756 The Money Laundering Act of 1999

allows authorities to confiscate the assets of persons who are either convicted of trafficking or

who work in prostitution.1757

Four government agencies are responsible for enforcing child labor laws: the Royal Thai

Police, the Office of the Attorney General, the Ministry of Justice, and the Ministry of Labor and

Social Welfare (MOLSW). MOLSW’s Department of Labor Protection and Welfare employs

several specific enforcement tools to deal with child labor, such as regulations for “speedy and

strict” inspection of establishments that are suspected of using child labor.1758 The MOLSW has

also created a program to certify export industries that includes mandatory inspections.1759

The MOLSW has about 800 labor inspectors in Thailand.1760 Labor inspectors are trained

on the Labor Protection Act and on how to gather evidence and investigate child labor cases.1761

Both general inspections and complaint-driven inspections are conducted, and inspecting officers

have the right to remove child workers from businesses and place them under the temporary care

of the government prior to court decisions on the cases.1762

In practice, the labor inspection system tends to be more reactive than proactive.

Enforcement of child labor laws is reportedly not rigorous, with inspectors usually responding to

public complaints or newspaper reports rather than random inspections. Rather than seeking

prosecution and punishment, labor inspectors are known to negotiate with violators to obtain

promises of better conduct in the future.1763 The MOLSW tends to focus its inspection efforts on

larger factories in an effort to reach the largest portion of the workforce, with relatively fewer

1754 Prevention and Suppression of Prostitution Act B.E. 2539 (1996), as translated in the ILO NATLEX database

(http://natlex.ilo.org/txt/E96THA01.htm), Sections 8-12.

1755 The Prevention and Suppression of Trafficking in Women and Children Act of 1997, as cited in Country

Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000), 1306

[hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Thailand]. 1756 The Penal Code Amendment Act (no. 4) of 1997, as cited in Domestic Efforts to Strengthen the Enforcement of

Child Labour and Education Laws, and Changes in Domestic Child Labour and Education Laws, submission by

the Ministry of Labor to U.S. Embassy—Thailand (September 2000), 6.

1757 The Money Laundering Act of 1999, as cited in Country Reports 1999—Thailand at 1306. 1758 Unclassified telegram 006420. 1759 Ibid. 1760 Country Reports 2000—Thailand at Section 6d. 1761 Unclassified telegram 006420. 1762 Ibid. 1763 Country Reports 1999—Thailand at 1305.
243

inspections of smaller workplaces where child labor may more easily go unnoticed. The

MOLSW conducted 44,462 inspections in fiscal year 1999, resulting in 810 cited violations of

child labor laws. Seventy-six establishments were officially warned, although only four were

fined. The largest fine was for 10,000 baht (approximately US$250).1764

The Government of Thailand ratified ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of

Child Labor on February 16, 2001.1765

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

As early as 1982, the government established the Child Labor Protection Committee,

composed of representatives from industrial organizations, labor unions and child labor experts,

to create policy suggestions and to draft child labor laws.1766 In 1992, Thailand became a

member of the ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC).1767

In 1996, the government adopted a National Plan of Action for the Prevention and

Eradication of the Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.1768 Thailand’s Eighth National

Economic and Social Development Plan (1997-2001) also contains special measures related to

child labor and prostitution.1769

In 1997, MOLSW developed the National Child Labor Prevention and Solution Plan

(1997-2001). With input from NGOs and international organizations, the plan outlined factors

contributing to the incidence of child labor, reported on existing child labor statistics, described

relevant laws, and outlined various short-term and long-term measures to reduce child labor.1770

MOLSW’s Department of Labor Protection and Welfare has established a hotline for

individuals to report incidences of child labor. The department has also initiated a public

awareness campaign that focuses on providing information about child labor laws, encouraging

reporting, and promoting guidelines for education on labor laws in schools.1771

1764 Unclassified telegram 006420. 1765 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1766 Unclassified telegram 006420. 1767 Chantana Banpasirichot, The Situation of Child Labour in Thailand: An Overview, IPEC Thailand Papers No. 1

(Chulalongkorn University and ILO-IPEC, December 1996),16 [hereinafter The Situation of Child Labour in

Thailand]. 1768 U.S. Embassy-Bangkok, unclassified section 01 of 03, Bangkok telegram no. 007225, June 2, 1999 [hereinafter

unclassified telegram 007225].

1769 Concluding Oservations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Thailand, October 26, 1999, U.N.

Document No. CRC/C/15/Add.97 (Concluding Observations/Comments), Geneva: October 26, 1998, Point 5.

1770 ILO-IPEC, National Child Labour Prevention and Solution Plan, 1997-2001 [translation] (Bangkok: Ministry

of Labour and Social Welfare, April 1997).

1771 Unclassified telegram 006420.
244

In February 2000, MOLSW’s Department of Public Welfare created the National

Secretariat on Trafficking in Women and Children in the Mekong Sub-Region. The Secretariat

contains a national project committee to coordinate with government agencies and NGOs focused

on anti-trafficking and to address the issues related to trafficked women and children.1772

Thailand is also currently involved in an ILO-IPEC Sub-Regional Project in the Mekong

to combat trafficking of children and women for exploitative labor. This three-year initiative

aims to comprehensively address trafficking through awareness raising and advocacy,

participatory community development projects, and capacity building at all levels of society.1773

Many other activities to address child labor are ongoing through the actions of NGOs in areas

such as education and training, health care, and other social services.1774

The Department of Social Welfare has taken steps to address the plight of children in

need, establishing shelters for street children in Thailand.1775 During the Asian Financial Crisis,

the MOLSW provided free occupational training and small daily stipends to women and children

who were unemployed due to the economic conditions.1776

b. Educational Alternatives

The Primary Education Act of 1980 made education compulsory for children between the

ages of 8 and 15, or until the successful completion of grade six.1777 The National Education Act

of 1999, which will take effect in 2002, extends this compulsory period to nine years of

schooling.1778 The government has focused, over the period of 1990-99, an average of 44 percent

of the total education budget to primary education in recognition that it is compulsory and will

provide a strong basic foundation for students.1779

The Thai Government, NGOs, and international financial institutions support a number

of innovative education initiatives. A Ministry of Education program, initiated in 1994,

provided a total of 145,000 scholarships through mid-2000 to girls at risk of prostitution or

other disadvantaged girls in order to continue their secondary education. The project also

supported the development of a targeted education module for at-risk girls, provided counseling

and guidance to students and their mothers, and assisted selected students to stay in boarding

schools while receiving their education.1780 More recently, a scholarship program to assist

children whose families were impoverished by the economic downturn, partly funded by the

1772 Ibid. 1773 “ILO Mekong Sub-Regional Project to Combat Trafficking in Children and Women,” International Labor

Organization (Bangkok: ILO, n.d.) [document on file].

1774 The Situation of Child Labour in Thailand at 24-27. 1775 Unclassified telegram 006420. 1776 Unclassified telegram 007225. 1777 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Thailand at Section 4.1.3. 1778 Ibid. at Part I, “Introduction.” 1779 Ibid. at Section 2.4.1. 1780 Savitri Suwansathit, Inspector-General, Ministry of Education in Thailand, “Advancing the Global Cause

Against Child Labor: Progress Made and Future Actions” [draft], speech delivered at the U.S. Department of Labor

conference, Washington, D.C., May 17, 2000.
245

Asian Development Bank, reached 140,000 students, most of whom were at risk of entering the

sex trade due to their economic status.1781 An NGO-run initiative called the “Daughters

Education Program” provides support for primary and secondary education and vocational

training to young girls at risk of prostitution or of being drawn into exploitative labor in northern

Thailand.1782 In 1999, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) began a program to

provide scholarships and raise awareness among school dropouts and their families to encourage

children to return to school.1783

Spending by the Thai Government on education as a percentage of gross national product

(GNP) has ranged from 3.6 percent in 1990 and 1991 to 4.8 percent in 1996.1784 Public spending

dedicated to primary education as a percentage of GNP has ranged from 1.42 percent in 1990 to

1.68 percent in 1996.1785

1781 Unclassified telegram 006420. See also Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Thailand at Section 2.4.1. 1782 DEPDC website (http://www.depdc.org ). 1783 Unclassified telegram 006420. 1784 World Development Indicators 2000. 1785 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Thailand .
246

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1786

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader

a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1786 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
247

TOGO

1. Child Labor in Togo

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 27.5 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Togo were working.1787 Child labor is found primarily

in the informal sector, particularly in farming, petty trading, and artisan workshops where there is

little legal protection for children.1788

Many children, especially girls, work as domestic servants.1789 In 1994, a joint study by

WAO Afrique and Anti Slavery International indicated that 65 percent of child domestics were

under the age of 15.1790 Children between 6 and 18 years of age were also reported to work as

domestic servants on military barracks.1791

Bonded labor is reported to exist in remote parts of Togo. As part of a traditional practice

known as Trokosi, young girls become slaves to religious shrines for offenses allegedly

committed by a member of the girl’s family.1792

Children as young as 5 or 6 years old are either trafficked from or through Togo.1793

Children from Togo are trafficked to other countries in Africa, especially Gabon, and overseas to

the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.1794 Trafficked children from Togo are found working in

commercial agriculture as domestic servants, market traders, child beggars, and prostitutes.1795

These children usually leave home with the consent of their parents in hope of better prospects for their

future. Some girls leave home to find employment in order to earn income for their dowry.1796

1787 World Development Indicators 2000. 1788 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000), 5

[hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Togo]. 1789 Statement by Cleophas Mally, director, WAO-Afrique, in regard to a joint study by Anti-Slavery International

and WAO-Afrique on child domestic workers in Togo to the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery,

U.N. High Commission on Human Rights, October, 1997 [hereinafter statement by Cleophas Mally].

1790 Ibid. 1791 Declaration de la délégation togolaise et de la W.A.O. Afrique (ONG préésente au Togo) sur le rapport de la

“Coalition pour mettre fin à l’utilisation d’enfants soldats,” l’utilisation d’enfants soldats en Afrique, Maputo, April

1999,19-22, as cited in Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Africa Report: Togo,” London, March 1999.

1792 Jesse Sage, American Anti-Slavery Group, e-mail to GMIS, November 6, 2000, as cited in The Global March

Against Child Labor, “The Worst Forms of Child Labour: Country-Wise Data, October 2000, Togo.” 1793 Trafficking in Persons Report: Country Narratives, Tier 2 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2001)

[hereinafter Trafficking in Persons Report]; see also statement by Cleophas Mally. 1794 Country Reports 1999—Togo at Section 6f. In one month, January 1998, 199 trafficked children along the

border between Togo and Benin were repatriated and returned to their families. “Child Peddling Serious Problem in

Togo and Benin,” Africa News Service, March 23, 1998 (www.captive.org/Information/WorldBeat/Africa/

articlesafrica1.htm).

1795 Statement by Cleophas Mally. 1796 United Nations “Summary Record of the 422nd Meeting: Togo,” U.N. Document No. CRC/C/SR.422 (Geneva:

U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, February 3, 1998) [hereinafter “Summary Record of the 422nd

Meeting”].
248

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1998, the primary gross attendance rate was 116.1 percent, and the primary net

attendance rate was 69.5 percent. Boys (74.1 percent) attended school at a higher rate than girls

(64.6 percent). 1797 In 1996, the gross primary enrollment rate was 119.6 percent, and the net

primary enrollment 81.6 percent.1798 In 1994, 71 percent of children reached grade five. Figures

disaggregated by gender indicate that 79 percent of boys and 60 percent of girls reached grade

five in 1994.1799

In recent years, decreasing federal allocations for education have led to teacher shortages,

and a growing deterioration of educational infrastructure in rural areas.1800 Private schools, run

by Christian and Islamic organizations and private individuals, are highly active in Togo,

educating approximately one-half the student population.1801

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

The Labor Code prohibits the employment of children under the age of 14 in any

enterprise and the employment of anyone under the age of 18 in some types of industrial and

technical employment. Inspectors from the Ministry of Labor enforce these age requirements but

only in the formal sector in urban areas.1802

The Penal Code (Article 78) prohibits the corruption, abduction or transfer of children

against the will of those exercising parental authority.1803 This article does not cover cases that

are consensual and do not involve abduction of a child against the will of the parental authority.

The government has prosecuted 50 cases against traffickers resulting in 31 convictions.1804

Articles 91 and 94 of Togo’s Penal Code prohibits soliciting and procuring of minors for sex.1805

1797 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 1798 World Development Indicators 2000. Gross primary school enrollment rates in Togo have exceeded 100 percent

in Togo since the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. See also Preliminary Report of the Special Rapporteur on

the right to education, Ms. Katatina Tomasevski, submitted in accordance with Commission on Human Rights

resolution 1998/33, U.N. Document No. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/12 (Geneva: Office of the High Commissioner on

Human Rights, 1999), Table 16 [hereinafter Preliminary Report of the Special Rapporteur]; see also World

Development Indicators 2000. 1799 World Development Indicators 2000. 1800 Koffi-Tessio and M. Egnonto, “Human Resource Development for Poverty Reduction and Household Food

Security: Situation of Education and Training in Togo” (Lome, Togo: University of Lome, Advanced School of

Agronomy, 2000) [hereinafter “Human Resource Development for Poverty Reduction”].

1801 El Barometer, “The Worst Forms of Child Labour: Country-Wise Data, October 2000, Togo,” as cited in The

Global March Against Child Labor (www.globalmarch.org/cl-around-the-world/index.html), September 29, 2000. 1802 Country Reports—Togo at Section 6d. 1803 United Nations “Summary Record of the 420th Meeting: Togo,” U.N. Document No. CRC/C/SR.422 (Geneva:

U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, February 2, 1998) [hereinafter “Summary Record of the 420th

Meeting”].

1804 Trafficking in Persons Report. 1805 In addition, according to article 87 of the Penal Code, all perpetrators or accomplices of rape whose victims

were minors between 14 and 18 years of age are subject to a 5- to 10-year prison sentence; for victims under 14

they are subject to a 20-year sentence; see “Summary Record of the 420th Meeting.”
249

The Government of Togo ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for

Employment on March 16, 1984, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child

Labor on September 19, 2000.1806

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

In 2000, ministers and experts representing over 20 West and Central African countries,

including Togo, drafted a “Common Platform for Action” against child trafficking at a

conference organized in Gabon by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The ILO, the

Government of Gabon, and the Government of Togo signed a Memorandum of Understanding

with ILO-IPEC to fight child labor, particularly trafficking.1807 The participating countries in the

anti-trafficking efforts are building regional cooperation and local capacity to combat child

trafficking and rehabilitate trafficked children.1808

The first phase of the ILO-IPEC regional project to combat child trafficking in Central

and West Africa started in 1999, with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor. As a

participant country in this project, Togo has formulated a national plan of action against

trafficking in children, gathering statistics and information on the incidence of child trafficking

and building institutional capacity and community awareness in order to combat trafficking.1809

Legislation has been passed according to which consulates based in Togo have stopped issuing

visas to minors without first consulting a social worker.1810 In 2001, the Government of Togo

agreed to participate in the second phase of the project, when direct interventions on child

trafficking will be launched. Child labor and child trafficking has also been the subject of an

extensive information campaign by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other

international organizations in the regions most affected.1811

Since signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Togo has amended child-related

legislation at the federal and state level and established a National Committee for the Protection

and Promotion of Children that is working to coordinate ministry level and civil society

initiatives on child welfare.1812

WAO Afrique, a regional NGO, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the

Government of Togo in 1990 to work to protect the rights of the child in Togo, as stipulated in

the Convention for the Rights of the Child. WAO-Afrique aims include the strengthening of

1806 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1807 Child Labour News Service, “Africa Moves to Check Child Trafficking” (http://globalmarch.org/clns/clnsmarch1.html ), March 1, 2000.

1808 “Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labour Exploitation in West and Central Africa (Phase II):

Executive Summary” (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 1999).

1809 Ibid. 1810 “Summary Record of the 420th Meeting.” 1811 Ibid.
250

local NGO capacity, conducted research and promoting legislation to support the rights of

children, and working to rehabilitate trafficked children and child laborers in the country. WAO

and other NGO groups, such as Youth in Action and Development, have also supported

interventions aimed at child domestic servants and street children.

b. Educational Alternatives

The Togolese Constitution (Article 35) establishes that education is compulsory for six

years.1813 As part of Togo’s involvement in Education for All, the government aims to make

education accessible throughout the country, democratize education by involving communities in

the planning and management of schools, and integrate vocational and non-formal education into

the curriculum.1814

In 1992, the Government of Togo’s Council of Ministers adopted a national plan on

education which prioritized improving basic education for all children; however, the increase in

enrollment caused by the first national plan led to an increasing number of untrained teachers,

inadequate facilities at primary schools to absorb increased enrollment, and other constraints

created a deterioration in the quality of education. In 1995, the Government of Togo launched

another national plan for education which focused on the fundamental needs of an education

system: qualified teachers and administrative staff, improving systems of attracting and retaining

children in schools, and adapting education to the socio-economic conditions in the country. In

1998, the Council of Ministers adopted this plan, and there are currently a wide range of public

and private institutions involved in implementing the second education plan.1815

Current issues that the government faces are low girls’ enrollment, low retention rates,

deteriorating rural schools, teacher shortages, and other general concerns about the educational

infrastructure. The Government of Togo has sought to raise low net enrollment among girls and

children in rural areas. The Government of Togo set a goal to raise the enrollment of girls to 80

percent by the year 2000, but it remains unclear whether this goal was attained.1816 UNICEF has

been working with the government to discern the reasons for low enrollment among girls, and the

government has been implementing programs to boost girls’ education.1817

The government is also working with the World Bank as part of the Educational Support

and Management Program to improve rural schools and defray some of the costs of education to

poor parents.1818 The World Bank supported the construction and repair of classrooms, as well as

1812 Ibid. 1813 1727 Preliminary report of the Special Rapporteur; see also World Development Indicators 2000. 1814 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics,

Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment, Country Report, Togo (Paris, 2000). 1815 Ibid. 1816 “Summary Record of the 420th Meeting.” 1817 Ibid. 1818 Ibid.
251

the provision of textbooks in primary schools. Charitable organizations and businesses have also

provided assistance with the acquisition of school supplies.1819 The government is also making

efforts to recruit assistant teachers and reduce repeat and dropout rates. Such action is in

accordance with Article 35 of the Togolese Constitution, which states that education is

compulsory, and the State is progressively ensuring that education is free.1820

In 1996, government spending on public education was 4.5 percent of the government’s

gross national product (GNP). In 1999, public spending on primary education was only 1 percent

of the country’s GNP. Over 80 percent of public expenditure on education is provided for by

federal funds.1821

1819 “Summary Record of the 422nd Meeting.” 1820 “Summary Record of the 422nd Meeting.” 1821 “Human Resource Development for Poverty Reduction.”
252

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1822

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1822 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
253

UGANDA

1. Child Labor in Uganda

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 44.4 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Uganda were working.1823 According to the 1991

Population Census and the 1992/93 Ugandan Integrated Household Survey, 23 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 work in various activities.1824 The Ugandan Government

estimates that 3.3 million children between the ages of 10 and 17 were working in 1991.1825

Of these children, 49 percent were girls and 51 percent were boys.1826 In 2000, the Uganda

Bureau of Statistics (UBOS), in collaboration with the U.S. Agency for International

Development (USAID) and technical assistance from the ILO’s International Program on the

Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) conducted a national survey on the demographic and

health status of the country. The survey included a child labor module which will provide

estimates on the number of working children. UBOS is planning to carry out another national

child labor survey in 2002, in consultation with ILO-IPEC and with funding from the U.S.

Department of Labor (USDOL). 1827

Child labor is most prevalent in Uganda’s northern region, pastoral communities, districts

devastated by HIV/AIDS, agricultural plantations, mining areas, urban centers and border

towns.1828 There are an estimated 1.7 million orphaned children, resulting from civil unrest,

internal displacement of persons and HIV/AIDS.1829 An estimated one million children living in

Uganda have lost their mother or both parents to AIDS.1830 Orphaned children are likely to

become heads of households responsible for caring for younger siblings or live on the streets.

1823 World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World

Development Indicators 2000]. 1824 Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Uganda’s Report and Position on Child Labour, prepared for the OUA/

ILO African Regional Tripartite Conference on Child Labour (Kampala, January 1998), 27 [hereinafter Uganda’s

Report and Position on Child Labour]. According to the Uganda Bureau of Statistics 1991 Population and Housing

Census summary results, it is estimated that children 17 years and under comprised 53.8 percent (9 million) of the

total population (www.ubos.org/c_1991.html).

1825 Ministry of Gender, Department of Statistics, Women and Men in Uganda: Facts and Figures 1998, 45, as cited

in Children in Domestic Service: A Survey in Kampala District (Kampala: FIDA Uganda, 2000), 1 [hereinafter

Children in Domestic Service]. 1826 Ibid. at 9. 1827 UBOS is preparing a child labor report that is expected by the end of 2001. ILO-IPEC, Statistical Information

and Monitoring Program on Child Labor in Uganda, Technical Progress Report No.4, 28 November 2001. 1828 The State of, and Action Against, Child Labour in Uganda: Report on the Proceedings and Outcomes of the

National Workshop on the State of Child Labour in Uganda (Kampala: Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, July

1996), 8-9 [hereinafter The State of, and Action Against, Child Labour in Uganda]. 1829 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 1999), 531

[hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Uganda]. 1830 UNAIDS/World Health Organization Epidemiological fact sheet, 2000, Uganda, 3. It is estimated by UNAIDS

that since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, 1.7 million children in Uganda have lost their mother or both

parents to AIDS.
254

A predominant factor behind child labor is poverty, particularly in rural areas where more than

90 percent of Uganda’s population lives.1831

Children work in both subsistence and commercial farming. Children fetch water over

long distances; handle heavy loads; and are exposed to dust, pesticides and herbicides.1832

According to a study conducted by the Federation of Uganda Employers of 115 enterprises

involved in tea, coffee, sugar, and tobacco production, children participate in the labor force of

almost 80 percent of the employers.1833 In the areas examined by the study, children performed a

variety of tasks, including harvesting tea and tobacco (25 percent); picking coffee beans (23

percent); weeding (14 percent); slashing (9 percent); spraying (9 percent); and sorting tobacco (5

percent).1834

The Ugandan Government reports that some of the worst forms of child labor in the

country include heavy domestic work; commercial sex and sexual slavery; involvement in

military operations; smuggling of merchandise across borders; and the work of children living on

the streets.1835 Children working as domestic servants frequently work long hours, are denied

food, endure physical and sexual abuse, and are isolated from family and friends.1836

In urban areas, children are employed in garages and metal workshops.1837 Children

working in garages and workshops often are exposed to hazardous products such as paint,

petroleum, battery acid, and asbestos.1838 Children working on the streets sell small items, beg,

wash cars, and scavenge.1839 They are also involved in the commercial sex industry, particularly

in Kampala and border towns.1840 Child street workers are exposed to crime and drug abuse.

