DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: UPDATE ON CHILD LABOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 SANTO DOMINGO 004415

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR WHA/CAR (MCISAAC),ALSO DOL/ILAB TINA
FAULKNER, DOL/ILAB AMY LEMAR, DOL MIRELLISE VASQUEZ, DRL/IL
MARINDA HARPOLE

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: UPDATE ON CHILD LABOR
INFORMATION

REF: SECSTATE 193266


1. The GODR is making progress in implementing its
international commitments to eliminate the worst forms of
child labor. Updated information for 2003 Trade and
Development Act (TDA) reporting purposes follows.

BEGIN ANSWERS TO REFTEL QUESTIONS.

A) Whether the country has adequate laws and regulations
proscribing the worst forms of child labor?


2. The Government of the Dominican Republic (GODR) ratified
International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 182 on
December 15, 2000 and ILO Convention No. 138 on June 15,

1999. Dominican laws addressing child labor issues include
&El Codigo de Trabajo de la Republica Dominicana8 (law
16-92 of May 29, 1992) and law 136-03, &Codigo para la
Proteccion de Ninos, Ninas y Adolescentes8 which was
recently promulgated by President Mejia on August 7, 2003.
(Copy of law to follow via pouch.) The 2003 Minors' Code
replaces the previous 1994 version (law 14-94) and conforms
better to international conventions on child labor issues.
Like the 1992 Dominican Labor Code, the 2003 Minors' Code
prohibits employment of children under the age of 14. Unlike
the 1992 Dominican Labor Code, the 2003 Minors' Code includes
language regulating apprenticeships for adolescents.


3. As mentioned in previous reports, the Ministry of Labor
Resolution No. 03-93 of January 12, 1993 defines hazardous
work as &dangerous or unhealthy, which through the nature of
its execution or the environment in which it is realized, or
the tools or machines which it employs, may occasion injuries
to the physical integrity of minors or promote etiological
factors in the outbreak of illnesses(8 Neither the labor
code nor the minor,s code specifically defines what
occupations are considered the worst forms of child labor.
However, there are governmental programs that target
industrial areas in which child labor has been a historical
problem.


4. The 2003 Minors' Code promotes an inter-institutional
coordinated system of various government agencies and NGOs to
protect the human rights of minors, including protection from
child labor. The modified code also recognizes a
not-for-profit institution CONANI (El Consejo Nacional de la
Ninez y la Adolescencia) as the non-cabinet, decentralized
public ministry that will be responsible for coordinating
public policy regarding children,s issues and ensuring
implementation of the new law. (Note: CONANI is an
organization currently headed by the President,s sister, who
is a long-time activist for children. Although the new
Minors' Code is the result of inter-institutional
cooperation, having CONANI provide the impetus for child
labor law modifications is a departure from the norm, i.e.
the Ministry of Labor would be expected to spearhead
modifications of any labor-related laws. However, the
Ministry of Labor remains a committed and supportive
institution of all GODR efforts to eliminate the worst forms
of child labor and is still the focal point to execute GODR
anti-child labor programs. End Note)

B) Whether the country has adequate laws and regulations for
the implementation and enforcement of proscriptions against
the worst forms of child labor?


5. The legal remedy to combat child labor is mostly through
impositions of fines. Article 720 of the Dominican Labor
Code explains the penalties imposed for all labor violations
and outlines a graduated scale of penalties. Child labor
violations fall at the most severe end of the scale providing
for the most costly fines. The fine for violating work age
requirements ranges from seven to twelve times the minimum
wage per underage employee. Current monthly minimum wage,
referred to locally as salarios minimos, is RD$3,890
(approximately US$122) outside free zones and RD$2,815
(approximately US$88) inside free zones. Jail sentences can
be imposed for the most serious violations of the labor code.
The National Police and Attorney General,s Office usually
get involved in more egregious cases involving potential
criminal penalties.


6. As mentioned in previous reports, universal education is
required and obligatory through primary school. However,
there are currently no legal mechanisms to induce parents or
guardians to send children to school after this point.
According to education rights NGO Educa, 26 out of every 100
students that complete primary school finish middle school;
16% of Dominican children 6-15 years of age never even see a
classroom.

C) Whether the country has established formal institutional
mechanisms to investigate and address complaints relating to
the worst forms of child labor?

7. As a result of the newly signed Minor,s Code, CONANI will
now assist the Ministry of Labor in implementing child labor
laws and regulations (see paragraph 4). The Ministry of
Labor assigns labor inspectors, more than 200 total, to each
of the 31 provinces and the National District (which covers
Santo Domingo). Ironically, the three provinces where the
GODR targets its most intensive programs to eradicate child
labor (Azua, Constanza and San Jose de Ocoa) are where
inspectors are few in number--two two, and one, respectively.
Child labor inspections are not distinct from monthly,
general labor inspections. As such, no separate budget is
specifically allocated for investigating exploitative child
labor cases. The Ministry of Labor keeps broad labor
inspections statistics on its website. In the province of
Azua, for example, there were twelve labor inspections in
June 2003 in which six were found to involve child labor and
two resulted in fines. Child labor, especially in the
poorest and most marginalized Dominican communities, is
socially accepted as a means of economic survival rather than
an abuse of a child,s human rights. Thus, it is not common
practice to submit complaints against an &industry8 for
violating child labor laws.