Many suffer from malnutrition and hunger; some sniff fuel to get high.1841 A study conducted in

1993 in 10 districts identified 3,827 street children, 14 percent of whom were living and working

1831 The State of, and Action Against, Child Labour in Uganda at 9. Other commonly cited causes of child labor are

cultural attitudes and practices; family breakdown and labor shortages; exploitive attitudes among adults;

deficiencies in the education system; structural adjustment policies; and armed conflict and war, as cited in Ministry

of Labour and Social Welfare, Uganda’s Report and Position on Child Labour at 7. 1832 Electronic correspondence from Sopie Kyagulanyi, Legal Assistant for the Foundation for Human Rights

Initiative, Kampala, Uganda, to U.S. Department of Labor official, September 29, 2000 [hereinafter Kyagulanyi

correspondence].

1833 The Employers’ Effort in Eliminating Child Labour within the Formal Agricultural Sector in Uganda: A Study

Conducted by the Federation of Uganda Employers, April 1999, International Labor Organization, vii [hereinafter

The Employers’ Effort in Eliminating Child Labour]. 1834 Ibid. at 22. 1835 Uganda’s Report and Position on Child Labour at 6. 1836 Children in Domestic Service at vi to vii. 1837 National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labor in Uganda, project document (Geneva: ILO-IPEC,

prepared October 1998, revised 1999), 3 [document on file].

1838 Kyagulanyi correspondence. 1839 Ibid. 1840 Country Reports 1999—Uganda at 533. 1841 Kyagulanyi correspondence.
255

on the street full time.1842 In 1999, a study carried out by a national NGO estimated the number

of street children in Kampala alone at 5,000, of whom 1,000 live full time on the streets.1843

Although the minimum age to serve in Uganda’s military is 18 years, the National

Resistance Army used young children extensively in the 1980s as soldiers.1844 Reports of

Uganda’s military recruitment of child soldiers continue, despite the government’s pledge to stop

using children in armed conflict.1845 Efforts have been made to introduce former child soldiers to

schooling. In February 2001, the Government of Uganda handed over to the United Nations 163

Congolese children, aged 9 to 17, being trained as soldiers by Uganda’s military. These children

were to be rehabilitated and returned to their families.1846

Uganda continues to be plagued by armed conflict with the Lord’s Resistance Army

(LRA) active in the north, and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF) active in limited areas in

southwest Uganda.1847 Some estimate that as many as 14,000 children have been abducted by

rebel groups.1848 Abducted children are often trafficked into southern Sudan and forced into

situations of armed conflict in Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda. They are

used as human shields or hostages and are sometimes coerced into sexual activity.1849 The United

Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates that more than 5,000 children abducted by the

LRA since 1987 are still unaccounted for.1850

2. Children’s Participation in School

In 1995, the primary gross attendance rate was 95.8 percent, and the net primary

attendance rate was 68.4 percent.1851 Primary school net enrollment ratio has risen in Uganda

from 53 percent in 1990 to 87 percent in 1997.1852 In 1997, an estimated 94 percent of children

reached grade 5, with similar rates for girls and boys (94.3 percent and 93.5 percent

1842 Ibid. 1843 Summary Outline for Action Program on Child Labor, Kids in Need (KIN), ILO-IPEC, June 12, 2000, 2. Fulltime street children are said to have lost touch with their families and live on the streets permanently.

1844 Child Soldier Global Report 2001: Uganda, Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers (www.childsoldier.org/report2001/countries/uganda.html) [hereinafter Child Soldier Global Report 2001]. 1845 Ibid. 1846 “Uganda Releases 163 Congolese Child Soldiers” (www.unicef.org/newsline/01pr19.htm). 1847 Since the early 1980s, Uganda’s northern region has been continuously disrupted by armed conflict, particularly

in the districts of Gulu, Kitgum, Lira, Apac, Arua, Adjumani, and Moyo, and across the border in southern Sudan.

Rebels are associated with the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF). See Also

Child Soldier Global Report 2001.

1848 Tom Barton, Alfred Mutiti and the Assessment Team for Psycho-Social Programmes in Northern Uganda,

Northern Uganda Psycho-Social Needs Assessment (Kisubi, Uganda: Marianum Press, 1998), vii-viii. 1849 Ibid. See also Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act 2000: Trafficking in Persons Report

(Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of Labor, 2001).

1850 Child Soldier Global Report 2001. 1851 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 1852 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics [CDROM], Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment, Country Report, Uganda (Paris, 2000) [hereinafter Education for

All: Year 2000 Assessment—Uganda].
256

respectively).1853 The rate of dropouts in Uganda was 6 percent in 1997, while 11 percent of

children were repeated a grade in that same year.1854

Under the Universal Primary Education (UPE) program launched in 1997, the Ugandan

Government waives school fees for four children per family and provides textbooks for free.

Primary school enrollment increased from 2.3 million pupils in 1996 to 6.59 million pupils in

1999.1855 Initially, schools were overwhelmed with some reports claiming hundreds of students

per classroom. Government sources report student-teacher ratios at the primary level increased

from 38 in 1996 to 64 in 1999.1856 Efforts to construct new school buildings are under way to

meet the challenge of keeping pace with enrollment. As of 1999, there are a total of 10,516

primary and 623 secondary schools as of 1999.1857 Efforts to improve the quality of teaching

have intensified. While in 1989, only 52 percent of primary school teachers received training,

trained instructors account for 72 percent of teachers in 1999.1858

It is noteworthy that the UPE initiative encourages families to grant girls and the disabled

child the highest priority in enrollment, as well as orphaned children. Although the percentage of

disabled children in Uganda is not known, about 3 percent of pupils enrolled in 1997 were disabled.1859

Some estimate that 158,000 disabled pupils have enrolled under the UPE program.1860

Despite Uganda’s efforts to promote the Universal Primary Education (UPE) program,

problems with primary school education persist. Students are forced out of the system

through national examinations, and because of limited capacity at the secondary-level.1861

Only 10 percent of the secondary school age population is enrolled in school.1862 There continues

to be a wide variation in school enrollment across regions and gender.1863 For example, in a

district where cattle herding is prevalent, the increase in enrollment for UPE was only 21 percent,

as compared to the national average of over 55 percent.1864 While UPE encourages an equal

1853 Education for All (EFA) 2000 [online], Country Report, Uganda (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/

uganda/contents.html) [hereinafter EFA 2000].

1854 The Ugandan Experience of Universal Primary Education (UPE) (Kampala: Ministry of Education and Sports,

July 1999), 13 [hereinafter Ugandan Experience of Universal Primary Education]. 1855 EFA 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/uganda/contents.html.). See Also Ugandan Experience of

Universal Primary Education at 10. 1856 Ugandan Experience of Universal Primary Education at 12. 1857 Ibid. at 5. 1858 Ibid. According to the same source, there were 96,830 primary school teachers and 17,534 secondary school

teachers.

1859 Ibid. at 11. 1860 Nicholas Kajoba, “158,000 Disabled Pupils Enrolled in Universal Primary Education,” New Vision, September

18, 2000 (www://allafrica.com/stories/printable/200009180098.html); cited March 6, 2001.

1861 Ugandan Experience of Universal Primary Education at 4. 1862 Line Eldring, Sabata Nakanyane, and Malehoko Tshoaedi, Child Labour in the Tobacco-Growing Sector in

Africa, report prepared for the IUF/ITGA/BAT conference “Elimination of Child Labour,” Nairobi, October 8-9,

2000, 73.

1863 “Education and the Labour Market,” in Employment Generation and Poverty Reduction in Uganda (ILO East

Africa Multidisciplinary Advisory Team (EAMAT MDT), Chapter 7, 10-11. (www.ilo.org/public/english/250addis/

papers/1997/pover_ug/chap7.htm).

1864 Ugandan Experience of Universal Primary Education at 14.
257

boy-girl ratio of enrollment, school enrollment of girls still lags behind.1865 Some areas involved

in civil unrest suffer from chronic food insecurity and lack essential services; access to education

is limited for those populations.1866

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Uganda’s 1995 Constitution (Article 34) defines a child as a person under 16 years of age,

and states that children have the right to be protected from social and economic exploitation. The

Constitution further states that children should not be employed in work that is “likely to be

hazardous,” or work that would otherwise endanger their health, their physical, mental, spiritual,

moral, or social development, or that would interfere with their education.1867

The Employment Decree No. 4 of 1975, makes it unlawful to employ a child below 12

years of age, except for light work as prescribed by the Minister of Labor by statutory order. The

decree does not allow those less than 16 years from work at night or underground.1868 The

Employment Regulation of 1977 prohibits children under 18 from employment in dangerous and

hazardous jobs.1869

The Children’s Statute No. 6 of 1996 defines a child as a person below the age of 18

years, and prohibits the employment of children that may be harmful to his or her health,

education, mental, physical or moral development.1870 The statute makes it the responsibility of

all Local Councils from village to district to safeguard and promote child welfare, and provides

for redress.1871 The Local Government Act of 1997 also devolves nearly all central government

responsibilities to district and local councils, bringing decision-making on children’s affairs,

including education and health, to local communities.1872

Protection of the child from labor and all hazards connected to it falls under the mandate

of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD), in the Department of

Labor Employment and Industrial Relations.1873 Other ministries with responsibilities include the

Ministry of Education and Sports, Ministry of Health, Ministry of Local Government, and

Ministry of Internal Affairs.1874

1865 National Strategy for Girls’ Education in Uganda, Ministry of Education and Sports, 2000, 3. 1866 U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), United Nations Consolidated Inter-Agency

Appeal for Uganda [on-line], November 1999 [cited 18 March 2002]; available from: <http://www.reliefweb.int/w/

rwb/nsf> [hard copy on file].

1867 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, Article 34 (4)(5) (www.government.go.ug/constitution/chapt4.htm);

cited August 14, 2001.

1868 Uganda’s Report and Position on Child Labour at 25. 1869 Ibid. at 25-26. 1870 Ibid. at 25. 1871 The Children Statute at 12.. 1872 Kyagulanyi correspondence at 5. See Also Ministry of Local Governement website at <http://

www.ugandamolg.org>

1873 Uganda Child Labour Project, Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare, Department of Labour, 1 (received by

U.S. Department of Labor on March 19, 1998) [document on file].
258

Although it is known that the commercial exploitation of children occurs, little available

data exist that reflect the extent of the problem. Article 125 of the Penal Code prohibits

individuals from soliciting females for prostitution.1875 Violation of this code is punishable by up

to seven years imprisonment.1876 Owning or occupying a premise where a girl under age 18 is

sexually exploited is a felony, and offenders are subject to five years imprisonment.1877 Under

Article 123, any person who attempts unlawful sexual intercourse with a girl under the age 18 is

liable to imprisonment for 18 years, and rape of a girl under the age of 18 is an offense

punishable by imprisonment with or without a death sentence.1878

The Government of Uganda has ratified the Organization of African Unity Charter on the

Rights of the Child (1991). Uganda ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention

No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on June 21, 2001.1879

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

 In November 1998, the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development (MGLSD)

signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the ILO-IPEC. Under this MOU, a

National Steering Committee was established in July 1999, and a Child Labor Unit was formed in

the MGLSD in August 1999. The Child Labor Unit is responsible for developing policy on child

labor and promoting coordination and networking among key stakeholders.1880

In collaboration with ILO-IPEC and with funding from USDOL, Uganda launched a

National Program to Eliminate Child Labor in 1999. The program contributes to the progressive

elimination of exploitive child labor through prevention, withdrawal, rehabilitation and provision

of alternatives to working children. The projects focus on sensitization, advocacy, media

awareness, and the formation of district groups aimed at addressing children’s issues.1881 Sectors

receiving particular attention include commercial agriculture, construction, and fishing. In the

informal sector, rehabilitation services are available to street children, commercial sex workers,

domestic workers, and children involved in cross-border smuggling and drug trafficking.1882

1874 The Employers’ Effort in Eliminating Child Labour at 4. 1875 Article 125 of the Penal Code of Uganda, as cited in The Protection Project, Country Report, Uganda, January

2001 (www.protectionproject.org).

1876 Ibid. 1877 Ibid. 1878 Report of the Policy Makers’ Seminar on Child Abuse in Uganda, June 7, 2000, paper presented by Deborah

Serwada, program director, Hope after Rape, “Paper Presentation on Defilement,” 6.

1879 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1880 Children in Domestic Service at 14. 1881 Interview with Dr. Regina Mbabazi, ILO-IPEC coordinator, by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 14,

2000.

1882 Ibid.
259

Uganda is also one of five countries participating in the ILO-IPEC regional program

Combating Child Labor in the Commercial Agricultural Sector, supported by funding from

USDOL. The project aims to increase the capacity of all stakeholders to identify and eliminate

hazardous child labor on tea and coffee plantations. The project will withdraw and rehabilitate

children working in hazardous conditions in commercial agriculture and provide their families

with viable alternatives.1883

The Government of Uganda has also sought to address issues related to child labor

through its 1997 Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP), which provides a framework for

poverty alleviation programs in Uganda.1884 The Government of Uganda also works

cooperatively with numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) involved in rehabilitating

formerly abducted children, rescuing street children, and combating child labor by providing

food, shelter, basic education, vocational training and counseling.1885

b. Educational Alternatives

The Constitution states that a child is entitled to basic education and that will be the

responsibility of the State and the parents of the child.1886 Primary education reform began in the

1990s with several initiatives. As part of the Teacher Development and Management System

(TDMS), a decentralized outreach tutor program began that includes all government-aided

schools in all districts. Based in coordinating centers, outreach tutors visit schools to assist

parents, community leaders, teachers, and head teachers in improving practices to benefit pupil

learning.1887 The Government of Uganda has also improved the quality of teachers’ guides,

textbooks and distribution of materials to schools by implementing a competitive and transparent

procurement process.1888

The launch of the Universal Primary Education (UPE) program in January 1997 has

stimulated new approaches to primary education, including double-shifting classes each day,

allowing twice as many children to attend school, and promoting community-based school

1883 Targeting the Worst Forms of Child Labor in the Tea, Tobacco and Coffee Sectors in Uganda (Geneva: ILOIPEC, September 2000) [document on file]. Among the institutions that are anticipated to play an active role in the

project are the Federation of Uganda Employers, National Organization of Trade Unions, National Union of

Plantation and Agricultural Workers, World Food Program, UNICEF, Save the Children Norway, various

government ministries, and other nongovernmental and community-based organizations providing direct services to

child laborers.

1884 “TN 2: Case Example: Uganda’s Poverty Reduction Strategy,” The World Bank Group (www.worldbank.org/

participation/tn.2htm); cited August 28, 2001. The Poverty Eradication Action Plan (PEAP) aims to promote

increased incomes for the poor by supporting various rural development initiatives; improving the quality of life of

the poor by improving access to health care, education and clean water; and strengthening governance through

mechanisms to increase accountability and transparency, decentralization, and the democratic principles of

consultation and civic participation.

1885 U.S. Embassy-Kampala, unclassified telegram no. 000782, March 15, 2001. 1886 Constitution of the Republic of Uganda, Article 34 (2) (www.government.go.ug/constitution/chapt4.htm); cited

August 14, 2001.

1887 Ugandan Experience of Universal Primary Education at 15. 1888 Ibid. at 16-17.
260

management, where parents, teachers, and other members of each school community agree on

budget priorities and expenditures based on school individual needs.1889

In collaboration with the government, many international and multinational agencies

provide technical and financial support to Uganda’s education reform initiatives and target

marginalized or disadvantaged populations. For example, in the nomadic areas of Moroto and

Kotido, the Alternative Basic Education for Karamoja (ABEK) program brings literacy programs,

taught by instructors from the community, into the homes of children not attending formal

school.1890 The program reached over 9,200 children in 1999, of which 67 percent were girls.1891

Another program is the Complementary Opportunities for Primary Education (COPE)

initiative for children aged 10-16 years that have never attended school or dropped out before

acquiring basic literacy and numeracy skills.1892 A practical curriculum and shorter instruction

time of three to four hours a day allows children to combine schooling with other demands on

their time. The program reaches over 3,600 children in four districts.1893

To cover the cost of the UPE program and the broad range of education reforms

implemented within the five-year Education Sector Investment Plan (1997-2003), public

expenditure on education has increased substantially. Between 1995 and 1996, primary

education was allocated 49 percent of the total public expenditure on education.1894 That

percentage increased to 66 in 1997 and to 62 percent in 1998.1895 Expenditures per pupil as a

percentage of Uganda’s gross national product (GNP) per capita increased from 6.94 percent in

1994 to 7.96 percent in 1997 and then reduced to 6.94 percent in 1999.1896 The reason for this

decrease is that despite increases in public expenditure on primary education, enrollments

increased over the same period and therefore proportionately, per pupil expenditure has not

significantly increased.1897

Donor contributions to primary education for the 1998/99 school year were approximately

US$47 million, about the same amount as the Ugandan Government’s contribution.1898 Uganda

was the first country to be declared eligible to benefit from the World Bank and International

Monetary Fund’s debt initiative for Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) and uses relief to

1889 “World Bank’s First-Ever Combination Grant-Credit Will Support Uganda Education,” News Release No. 98/

1697/AFR, March 24, 1998.

1890 EFA 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/uganda/rapport_2_0.html). 1891 Ibid. 1892 Ibid. 1893 Ibid. 1894 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Uganda. According to the Ministry of Education and Sports,

Uganda spent US$8 per pupil in the early 1980s and by 1998, US$32.50 per pupil for primary education as stated in

The Ugandan Experience of Universal Primary Education (UPE) (Kampala: Ministry of Education and Sports, July

1999), 19.

1895 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Uganda. 1896 EFA 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/uganda/contents.html). This source does not report a baseline

amount for these data.

1897 Ibid. 1898 Ugandan Experience of Universal Primary Education at 20.
261

pay for education reform. Total debt-service under the HIPC initiative relief will yield

approximately US$2 billion.1899

Spending by the Ugandan Government on education as a percentage of GNP was 2.2

percent in 1995.1900 Public spending dedicated to primary education as a percentage of GNP was

approximately 2 percent in financial year 1999/2000.1901

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on

education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1902

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a

basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1899 “World Bank and IMF Support Additional Debt Relief for Uganda Amounting to $1.3 Billion,” News Release

No. 2000/327/S, May 2000.

1900 World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM]. 1901 Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—Uganda. 1902 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B

for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
262

ZAMBIA

1. Child Labor in Zambia

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 15.8 percent of

children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Zambia were working.1903 According to the 1999

Child Labor Survey (CLS) conducted by the Zambian Central Statistical Office, approximately

595,000 children under the age of 18 were economically active in the country, and children under

the age of 15 years accounted for 347,000 of that number.1904

Child labor is generally more prevalent among larger households in Zambia. Figures

from the 1999 CLS indicate that in households with nine or more members, 32.8 percent of

children in rural areas and 28.8 percent of those from urban areas are economically active. As the

number of household members drops, so too does the percentage of economically active children.

For households with five to six members, the percentage drops to 26.2 percent in rural areas and

21.7 percent in urban areas, and for those with three to four members, it drops to 13.9 percent in

rural areas and 12 percent in urban areas. When household size falls below three members, the

percentage of economically active children is 2.1 percent in rural areas and 3.7 percent in urban

areas. 1905

While children work in a variety of sectors in Zambia, the overwhelming majority work

in agriculture. According to the 1999 CLS, 84.3 percent of working children are involved in the

agriculture industry at the national level, while in rural areas approximately 96.7 percent of

working children are engaged in agriculture-related activities compared to 3.3 percent of working

children in urban areas.1906 Child labor in agriculture often involves arrangements whereby work

is sub-contracted out to families and the children work informally alongside adult family

members.1907 While officially a male head of household may be the one employed to farm a

piece of land and may receive the wages for work done, women and children in the family often

perform a significant amount of the labor involved.1908

1903 World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM]. 1904 This survey was carried out with technical support from the ILO’s Statistical Information and Monitoring

Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC). See “1999 Child Labor Survey: Country Report,” (draft) (Lusaka: Republic of

Zambia Central Statistical Office, 2001), Section 4.1.1 [hereinafter “1999 Child Labor Survey”]. According to the

World Bank’s World Development Indicators 2000, an estimated 16 percent of children between the ages of 10 and

14, or approximately 210,000 children, are economically active in Zambia. See World Development Indicators

2000 [CD-ROM]. 1905 “1999 Child Labor Survey” at 4.3. 1906 Ibid. at Section 4.1.2. 1907 Interview with Deputy Permanent Secretary P. E. Mutantika and Labor Commissioner E. J. Nyirenda, Ministry

of Labor and Social Security, by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 4, 2000 [hereinafter Mutantika and

Nyirenda interview].

1908 “Prevention, Withdrawal and Rehabilitation of Children in Hazardous Work in the Commercial Agriculture

Sector in Africa: Country Annex for Zambia”, 2 (Geneva: International Labor Organization, 2000) [document on

file] [hereinafter “Prevention, Withdrawal and Rehabilitation of Children”].
263

In rural areas, children are also involved in tending livestock, fishing, bricklaying, making

crafts, and charcoal production.1909 In urban areas, children peddle various goods on the streets,

wash and guard cars, work in restaurants and bars, and are involved in stone breaking, carpentry,

and food production.1910 Children also work in hotels, in the catering and transport sectors, in

construction, manufacturing, and quarrying. Some children work in domestic service and in

prostitution, while others turn to begging and scavenging. 1911 In the commercial sex sector, the

demand for children is driven in part by the belief amongst older men that young girls are free of

HIV infection.1912

The spread of HIV/AIDS in Zambia has made it increasingly difficult for families to meet

basic needs and led to a dramatic increase in the number of child-headed households. According

to a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) official, an estimated 600,000 children

countrywide have been orphaned as the result of HIV/AIDS.1913 Thirty-seven percent of

households in Zambia are believed to be involved in caring for orphans, while children are the

heads of about 7 percent of households in the country as a result of the death of both parents due

to HIV/AIDS.1914 The increase in AIDS orphans is associated with a rise in the number of street

children, many of whom engage in various forms of child labor. A 1998 report estimated that

there are some 75,000 street children in Zambia, 40 percent of whom are orphans. Over twothirds of these children are between the ages of 6 and 14 years and most are boys.1915

2. Children’s Participation in School

During the years of 1996 and 1997, the primary gross attendance rate was 91.7 percent,

and the primary net attendance rate was 67.4 percent.1916 The 1999 CLS found that some

55 percent of children 5 to 17 years old were attending school at the time of the survey.1917

1909 “1999 Child Labor Survey” at 2.7. 1910 Ibid at Table 4.1. 1911 The Zambia Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) conducted a pilot child labor survey in 1995 with support from

the International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU), “Prevention, Withdrawal and Rehabilitation of

Children,” “Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper” (Lusaka: Republic of Zambia, July 7, 2000), Section 14

[hereinafter “Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper.” See also Mutantika and Nyirenda interview. 1912 “National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour in Zambia” (Geneva: International Labor

Organization, 1999) [document on file] [hereinafter “National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour.”]

1913 Interview with Peter McDermott of UNICEF by U.S. Department of Labor official in Lusaka (August 4, 2000). 1914 The growing number of HIV/AIDS orphans has often surpassed the capacity of extended families to provide

for them; see “Prevention, Withdrawal and Rehabilitation of Children”, 63. Other estimates suggest that 75 percent

of all households are involved in caring for at least one orphaned child; see Country Reports on Human Rights

Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 1999) (www.state.gov/www/global/

human_rights/1999_hrp_report) [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Zambia]. 1915 Other reports suggest that the number of street children in Lusaka was as high as 90,000 in 1998.

Orphans and Vulnerable Children: A Situation Analysis—Zambia 1999, A Joint USAID, UNICEF, SIDA Study

Fund Project (Lusaka: NHPP), 19 [hereinafter Orphans and Vulnerable Children]. See Prospects for Sustainable

Human Development in Zambia: More Choices for Our People (Lusaka: the Government of Zambia and the United

Nations System in Zambia, December 1996), 44-45 [hereinafter Prospects for Sustainable Human Development in

Zambia]. See also G. Lungwangwa and M. Macwan’gi, Street Children in Zambia: A Situation Analysis (Lusaka:

UNICEF, December 1996), as cited in Orphans and Vulnerable Children at 71. 1916 USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000. 1917 “1999 Child Labor Survey” at Table 3.10.
264

Of children entering grade one, one-third do not complete schooling through grade seven.1918

It is estimated that three out of four children drop out of primary school because of the costs

involved.1919 Repetition rates have also been on the rise.1920

Children face many obstacles in accessing schooling. Schools in Zambia suffer from a

lack of trained teachers, teaching and learning materials, school furniture, and poor school

infrastructure.1921 Zambia’s HIV/AIDS crisis is further weakening the educational system by the

growing teacher absences, attrition, and the number of school-age orphans.1922

Gender appears to have an impact on children’s schooling, with girls’ ability to complete

school tending to be lower than that of boys, especially in rural areas.1923 Enrollment of girls is

also lower than that of boys (around 10 percent lower in 1999) and this gender disparity appears

to be growing.1924 Girls face particular challenges in pursuing an education in Zambia, with

declining enrollment and a higher dropout rate than that of boys. Many girls leave school

prematurely due to early marriages and pregnancies.1925

An estimated 40 percent of school-age children in rural areas do not attend school.1926 It

is estimated that over one-half of the poorest families in Zambia live 5 kilometers or more away

from the nearest feeder road, making access to schools particularly challenging.1927 Of those that

enroll, a majority leaves school after four years, in many cases because upper-grade schools are

located too far away from where they live.1928 In some instances, parents in rural areas do not

perceive schooling to be a better use of their children’s time than work because they question

whether literacy will lead to a better job for their children later in life.1929

According to a 1999 study of vulnerable children, although communities frequently

identified education as important, parents and guardians often could not afford the costs of

1918 U.S. Agency for International Development, “Overview of USAID Basic Education Programs in Sub-Saharan

Africa III,” Technical Paper No. 106, SD Publication Series, Office of Sustainable Development, Bureau for Africa,

Washington, D.C., February 2001, 95 [hereinafter “Overview of USAID Basic Education Programs”].

1919 UNICEF, “Children in Jeopardy: The Challenge of Freeing Poor Nations from the Shackles of Debt,” New

York, 1999, 12 [hereinafter “Children in Jeopardy”].

1920 Repetition rates increased from 7 percent in 1991 to 13 percent in 1993. See “GRZ/UNICEF Programme of

Cooperation 1997-2001, Mid-Term Review: Education for All Programme” (Lusaka: Government of Zambia and

UNICEF, September 1999), 3.

1921 “Programme of Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Zambia and UNICEF for the Children

and Women of Zambia, 1997-2001” (Lusaka: Government of the Republic of Zambia and UNICEF, March 1997),

3. See also Prospects for Sustainable Human Development in Zambia at 42. 1922 “The United States Agency for International Development: Congressional Presentation 2000”

(www.usaid.gov/pubs/cp2000/afr/zambia.html) [hereinafter “Congressional Presentation 2000”].

1923 “Overview of USAID Basic Education Programs” at 95. 1924 More than one-half of children in primary school do not have exercise books; see “Children in Jeopardy” at 5. 1925 “Congressional Presentation 2000”; see also Prospects for Sustainable Human Development in Zambia at 47. 1926 “Prevention, Withdrawal and Rehabilitation of Children” at 63. 1927 “Children in Jeopardy” at 15. 1928 “Prevention, Withdrawal and Rehabilitation of Children” at 64. 1929 Ibid.
265

school fees, uniforms, and books. When families were unable to pay for school fees and

uniforms, the children were often taken out of school.1930

3. Child Labor Law and Enforcement

Zambian law pertaining to the subject of child labor is somewhat ambiguous. The

Zambia Constitution (1991) provides for the protection of young persons from exploitation and

prohibits forced labor. The constitution defines a “young person” as any person under the age of

15, and states that:

No young person shall be employed and shall in no case be caused or permitted to engage

in any occupation or employment which would prejudice his health or education or interfere with

his physical, mental or moral development... 1931

The constitution allows, however, for an Act of Parliament to allow for the employment

of a young person for a wage under certain conditions.1932

The Employment of Young Persons and Children Act (1933), Chapter 274 defines a child

as anyone 14 years old or younger, and establishes 14 as the minimum age for employment.1933

Children engaged in work in subsistence agriculture, domestic service or the informal sector,

however, are not covered by this law.1934 Zambian law provides for penalties in the case of

illegal employment of a child or young person, but there have been no prosecutions for violations

of the law.1935

There are three separate ministries charged with protecting and providing for the welfare

of children and young persons.1936 The Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS) has the

overall responsibility for the protection and welfare of workers. The MLSS enforces the

country’s labor laws, including those related to child labor. The Ministry of Sports, Youth and

Child Development (MSYCD) is responsible for the protection and welfare of children, through

enforcement of laws related to children’s rights. The Ministry of Community Development and

Social Services (MCDSS) provides assistance to children in difficult circumstances by working

1930 Orphans and Vulnerable Children at 25; see also M. J. Kelly, Primary Education in a Heavily Indebted Poor

Country: The Case of Zambia (Lusaka: OXFAM and UNICEF, October 1998), as cited in Orphans and Vulnerable

Children at 84. 1931 Article 24 [Protection of Young Persons from Exploitation], Constitution of the Republic of Zambia, August

1991.

1932 Ibid. 1933 According to Zambia’s laws, a person younger than the age of 14 is considered a child, while a person younger

than 18 years is considered a young person. See “Prevention, Withdrawal and Rehabilitation of Children.” The

Employment of Young Persons and Children Act states that “a young person shall not be employed on any type of

employment or work, which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to jeopardise the

health, safety or morals of that young person.”

1934 Country Reports 1999—Zambia, Section 6.d.. 1935 “Prevention, Withdrawal and Rehabilitation of Children” at 65. 1936 U.S. Embassy-Lusaka, unclassified telegram no. 003293, July 24, 2000 [hereinafter unclassifed telegram

003293].
266

with communities to assist disadvantaged children to access schooling, including through

vocational training.1937 None of these agencies, however, is responsible for inter-ministerial

coordination.1938

The Government of Zambia ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention

No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Employment on February 9, 1976, and ILO Convention No.

182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on December 10, 2001.1939

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

a. Child Labor Initiatives

Zambia’s Central Statistical Office, working with the ILO’s Statistical Information and

Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC) and with financial support from the U.S.

Department of Labor (USDOL), began work on a child labor survey in 1999. The main goals of

SIMPOC are to increase the available base of quantitative and qualitative data on child labor

while enhancing local capacity to conduct and analyze such surveys.1940

In 2000, the Government of Zambia signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the

ILO, becoming a member of the ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor

(ILO-IPEC). With financial support from USDOL, ILO-IPEC initiated a national program to

address child labor.1941 This program seeks to contribute to the progressive elimination of child

labor in Zambia, especially its worst forms, with a focus on prevention, withdrawal,

rehabilitation, and provision of alternatives for working children. The program aims to help

strengthen the government’s capacity to address child labor through the development of a

national plan of action and a review of the degree to which national legislation is harmonized

with international standards. The program seeks to withdraw at least 1,400 working children

from hazardous and exploitative work in prostitution, domestic service, work on the streets

(“street children”), and quarrying. As part of the program, children withdrawn from exploitative

work are provided with educational alternatives and a number of families provided with income

generating opportunities to reduce their reliance on the labor of their children.1942

In the same year, Zambia joined four other countries participating in an ILO-IPEC regional

project, funded by USDOL, to address child labor in commercial agriculture. The project aims to

withdraw 1,500 Zambian children from exploitative work in commercial agriculture, and provide

1937 “Prevention, Withdrawal and Rehabilitation of Children” at 65-66. 1938 Unclassified telegram 003293. 1939 For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see

Appendix C.

1940 This SIMPOC survey was supported with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, “Statistical Information

and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour: Zambia” (Geneva: International Labor Organization, September

1999) [document on file].

1941 “National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour” at 6. 1942 Ibid at 9.
267

these children with education and vocational training, as well as health care. In addition, the

project will assist selected families in initiating income-generating activities.1943

Nongovernmental and community-based organizations are also active in the country.

With the support of UNICEF, a group of these organizations that work on children’s issues

formed the Children In Need (CHIN) network in 1995. CHIN aims to strengthen the capacity of

nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working on children’s issues, particularly those dealing

with orphans and other vulnerable children.1944 CHIN is active in seven out of nine provinces in

the country.1945

b. Educational Alternatives

Education is neither compulsory nor free in Zambia,1946 and there is no minimum

requirement for years of basic schooling provided for in Zambia’s laws.1947 In 1996, however,

the Government of Zambia published an “Educating Our Future” policy document that called for

increasing the provision of basic schooling from seven to nine years for all children, enhancing

the relevance of school curriculum, promoting educational cost sharing, and improved

management of schools.1948

The Government of Zambia aims to achieve universal primary education by the year

2005.1949 In 1999, the Government of Zambia began implementation of a Basic Education SubSector Investment Program (BESSIP) as part of its Education Sector Investment Program (ESIP),

a national program designed to improve access, quality and relevance of education, to optimize

the use of resources, and to move management closer to the points of delivery.1950 Through

BESSIP, the Ministry of Education is seeking to provide assistance to 20,000 disadvantaged and

vulnerable children whose parents are unable to meet their school requirements such as uniforms,

fees, and school supplies.1951 Implementation of BESSIP is scheduled to continue until 2005, at

which time it is hoped that 100 percent school gross enrollment (up from 84 percent in 2000) and

90 percent net enrollment (up from 69 percent in 2000) will be achieved. Improvement in the

quality of education is another goal of the program.1952

1943 “Prevention, Withdrawal and Rehabilitation of Children.” 1944 “National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour” at 5. See also UNICEF, “UNICEF in Zambia,”

Lusaka, 13.

1945 Interview with Ann Mulula of CHIN by U.S. Department of Labor official in Lusaka, August 4, 2000. 1946 Country Reports 1999—Zambia. 1947 “Prevention, Withdrawal and Rehabilitation of Children” at 64. 1948 “1999 Child Labor Survey” at Section 1.5. 1949 “Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper” at Section 24. 1950 “Overview of USAID Basic Education Programs” at 95; see also “The United States Agency for International

Development: Congressional Presentation 2000” (www.usaid.gov/pubs/cp2000/afr/zambia.html).

1951 ILO, Technical Progress Report, National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour in Zambia (Lusaka:

March 2001), 3.

1952 A total of US$340 million is slated to be invested in BESSIP, with US$167 million coming from the Zambian

Government. The goals of BESSIP are highlighted in the government’s Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper,

reflecting the importance placed on education for children as part of the country’s overall development strategy.

See “Interim Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper” at Section 24.
268

One approach being used in Zambia to address the needs of vulnerable children who

cannot otherwise access schooling is the establishment of community schools, which condense

the regular seven-year curriculum found in government schools into four years in order to help

children who have fallen behind their peers to catch up. The number of community schools has

risen from 20 in 1990 to over 350 in 2000. 1953 Children in these schools are also not required to

pay for school fees or uniforms. Teachers for these community schools are usually supported by

NGOs, and as a standard for classroom instruction, many teachers use the SPARK (School,

Participation, Access and Relevant Knowledge) manual developed by the Zambian Community

School Secretariat (ZCSS).1954

Effort has also been placed on making education more accessible for children. In 1999,

the Ministry of Education initiated an “Out-of-School Radio Education” program with the aim of

making schooling more accessible for children who do not attend formal schools, in particular

vulnerable groups such as street children.1955

In 1997, the government and UNICEF entered into a Program of Cooperation to

strengthen local capacities to enhance the welfare of women and children. The program places

particular emphasis on protecting children in especially difficult circumstances. It seeks to

increase children’s access to quality health and nutritional services and to primary education,

including through support for Zambia’s Education for All program.1956 The program involves

advocacy for primary education; improvements in the quality and relevance of education;

expansion of educational opportunities for children, including through alternative communitybased approaches; and support for curriculum that responds to the special needs of children.1957

One of UNICEF’s prime goals in Zambia is the creation of a more gender-sensitive school

environment through teacher training and awareness raising. Part of this focus involves

UNICEF’s support for the Program for the Advancement of Girls’ Education (PAGE). Initiated

in 1994, PAGE aims to increase the enrollment and performance of girls in early schooling.1958

PAGE seeks to create “girl-friendly” schools through advocacy and sensitization of teachers and

the community, and the teacher training aimed at gender sensitivity.1959

Another effort aimed at enhancing girls’ access to and performance in school, “More

Equitable Access to Quality Basic Education and Learning, Especially for Girls,” was initiated by

1953 Government of Zambia, Ministry of Education, “Promotion of Partnership in Education Provision”

(www.education.gov.zm/promotio.html); cited July 30, 2001.

1954 Orphans and Vulnerable Children at 26. 1955 Henry Chilufya, “Radio Schools May Bridge Education Gap” [online], Pan-African News Agency, Lusaka,

Zambia, April 22, 1999 (www.africanews.org/PANA/news/19990422/feat5.html).

1956 Government of Zambia and UNICEF, “Master Plan of Operations and Programme Plans of Operation for a

Programme of Cooperation between the Government of the Republic of Zambia and UNICEF for the Children and

Women of Zambia, 1997-2001,” Lusaka, March 1997, 6-8, 10, 15 [hereinafter “Master Plan of Operations and

Programme Plans”].

1957 “Programme Plan of Operations for Education for All, 1997-2001,” in “Master Plan of Operations and

Programme Plans” at 15-17.

1958 “USAID-Zambia: Education” (www.usaid.gov/zm/education/so2.htm); cited July 30, 2001. 1959 PAGE’s motto is “A Girl-Friendly School Is a Child-Friendly School.” See “Master Plan of Operations and

Programme Plans” at 17.
269

the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) in 1998. Working with Zambia’s

Ministry of Education, the program’s goal is to enhance the country’s system of basic education

to ensure high quality and equity at a reasonable cost, with a special emphasis on increasing

access for girls. Scheduled to run through 2003, the program seeks to improve curricula to

support girls’ education and improve the Ministry of Education’s capacity at both national and

local levels.1960

As a whole, the Zambian education system has deteriorated significantly over the last 20

years.1961 Per capita public expenditure on education has fallen from US$28 in 1975 to US$9 by

1990, with spending on primary education per capita falling from US$11 to US$2 during the

same period. Along with this decline came a shifting of the burden for certain education

expenses from the state to the family.1962 While the government provides for teacher salaries,

families pay school fees that cover the expense of school maintenance and text books. Families

must also cover the cost for exercise books, school supplies, and uniforms.1963 A school’s

management committee, and not the government, is responsible for setting the level for school

fees and requirements for uniforms.1964 The growing reliance upon family contributions for

schooling through fees and other school funds has had a negative effect on children’s

participation in schooling.1965

The share of government spending devoted to education declined in Zambia from a high

in 1984 of 16 percent to 11 percent in 1993. Real annual public expenditure on education

(measured in constant 1985 prices) dropped from a peak level in 1982 to approximately 50

percent of that level in the years from 1986 to 1993.1966 In 1995, government spending on

education as a percentage of gross national product (GNP) was 2.2 percent.1967 Public spending

on primary education as a percentage of GNP was 1.4 percent in 1998.1968

1960 USAID-Zambia Program Activity Sheet for “More Equitable Access to Quality Basic Education and Learning,

Especially for Girls” (www.usaid.gov/pubs/cp2000/afr/zambia.html); cited July 30, 2001.

1961 The first decade of Zambian independence (1964-1974) coincided with a strong world market for one of the

country’s major natural resources: copper. The decline of world copper prices in the 1970’s had a major effect on

government revenue and led to a decline in public expenditure in areas such as education. Whereas in 1975 public

spending on education amounted to 7 percent of gross domestic product (GDP), the percentage had fallen to 3

percent by 1990. See Helena Skyt Nielson, “Child Labor and School Attendance: Two Joint Decisions,” Working

Paper No. 98-15 (Aarhus, Denmark: University of Aarhus, Centre for Labour Market and Social Research, October

1998),1 [hereinafter “Child Labor and School Attendance”].

1962 “Child Labor and School Attendance” at 1. 1963 Orphans and Vulnerable Children at 25. School fees for the early years of schooling typically range from

K2,000 (US$0.82 in 1999) to K6,000 (US$2.47 in 1999) for the year, while a school dress would cost roughly

K15,000 (US$6.19 in 1999). See Also National Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour. 1964 Orphans and Vulnerable Children at 25. School fees for the early years of schooling typically range from

K2,000 (US$0.82 in 1999) to K6,000 (US$2.47 in 1999) for the year, while a school dress would cost roughly

K15,000 (US$6.19 in 1999).

1965 Government of Zambia and UNICEF, “GRZ/UNICEF Programme of Cooperation, 1997-2001, Mid-Term

Review: Education for All Programme,” Lusaka, September 1999, 3.

1966 Prospects for Sustainable Human Development in Zambia at 67-68. 1967 World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM]. 1968 United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics [CDROM], Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment, Country Report, Zambia (Paris, 2000).
270

5. Selected Data on Government Expenditures

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a

percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military,

health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending

on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.1969

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of

government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country,

this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader

a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in

each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

1969 See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix

B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.
271

APPENDIX A:

CHILD LABOR DATA METHODOLOGY

The purpose of this addendum is to describe the methods for collecting child labor data

and discuss the challenges of collecting accurate estimates on working children. Presently, there

is no internationally endorsed definition of working children, or universally prescribed

methodology for collecting data on child labor. The lack of concepts and methods for collecting

child labor data has made it difficult to obtain reliable statistics on working children.

Statistics from the individual country profiles presented in this report are taken from

various sources. These sources include estimates from nongovernmental organizations (NGOs),

international agencies, and government household surveys. In some instances, a range of

statistics on the extent of working children may be given for a single country to reflect the

varying degrees of measurement within a country. The following discussion seeks to introduce

the reader to the challenges in constructing child labor statistics and describe the existing methods

for collecting child labor data.

A. Child Labor Definitions & Concepts

Definitions of what constitutes a “child” and what classifies “labor” vary from one

country to another. As a result, how a country chooses to construct a child labor statistic greatly

influences the estimates of working children as well as the comparability of figures across

countries. Although not a comprehensive list, the reader should consider the following key

concepts associated with measuring child labor that may give rise to disparities in definitions and

estimates of working children.

1. Child Labor vs. Child Work

Statistics on the labor force activity of children are often reported as a single estimate, and

do not distinguish between “child labor” and “child work.”1970 It is important to differentiate

between these two concepts because not all work performed by children is considered child labor.

Child work is not considered to be harmful to or exploitative of children.1971 It can include

performing light work after school, household chores, or legitimate apprenticeship programs.

Work that is considered child labor prevents children from attending and participating effectively

in school or is performed by children under hazardous conditions that place their healthy

physical, intellectual or moral development at risk.1972

1970 Richard Anker, “The Economics of Child Labour: A Framework for Measurement,” International Labour

Review, vol. 139 (2000): 257-80. 1971 Ibid. 1972 See ILO Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst

Forms of Child Labor.
272

2. Economically Active Children

The primary vehicle for gathering information on working children is through household

surveys such as national census or labor force surveys. Data collected on child labor from

household surveys are generally based on the definition of the “economically active population”.

The concept of the economically active population was adopted by the Thirteenth International

Conference on Labor Statisticians in 1982, and is defined as:

All persons of either sex who furnish the supply of labor for the production of economic

goods and services as defined by the United Nations systems of national accounts and balances

during a specified time-reference period. According to these systems the production of economic

goods and services includes all production and processing of primary products whether for the

market, for barter or for own consumption, the production of all other goods and services for the

market and, in the case of households which produce such goods and services for the market and

the corresponding production for own consumption.1973

There are several limitations to using this definition of the economically active population

when measuring child labor. According to this definition, persons in “paid” or “unpaid”1974

employment, military personnel, and the unemployed1975 are included in the economically active

population. For children working in informal work settings, non-economic activities, and

“hidden” forms of work, household surveys using the definition of the economically active

population to measure labor force activity do not capture the full extent of child labor, and are

therefore likely to yield underestimates of the number of child laborers. This is particularly true

for collecting gender-sensitive data on child labor, since most girls engage in unpaid, domestic

work activities in comparison to boys.1976

3. Formal vs. Informal Sector

Estimates of child labor are often based on the number of children working in the “formal

sector” as opposed to the “informal sector”. Because businesses in the informal sector are not

usually included in official statistics,1977 children working in informal enterprises are not counted

in labor force activity rates. Informal sector employment can consist of unpaid family workers,

work with unregistered businesses, or establishments where there are less than five or 10 people

working.1978

1973 Source and Methods: Labour Statistics, vol. 10, Estimates and Projections of the Economically Active

Population 1950-2010 (ILO: Geneva, 2000). 1974 Unpaid workers include family members engaged in the production of economic goods and services for their

own and/or household consumption. Domestic work in an individual’s own household, such as cleaning, cooking,

and caring for other family members, is not traditionally included in the definition of economically active persons.

1975 Persons considered to be unemployed include those currently looking for work and first-time job seekers. 1976 UNICEF, “Child Domestic Work,” Innocenti Digest (Florence, Italy: International Child Development Centre,

1999).

1977 International Labor Organization, Informal Sector: Who Are They? [online] (http://www.ilo.org/public/english/

employment/skills/informal/who.htm); cited March 30, 2001.

1978 Ibid.
273

The International Labor Organization (ILO) has characterized the informal sector to be

largely unregulated, and not controlled by the framework of law, where as the formal sector is

regulated by the government and subject to labor legislation.1979 A more precise account of the

informal sector by the ILO suggests “these units typically operate at a low level of organization,

with little or no division between labor and capital as factors of production and on a small

scale.”1980 Furthermore, where labor relations exist, interactions are not based on contracts or

formal arrangements; rather they are grounded on casual employment, kinship, and personal or

social relations.1981 Because employers in the informal sector are not accountable for complying

with occupational safety measures, it is likely that children who work in “hazardous” or “ultrahazardous” settings may run the risk of injury without any social protections. For this reason,

households may be reluctant to indicate work by children in the informal sector, which can

increase the probability of underreporting.

4. Hidden and Worst Forms of Child Labor

Another factor that results in the underreporting in child labor data is the number of

children who are working in “hidden” or illegal sectors of the economy. It is very difficult to be

able to enumerate children who are trafficked, forced to work as debt laborers or prostitutes, or

recruited into armed conflict by using traditional government census or household surveys. As a

result, statistics on working children usually do not include the worst forms of child labor, and

this undercounts the true number of child laborers.1982

B. Survey Methodology and Child Labor

The previous section described the complexities associated with defining and accurately

measuring child labor. These challenges make the process of collecting accurate estimates on

working children difficult. This section will address issues important to measuring the extent and

magnitude of child labor.

For the majority of countries, household surveys such as labor force and census surveys

are the primary instruments for measuring child labor.1983 The use of large-scale probability

sampling in survey research allows estimates to be generalized to a broader target population.

1979 Ibid. 1980 International Labor Organization, 15th International Conference of Labor Statisticians, January 19-28, 1993,

Geneva.

1981 Ibid. 1982 Efforts are underway to capture through rapid assessments the worst forms of child labor by a combination of

quantitative and qualitative techniques. For a fuller discussion of the rapid assessment methodology, refer to

International Labor Organization, United Nations Children’s Fund [online], Investigating Child Labor: Guidelines

for Rapid Assessment (http://www.ilo.org/ public/english/standards/ipec/simpoc/guides/rapass.pdf). 1983 Some survey programs include questions on working children with the purpose of capturing information on

child labor. The ILO-IPEC’s Statistical Information Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC) is specifically

designed to measure the extent and nature of child labor in a country, while UNICEF’s Multiple Indicator Cluster

Surveys (MICS) and the World Bank’s Living Standards Measurement Survey (LSMS) contain some questions

related to the child labor in their surveys. Interagency efforts among these three organizations to standardize data
274

The following discussion explains survey methodology issues relating to “who” the

surveys target, “when” they are administered, and “how” data are collected. These topics affect

the validity and cross-country comparability of data. Despite the limitations discussed, surveys

that gather information on child labor provide baseline information on children working in certain

types of work, describe the social and demographic characteristics of children and their families,

and explain causes that lead children to work.

1. Universe Selection

In statistics the “universe” refers to the population or group of individuals being studied.

The two parameters that typically define the universe of in child labor surveys are the age range

of respondents and the definition of “economic activity.” How a country chooses to define a

particular universe shapes the outcome and cross-country comparability of a statistic. Not all

countries or organizations use the same age range or set of activities and conditions to define

child labor. When reporting on child labor statistics it is important to include age range used for

children in the sample, the number of working children, and the total population of children for

the same age range to get a fuller picture of the situation of working children in a particular

country.

The age range used to specify the universe of working children in a given country often

does not coincide with that country’s legal definition of child labor. In accordance with ILO

Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Employment, many countries’ legal standards

classify working children under the age of 15 or 14 years as child laborers, while other countries

consider individuals up to age of 21 who are employed in hazardous conditions to be child

laborers.1984 Since work is legally prohibited below a certain age, most national labor force

surveys and censuses do not even collect information on working children below the age of 15,

while other governments place a lower age limit of five years on data collected.1985

The ILO’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) child

labor surveys usually defines the universe of children to be individuals between the ages of

5 and 17.1986 However, the ILO’s Bureau of Statistics (STAT) Economically Active Population,

1950-2010 database reports on the labor force activity rates of children between the ages of

10 to 14.1987

collection efforts are under way. For more information, see “Understanding Children’s Work” at

http://www.ucw-project.org/.

1984 International Labor Organization (ILO), Child Labour: Targeting the Intolerable, Geneva, 1996. 1985 ILO, Yearbook of Labour Statistics, Geneva, 2000. 1986 ILO, “Sampling Design for Household-Based Child Labour Survey” [online]; see

http://www.ilo.org/public/english/standards/ipec/ simpoc/simpoc00/page3.htm#c3-2.

1987 ILO, Yearbook of Labour Statistics, Geneva, 2000, See Also World Development Indicators 2000.
275

2. Reference Period

The reference period relates to the associated timing of information asked of the

respondent during a survey. Census and employment surveys collect information on labor force

activity by asking respondents whether they have worked during a specified “reference period”.

In collecting labor information, reference periods are generally classified in relation to short-term

and long-term employment status. The short-term reference period typically measures “current

work activity” during the past week (or last seven days), while the long-term reference period

determines “usual work activity” over the last year (or last 12 months).1988 Because some child

labor is seasonal, such as agriculture, it is important to conduct a survey during the time it

coincides with activities associated with children’s work so that these activities are captured

within the reference period.1989 Otherwise, statistics will produce underestimates on the number

of working children.

3. Sampling and Non-Sampling Errors

In all household surveys, differences in the quality of data are attributed to both sampling

and non-sampling errors, but because of the sensitivities surrounding child labor issues, surveys

on working children are more subject to these types of errors.1990 Sampling error refers to errors

resulting from sample frame selection, sample size, and the stratification of samples. Since child

labor surveys usually derive their samples from the enumeration areas of census and labor force

surveys, sampling areas may not exactly represent the localities of where child laborers may be

found, especially if a majority of working children reside in remote rural areas. Non-sampling

errors generally stem from survey design, the interpretation of questions by respondents, the

capacity and willingness of respondents to provide the correct information, and the inability to

contact sample cases. Non-sampling errors may impact the quality of child labor data because of

the illegal nature of many children’s work. Parents may be hesitant to answer questions

honestly, and children may not be able to provide accurate responses.

1988 Reference periods may also vary by country. 1989 For example, if a survey were being conducted in October, and the reference period was for the previous

six months, activities children may have worked in between the months of November from the previous year to

April of the following year would not be included in the data.

1990 Differing survey processes, field interviewing styles, and quality control procedures influence both crosscountry comparability and within-country quality of data.
276

APPENDIX B:

DETAILED STATISTICAL TABLES

The country studies in this report contain child labor, education, and country expenditure data

from a variety of sources. Statistics from the following tables come from sources compiled

by agencies that have made some efforts to standardize the data by employing different

methodological techniques. Social, demographic, and economic indicators are from the World

Bank’s World Development Indicators 2000, United Nations Educational, Scientific, and

Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment, and the U.S.

Census Bureau’s International Data Base (IDB). Data from these sources are not entirely

comparable and readers are asked to use caution when comparing figures from more than one

source, as well as comparing data across countries. Different data collection and estimation

procedures may affect the accuracy of estimates and comparability of data. The following is a

list of the tables presented in this appendix.

Table 1. Labor Force Activity Rates for Children 10 to 14 Years by Country: 1990, 1995,

and 1998

Table 2. Total Midyear Population by Age and Sex, 1998

Table 2a. Total Midyear Population by Age and Sex, 1998 (Continued)

Table 3. Primary School Gross Enrollment Rate by Country: 1989 to 1998

Table 4. Primary School Gross Enrollment Rate by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1998

Table 5. Primary School Net Enrollment Rate by Country: 1989 to 1997

Table 6. Primary School Net Enrollment Rate by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1997

Table 7. Population of Unenrolled Children of Primary School Age by Country: 1989 to 1997

Table 8. Percentage of Unenrolled Children of Primary School Age by Country: 1989 to 1997

Table 9. Population of Unenrolled Children of Primary School Age by Country and Sex:

1989 to 1997

Table 9a. Population of Unenrolled Children of Primary School Age by Country and Sex:

1989 to 1997 (Continued)

Table 10. Percentage of Unenrolled Children of Primary School Age by Country and Sex:

1989 to 1997

Table 11. Percentage of Cohort Reaching Grade 5 by Country: 1989 to 1996

Table 12. Percentage of Cohort Reaching Grade 5 by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1996

Table 13. Gross National Product in Current US$ Billions by Country: 1989 to 1998

Table 14. Public Spending on Total Education as a Percentage of GNP: 1989 to 1997

Table 15. Public Spending on Primary Education as a Percentage of GNP: 1989 to 1997

Table 16. Public Expenditure Per Student as a Percentage of GNP Per Capita by Country and

School Level: 1989 to 1996

Table 17. Total Debt Service as a Percentage of GNP by Country: 1989 to 1998

Table 18. Public Health Expenditure as a Percentage of GNP by Country: 1990 to 1998

Table 19. Military Expenditure as a Percentage of GNP by Country: 1989 to 1997

Table 20. Unemployment Rates by Country: 1989 to 1997

Table 21. Unemployment Rates by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1997
277

A. Data Sources

Listed below are the main sources of data referenced in these tables. Most of the data

compiled from these sources are from official government census or household surveys.

1. World Development Indicators

The World Development Indicators 2000 (WDI 2000) is an annual compilation by the

World Bank on development data gathered from several international and government agencies

and private nongovernmental organizations around the world. The WDI 2000 includes 800

indicators on topics in six areas: world view, people, environment, economy, states and markets,

and global links. There are 85 tables covering the six categories with basic indicators on 224

countries. Labor force, education, and expenditure data for the period of 1995-98 were extracted

from the World Development Indicators 2000 CD-ROM, and referenced in this report.

For more information on the WDI, contact:

Development Data Center

The World Bank

1818 H Street, NW, Room MC2-812

Washington, DC 20433

Phone: (800)590-1906 or (202)473-7824

E-mail: info@worldbank.org

Website: www.worldbank.org/data

2. Education for All 2000 Assessment

The Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment statistical document is a collection of

quantitative data based on an in-depth evaluation of basic education at global, regional, and

national levels gathered by the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization

(UNESCO)’s Institute for Statistics (UIS). Data is available for 185 countries. Indicators examined in this assessment include the demand for education, early childhood education and care,

access and trends to primary education, public expenditure on primary education, teacher qualifications, and literacy rates.

For more information on EFA, contact:

EFA Forum Secretariat

7, Place de Fontenoy

75352 Paris 07 SP, France

E-mail: efa@unesco.org

Internet website: www.education.unesco.org/efa
278

3. International Data Base

The International Data Base (IDB) is a computerized databank maintained by the U.S.

Census Bureau’s International Program Center (IPC). The IDB contains demographic and socioeconomic statistics for 227 countries and areas of the world that include variables on population

by age and sex, vital rates, infant mortality, life tables, fertility and child survivorship, migration,

marital status, family planning, ethnicity, religion, language, literacy, labor force, employment,

income, and other household characteristics. The IDB compiles data from estimates and projections by the U.S. Census Bureau, National Statistics Offices, and specialized agencies of the

United Nations such as the International Labor Organization (ILO); the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO); and the World Health Organization.

Statistics for this report used from the IDB were mainly population data for children by age and

sex.

For more information on the IDB, contact:

International Programs Center

U.S. Census Bureau

Washington, D.C. 20233-8860

Phone: (301) 457-1403

E-mail: idb@census.gov

Website: www.census.gov/ipc/www/idbnew.html
279

1990 1995 1998

Bangladesh 32.5 30.1 28.7

Benin 28.6 27.5 26.9

Bolivia 17.4 14.4 12.6

Brazil 17.8 16.2 15.1

Cambodia 25.6 24.7 24.1

Costa Rica 6.8 5.5 4.7

Dominican Republic 19.0 16.1 14.4

Egypt 13.2 11.2 10.0

El Salvador 16.6 15.2 14.3

Ethiopia 43.5 42.3 41.6

Ghana 14.6 13.3 12.5

Guatemala 18.3 16.2 15.0

Haiti 27.8 25.3 23.8

Honduras 9.9 8.5 7.7

India 16.7 14.4 13.0

Indonesia 11.3 9.6 8.5

Kenya 43.4 41.3 40.0

Lesotho 23.5 22.1 21.3

Mali 57.9 54.5 52.5

Nepal 48.3 45.2 43.3

Nicaragua 16.0 14.0 12.8

Nigeria 27.6 25.8 24.6

Pakistan 20.1 17.7 16.3

Panama 4.5 3.5 2.9

Peru 3.2 2.5 2.1

Philippines 10.6 8.0 6.5

Romania 0.3 0.2 0.1

South Africa – – –

Tanzania 42.1 39.5 37.9

Thailand 20.2 16.2 13.8

Togo 30.4 28.6 27.5

Uganda 46.8 45.3 44.4

Zambia 16.9 16.3 15.9

– = not available

Table 1. Labor Force Activity Rates for Children 10 to 14 Years by Country: 1990, 1995, and 1998

NOTE: The ILO defines the economically active population as those persons who furnish the supply of labor, both paid and unpaid, for the 

production of economic goods and services as defined by the United Nations systems of national accounts and balances during a specified 

time-reference period.

SOURCES: ILO's Economically Active Population Database, 1950-2010 , in World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], 

Washington, D.C., 2000, International Labor Office, Sources and Methods Labour Statistics: Volume 10 Estimates and Projections of the 

Economically Active Population 1950-2010. Geneva, Switzerland,2000.

Labor force, children 10-14 (% of age group) a

Country

a Children 10-14 in the labor force is the share of that age group that is active in the labor force. Labor force comprises all people who meet 

the ILO's definition of the economically active population.
280

Table 2. Total Population by Age and Sex, 1998

Both Sexes Male Female Both Sexes Male Female Both Sexes Male Female

Bangladesh 24,064,981 12,404,173 11,660,808 63,746,044 32,675,149 31,070,895 14,320,805 7,374,368 6,946,437

Benin 6,015,384 2,953,151 3,062,233 3,525,815 1,778,597 1,747,218 1,141,389 576,033 565,356

Bolivia 3,162,493 1,610,650 1,551,843 4,015,371 2,041,656 1,973,715 1,104,753 563,868 540,885

Brazil 169,305,705 83,529,959 85,775,746 68,582,588 34,865,582 33,717,006 16,766,745 8,550,440 8,216,305

Cambodia 11,664,468 5,634,588 6,029,880 6,426,591 3,278,905 3,147,686 1,790,461 910,226 880,235

Costa Rica 3,583,162 1,812,014 1,771,148 1,544,624 792,398 752,226 391,785 200,480 191,305

Dominican Republic 8,167,621 4,149,719 4,017,902 3,700,571 1,890,857 180,714 1,009,363 515,575 493,788

Egypt 67,178,624 33,916,704 33,261,920 30,944,565 15,801,864 15,142,701 8,171,174 4,180,726 3,989,448

El Salvador 5,895,283 2,866,814 3,028,469 2,938,187 1,491,867 1,446,320 822,465 420,258 402,207

Ethiopia 60,637,758 30,435,908 30,201,850 34,742,938 17,448,327 17,294,611 11,277,250 5,678,635 5,598,615

Ghana 18,778,980 9,357,887 9,421,093 9,950,660 5,014,256 4,936,404 2,841,535 1,395,078 1,380,370

Guatemala 11,987,539 6,033,455 5,954,084 6,448,296 3,291,521 3,156,775 1,933,514 987,061 946,453

Haiti 6,682,785 3,291,174 3,391,611 3,613,701 1,828,757 1,784,944 943,133 478,517 464,616

Honduras 5,964,775 2,989,877 2,974,898 3,257,394 1,662,390 1,595,004 952,766 487,113 465,653

India 981,666,198 507,627,695 474,038,503 437,459,189 226,425,576 211,033,613 117,034,630 60,075,957 56,958,673

Indonesia 217,414,504 108,552,308 108,862,196 90,752,826 46,045,519 44,707,307 23,746,872 12,086,034 11,660,838

Kenya 29,277,006 14,679,324 14,597,682 16,598,941 8,389,119 8,209,822 4,616,777 2,335,340 2,281,437

Lesotho 2,068,672 1,007,024 1,061,648 1,054,010 529,501 524,509 300,493 151,476 149,017

Mali 10,064,506 4,908,344 5,156,162 5,848,367 2,939,902 2,908,465 1,956,643 986,071 970,572

Nepal 23,560,320 12,072,926 11,487,394 12,363,954 6,382,705 5,981,249 3,583,968 1,844,685 1,739,273

Nicaragua 4,599,689 2,297,003 2,302,686 2,431,447 1,235,959 1,195,488 661,101 336,961 324,140

Nigeria 116,788,347 59,094,917 57,693,430 64,435,391 32,378,759 32,056,632 20,143,680 10,161,028 9,982,652

Pakistan 135,471,351 69,434,157 66,037,194 70,993,539 36,609,971 34,383,568 20,544,951 10,554,915 9,990,036

Panama 2,730,999 1,382,545 1,348,454 1,132,729 577,945 554,784 283,369 143,975 139,394

Peru 26,048,918 13,099,512 12,949,406 12,007,339 6,094,616 5,912,723 3,180,341 1,614,788 1,565,553

Philippines 77,814,259 38,755,200 39,059,059 37,650,129 19,131,660 18,518,469 10,603,758 5,409,050 5,194,708

Romania 22,509,015 11,011,642 11,497,373 6,091,071 311,683 2,979,388 1,167,227 599,653 567,574

South Africa 42,848,801 20,685,577 22,163,224 18,742,789 9,442,696 9,300,093 4,727,894 2,380,570 2,347,324

Tanzania 33,559,264 16,659,451 16,899,783 18,933,417 9,510,835 9,422,582 5,869,025 2,957,363 2,911,662

Thailand 60,062,404 29,666,471 30,395,933 20,457,142 10,413,090 10,044,052 4,734,389 2,412,014 2,322,375

Togo 4,744,119 2,331,620 2,412,499 2,754,517 1,382,806 1,371,711 835,407 421,421 413,986

Uganda 22,059,035 11,034,284 11,024,751 13,583,237 6,819,345 6,763,892 4,571,887 2,297,712 2,274,175

Zambia 9,214,889 4,574,065 4,640,824 5,549,497 2,787,451 2,762,046 1,672,902 841,922 830,980

SOURCE: US Census Bureau [On-line, Site visited on 8/14/01]. International Data Base. On-line: http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/idbagg

Country Total population, all ages Population, 0-19 Population,0-4
281

Table 2a. Total Population by Age and Sex, 1998 (Continued)

Both Sexes Male Female Both Sexes Male Female Both Sexes Male Female

Bangladesh 15,549,037 7,888,906 7,660,131 18,932,780 9,749,499 9,183,281 14,943,422 7,662,376 7,281,046

Benin 943,510 475,962 467,548 782,961 394,679 388,282 657,955 331,923 326,032

Bolivia 1,061,657 541,093 520,564 996,083 505,689 490,394 852,878 431,006 421,872

Brazil 16,588,200 8,449,165 8,139,035 17,390,567 8,831,684 8,558,883 17,837,076 9,034,293 8,802,783

Cambodia 1,646,017 841,295 804,722 1,624,549 835,279 789,270 1,365,564 692,105 673,459

Costa Rica 402,626 205,957 196,669 399,854 204,998 194,859 350,359 180,963 169,396

Dominican Republic 958,961 490,273 468,688 902,278 461,197 441,081 829,969 423,812 406,157

Egypt 7,970,048 4,082,117 3,887,931 7,721,345 3,942,279 3,779,066 7,082,998 3,596,742 3,486,256

El Salvador 740,475 377,851 362,624 719,915 363,912 356,003 655,332 329,846 325,486

Ethiopia 9,349,359 4,704,473 4,644,886 7,623,015 3,816,691 3,806,324 6,493,314 3,248,528 3,244,786

Ghana 2,775,448 1,395,078 1,380,370 2,464,927 1,243,686 1,221,241 1,868,750 943,590 925,160

Guatemala 1,694,697 865,429 829,268 1,507,978 770,119 737,859 1,312,107 668,912 643,195

Haiti 945,591 478,743 466,848 954,678 482,535 472,143 770,299 388,962 381,337

Honduras 871,021 445,092 425,929 761,626 388,790 372,836 671,981 341,395 330,586

India 112,420,901 58,049,293 54,371,608 108,401,483 55,824,779 52,576,704 99,602,175 52,475,547 47,126,628

Indonesia 22,309,363 11,341,590 10,967,773 22,040,822 11,171,654 10,869,168 22,655,769 11,446,241 11,209,528

Kenya 4,191,756 2,120,063 2,071,639 4,145,497 2,093,053 2,052,444 3,644,911 1,840,663 1,804,248

Lesotho 276,423 138,981 137,442 253,882 127,310 126,572 223,212 111,734 111,478

Mali 1,523,905 765,750 758,155 1,274,184 639,321 634,863 1,124,427 564,024 560,403

Nepal 3,225,415 1,667,089 1,558,326 2,934,507 1,517,082 1,417,425 2,620,064 1,353,839 1,266,225

Nicaragua 629,806 320,648 309,158 596,160 303,083 293,077 544,380 275,267 269,113

Nigeria 16,813,971 8,437,419 8,376,552 14,531,445 7,283,176 7,248,269 12,946,295 6,497,136 6,449,159

Pakistan 19,186,147 9,894,780 9,291,367 16,997,257 8,773,053 8,224,204 14,265,184 7,387,223 6,887,961

Panama 299,057 152,441 146,616 285,860 146,472 139,388 264,443 135,057 129,386

Peru 3,180,341 1,614,788 1,565,553 2,853,111 1,447,469 1,405,642 2,727,063 1,382,403 1,344,660

Philippines 9,890,357 5,029,687 4,860,670 8,841,936 4,483,504 4,358,432 8,314,078 4,209,419 4,104,659

Romania 1,441,470 736,260 705,210 1,700,401 867,110 833,291 1,781,973 908,660 873,313

South Africa 4,868,894 2,447,877 2,421,017 4,702,352 2,368,981 2,333,371 4,443,649 2,245,268 2,198,381

Tanzania 4,973,058 2,495,523 2,477,535 4,322,643 2,170,374 2,152,269 3,768,691 1,887,575 1,881,116

Thailand 4,734,389 2,412,014 2,322,375 4,978,178 2,530,648 2,447,530 5,770,690 2,930,501 2,840,189

Togo 746,836 373,301 373,535 647,113 323,630 323,483 525,161 264,454 260,707

Uganda 3,696,920 1,854,879 1,842,041 2,980,747 1,497,285 1,483,462 2,333,683 1,169,469 1,164,214

Zambia 1,443,307 723,926 719,381 1,310,930 656,628 654,302 1,122,358 564,975 557,383

SOURCE: US Census Bureau [On-line, Site visited on 8/14/01]. International Data Base. On-line: http://www.census.gov/cgi-bin/ipc/idbagg

Population,5-9 Population,10-14 Population,15-19 Country
282

Table 3. Primary School Gross Enrollment Rate by Country: 1989 to 1998

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Bangladesh 69.2 71.6 – – – – – – – –

Benin 51.9 58.1 60.9 66.0 66.7 70.5 73.3 77.6 – –

Bolivia 92.3 94.7 – – – – – – – –

Brazil 102.0 106.3 106.1 108.6 109.8 112.2 117.6 119.8 124.6 –

Cambodia 127.6 120.9 – – 121.5 122.4 126.0 109.6 113.3 –

Costa Rica 100.6 100.7 101.7 102.5 102.6 102.3 102.5 103.3 103.5 104.0

Dominican Republic 96.3 96.6 96.9 92.7 95.6 92.8 95.7 93.9 – –

Egypt 91.6 93.8 93.1 94.2 96.5 97.8 99.8 100.5 101.1 –

El Salvador 81.8 81.1 80.5 83.3 85.0 86.6 87.5 92.9 97.3 –

Ethiopia 36.4 32.7 26.4 22.9 27.2 31.3 37.5 42.9 – –

Ghana 73.0 75.3 75.1 79.6 80.5 78.7 – – – –

Guatemala 79.1 77.6 81.2 85.1 86.6 85.8 87.5 88.0 88.1 –

Haiti 49.4 47.8 – – – – – – – –

Honduras – – 107.6 109.6 111.6 111.0 – – – –

India 97.5 97.2 97.8 99.8 101.1 100.6 100.2 99.8 – –

Indonesia 116.0 115.2 114.4 114.3 115.2 114.5 113.4 112.7 – –

Kenya 98.2 95.0 93.0 91.7 90.5 86.9 84.9 – – –

Lesotho 112.9 111.8 112.9 111.7 107.5 109.6 110.9 107.7 – –

Mali 26.0 26.5 28.1 31.5 34.6 37.2 40.5 45.1 48.9 –

Nepal 100.4 107.7 108.1 110.2 108.9 109.3 109.1 113.0 – –

Nicaragua 90.4 93.5 97.3 99.5 102.3 104.4 102.6 100.9 101.6 101.0

Nigeria 88.2 91.4 89.8 94.0 98.3 98.0 – – – –

Pakistan 47.3 60.7 65.0 69.4 73.5 – – – – –

Panama 107.0 106.2 104.8 104.5 104.6 103.7 103.7 105.5 – –

Peru 117.6 118.5 117.6 116.6 117.7 120.6 122.9 123.2 122.8 –

Philippines 112.1 111.3 110.6 110.1 109.1 109.3 114.1 116.0 116.8 –

Romania 98.4 91.3 88.4 86.5 87.5 94.6 99.9 103.5 – –

South Africa 120.0 121.6 124.3 126.8 129.2 131.6 132.8 – – –

Tanzania 69.4 69.7 69.9 69.0 68.9 67.5 66.8 66.1 66.5 –

Thailand 98.6 99.1 98.9 96.9 94.4 90.6 86.5 86.9 88.9 –

Togo 104.5 109.4 106.8 104.2 101.8 113.3 118.6 119.6 – –

Uganda 79.4 74.5 75.4 73.5 73.9 73.4 74.3 – – –

Zambia 100.7 98.7 99.0 100.2 – 90.8 88.5 – – –

– = not available

a 

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Gross enrollment rate is the rate of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Primary education 

provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and 

music. For more information, see WDI table 2.10.

Primary school enrollment, primary (% gross)a Country
283

Table 4. Primary School Gross Enrollment Rate by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1998

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Bangladesh 62.8 66.3 –––––––– 75.2 76.5 ––––––––

Benin 35.0 38.5 40.8 44.8 46.8 50.4 53.5 57.1 – – 68.8 77.8 81.2 87.3 86.6 90.6 93.2 98.1 – –

Bolivia 87.8 90.4 –––––––– 96.6 99.0 ––––––––

Brazil ––––––––––––––––––––

Cambodia –––– 110.1 109.9 113.5 99.6 103.5 ––––– 132.6 134.5 138.3 119.4 122.9 –

Costa Rica 99.7 100.0 101.2 102.0 102.1 101.8 102.1 103.0 102.9 103.0 101.5 101.4 102.2 103.0 103.0 102.7 102.9 103.5 104.1 104.0

Dominican Republic 96.7 – – – 95.5 92.7 – 93.6 – – 96.0 – – – 95.7 92.9 – 94.2 – –

Egypt 84.3 85.8 85.1 86.6 88.9 90.9 93.1 93.7 94.3 – 98.4 101.4 100.7 101.4 103.7 104.2 106.2 107.0 107.5 –

El Salvador 82.1 81.6 81.0 83.8 85.3 86.6 87.7 92.4 96.4 – 81.5 80.7 80.1 82.8 84.7 86.6 87.4 93.3 98.3 –

Ethiopia 29.2 26.2 22.2 18.8 20.8 23.1 26.9 30.5 – – 43.5 38.9 30.5 27.0 33.6 39.4 48.1 55.4 – –

Ghana 65.8 68.4 68.9 73.8 74.9 73.7 –––– 80.2 82.2 81.2 85.3 86.0 83.6 ––––

Guatemala – – 75.8 79.4 80.8 79.9 81.6 82.1 82.5 – – – 86.4 90.6 92.1 91.5 93.1 93.6 93.4 –

Haiti 48.0 46.4 –––––––– 50.9 49.2 ––––––––

Honduras – – 109.9 111.4 112.4 111.8 –––––– 105.3 107.9 110.9 110.2 – – – –

India 82.4 83.5 84.7 88.3 90.0 89.6 89.7 89.7 – – 111.6 109.9 110.0 110.5 111.5 110.9 109.9 109.1 – –

Indonesia 113.5 113.6 113.3 112.3 113.0 112.1 111.1 110.4 – – 118.3 116.7 115.4 116.2 117.3 116.8 115.7 114.9 – –

Kenya 96.3 93.3 91.5 90.5 89.8 86.6 84.9 – – – 99.9 96.6 94.5 92.9 91.1 87.1 84.9 – – –

Lesotho 125.2 123.4 124.7 121.8 116.0 116.9 117.5 113.7 – – 100.8 100.4 101.4 101.7 99.2 102.4 104.4 101.8 – –

Mali 19.1 19.4 20.7 23.6 26.4 29.7 31.8 35.4 39.7 – 32.9 33.5 35.6 39.4 42.8 44.7 49.2 54.8 58.1 –

Nepal 72.7 81.1 84.1 88.3 88.1 90.1 90.9 95.9 – – 125.9 132.2 130.0 130.3 127.9 126.8 125.7 128.8 – –

Nicaragua 94.4 96.3 99.7 101.4 103.9 105.6 104.0 102.2 102.9 102.0 86.5 90.8 94.9 97.6 100.7 103.3 101.2 99.7 100.5 100.0

Nigeria 79.5 79.0 78.8 83.1 86.1 86.6 – – – – 96.9 103.7 100.8 104.8 110.4 109.4 – – – –

Pakistan 31.7 39.0 41.9 44.3 45.4 ––––– 62.1 81.5 87.3 93.5 100.6 – – – – –

Panama 105.1 104.1 –––––––– 108.9 108.3 ––––––––

Peru – – 116.0 – – – 121.2 ––––– 119.2 – – – 124.6 – – –

Philippines 109.6 109.3 – – 109.7 – 113.1 – – – 114.7 113.2 – – 108.5 – 115.1 – – –

Romania 98.1 91.4 88.2 86.0 87.0 94.0 99.2 102.7 – – 98.7 91.2 88.6 86.9 88.0 95.2 100.6 104.3 – –

South Africa 118.9 120.6 123.1 125.5 127.8 128.7 130.8 – – – 121.0 122.7 125.6 128.1 130.6 134.5 134.8 – – –

Tanzania 68.7 69.1 69.1 67.9 67.8 66.7 66.1 65.5 66.1 – 70.1 70.3 70.7 70.2 69.9 68.3 67.5 66.7 66.8 –

Thailand – 98.0 97.9 95.8 ––––––– 100.0 99.8 98.0 – – ––––

Togo 82.1 86.5 85.4 83.4 81.5 91.9 97.2 99.4 – – 126.9 132.3 128.1 125.0 122.0 134.6 140.0 139.6 – –

Uganda – 66.0 68.7 65.1 67.8 70.5 67.8 –––– 82.9 82.1 82.0 80.0 76.3 80.9 – – –

Zambia ––––– 87.7 85.6 –––––––– 93.8 91.4 – – –

– = not available

NOTE: Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary underst

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

anding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, 

b Gross enrollment rate is the rate of total male enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of male children in the age 

and music.

group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. 

Primary school enrollment, female (% gross)a Country Primary school enrollment,male (% gross) b 

a Gross enrollment rate is the rate of total female enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of female children in the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. 
284

Table 5. Primary School Net Enrollment Rate by Country: 1989 to 1997

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Bangladesh 61.9 64.0 65.3 66.2 67.1 68.0 69.5 71.9 75.1

Benin 40.2 45.9 49.0 53.0 54.6 57.3 60.0 63.7 67.6

Bolivia 86.5 91.2 93.4 95.6 96.6 97.5 98.0 98.5 97.4

Brazil 83.4 86.8 86.9 88.2 88.6 90.3 94.7 95.9 97.1

Cambodia 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9

Costa Rica 86.5 86.3 86.5 88.0 88.2 87.2 88.3 90.7 89.0

Dominican Republic 82.1 82.6 83.1 83.5 83.8 81.3 87.3 86.9 91.3

Egypt 87.2 89.0 88.0 88.6 90.5 91.9 94.1 94.9 95.2

El Salvador 74.0 73.4 72.9 75.5 77.2 78.7 79.7 84.5 89.1

Ethiopia 27.9 25.1 20.4 17.8 21.0 24.1 28.4 32.4 35.2

Ghana – – – – – – – – –

Guatemala 65.9 64.7 67.7 71.0 72.2 71.6 73.0 73.4 73.8

Haiti – – – – – – – – –

Honduras 92.6 91.8 91.1 91.6 92.2 91.7 91.2 89.5 87.5

India 75.7 75.4 75.9 77.5 78.4 78.1 77.7 77.4 77.2

Indonesia 98.6 98.6 98.8 98.6 98.9 98.8 98.8 99.0 99.2

Kenya 77.2 74.7 73.1 72.1 71.1 68.3 66.7 65.8 65.0

Lesotho 74.1 73.0 74.4 74.9 72.2 72.7 72.9 70.1 68.6

Mali 20.4 21.2 22.3 24.7 27.0 29.1 31.6 35.1 38.1

Nepal 75.2 80.7 81.0 82.6 81.6 81.9 80.4 79.2 78.4

Nicaragua 71.0 73.7 76.8 80.5 81.4 82.2 80.0 79.0 78.6

Nigeria – – – – – – – – –

Pakistan – – – – – – – – –

Panama 92.1 91.9 90.7 90.5 90.5 89.8 89.8 89.8 89.9

Peru 93.2 92.4 90.2 87.9 87.2 89.7 91.9 93.0 93.8

Philippines 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.6 98.8 99.1 99.9 99.9 99.9

Romania 97.5 90.5 87.3 85.2 88.2 92.7 97.3 99.7 99.9

South Africa 98.0 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9

Tanzania 52.2 51.4 50.6 50.4 49.4 48.0 47.7 47.8 48.4

Thailand 92.1 92.8 93.1 91.8 90.2 87.4 84.7 85.4 88.0

Togo 72.9 75.0 73.0 71.1 69.3 78.1 85.2 81.6 82.3

Uganda – – – – – – – – –

Zambia 85.3 83.7 84.1 85.1 78.9 77.2 75.2 73.6 72.4

– = not available

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Primary school enrollment, (% net) a Country

a Net enrollment rate is the rate of the number of children of official school age (as defined by the national education system) who are enrolled in school to the population of the corresponding 

official school age. 

NOTE: Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, 

social science, art, and music. Based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED).
285

Table 6. Primary School Net Enrollment Rate by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1997

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Bangladesh 56.6 59.7 60.3 61.2 62.1 63.0 64.4 66.6 69.6 66.8 68.0 69.9 70.8 71.8 72.7 74.4 77.0 80.4

Benin 27.3 30.6 32.6 35.9 38.4 41.2 44.2 47.4 50.4 53.1 61.2 65.6 70.3 70.8 73.5 75.8 80.0 84.8

Bolivia 83.3 87.1 89.4 91.6 93.4 95.0 96.1 97.1 94.9 89.7 95.1 97.4 99.5 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9

Brazil 80.6 84.0 84.1 85.6 86.3 88.0 90.2 91.9 94.3 86.1 89.6 89.6 90.7 90.9 92.5 99.0 99.9 99.9

Cambodia 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9

Costa Rica 86.6 86.7 87.1 – – – – – 89.4 86.3 85.9 86.0 – – – – – 88.6

Dominican Republic 83.3 84.2 85.4 85.8 86.2 83.1 89.2 88.9 93.6 81.0 81.1 80.8 81.2 81.5 79.6 85.4 84.9 89.1

Egypt 80.9 82.1 81.1 82.2 83.8 86.0 88.3 89.4 90.6 93.2 95.6 94.5 94.7 96.7 97.5 99.6 99.9 99.9

El Salvador 74.7 74.2 73.8 76.2 77.7 79.0 80.2 84.4 89.1 73.3 72.6 72.1 74.9 76.7 78.5 79.2 84.5 89.1

Ethiopia 24.0 21.7 18.5 15.6 17.0 18.8 21.8 24.8 27.0 31.7 28.5 22.4 19.9 25.1 29.3 35.1 40.1 43.5

Ghana – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Guatemala 62.7 61.6 64.4 67.5 68.7 68.0 69.4 69.8 70.2 69.1 67.8 70.9 74.4 75.5 75.2 76.4 76.8 77.2

Haiti – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Honduras 96.1 95.3 94.2 94.3 93.3 92.8 92.3 90.6 88.6 89.2 88.4 88.1 89.0 91.1 90.6 90.1 88.3 86.4

India 65.4 66.3 67.2 70.1 71.4 71.1 71.1 71.2 71.0 85.2 83.9 83.9 84.3 85.0 84.6 83.8 83.2 83.0

Indonesia 97.3 97.4 97.7 97.2 98.0 97.8 97.9 98.2 98.6 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9

Kenya 77.6 75.1 73.7 72.9 72.3 69.7 68.3 67.3 66.6 76.8 74.2 72.6 71.4 70.0 66.8 65.2 64.2 63.4

Lesotho 83.1 81.5 82.9 83.1 79.6 79.3 79.4 75.9 74.3 65.2 64.6 66.1 66.9 64.9 66.1 66.5 64.4 63.1

Mali 14.7 15.4 16.5 18.7 20.8 23.4 25.0 27.8 31.2 26.1 27.0 28.1 30.8 33.2 34.7 38.1 42.5 44.9

Nepal 54.4 60.7 63.0 66.1 66.0 67.5 64.3 63.2 62.5 94.4 99.1 97.5 97.7 95.9 95.2 95.2 93.9 93.1

Nicaragua 73.1 75.0 77.6 81.8 82.8 83.6 81.6 80.6 80.2 69.0 72.4 75.9 79.1 79.9 80.9 78.5 77.5 77.0

Nigeria – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Pakistan – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Panama 92.4 92.1 90.9 90.6 90.6 89.8 89.1 89.2 90.2 91.8 91.8 90.6 90.4 90.4 89.7 90.4 90.4 89.6

Peru 91.1 90.3 88.9 86.7 85.9 88.5 91.5 92.6 93.3 95.2 94.4 91.4 89.1 88.4 91.0 92.3 93.5 94.2

Philippines 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.2 99.4 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 98.2 98.0 99.9 99.9 99.9

Romania 96.5 90.1 86.6 84.7 88.1 92.4 97.1 99.5 99.9 98.4 90.9 87.9 85.6 88.3 92.9 97.5 99.9 99.9

South Africa 98.4 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 97.6 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9 99.9

Tanzania 52.6 51.8 50.9 50.6 49.8 48.6 48.3 48.4 49.1 51.9 51.1 50.3 50.2 49.0 47.3 47.1 47.3 47.7

Thailand 91.1 92.7 93.1 91.8 90.3 87.6 85.7 86.5 89.2 93.1 92.9 93.0 91.8 90.1 87.3 83.6 84.4 86.9

Togo 59.8 62.4 61.4 59.9 57.9 66.3 72.3 69.6 70.2 86.0 87.6 84.6 82.3 80.6 89.9 98.1 93.6 94.3

Uganda – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Zambia 84.3 82.9 83.3 84.3 78.1 76.4 74.4 72.9 71.7 86.3 84.6 84.9 85.9 79.6 78.0 75.9 74.4 73.1

– = not available

NOTE: Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary underst

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

anding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and music. 

b

Based on the International Standard Classification of Education (ISCED). 

Net enrollment rate, male is the rate of the number of male children of official school age (as defined by the national education system) who are enrolled in school to the population of male children in the corresponding official 

school age. 

Primary school enrollment, female (% net)a Country Primary school enrollment, male (% net) b 

a Net enrollment rate, female is the rate of the number of female children of official school age (as defined by the national education system) who are enrolled in school to the population of female children in the corresponding 

official school age.
286

Table 7. Population of Unenrolled Children of Primary School Age by Country: 1989 to 1997

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Bangladesh 6,217,200 6,008,300 5,888,000 5,790,100 5,638,800 5,447,400 5,099,100 4,568,700 3,895,500

Benin 482,540 456,760 447,110 426,590 425,640 410,510 393,850 364,310 330,320

Bolivia 178,990 119,630 90,081 61,634 47,237 36,688 29,391 22,538 39,944

Brazil 4,466,600 3,588,500 3,611,000 3,275,100 3,161,600 2,704,000 1,480,600 1,115,900 783,980

Cambodia 1,001 1,099 1,187 1,266 1,335 1,392 1,437 1,751 1,775

Costa Rica 56,216 58,362 59,754 54,262 55,622 61,886 57,463 46,542 41,952

Dominican Republic 235,880 231,550 227,930 224,840 222,470 264,060 182,170 190,180 127,230

Egypt 916,870 812,430 917,220 891,770 766,820 658,530 484,170 428,150 378,010

El Salvador 323,090 331,320 336,230 302,170 279,720 259,100 246,910 189,310 133,360

Ethiopia 5,269,100 5,653,400 6,217,000 6,662,100 6,631,700 6,615,800 6,459,100 6,315,400 6,264,200

Ghana –––––––––

Guatemala 497,990 529,090 496,750 456,390 448,170 466,180 454,500 457,390 460,070

Haiti 864,400 904,420 947,500 990,490 1,029,600 1,061,200 1,081,800 1,089,400 1,085,000

Honduras 59,137 67,440 75,139 72,681 69,358 75,557 81,997 100,590 121,890

India 24,283,000 25,059,000 25,079,000 23,792,000 23,067,000 23,735,000 24,456,000 24,993,000 25,434,000

Indonesia 357,000 344,540 306,680 371,100 269,250 295,140 282,280 243,510 191,890

Kenya 1,251,900 1,439,100 1,575,200 1,686,800 1,799,900 2,032,100 2,172,500 2,273,400 2,350,100

Lesotho 80,064 84,977 81,759 81,376 91,635 91,582 92,382 103,990 111,460

Mali 1,157,500 1,178,100 1,192,300 1,183,500 1,175,600 1,169,300 1,154,400 1,119,000 1,093,600

Nepal 622,460 498,800 506,920 479,310 522,320 526,990 585,820 634,640 668,800

Nicaragua 190,820 178,050 161,160 138,450 134,600 130,310 148,800 158,460 163,940

Nigeria –––––––––

Pakistan –––––––––

Panama 25,877 26,609 30,898 32,098 32,479 35,432 35,732 35,858 35,819

Peru 220,040 247,940 322,450 399,120 426,630 342,170 272,070 234,440 211,630

Philippines 9,171 9,370 9,544 43,257 118,940 106,510 10,113 10,258 10,407

Romania 35,415 130,270 174,530 206,080 166,890 103,690 37,569 4,022 1,308

South Africa 112,640 5,715 5,800 5,886 5,973 6,059 6,145 6,228 6,309

Tanzania –––––––––

Thailand 558,970 505,550 485,590 571,860 683,170 872,230 1,059,400 990,310 798,470

Togo 154,930 147,820 164,980 182,340 200,280 147,250 102,750 132,110 131,770

Uganda –––––––––

Zambia 211,180 240,410 242,300 233,920 341,880 378,610 422,780 457,960 488,840

– = not available

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Unenrolled, primary a Country

a Unenrolled, primary (children out of school) are the number of school-age children not enrolled in primary school. 
287

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Bangladesh 38.1 36.0 34.7 33.8 32.9 32.0 30.5 28.1 24.9

Benin 59.8 54.1 51.0 47.0 45.4 42.7 40.0 36.3 32.4

Bolivia 13.5 8.8 6.6 4.4 3.4 2.5 2.0 1.5 2.6

Brazil 16.6 13.2 13.1 11.8 11.4 9.7 5.3 4.1 2.9

Cambodia 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Costa Rica 13.4 13.5 13.4 11.8 11.7 12.8 11.6 9.3 8.2

Dominican Republic 17.9 17.4 16.9 16.5 16.2 18.7 12.7 13.1 8.7

Egypt 12.8 11.0 12.0 11.4 9.5 8.1 5.9 5.1 4.8

El Salvador 26.0 26.6 27.1 24.5 22.8 21.3 20.3 15.5 10.9

Ethiopia 72.1 74.9 79.6 82.2 79.0 75.9 71.6 67.6 64.8

Ghana –––––––––

Guatemala 34.1 35.3 32.3 29.0 27.8 28.4 27.0 26.6 26.2

Haiti 77.1 77.8 78.6 79.3 79.9 80.3 80.6 80.7 80.6

Honduras 7.4 8.2 8.9 8.4 7.8 8.3 8.8 10.5 12.5

India 24.3 24.6 24.1 22.5 21.6 21.9 22.3 22.6 22.8

Indonesia 1.4 1.4 1.2 1.4 1.1 1.2 1.2 1.0 0.8

Kenya 22.8 25.3 26.9 27.9 28.9 31.7 33.3 34.2 35.0

Lesotho 25.9 27.0 25.6 25.1 27.8 27.3 27.1 29.9 31.4

Mali 79.6 78.8 77.7 75.3 73.0 70.9 68.4 64.9 61.9

Nepal 24.8 19.3 19.0 17.4 18.4 18.1 19.6 20.8 21.6

Nicaragua 29.0 26.3 23.2 19.5 18.6 17.8 20.0 21.0 21.4

Nigeria –––––––––

Pakistan –––––––––

Panama 7.9 8.1 9.3 9.5 9.5 10.2 10.2 10.2 10.1

Peru 6.8 7.6 9.8 12.1 12.8 10.3 8.1 7.0 6.2

Philippines 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.4 1.2 0.9 0.1 0.1 0.1

Romania 2.5 9.5 12.7 14.8 11.8 7.3 2.7 0.3 0.1

South Africa 2.0 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Tanzania –––––––––

Thailand 7.9 7.2 6.9 8.2 9.8 12.6 15.3 14.6 12.0

Togo 27.1 25.0 27.0 28.9 30.7 21.9 14.8 18.4 17.7

Uganda –––––––––

Zambia 14.7 16.3 15.9 14.9 21.1 22.8 24.8 26.4 27.6

– = not available

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Unenrolled, primary (% of primary-age children) a Country

a Unenrolled, primary (%) are the number of school-age children not enrolled in primary school as a share of all primary-school-age children.

Table 8. Percentage of Unenrolled Children of Primary School Age by Country: 1989 to 1997
288

Table 9. Population of Unenrolled Children of Primary School Age by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1997

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Bangladesh 3,415,800 3,251,500 3,260,900 3,225,300 3,164,500 3,074,400 2,913,400 2,659,200 2,327,900

Benin 294,200 293,720 296,650 291,990 289,090 283,140 274,700 263,790 252,570

Bolivia 109,990 86,240 72,030 58,094 46,514 35,949 28,635 21,765 39,152

Brazil 2,588,300 2,159,200 2,164,600 1,970,800 1,878,800 1,644,800 1,339,500 1,101,800 770,020

Cambodia 497 546 589 627 660 688 709 864 876

Costa Rica 27,071 27,882 28,086 25,358 25,860 28,878 26,564 20,833 18,574

Dominican Republic 108,640 103,800 96,913 95,280 93,641 117,910 76,245 79,247 46,175

Egypt 665,070 644,220 700,910 678,070 631,040 554,190 467,360 423,950 373,840

El Salvador 155,130 158,470 160,510 144,920 134,760 126,100 118,550 93,508 65,646

Ethiopia 2,738,900 2,925,700 3,163,200 3,406,500 3,484,400 3,542,400 3,539,500 3,525,800 3,539,900

Ghana –––––––––

Guatemala 267,560 282,620 268,440 250,760 246,880 257,890 251,930 253,950 255,890

Haiti 425,760 445,170 466,100 486,990 506,290 521,300 531,220 534,710 532,400

Honduras 15,355 19,030 24,110 24,289 29,236 32,157 35,194 43,963 54,534

India 16,625,000 16,547,000 16,409,000 15,204,000 14,750,000 15,093,000 15,266,000 15,370,000 15,614,000

Indonesia 343,930 331,460 293,580 357,990 256,110 281,990 269,130 230,360 178,760

Kenya 609,850 700,570 764,300 812,590 855,000 959,040 1,024,000 1,072,800 1,108,400

Lesotho 25,886 28,853 27,117 27,212 33,343 34,378 34,825 41,558 45,283

Mali 623,060 635,250 643,330 641,730 639,740 632,810 633,580 623,580 607,380

Nepal 549,030 486,650 472,100 446,250 461,530 453,830 510,950 537,720 557,580

Nicaragua 87,863 83,853 76,891 63,760 61,351 59,454 67,712 72,353 74,743

Nigeria –––––––––

Pakistan –––––––––

Panama 12,174 12,772 14,868 15,539 15,728 17,261 18,629 18,608 16,995

Peru 141,430 155,470 179,340 216,450 230,990 189,510 140,790 123,120 111,910

Philippines 4,553 4,654 4,733 38,353 29,064 4,892 4,945 5,004 5,068

Romania 23,950 66,404 89,805 104,000 82,451 52,587 19,816 3,330 642

South Africa 45,106 2,861 2,904 2,948 2,992 3,036 3,080 3,122 3,163

Tanzania –––––––––

Thailand 309,680 251,510 236,470 280,570 331,760 422,890 483,850 450,520 353,730

Togo 114,910 111,140 117,890 126,440 137,000 113,220 96,133 109,060 110,540

Uganda –––––––––

Zambia 111,810 125,150 125,780 121,810 174,990 193,830 215,490 233,070 248,020

– = not available

a Unenrolled, primary, female are the number of school-age girls not enrolled in primary school. 

b Unenrolled, primary, male are the number of school-age boys not enrolled in primary school.

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Unenrolled, primary, female Country
289

Table 9a. Population of Unenrolled Children of Primary School Age by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1997 (Continued)

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Bangladesh 2,801,400 2,756,800 2,627,200 2,564,800 2,474,300 2,373,000 2,185,800 1,909,600 1,567,600

Benin 188,340 163,040 150,460 134,600 136,550 127,380 119,150 100,520 77,747

Bolivia 68,996 33,394 18,050 3,540 723 739 756 774 793

Brazil 1,878,300 1,429,400 1,446,400 1,304,300 1,282,700 1,059,200 141,100 14,056 13,963

Cambodia 503 553 598 639 675 704 727 886 899

Costa Rica 29,146 30,480 31,668 28,904 29,761 33,008 30,899 25,709 23,378

Dominican Republic 127,240 127,740 131,020 129,560 128,830 146,150 105,930 110,930 81,053

Egypt 251,800 168,210 216,310 213,700 135,780 104,340 16,818 4,204 4,176

El Salvador 167,950 172,850 175,710 157,250 144,960 133,000 128,360 95,806 67,713

Ethiopia 2,530,200 2,727,700 3,053,800 3,255,600 3,147,300 3,073,400 2,919,600 2,789,600 2,724,300

Ghana –––––––––

Guatemala 230,430 246,470 228,310 205,630 201,290 208,300 202,570 203,440 204,180

Haiti 438,640 459,250 481,410 503,510 523,290 539,920 550,620 554,650 552,640

Honduras 43,782 48,410 51,029 48,392 40,122 43,400 46,803 56,625 67,353

India 7,657,700 8,511,600 8,669,300 8,588,200 8,317,100 8,641,700 9,189,700 9,623,300 9,819,800

Indonesia 13,076 13,083 13,097 13,116 13,136 13,151 13,155 13,148 13,132

Kenya 642,050 738,540 810,930 874,220 944,860 1,073,100 1,148,600 1,200,600 1,241,800

Lesotho 54,178 56,124 54,642 54,164 58,292 57,204 57,557 62,429 66,173

Mali 534,430 542,840 548,950 541,780 535,840 536,470 520,810 495,470 486,190

Nepal 73,438 12,154 34,818 33,065 60,784 73,157 74,872 96,918 111,220

Nicaragua 102,960 94,195 84,268 74,688 73,251 70,858 81,085 86,111 89,198

Nigeria –––––––––

Pakistan –––––––––

Panama 13,703 13,837 16,030 16,558 16,750 18,170 17,103 17,250 18,824

Peru 78,607 92,472 143,110 182,670 195,640 152,660 131,280 111,320 99,724

Philippines 4,618 4,716 4,812 4,904 89,875 101,620 5,168 5,254 5,339

Romania 11,466 63,869 84,726 102,070 84,439 51,099 17,753 692 667

South Africa 67,538 2,854 2,896 2,938 2,981 3,023 3,065 3,106 3,147

Tanzania –––––––––

Thailand 249,290 254,040 249,120 291,290 351,410 449,350 575,510 539,790 444,750

Togo 40,023 36,678 47,090 55,907 63,279 34,030 6,616 23,047 21,231

Uganda –––––––––

Zambia 99,368 115,260 116,520 112,110 166,890 184,780 207,290 224,900 240,820

– = not available

a Unenrolled, primary, female are the number of school-age girls not enrolled in primary school. 

b Unenrolled, primary, male are the number of school-age boys not enrolled in primary school.

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Country Unenrolled, primary, male 
290

Table 10. Percentage of Unenrolled Children of Primary School Age by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1997

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Bangladesh 43.4 40.3 39.7 38.8 37.9 37.0 35.6 33.4 30.4 33.2 32.0 30.1 29.2 28.2 27.3 25.6 23.0 19.6

Benin 72.7 69.4 67.4 64.1 61.6 58.8 55.8 52.6 49.6 46.9 38.8 34.4 29.7 29.2 26.5 24.2 20.0 15.2

Bolivia 16.7 12.9 10.6 8.4 6.6 5.0 3.9 2.9 5.1 10.3 4.9 2.6 0.5 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Brazil 19.4 16.0 15.9 14.4 13.7 12.0 9.8 8.1 5.7 13.9 10.4 10.4 9.3 9.1 7.5 1.0 0.1 0.1

Cambodia 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Costa Rica 13.2 13.2 12.9 11.3 11.2 12.2 11.0 8.5 7.5 13.6 13.8 13.9 12.3 12.3 13.3 12.2 10.0 9.0

Dominican Republic 16.7 15.8 14.6 14.2 13.8 16.9 10.8 11.1 6.4 19.0 18.9 19.2 18.8 18.5 20.4 14.6 15.1 10.9

Egypt 19.1 17.9 18.9 17.8 16.2 14.0 11.7 10.6 9.4 6.8 4.4 5.5 5.3 3.3 2.5 0.4 0.1 0.1

El Salvador 25.3 25.8 26.2 23.8 22.3 21.0 19.8 15.6 10.9 26.7 27.4 27.9 25.1 23.3 21.5 20.8 15.5 10.9

Ethiopia 76.0 78.3 81.5 84.4 83.0 81.2 78.2 75.2 73.0 68.3 71.5 77.6 80.1 74.9 70.7 64.9 59.9 56.5

Ghana ––––––––––––––––––

Guatemala 37.3 38.4 35.6 32.5 31.3 32.0 30.6 30.2 29.8 30.9 32.2 29.1 25.6 24.5 24.8 23.6 23.2 22.8

Haiti 76.6 77.3 78.1 78.8 79.4 79.8 80.1 80.2 80.1 77.6 78.3 79.1 79.8 80.3 80.8 81.1 81.2 81.1

Honduras 3.9 4.7 5.8 5.7 6.7 7.2 7.7 9.4 11.4 10.8 11.6 11.9 11.0 8.9 9.4 9.9 11.7 13.6

India 34.6 33.7 32.8 29.9 28.6 28.9 28.9 28.8 29.0 14.8 16.1 16.1 15.7 15.0 15.4 16.2 16.8 17.0

Indonesia 2.7 2.6 2.3 2.8 2.0 2.2 2.1 1.8 1.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Kenya 22.4 24.9 26.3 27.1 27.7 30.3 31.7 32.7 33.4 23.2 25.8 27.4 28.6 30.0 33.2 34.8 35.8 36.6

Lesotho 16.9 18.5 17.1 16.9 20.4 20.7 20.6 24.1 25.7 34.8 35.4 33.9 33.1 35.1 33.9 33.5 35.6 36.9

Mali 85.3 84.6 83.5 81.3 79.2 76.6 75.0 72.2 68.8 73.9 73.0 71.9 69.2 66.8 65.3 61.9 57.5 55.1

Morocco 51.6 51.6 49.9 46.7 43.0 39.4 36.5 34.6 32.8 30.4 31.0 29.7 26.5 23.2 20.0 17.7 16.6 14.3

Nepal 45.6 39.3 37.0 33.9 34.0 32.5 35.7 36.8 37.5 5.6 0.9 2.5 2.3 4.1 4.8 4.8 6.1 6.9

Nicaragua 26.9 25.0 22.4 18.2 17.2 16.4 18.4 19.4 19.8 31.0 27.6 24.1 20.9 20.1 19.1 21.5 22.5 23.0

Nigeria ––––––––––––––––––

Pakistan ––––––––––––––––––

Panama 7.6 7.9 9.1 9.4 9.4 10.2 10.9 10.8 9.8 8.2 8.2 9.4 9.6 9.6 10.3 9.6 9.6 10.4

Peru 8.9 9.7 11.1 13.3 14.1 11.5 8.5 7.4 6.7 4.8 5.6 8.6 10.9 11.6 9.0 7.7 6.5 5.8

Philippines 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.8 0.6 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 1.8 2.0 0.1 0.1 0.1

Romania 3.5 9.9 13.4 15.3 11.9 7.6 2.9 0.5 0.1 1.6 9.1 12.1 14.4 11.7 7.1 2.5 0.1 0.1

South Africa 1.6 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 2.4 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1 0.1

Tanzania ––––––––––––––––––

Thailand 8.9 7.3 6.9 8.2 9.7 12.4 14.3 13.5 10.8 6.9 7.1 7.0 8.2 9.9 12.7 16.4 15.6 13.1

Togo 40.2 37.6 38.6 40.1 42.1 33.7 27.7 30.4 29.8 14.0 12.4 15.4 17.7 19.4 10.1 1.9 6.4 5.7

Uganda ––––––––––––––––––

Zambia 15.7 17.1 16.7 15.7 21.9 23.6 25.6 27.1 28.3 13.7 15.4 15.1 14.1 20.4 22.0 24.1 25.6 26.9

– = not available

b Unenrolled, primary, male (%) are the number of school-age boys not enrolled in primary school as a share of all primary-school-age boys.

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Unenrolled, primary, female (% of primary-age females) a Country Unenrolled, primary, male (% of primary-age males) b

a Unenrolled, primary, female (%) are the number of school-age girls not enrolled in primary school as a share of all primary-school-age girls. 
291

Table 11. Percentage of Cohort Reaching Grade 5 by Country: 1989 to 1996

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Bangladesh – – – – – – – –

Benin 67.9 55.0 67.2 55.3 64.7 60.9 – –

Bolivia 60.5 – – – – – – –

Brazil – – – 70.3 70.8 – – –

Cambodia – – – – 49.2 – – 49.0

Costa Rica 84.5 82.4 84.2 85.4 88.0 88.6 87.6 87.0

Dominican Republic – – – – – – – –

Egypt – – – – – – – –

El Salvador – – 58.0 58.3 – – 76.7 –

Ethiopia – – – 58.1 51.1 55.3 51.0 –

Ghana – 80.5 – – – – – –

Guatemala – – – – – – 49.6 –

Haiti 46.7 – – – – – – –

Honduras – – – – 59.8 – – –

India – – – – 58.6 – – –

Indonesia 84.0 83.6 85.6 92.5 89.4 91.0 88.0 –

Kenya – – – – – – – –

Lesotho 65.7 70.6 66.4 60.5 79.7 – – –

Mali 61.5 72.0 76.0 82.0 77.0 84.0 84.0 –

Nepal – – 52.0 – – – – –

Nicaragua 44.1 45.6 44.2 54.3 54.2 – – 51.0

Nigeria – – – – – – – –

Pakistan – – – – – – – –

Panama – – – – – – – –

Peru – – – – – – – –

Philippines – – – – – – – –

Romania – – – – – – – –

South Africa – 75.3 – – – 75.3 – –

Tanzania – 78.9 81.3 83.2 – – – 81.0

Thailand – – – – – – – –

Togo 67.2 – – – 94.0 71.0 – –

Uganda – – – – – – – –

Zambia – – – – – – – –

– = not available

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

% of Cohort reaching grade 5 a Country

a Percentage of cohort reaching grade 5 is the share of children enrolled in primary school who eventually reach grade 5. The estimate is based on the reconstructed cohort method. For more information, see WDI table 2.11.
292

Table 12. Percentage of Cohort Reaching Grade 5 by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1996

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Bangladesh – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Benin 63.5 55.9 67.9 54.6 61.4 56.6 – – 70.1 54.6 66.9 55.7 66.7 63.5 – –

Bolivia 57.6 – – – – – – – 63.1 – – – – – – –

Brazil – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Cambodia – – – – 41.9 – – 46.0 – – – – 55.7 – – 51.0

Costa Rica – 84.1 84.9 86.8 89.3 90.3 89.1 – – 80.8 83.4 84.0 86.7 87.0 86.3 –

Dominican Republic – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Egypt – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

El Salvador – – 60.5 59.1 – – 77.2 – – – 55.7 57.6 – – 76.2 –

Ethiopia – – – 53.6 50.6 53.0 50.0 – – – – 61.1 51.4 56.5 51.0 –

Ghana – 79.4 – – – – – – – 81.4 – – – – – –

Guatemala – – – – – – 47.3 – – – – – – – 51.6 –

Haiti 46.1 – – – – – – – 47.2 – – – – – – –

Honduras – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

India – – – – 55.0 – – – – – – – 61.5 – – –

Indonesia – – – – 80.9 92.0 88.0 – – – – – 95.9 90.0 88.0 –

Kenya – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Lesotho 75.3 82.7 73.4 66.3 87.0 – – – 55.2 58.1 58.7 54.3 71.8 – – –

Mali 53.8 70.0 69.0 77.0 86.0 70.0 – – 66.5 73.0 81.0 85.0 71.0 92.0 – –

Nepal – – 51.6 – – – – – – – 52.4 – – – – –

Nicaragua – – – 57.5 56.5 – – – – – – 51.2 51.9 – – –

Nigeria – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Pakistan – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Panama – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Peru – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Philippines – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Romania – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

South Africa – 78.7 – – – 78.7 – – – 72.1 – – – 72.1 – –

Tanzania – 80.7 82.0 85.4 – – – 84.0 – 77.1 80.7 81.1 – – – 78.0

Thailand – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Togo 58.2 – – – 82.0 60.0 – – 73.5 – – – 98.0 79.0 – –

Uganda – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Zambia – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

– = not available

b Percentage of cohort reaching grade 5 is the share of male children enrolled in primary school who eventually reach grade 5.

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Country % of Cohort reaching grade 5, female a % of Cohort Reaching Grade 5, male b

a Percentage of cohort reaching grade 5 is the share of female children enrolled in primary school who eventually reach grade 5.
293

Table 13. Gross National Product in Current US$ Billions by Country: 1989 to 1998

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Bangladesh 274.2 304.9 313.9 323.1 339.7 345.3 387.7 415.1 424.1 441.3

Benin 14.6 18.1 18.5 15.8 20.7 14.6 19.7 21.8 21.1 22.8

Bolivia 44.7 46.3 51.0 53.2 55.3 57.9 64.9 73.6 77.7 83.4

Brazil 4,352.3 4,526.3 3,985.9 3,832.0 4,276.3 5,373.7 6,930.1 7,622.5 8,041.4 7,588.7

Cambodia 10.8 11.1 16.3 19.8 20.1 24.0 29.1 31.1 30.4 28.4

Costa Rica 48.5 54.6 53.9 65.3 72.9 81.8 87.9 89.8 95.3 101.7

Dominican Republic 63.8 67.2 72.6 84.4 89.2 97.9 111.8 126.1 142.8 149.6

Egypt, Arab Rep. 391.4 420.7 364.9 401.4 453.7 510.3 597.2 675.3 761.8 855.8

El Salvador 42.5 47.1 52.1 59.0 69.3 79.9 94.0 102.6 111.2 117.9

Ethiopia 79.1 67.9 52.8 55.2 61.5 48.2 57.2 59.7 63.4 64.5

Ghana 51.3 57.7 64.8 63.1 58.5 54.4 64.6 69.3 68.8 75.0

Guatemala 82.3 74.9 93.0 103.3 112.9 128.4 144.8 155.5 175.6 187.7

Haiti 24.9 29.5 35.4 21.4 18.2 19.6 26.2 29.4 28.1 38.6

Honduras 33.0 27.7 28.7 32.5 34.1 32.4 37.0 38.2 45.0 51.6

India 2,932.5 3,186.6 2,680.5 2,596.9 2,756.7 3,263.7 3,599.5 3,934.5 4,171.7 4,264.8

Indonesia 968.9 1,092.1 1,225.7 1,329.4 1,519.9 1,702.8 1,924.7 2,212.8 2,094.4 854.9

Kenya 80.0 80.9 75.9 76.1 45.6 67.6 86.9 89.6 103.3 113.9

Lesotho 8.5 10.3 9.6 10.9 11.1 11.4 12.6 12.8 12.7 10.7

Mali 19.9 24.1 24.2 28.4 26.7 17.4 24.1 26.0 24.6 26.6

Morocco 217.7 248.9 268.1 274.5 257.2 291.8 316.6 351.4 320.8 342.9

Nepal 35.9 37.0 37.7 35.4 38.4 41.2 44.9 45.7 50.0 48.8

Nicaragua 8.0 9.9 12.0 13.5 13.9 12.8 15.3 15.6 16.8 17.8

Nigeria 217.6 255.9 248.6 297.6 190.1 213.1 258.9 330.7 376.2 384.8

Pakistan 393.0 390.4 444.7 476.2 503.1 506.9 594.2 620.1 608.5 610.4

Panama 46.1 50.2 54.2 62.0 69.6 75.0 75.3 78.3 82.4 85.8

Peru 245.9 318.2 273.0 408.0 396.1 484.2 570.5 593.6 624.7 612.6

Philippines 421.3 440.9 456.6 538.9 553.2 657.3 761.7 862.6 857.4 682.1

Romania 415.1 384.6 288.6 250.1 262.1 279.2 326.2 309.1 345.2 376.5

South Africa 924.1 1,075.4 1,170.3 1,275.9 1,277.8 1,334.0 1,482.4 1,399.2 1,444.1 1,304.4

Tanzania 45.6 40.1 45.5 46.8 43.5 40.5 49.7 58.6 70.6 80.6

Thailand 713.3 842.7 967.9 1,089.7 1,227.9 1,415.0 1,646.2 1,765.9 1,492.6 1,127.2

Togo 13.1 16.0 15.7 16.7 12.1 9.3 12.6 14.4 14.8 14.9

Uganda 51.9 42.3 32.6 27.7 31.7 39.4 57.0 60.0 62.8 67.6

Zambia 35.9 30.1 29.9 28.7 30.2 31.1 32.3 30.8 37.1 31.6

– = not available

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

GNP at market prices (current US$ in billions)a Country

a GNP is the sum of gross value added by all resident producers plus any taxes (less subsidies) that are not included in the valuation of output plus net receipts of primary income (employee compensation and property income) 

from nonresident sources. Data are in current U.S. dollars.
294

Table 14. Public Spending on Total Education as a Percentage of GNP: 1989 to 1997

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Bangladesh 1.6 1.5 1.6 1.7 – – – 2.2 –

Benin – – – – – – 3.2 – –

Bolivia 2.2 2.5 2.6 – – 4.9 5.9 4.9 –

Brazil 4.6 – – – – 1.7 5.1 – –

Cambodia – – – – – – – 2.9 –

Costa Rica 4.5 4.6 4.5 4.4 4.6 4.6 4.6 5.4 –

Dominican Republic – – – 1.4 1.7 2.0 1.9 2.0 2.3

Egypt 5.7 3.8 4.7 4.4 4.7 4.7 4.8 – –

El Salvador 2.1 2.0 1.8 1.9 1.8 2.0 2.2 2.3 2.5

Ethiopia 3.5 3.4 3.1 3.4 4.2 4.6 4.0 4.0 –

Ghana 3.5 3.3 – 4.5 4.3 4.3 4.8 4.2 –

Guatemala 1.9 1.4 1.3 1.5 1.6 1.5 1.7 1.7 –

Haiti 1.7 1.5–––––––

Honduras 4.2 – 4.1 – – 3.5 3.6 – –

India 4.0 3.9 3.7 3.7 3.6 3.5 3.3 3.2 –

Indonesia 0.9 1.0 1.1 1.3 1.8 1.4 1.4 1.4 –

Kenya – 7.1 6.7 6.7 6.5 7.1 6.7 6.5 –

Lesotho 3.7 3.7 6.2 6.6 5.4 6.7 – 8.4 –

Mali – – – – – – 2.2 2.2 –

Nepal 2.3 2.0 2.7 2.9 3.3 2.8 3.3 3.1 3.2

Nicaragua 3.3 3.4 4.3 4.1 3.5 3.9 3.7 3.7 3.9

Nigeria 1.0 1.0 0.5 0.5 0.9 0.9 0.7 – –

Pakistan 2.6 2.7 2.6 2.4 2.6 2.8 2.8 3.0 2.7

Panama 5.5 4.9 5.0 5.3 5.0 4.7 5.2 5.3 5.1

Peru 2.6 2.3 2.4 2.4 2.6 3.9 – 2.9 –

Philippines 2.9 2.9 3.0 2.3 2.4 – 3.0 3.2 3.4

Romania – 2.8 3.5 3.6 3.2 3.0 – 3.6 –

South Africa 5.9 6.5 – 7.0 7.1 7.3 6.8 8.0 –

Tanzania 2.6 3.4 – – –––––

Thailand 3.3 3.6 3.6 4.0 4.1 3.8 4.1 4.8 –

Togo 5.4 5.6 – 6.1 – – – 4.5 –

Uganda 1.5 1.5 2.0 – – 2.2 2.6 – –

Zambia 2.7 2.6 3.1 2.3 2.1 2.1 2.2 – –

– = not available

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Public spending on education, total (% of GNP, UNESCO)a Country

a Public expenditure on education (total) is the percentage of GNP accounted for by public spending on public education plus subsidies to private education at the primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. This includes 

current and capital expenditures on education by local regional and national governments, including municipalities.
295

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999

Bangladesh – 0.84 0.88 1.12 1.22 1.43 1.47 1.34 1.29 1.18 1.18

Benin – – – – – 1.35 1.33 1.25 1.23 – –

Bolivia – 1.62 1.72 1.86 2.34 2.25 2.21 2.37 2.32 2.23 2.27

Brazil – – – – – – 1.46 – – – –

Cambodia – – 1.13 1.21 1.07 0.96 0.82 0.81 0.89 0.99 0.93

Costa Rica – 3.06 2.87 3.08 3.02 2.72 2.71 3.11 2.99 3.33 3.70

Dominican Republic – – – – – – – – – – –

Egypt – – – – – – – – – – –

El Salvador – – – – – – 1.33 – – – –

Ethiopia – – – – – – – – – – –

Ghana – – – 2.60 – 2.90 2.10 2.60 2.60 – –

Guatemala – 0.36 0.38 0.40 0.85 0.73 0.88 0.91 0.70 0.77 –

Haiti – 0.70 0.80 0.80 0.60 0.40 0.40 0.60 0.60 0.70 –

Honduras – 2.28 2.02 2.12 1.98 1.89 1.86 1.69 1.51 1.68 1.80

India – 1.25 1.18 1.14 1.02 1.00 1.05 1.05 1.08 – –

Indonesia – – – 1.47 1.52 2.00 2.19 2.21 2.61 – –

Kenya – 3.10 3.30 3.90 3.10 3.60 3.60 3.40 3.40 3.60 –

Lesotho – – – – – – – – – – –

Mali – – – 1.91 – 1.44 2.23 1.82 2.08 – –

Nepal – – 0.80 0.69 1.16 1.41 1.68 1.49 1.42 – –

Nicaragua – – 3.37 – – – – – 2.15 – –

Nigeria – – – – – – – – – – –

Pakistan – 0.78 0.95 0.97 1.03 1.12 1.15 1.41 1.04 1.26 –

Panama – – – – – – – – – – –

Peru – 0.84 0.73 0.86 0.89 1.00 1.09 1.05 1.21 1.16 1.41

Philippines – 1.18 1.05 1.36 1.32 1.42 1.51 1.50 1.60 1.93 –

Romania – – – – – – – – 0.87 0.94 –

South Africa – – – – – – – 3.29 – – –

Tanzania 0.99 – – 1.50 – 1.10 1.80 1.50 1.50 – –

Thailand – 1.42 1.49 1.43 1.60 1.51 1.43 1.58 1.68 – –

Togo – 1.70 – 1.10 1.90 1.60 – 1.40 1.20 1.20 1.00

Uganda – – – 2.00 – – 0.94 1.51 1.83 2.02 –

Zambia – 0.80 1.50 1.40 0.90 1.30 1.10 1.40 1.20 1.40 –

– = not available

a This represents current and capital expenditures on primary education by local, regional and national governments, including municipalities. 

SOURCE: UNESCO, Institute for Statistics, Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—A Decade of Education [CD-ROM], Paris, 2000.

Country

Public spending on education, primary (% of GNP)a

NOTE: Capital expenditures are for assets that last longer than one year. They include outlays for construction, renovation and major repairs of buildings and expenditures for new or replacements of heavy 

equipment and vehicles. Current expenditures are for goods and services consumed within the current year and which should be renewed if there is need for them the following year. They include emoluments 

Table 15.

such as gross salaries, plus non-salary compensation (fringe benefits).

Public Spending on Primary Education as a Percentage of GNP: 1989 to 1997
296

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996

Bangladesh 5.2 4.9 –––––– 16.2 15.1 – – – – – – 29.2 25.8 ––––––

Benin –––––– 11.9 ––––––––––––––– 249.0 –

Bolivia 8.6 – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 3.2 – – – – – – –

Brazil 11.8 ––––––––––––––– 111.6 –––––––

Cambodia ––––––––––––––––––––––––

Costa Rica 11.2 – 10.1 10.4 10.5 11.1 11.2 13.6 21.9 – 20.6 18.2 18.8 19.3 19.3 23.2 68.7 – 59.5 53.4 ––––

Dominican Republic – – – – 2.9 3.3 – – – – – – 5.6 4.4 – – – – – – – – – 9.7

Egypt – – – – – – – – – – – – 22.9 – – 25.9 – 98.9 ––––––

El Salvador – – – – – – 7.1 – – – – – – – 5.5 – – – – – – – 7.7 –

Ethiopia 27.8 31.2 – 43.0 37.6 – 34.0 26.7 –––––––– 549.5 508.3 – – 582.6 – 961.2 868.9

Ghana – 6.3 ––––––––––––––––––––––

Guatemala – – 2.7 – 5.8 – 6.1 6.2 ––––––––––– 35.0 43.7 26.9 31.1 –

Haiti 10.6 9.0 ––––––––––––––––––––––

Honduras – – 10.8 – – 9.0 –––– 17.7 ––––– 92.0 – 82.0 – – 68.7 – –

India – – – 11.4 11.3 11.4 –––––––––– 110.4 99.1 – – – 93.9 73.1 99.8

Indonesia – – – – – – – – – – – – – 6.6 – – – – – – 9.8 12.8 12.9 –

Kenya – 13.8 14.9 14.6 16.3 –––––––––––––––––––

Lesotho – – – 13.1 13.5 15.6 – 13.8 – – – 48.4 48.3 59.6 – 53.7 – – – 475.0 462.0 382.5 – 779.3

Mali –––– 15.6 – 13.8 ––––––––––––––– 382.7 –

Nepal – – 8.7 8.4 – – – – – – – – – – – – 91.9 92.2 128.6 155.5 142.0 130.4 129.9 115.3

Nicaragua 6.1 – – 13.3 – 12.8 11.4 – 5.7 –––––––––––––––

Nigeria ––––––––––––––––––––––––

Pakistan 10.8 ––––––––––––––– 105.7 – 157.6 –––––

Panama 13.5 12.1 –––––– 16.1 13.7 – – – – – – 56.4 46.0 40.6 50.5 – 41.7 38.3 40.2

Peru – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – 6.8 – – – – – – – 15.4

Philippines – – – – – – 9.0 9.2 – – – – – – 7.6 – – – – – – – 14.8 –

Romania – 23.1 – 24.8 21.4 – – 20.1 – – – 8.2 7.4 – – 8.8 – 32.1 – 38.9 32.0 – – 31.8

South Africa 19.3 22.0 – – – – 25.1 – – – – – – – – – 98.9 99.2 – 64.1 65.1 – – –

Tanzania 7.5 ––––––––––––––– 1918.2 –––––––

Thailand – 13.4 –––– 16.1 12.5 – – – – – – – – – – – – – 25.0 30.8 26.7

Togo – 8.6 – – – – 7.7 – – 37.7 – – – – – – – 593.7 – 767.9 – – 495.2 333.8

Uganda ––––––––––––––––––––––––

Zambia – – – – – 4.2 5.0 – – – – – – – – – 219.6 –––– 356.2 – –

– = not available

a Public expenditure per student at the primary school level is the public current spending on education divided by the total number of students by primary level, as a percentage of GNP per capita.

b Public expenditure per student at the secondary school level is the public current spending on education divided by the total number of students by secondary level, as a percentage of GNP per capita.

c Public expenditure per student at the tertiary school level is the public current spending on education divided by the total number of students by tertiary level, as a percentage of GNP per capita.

Table 16.

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Public Expenditure Per Student as a Percentage of GNP Per Capita by Country and School Level: 1989 to 1996

Expenditure per student, primary (% of GNP per capita)a Expenditure per student, secondary (% of GNP per capita)b Expenditure per student, tertiary (% of GNP per capita)c Country
297

Table 17. Total Debt Service as a Percentage of GNP by Country: 1989 to 1998

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Bangladesh 1.9 2.6 2.0 1.8 1.7 1.7 2.1 1.7 1.7 1.5

Benin 1.8 2.1 1.7 1.8 1.6 2.8 2.5 2.1 2.6 2.7

Bolivia 6.5 8.3 6.5 5.4 6.0 6.0 5.7 5.6 6.1 5.6

Brazil 3.2 1.8 2.1 2.3 2.6 3.0 3.1 3.3 5.2 6.3

Cambodia 1.1 2.7 1.0 0.7 1.7 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.3 0.4

Costa Rica 7.1 9.2 7.7 8.3 7.6 6.2 7.4 6.5 5.9 5.4

Dominican Republic 5.1 3.5 3.6 4.1 3.6 5.1 3.7 3.6 3.2 2.5

Egypt 7.4 7.3 7.1 6.7 4.8 4.4 4.0 3.4 2.5 2.1

El Salvador 4.0 4.4 4.7 4.0 4.2 4.2 3.0 3.1 2.5 3.7

Ethiopia 3.8 3.5 2.6 2.0 1.5 2.3 2.7 5.8 1.6 1.8

Ghana 8.8 6.4 4.7 5.1 5.3 6.8 6.3 7.0 8.0 7.7

Guatemala 3.7 2.9 3.1 5.2 2.7 2.4 2.4 2.3 2.1 2.1

Haiti 2.1 1.1 0.8 0.3 0.3 0.1 3.6 0.9 1.2 1.0

Honduras 4.3 14.0 10.7 11.6 10.6 13.4 15.0 14.8 11.2 9.8

India 2.4 2.6 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.4 3.8 3.0 3.0 2.8

Indonesia 10.1 9.1 9.4 9.4 9.3 8.4 8.5 9.7 9.4 22.2

Kenya 8.9 9.8 9.5 8.8 13.8 13.0 10.4 9.4 6.5 4.8

Lesotho 2.6 2.3 2.7 3.1 3.0 2.6 3.2 2.9 3.6 4.8

Mali 3.5 2.8 1.8 2.0 2.9 5.0 3.6 4.4 3.4 3.1

Nepal 1.8 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.8 2.0 1.9 1.7 2.0 1.8

Nicaragua 1.4 1.6 44.0 7.9 9.6 16.1 18.8 14.0 19.4 14.1

Nigeria 9.7 13.0 11.8 12.6 7.8 8.8 7.1 7.6 3.8 3.4

Pakistan 4.7 4.9 4.4 4.9 4.7 6.8 5.4 5.3 6.7 4.5

Panama 0.3 6.9 6.2 15.6 4.0 5.1 4.2 11.5 19.3 8.7

Peru 1.7 1.5 4.2 2.5 7.0 2.4 2.2 4.9 4.6 4.0

Philippines 7.7 8.1 7.4 8.0 8.9 7.0 7.0 6.2 5.3 7.6

Romania 4.7 0.0 0.4 1.8 1.3 2.2 3.0 4.0 4.5 6.1

South Africa – – – – – 2.2 2.3 3.0 4.5 3.4

Tanzania 3.9 4.5 4.5 5.0 4.8 4.5 4.7 4.6 2.3 3.0

Thailand 6.2 6.3 5.1 5.4 5.2 5.6 5.2 5.4 7.9 11.8

Togo 7.0 5.4 3.4 2.2 2.2 2.5 2.3 4.0 3.8 2.7

Uganda 3.6 3.5 4.5 4.1 4.9 3.8 2.4 2.5 2.5 2.4

Zambia 5.3 6.7 19.9 12.2 12.0 12.1 81.2 8.1 6.6 6.4

– = not available

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Total debt service (% of GNP)a Country

a Total debt service is the sum of principal repayments and interest actually paid in foreign currency, goods, or services on long-term debt, interest paid on short-term debt, 

and repayments (repurchases and charges) to the IMF
298

Table 18. Public Health Expenditure as a Percentage of GNP by Country: 1990 to 1998

1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998

Bangladesh 0.7 0.7 0.9 1.1 1.1 1.1 1.3 1.7 1.5

Benin 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6 1.6

Bolivia 1.0 0.9 1.2 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.1 1.1 1.1

Brazil 3.1 1.9 1.6 2.0 2.9 2.3 2.6 3.5 –

Cambodia – – 0.2 0.2 0.7 0.4 0.5 0.7 0.6

Costa Rica 7.0 8.3 7.8 7.7 6.4 6.2 6.8 6.8 7.1

Dominican Republic 1.7 1.3 1.6 2.0 1.9 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.6

Egypt 1.8 – – – – 1.6 – 1.8 –

El Salvador 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.9 2.1 2.3 2.7 2.6 2.6

Ethiopia 0.9 0.7 0.9 1.0 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.7

Ghana 1.4 1.2 1.4 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.8

Guatemala 0.9 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.9 1.3 1.3 1.5 1.5

Haiti 1.2 1.0 1.3 1.3 1.1 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.3

Honduras 3.2 2.8 2.8 2.9 2.6 2.9 2.9 2.8 2.8

India 1.2 1.1 – 0.7 0.7 0.7 – – –

Indonesia 0.6 0.6 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.6 0.7

Kenya 1.7 1.8 – 2.3 – – – – –

Lesotho 1.6 2.4 2.4 2.5 2.3 2.5 – – –

Mali 1.7 1.2 1.0 1.0 2.1 – – – 2.0

Nepal 0.8 0.5 0.6 0.6 0.5 0.7 0.7 1.0 1.3

Nicaragua 1.0 4.9 5.4 5.1 6.2 5.6 5.5 5.2 5.0

Nigeria 1.1 1.0 1.1 0.7 0.3 – – 0.2 –

Pakistan 1.2 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.0 1.1 0.9 0.9 1.0

Panama 4.9 5.6 5.1 5.1 4.7 5.8 5.9 5.8 6.4

Peru 1.1 2.3 2.6 2.3 2.3 2.4 2.3 2.3 2.2

Philippines 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.6

Romania 2.8 3.3 3.6 3.0 3.4 3.7 2.9 – –

South Africa 3.3 – – 3.3 – – – – –

Tanzania 1.9 1.8 1.7 2.1 2.9 1.2 1.2 1.1 1.2

Thailand 1.0 1.1 1.3 1.1 1.3 1.3 1.4 1.7 1.6

Togo 1.4 1.2 1.1 0.7 1.7 1.7 – 1.1 –

Uganda – – – 2.3 1.8 1.6 1.9 1.8 –

Zambia 2.8 1.7 1.6 1.8 2.1 3.1 – – 2.4

– = not available

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Health expenditure, public (% of GNP)a Country

a Calculations on total health expenditure as a percentage of GNP are based on author's calculation on WDI data. Original estimates were based on GDP values. 

Total health expenditure is the sum of public and private health expenditures. It covers the provision of health services (preventive and curative), family planning 

activities,nutrition activities, and emergency aid designated for health but does not include provision of water and sanitation. For more information, see WDI table 2.14
299

Table 19. Military Expenditure as a Percentage of GNP by Country: 1989 to 1997

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Bangladesh 1.3 1.2 1.2 1.3 1.3 1.3 1.2 1.3 1.4

Benin 2.2 2.0

– 1.3 1.6 2.3 1.2 1.3 1.3

Bolivia 3.4 3.2 2.4 2.2 2.3 2.2 2.0 1.9 1.9

Brazil 1.5 1.8 1.3 1.1 1.4 1.2 1.6 1.8 1.8

Cambodia

–

– 3.5 4.9 3.4

– 3.1 3.6 4.1

Costa Rica 1.2 1.2 1.0 1.4 1.3 1.1 0.6 0.6 0.6

Dominican Republic 0.9 1.0 0.7 0.9 1.2 1.1 1.3 1.2 1.1

Egypt 4.3 3.1 4.0 3.7 3.7 3.4 3.2 3.0 2.8

El Salvador 4.6 3.7 3.3 2.1 1.5 1.2 1.1 1.0 0.9

Ethiopia 10.0 11.0 9.0 3.7 2.9 2.5 2.2 2.0 1.9

Ghana 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.8 1.0 0.7 0.8 0.7 0.7

Guatemala 1.6 1.5 1.4 1.5 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.4

–

Haiti 1.8 1.7 1.5 1.5 1.6

–

–

–

–

Honduras 3.1 2.2 1.6 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.3

–

–

India 3.2 2.9 2.7 2.5 2.7 2.7 2.4 2.8 2.8

Indonesia 1.6 1.5 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.4 2.3 2.1 2.3

Kenya 2.4 2.9 2.8 3.0 2.5 2.0 2.0 2.0 2.1

Lesotho 3.7 5.3

– 3.6 2.9 2.3 2.2 2.3 2.5

Mali 2.2

–

– 2.3 2.2 1.9 1.8 1.9 1.7

Nepal 1.0 1.0 0.9 1.0 1.0 0.9 0.9 0.9 0.8

Nicaragua

– 21.0 3.8 3.1 2.6 2.7 2.2 1.7 1.5

Nigeria 2.2 2.4 3.0 2.6 2.2 2.3 1.8 1.6 1.4

Pakistan 7.1 7.6 7.1 7.4 7.0 6.8 6.1 5.9 5.7

Panama 2.2 1.5 1.4 1.3 1.4 1.4 1.3 1.3 1.4

Peru

– 1.8 1.4 1.8 1.8 1.7 1.7 1.6 2.1

Philippines 2.3 2.2 2.1 1.9 2.2 1.9 1.4 1.6 1.5

Romania 6.1 3.7 4.0 3.3 2.1 2.5 2.5 1.9 2.4

South Africa 4.3 4.2 3.5 3.2 2.9 3.1 2.5 2.4 1.8

Tanzania 2.0 1.8 1.8 2.2 1.7

– 1.4 1.6 1.3

Thailand 2.6 2.5 2.5 2.6 2.9 2.7 2.4 2.4 2.3

Togo 3.2 3.2 3.0 2.9 4.2 2.7 2.4 1.9 2.0

Uganda 3.5 3.4 3.2 2.4 2.0 3.2 3.7 4.0 4.2

Zambia 4.7 4.1 2.9 3.3 1.7 2.0 1.7 1.2 1.1

– = not available

SOURCE: World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Country Military Expenditure (% of GNP)a

a Military expenditures exclude civilian-type expenditures of the defense ministry. Military assistance is included in the expenditures of the donor country, and purchases of military equipment on credit are 

included at the time the debt is incurred, not at the time of payment. Data for other countries generally cover expenditures of the ministry of defense (excluded are expenditures on public order and safety, which 

are classified separately). 
300

Table 20. Unemployment Rates by Country: 1989 to 1997

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Bangladesh 1.2 1.9 – – – – – – –

Benin – – – – – – – – –

Bolivia – 7.3 5.8 5.5 6.0 3.1 3.6 4.2 –

Brazil 3.0 3.7 – 6.5 6.2 – – 6.9 –

Cambodia – – – – – – – – –

Costa Rica 3.8 4.6 5.5 4.1 4.1 4.2 5.2 6.2 5.7

Dominican Republic – – 19.7 20.3 19.9 16.0 15.9 16.7 15.9

Egypt 6.9 8.6 9.6 9.0 10.9 11.0 11.3 – –

El Salvador 8.4 10.0 7.5 7.9 9.9 7.7 7.7 7.7 8.0

Ethiopia – – – – – – – – –

Ghana – – – – – – – – –

Guatemala – – – – – – – – –

Haiti – – – – – – – – –

Honduras – 4.8 4.6 3.1 – – 3.2 4.3 3.2

India – – – – – – – – –

Indonesia – – – – – – – 4.0 –

Kenya – – – – – – – – –

Lesotho – – – – – – – – –

Mali – – – – – – – – –

Nepal – – – – – – – – –

Nicaragua 8.4 11.1 14.0 – – – – – –

Nigeria – – – – – – – – –

Pakistan 3.1 3.1 6.3 5.9 4.7 4.8 5.4 – –

Panama 16.3 – 16.1 14.7 13.3 14.0 14.0 14.3 –

Peru 7.9 – 5.8 9.4 9.9 8.9 – 7.0 7.7

Philippines 8.4 8.1 9.0 8.6 8.9 8.4 8.4 7.4 –

Romania – – 3.0 8.4 9.9 8.2 8.0 6.7 6.0

South Africa – – – – – 4.4 4.5 5.1 –

Tanzania – – – – – – – – –

Thailand 1.4 2.2 2.7 1.4 1.5 1.3 1.1 1.1 0.9

Togo – – – – – – – – –

Uganda – – – – – – – – –

Zambia – – – – – – – – –

– = not available

NOTE: Definitions of labor force and unemployment may differ by country.

SOURCE: ILO database Key Indicators of the Labor Market in World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Unemployment, total (% of total labor force) a Country

a Unemployment generally refers to the share of the labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment. 
301

Table 21. Unemployment Rates by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1997

1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997

Bangladesh 1.1 1.9 – – – – – 2.3 – 1.3 2.0 – – – – – 2.7 –

Benin – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Bolivia – 7.8 6.0 5.6 5.3 2.9 4.0 4.5 – – 6.9 5.6 5.5 6.5 3.4 3.3 3.7 –

Brazil 2.9 3.4 – 8.0 7.4 – – 8.8 – 3.1 3.8 – 5.6 5.4 – – 5.7 –

Cambodia – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Costa Rica 5.3 5.9 7.4 5.4 5.3 5.8 6.5 8.3 7.5 3.2 4.2 4.8 3.5 3.6 3.5 4.6 5.3 4.9

Dominican Republic – – 33.1 34.9 34.8 26.8 26.2 28.4 28.6 – – 12.5 11.7 11.4 10.0 10.2 10.6 9.5

Egypt 10.7 17.9 21.3 17.0 22.3 22.8 24.1 – – 5.4 5.2 5.9 6.4 7.5 7.4 7.6 – –

El Salvador 6.8 9.8 6.6 7.2 6.8 6.4 5.9 6.5 5.3 10.0 10.1 8.3 8.4 11.8 8.4 8.7 8.4 9.5

Ethiopia – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Ghana – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Guatemala – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Haiti – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Honduras – 6.2 5.6 3.0 – – 3.4 4.4 3.2 – 4.4 4.2 3.2 – – 3.1 4.2 3.2

India – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Indonesia – – – – – – – 5.1 – – – – – – – – 3.3 –

Kenya – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Lesotho – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Mali – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Nepal – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Nicaragua 12.0 15.4 19.4 – – – 19.3 17.1 14.8 6.9 9.0 11.3 – – – 15.9 14.0 12.6

Nigeria – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Pakistan 0.9 0.9 16.8 14.2 10.3 10.0 13.7 – – 3.4 3.4 4.5 4.3 3.8 3.9 4.1 – –

Panama 21.6 – 22.6 22.3 20.2 20.4 20.1 20.0 – 13.7 – 12.8 10.8 9.7 10.7 10.8 11.3 –

Peru 10.7 – 7.3 12.5 12.2 11.8 – 7.9 8.9 6.0 – 4.8 7.5 8.3 7.0 – 6.4 6.8

Philippines 10.3 9.8 10.5 9.8 10.0 9.4 9.4 8.2 8.5 7.3 7.1 8.1 7.9 8.2 7.9 7.7 7.0 7.5

Romania – – 4.0 10.7 12.6 8.7 8.6 7.3 6.4 – – 2.2 6.2 8.1 7.7 7.5 6.3 5.7

South Africa – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Tanzania – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Thailand 1.6 2.4 3.5 1.5 1.8 1.5 1.4 1.1 0.9 1.2 2.1 2.0 1.3 1.2 1.1 0.9 1.0 0.9

Togo – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Uganda – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Zambia – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

– = not available

b Unemployment, male generally refers to the share of the male labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment.

NOTE: Definitions of labor force and unemployment may differ by country. 

SOURCE: ILO database Key Indicators of the Labor Market in World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

Unemployment, female (% of female labor force) a Country Unemployment, male (% of male labor force) b

a Unemployment, female generally refers to the share of the female labor force that is without work but available for and seeking employment. 
302

APPENDIX C

Ratifications of Core ILO Child Labor Conventions and

Membership in the International Program on the Elimination of Child

Labor (IPEC)a

Country Convention No. 138a Convention No. 182b IPEC Membership

Bangladesh March 12, 2001 1994

Benin June 11, 2001 November 6, 2001 1997

Bolivia June 11, 1997 1996

Brazil June 28, 2001 February 2, 2000 1992

Cambodia August 23, 1999 1997

Costa Rica June 11, 1976 September 10, 2001 1996

Dominican Republic June 15, 1999 November 15, 2000 1997

Egypt June 9, 1999 May 6, 2002 1996

El Salvador January 23, 1996 October 12, 2000 1996

Ethiopia May 27, 1999

Ghana June 13, 2000 2000

Guatemala April 23, 1990 October 11, 2001 1996

Haiti 1999

Honduras June 9, 1980 October 25, 2001 1997

India 1992

Indonesia June 7, 1999 March 28, 2000 1992

Kenya April 9, 1979 May 7, 2001 1992

Lesotho June 14, 2001 June 14, 2001

Mali July 14, 2000 1998

Nepal May 30, 1997 January 3, 2002 1994

Nicaragua November 2, 1981 November 6, 2000 1996

Nigeria 2000

Pakistan October 11, 2001 1994

Panama October 31, 2000 October 31, 2000 1996

Peru January 10, 2002 1996

Philippines June 4, 1998 November 28, 2000 1994

Romania November 19, 1975 December 13, 2000 2000

South Africa March 30, 2000 June 7, 2000 1997

Tanzania December 16, 1998 September 12, 2001 1994

Thailand February 16, 2001 1992

Togo March 16, 1984 September 19, 2000 2000

Uganda June 21, 2001 1998

Zambia February 9, 1976 December 10, 2001 2000

a

 As of October 26, 2000.

b

 Based on ILO Registered Ratification Dates.
303

APPENDIX D:

ILO CONVENTION 138

International Labour Organisation

C138 Minimum Age Convention, 1973

PREAMBLE

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,

Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and

having met in its Fifty-eighth Session on 6 June 1973, and

Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to minimum age for

admission to employment, which is the fourth item on the agenda of the session, and

Noting the terms of the Minimum Age (Industry) Convention, 1919, the Minimum Age (Sea)

Convention, 1920, the Minimum Age (Agriculture) Convention, 1921, the Minimum Age

(Trimmers and Stokers) Convention, 1921, the Minimum Age (Non-Industrial Employment)

Convention, 1932 the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention (Revised), 1936, the Minimum Age

(Industry) Convention (Revised), 1937, the Minimum Age (Non-Industrial Employment)

Convention (Revised), 1937, the Minimum Age (Fishermen) Convention, 1959, and the

Minimum Age (Underground Work) Convention, 1965, and

Considering that the time has come to establish a general instrument on the subject, which would

gradually replace the existing ones applicable to limited economic sectors, with a view to

achieving the total abolition of child labour, and

Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention,

Adopts the twenty-sixth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and seventy-three, the

following convention, which may be cited as the Minimum Age Convention, 1973:

Article 1

Each Member for which this Convention is in force undertakes to pursue a national policy

designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum

age for admission to employment or work to a level consistent with the fullest physical and

mental development of young persons.
304

Article 2

1. Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall specify, in a declaration appended to

its ratification, a minimum age for admission to employment or work within its territory and on

means of transport registered in its territory; subject to Articles 4 to 8 of this Convention, no one

under that age shall be admitted to employment or work in any occupation.

2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention may subsequently notify the DirectorGeneral of the International Labour office, by further declarations, that it specifies a minimum

age higher than that previously specified.

3. The minimum age specified in pursuance of paragraph 1 of this article shall not be less

than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and, in any case, shall not be less than 15

years.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 3 of this article, a Member whose economy

and educational facilities are insufficiently developed may, after consultation with the

organisations of employers and workers concerned, where such exist, initially specify a minimum

age of 14 years.

5. Each Member which has specified a minimum age of 14 years in pursuance of the

provisions of the preceding paragraph shall include in its reports on the application of this

Convention submitted under Article 22 of the constitution of the International Labour

Organisation a statement—

(a) that its reason for doing so subsists; or

(b) that it renounces its right to avail itself of the provisions in question as from a

stated date.

Article 3

1. The minimum age for admission to any type of employment or work which by its nature

or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to jeopardise the health, safety or morals

of young persons shall not be less than 18 years.

2. The types of employment or work to which paragraph 1 of this article applies shall be

determined by national laws or regulations or by the competent authority, after consultation with

the organisations of employers and workers concerned, where such exist.

3. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article national laws or regulations

or the competent authority may, after consultation with the organisations of employers and

workers concerned, where such exist, authorise employment or work as from the age of 16 years

on condition that the health, safety and morals of the young persons concerned are fully protected

and that the young persons have received adequate specific instruction or vocational training in

the relevant branch of activity.
305

Article 4

1. In so far as necessary, the competent authority, after consultation with the organisations of

employers and workers concerned, where such exist, may exclude from the application of this

Convention limited categories of employment or work in respect of which special and substantial

problems of application arise.

2. Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall list in its first report on the application

of the Convention submitted under Article 22 of the Constitution of the International Labour

Organisation any categories which may have been excluded in pursuance of paragraph 1 of this

article, giving the reasons for such exclusion, and shall state in subsequent reports the position of

its law and practice in respect of the categories excluded and the extent to which effect has been

given or is proposed to be given to the Convention in respect of such categories.

3. Employment or work covered by Article 3 of this Convention shall not be excluded from

the application of the Convention in pursuance of this article.

Article 5

1. A Member whose economy and administrative facilities are insufficiently developed may,

after consultation with the organisations of employers and workers concerned, where such exist

initially limit the scope of application of this Convention.

2. Each Member which avails itself of the provisions of paragraph 1 of this article shall

specify, in a declaration appended to its ratification, the branches of economic activity or types of

undertakings to which it will apply the provisions of the Convention.

3. The provisions of the Convention shall be applicable as a minimum to the following:

mining and quarrying; manufacturing; construction; electricity, gas and water; sanitary services;

transport, storage and communication; and plantations and other agricultural undertakings mainly

producing for commercial purposes, but excluding family and small-scale holdings producing for

local consumption and not regularly employing hired workers.

4. Any Member which has limited the scope of application of this Convention in pursuance

of this article—

(a) shall indicate in its reports under Article 22 of the Constitution of the International

Labour Organisation the general position as regards the employment or work of young persons

and children in the branches of activity which are excluded from the scope of application of this

Convention and any progress which may have been made towards wider application of the

provisions of the Convention;

(b) may at any time formally extend the scope of application by a declaration

addressed to the Director-General of the International Labour Office.
306

Article 6

This Convention does not apply to work done by children and young persons in schools for

general, vocational or technical education or in other training institutions, or to work done by

persons at least 14 years of age in undertakings, where such work is carried out in accordance

with conditions prescribed by the competent authority after consultation with the organisations of

employers and workers concerned, where such exist, and is an integral part of-(a) a course of

education or training for which a school or training institution is primarily responsible; (b) a

programme of training mainly or entirely in an undertaking which programme has been approved

by the competent authority; or (c) a programme of guidance or orientation designed to facilitate

the choice of an occupation or of a line of training.

Article 7

1. National laws or regulations may permit the employment or work of persons 13 to 15

years of age on light work which is—

(a) not likely to be harmful to their health or development; and

(b) not such as to prejudice their attendance at school, their participation in vocational

orientation or training programmes approved by the competent authority or their capacity to

benefit from the instruction received.

2. National laws or regulations may also permit the employment or work of persons who are

at least 15 years of age but have not yet completed their compulsory schooling on work which

meets the requirements set forth in sub-paragraphs (a) and (b) of paragraph 1 of this article.

3. The competent authority shall determine the activities in which employment or work may

be permitted under paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article and shall prescribe the number of hours

during which and the conditions in which such employment or work may be undertaken.

4. Notwithstanding the provisions of paragraphs 1 and 2 of this article, a Member which has

availed itself of the provisions of paragraph 4 of Article 2 may, for as long as it continues to do so

substitute the ages 12 and 14 for the ages 13 and 15 in paragraph 1 and the age 14 for the age 15

in paragraph 2 of this article.

Article 8

1. After consultation with the organisations of employers and workers concerned, where

such exist, the competent authority may, by permits granted in individual cases, allow exceptions

to the prohibition of employment or work provided for in Article 2 of this Convention, for such

purposes as participation in artistic performances.

2. Permits so granted shall limit the number of hours during which and prescribe the

conditions in which employment or work is allowed.
307

Article 9

1. All necessary measures, including the provision of appropriate penalties, shall be taken by

the competent authority to ensure the effective enforcement of the provisions of this Convention.

2. National laws or regulations or the competent authority shall define the persons

responsible for compliance with the provisions giving effect to the Convention.

3. National laws or regulations or the competent authority shall prescribe the registers or

other documents which shall be kept and made available by the employer; such registers or

documents shall contain the names and ages or dates of birth, duly certified wherever possible, of

persons whom he employs or who work for him and who are less than 18 years of age.

Article 10

1. This Convention revises, on the terms set forth in this article the Minimum Age (Industry)

Convention, 1919, the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention, 1920, the Minimum Age (Agriculture)

Convention, 1921 the Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers) Convention, 1921, the Minimum

Age (Non-Industrial Employment) Convention, 1932, the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention

(Revised), 1936, the Minimum Age (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1937, the Minimum Age

(Non-Industrial Employment) Convention (Revised), 1937, the Minimum Age (Fishermen)

Convention, 1959, and the Minimum Age (Underground Work) Convention, 1965. The coming

into force of this Convention shall not close the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention (Revised),

1936, the Minimum Age (Industry) Convention (Revised), 1937, the Minimum Age (NonIndustrial Employment) Convention (Revised), 1937, the Minimum Age (Fishermen)

Convention, 1959, or the Minimum Age (Underground Work) Convention, 1965, to further

ratification.

3. The Minimum Age (Industry) Convention, 1919, the Minimum Age (Sea) Convention,

1920, the Minimum Age (Agriculture) Convention 1921, and the Minimum Age (Trimmers and

Stokers) Convention, 1921 shall be closed to further ratification when all the parties thereto have

consented to such closing by ratification of this Convention or by a declaration communicated to

the Director-General of the International Labour Office.

4. When the obligations of this Convention are accepted—

(a) by a Member which is a party to the Minimum Age (Industry) Convention

(Revised), 1937, and a minimum age of not less than 15 years is specified in pursuance of Article

2 of this Convention this shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of that convention,

(b) in respect of non-industrial employment as defined in the Minimum Age

(Non-Industrial Employment) Convention, 1932, by a Member which is a party to that

Convention, this shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of that Convention,

(c) in respect of non-industrial employment as defined in the Minimum Age

(Non-Industrial Employment) Convention (Revised), 1937 by a Member which is a party to that
308

Convention, and a minimum age of not less than 15 years is specified in pursuance of Article 2 of

this Convention, this shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of that Convention,

(d) in respect of maritime employment, by a Member which is a party to the

Minimum Age (Sea) Convention (Revised), 1936, and a minimum age of not less than 15 years is

specified in pursuance of Article 2 of this Convention or the Member specifies that Article 3 of

this convention applies to maritime employment, this shall ipso jure involve the immediate

denunciation of that Convention,

(e) in respect of employment in maritime fishing, by a Member which is a party to the

Minimum Age (Fishermen) Convention, 1959, and a minimum age of not less than 15 years is

specified in pursuance of Article 2 of this Convention or the Member specifies that Article 3 of

this Convention applies to employment in maritime fishing, this shall ipso jure involve the

immediate denunciation of that convention,

(f) by a Member which is a party to the Minimum Age (underground Work)

Convention, 1965, and a minimum age of not less than the age specified in pursuance of that

Convention is specified in pursuance of Article 2 of this Convention or the Member specifies that

such an age applies to employment underground in mines in virtue of Article 3 of this

Convention, this shall ipso jure involve the immediate denunciation of that Convention, if and

when this Convention shall have come into force.

5. Acceptance of the obligations of this Convention—

(a) shall involve the denunciation of the Minimum Age (Industry) Convention, 1919,

in accordance with Article 12 thereof,

(b) in respect of agriculture shall involve the denunciation of the Minimum Age

(Agriculture) Convention, 1921, in accordance with Article 9 thereof,

(c) in respect of maritime employment shall involve the denunciation of the

Minimum Age (Sea) Convention, 1920, in accordance with Article 10 thereof, and of the

Minimum Age (Trimmers and Stokers) Convention, 1921, in accordance with Article 12 thereof,

if and when this Convention shall have come into force.

FINAL PROVISIONS

Article 11

The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the

International Labour office for registration.

Article 12

1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour

Organisation whose ratifications have been registered with the Director-General.

2. It shall come into force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two

Members have been registered with the Director-General.
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3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the

date on which its ratifications has been registered.

Article 13

1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten

years from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act communicated to

the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation

should not take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.

2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year

following the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise

the right of denunciation provided for in this article, will be bound for another period of ten years

and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under

the terms provided for in this article.

Article 14

1. The Director-General of the International Labour office shall notify all Members of the

International Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications and denunciations

communicated to him by the Members of the Organisation.

2. When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the registration of the second

ratification communicated to him, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members

of the Organisation to the date upon which the Convention will come into force.

Article 15

The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of the

United Nations full particulars of all ratifications and acts of denunciation registered by him in

accordance with the provisions of the preceding articles.

Article 16

At such times as may consider necessary the Governing Body of the International Labour office

shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and shall

examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its revision in

whole or in part.
310

Article 17

1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in

part, then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides:

(a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising convention shall ipso jure

involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention notwithstanding the provisions of

Article 13 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force;

(b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force this

Convention shall cease to be open to ratification by the Members.

2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those

Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.

Article 18

The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally authoritative.
311

APPENDIX E:

ILO CONVENTION 182

International Labour Organisation

C182 Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999

PREAMBLE

The General Conference of the International Labour Organisation,

Having been convened at Geneva by the Governing Body of the International Labour Office, and

having met in its 87th Session on 1 June 1999, and

Considering the need to adopt new instruments for the prohibition and elimination of the worst

forms of child labour, as the main priority for national and international action, including

international cooperation and assistance, to complement the Convention and the

Recommendation concerning Minimum Age for Admission to Employment, 1973, which remain

fundamental instruments on child labour, and

Considering that the effective elimination of the worst forms of child labour requires immediate

and comprehensive action, taking into account the importance of free basic education and the

need to remove the children concerned from all such work and to provide for their rehabilitation

and social integration while addressing the needs of their families, and

Recalling the resolution concerning the elimination of child labour adopted by the International

Labour Conference at its 83rd Session in 1996, and

Recognising that child labour is to a great extent caused by poverty and that the long-term

solution lies in sustained economic growth leading to social progress, in particular poverty

alleviation and universal education, and

Recalling the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the United Nations General

Assembly on 20 November 1989, and

Recalling the ILO Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work and its Follow-up,

adopted by the International Labour Conference at its 86th Session in 1998, and

Recalling that some of the worst forms of child labour are covered by other international

instruments, in particular the Forced Labour Convention, 1930, and the United Nations

Supplementary Convention on the Abolition of Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Institutions and

Practices Similar to Slavery, 1956, and
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Having decided upon the adoption of certain proposals with regard to child labour, which is the

fourth item on the agenda of the session, and

Having determined that these proposals shall take the form of an international Convention,

Adopts this seventeenth day of June of the year one thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine the

following Convention, which may be cited as the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention:

Article 1

Each Member which ratifies this Convention shall take immediate and effective measures to

secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency.

Article 2

For the purposes of this Convention, the term child shall apply to all persons under the age of 18.

Article 3

For the purposes of this Convention, the term the worst forms of child labour comprises:

(a) all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking

of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour, including forced or

compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict;

(b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of

pornography or for pornographic performances;

(c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the

production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties;

(d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely

to harm the health, safety or morals of children.

Article 4

1. The types of work referred to under Article 3(d) shall be determined by national laws or

regulations or by the competent authority, after consultation with the organisations of employers

and workers concerned, taking into consideration relevant international standards, in particular

Paragraphs 3 and 4 of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Recommendation, 1999.

2. The competent authority, after consultation with the organisations of employers and

workers concerned, shall identify where the types of work so determined exist.
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3. The list of the types of work determined under paragraph 1 of this article shall be

periodically examined and revised as necessary, in consultation with the organisations of

employers and workers concerned.

Article 5

Each Member shall, after consultation with employers’ and workers’ organisations, establish or

designate appropriate mechanisms to monitor the implementation of the provisions giving effect

to this Convention.

Article 6

1. Each Member shall design and implement programs of action to eliminate as a priority

the worst forms of child labour.

2. Such programs of action shall be designed and implemented in consultation with relevant

government institutions and employers’ and workers’ organisations, taking into consideration the

views of other concerned groups as appropriate.

Article 7

1. Each Member shall take all necessary measures to ensure the effective implementation

and enforcement of the provisions giving effect to this Convention including the provision and

application of penal sanctions or, as appropriate, other sanctions.

2. Each Member shall, taking into account the importance of education in eliminating child

labour, take effective and time-bound measures to:

(a) prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour;

(b) provide the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for the removal of children

from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration;

(c) ensure access to free basic education, and, wherever possible and appropriate,

vocational training, for all children removed from the worst forms of child labour;

(d) identify and reach out to children at special risk; and

(e) take account of the special situation of girls.

3. Each Member shall designate the competent authority responsible for the implementation

of the provisions giving effect to this Convention.
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Article 8

Members shall take appropriate steps to assist one another in giving effect to the provisions of

this Convention through enhanced international cooperation and/or assistance including support

for social and economic development, poverty eradication programs and universal education.

Article 9

The formal ratifications of this Convention shall be communicated to the Director-General of the

International Labour Office for registration.

Article 10

1. This Convention shall be binding only upon those Members of the International Labour

Organisation whose ratifications have been registered with the Director-General of the

International Labour Office.

2. It shall come into force twelve months after the date on which the ratifications of two

Members have been registered with the Director-General.

3. Thereafter, this Convention shall come into force for any Member twelve months after the

date on which its ratification has been registered.

Article 11

1. A Member which has ratified this Convention may denounce it after the expiration of ten

years from the date on which the Convention first comes into force, by an act communicated to

the Director-General of the International Labour Office for registration. Such denunciation shall

not take effect until one year after the date on which it is registered.

2. Each Member which has ratified this Convention and which does not, within the year

following the expiration of the period of ten years mentioned in the preceding paragraph, exercise

the right of denunciation provided for in this article, will be bound for another period of ten years

and, thereafter, may denounce this Convention at the expiration of each period of ten years under

the terms provided for in this article.

Article 12

1. The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall notify all Members of the

International Labour Organisation of the registration of all ratifications and acts of denunciation

communicated by the Members of the Organisation.
315

2. When notifying the Members of the Organisation of the registration of the second

ratification, the Director-General shall draw the attention of the Members of the Organisation to

the date upon which the Convention shall come into force.

Article 13

The Director-General of the International Labour Office shall communicate to the SecretaryGeneral of the United Nations, for registration in accordance with Article 102 of the Charter of

the United Nations, full particulars of all ratifications and acts of denunciation registered by the

Director-General in accordance with the provisions of the preceding articles.

Article 14

At such times as it may consider necessary, the Governing Body of the International Labour

Office shall present to the General Conference a report on the working of this Convention and

shall examine the desirability of placing on the agenda of the Conference the question of its

revision in whole or in part.

Article 15

1. Should the Conference adopt a new Convention revising this Convention in whole or in

part, then, unless the new Convention otherwise provides:

(a) the ratification by a Member of the new revising Convention shall ipso jure

involve the immediate denunciation of this Convention, notwithstanding the provisions of

Article 11 above, if and when the new revising Convention shall have come into force;

(b) as from the date when the new revising Convention comes into force, this

Convention shall cease to be open to ratification by the Members.

2. This Convention shall in any case remain in force in its actual form and content for those

Members which have ratified it but have not ratified the revising Convention.

Article 16

The English and French versions of the text of this Convention are equally authoritative.
316

APPENDIX F:

BUREAU OF INTERNATIONAL LABOR AFFAIRS (ILAB)

PUBLICATIONS ON CHILD LABOR

1. By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume I): The Use of Child Labor in

U.S. Manufactured and Mined Imports (1994).

2. By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume II): The Use of Child Labor in

U.S. Agricultural Imports & Forced and Bonded Child Labor (1995).

3. The Apparel Industry and Codes of Conduct: A Solution to the International Child Labor

Problem? (1996) [also referred to as By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume III)].

4. By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume IV): Consumer Labels and Child Labor

(1997).

5. Forced Labor: The Prostitution of Children (1996) [Symposium Proceedings].

6. By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume V): Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor (1998).

7. By the Sweat and Toil of Children (Volume VI): An Economic Consideration of

Child Labor (2000).

Also available are proceedings from public hearings on child labor held to gather information

for several of the reports.

Copies of these reports may be obtained by contacting the International Child Labor Program,

Bureau of International Labor Affairs, U.S. Department of Labor, Room S-5307,

200 Constitution Ave., NW, Washington, DC 20210. Telephone: (202) 693-4843;

Fax: (202) 693-4830; Email: GlobalKids@dol.gov. The reports are available on the Internet at:

http://www.dol.gov/ILAB/reports/pubs_reports_ilab.htm.
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