D) Whether social programs have been implemented to prevent
the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labor,
and to assist in removing children engaged in the worst forms
of child labor?


8. The Ministry of Labor, in collaboration with ILO-IPEC and
other labor rights organizations, has implemented very
successful programs to combat child labor. The programs
target children who perform dangerous agricultural work in
the provinces of San Jose de Ocoa, Constanza and Azua.


9. In the tomato-producing province of Azua where 75% of the
population is poor, the mechanism to employ child laborers is
informal. The tomato industries neither recruit nor directly
employ child workers--independent tomato producers do. To
address this problem, ILO-IPEC with Ministry of Labor support
launched a child labor eradication program in September 2002
that includes 48 &salas de tareas8 or study halls among
seven different schools. The salas de tareas target at-risk
children (likely to work in tomato fields) who often come
from third homes. It is estimated that the project has
already prevented 3,000 children from working. The Ministry
of Labor also provides workshops for educators about the
prevention and eradication of child labor in Azua and other
troubled areas. Another portion of the program includes
sensitization classes for parents of at-risk children. These
classes are administered by Habitat-Azua with support from
ILO, the Ministry of Labor and Ministry of Education.


10. The Ministry of Education and the Consejo Nacional en
contra del Trabajo Infantil (National Directive Committee
Against Child Labor) continue to share the fundamental task
of removing children from the labor market and ensuring that
they attend school. An example of this collaboration is the
&School Card Program,8 which gives RD$300 pesos (US$10)
monthly to marginalized mothers who keep their children out
of work and in school. In addition, the Ministry of
Education provides free school breakfast in every school
countrywide to help promote school attendance. The Education
Ministry district office in Azua is planning to team up with
ILO-IPEC and the Labor Ministry to develop a
capacity-building program (within the currently established
salas de tareas framework) that specifically targets seventh
and eighth graders (13- and 14-year-olds) who are at risk for
dropping out of school to work. The Ministry of Education
office in Azua is also working to develop community parents'
councils to denounce child labor.


11. Commercial sexual exploitation of minors is an aspect of
child labor in the Dominican Republic. ILO, in collaboration
with local NGO Idefa (Instituto de la Familia),plans to
launch a program in September 2003 in the popular sex-tourism
destination of Boca Chica (The Tourism Police, Politur, has
done raids on commercial sexual rings in this area). It is
expected that more GODR funds will be allocated for future
programs that seek to reduce sexual exploitation of minors,
especially given the new comprehensive Anti-Trafficking in
Persons Law that was signed August 7, 2003.

E) Whether the country has a comprehensive policy aimed at
the elimination of the worst forms of child labor?


12. The GODR has a national policy that addresses child
labor. This policy was initially spearheaded by the National
Directive Committee Against Child Labor, which includes
representatives from the Ministries of Labor, Education,
Foreign Affairs, and Public Health, as well as the National
Police and Attorney General,s office, among others. There
is also a National Plan to Guarantee the Rights of Children
and Adolescents that President Mejia signed as an executive
order in April 2001, when he declared the protection of
children and adolescents a national priority. Three primary
objectives of the National Plan are to promote birth
registration, prevent sexual abuse and exploitation of
minors, and to assist youth who commit crimes. Within the
framework of the National Plan objectives, a special
inter-institutional commission was created against the abuse
and sexual exploitation of minors. The 2001 executive order
also established another inter-institutional commission to
review and modify the original Minors' Code, Law 14-94. In
August 2002, CONANI assumed leadership of this second
commission to reinvigorate the process of modifying the
Minors' Code, which ultimately resulted in the recent passage
of the new Minors' Code, Law 136-03 (see paragraph 4).

F) Whether the country is making continual progress toward
eliminating the worst forms of child labor?


13. The GODR continues to make progress in eliminating the
worst forms of child labor in the formal sector. On
September 9, 2003 the GODR, in cooperation with ILO, will
launch the Time-Bound Program that will be funded by USDOL.
This program will raise awareness and capacity building for
policy implementation of child labor protections, as well as
develop action programs to target the worst forms of child
labor. It is estimated that 2,600 children will directly
benefit from the program. The GODR hopes to reduce child
labor by 25% by 2007.


14. In spite of GODR progress to eliminate the worst forms of
child labor, most forced child labor in the Dominican
Republic is not formalized, in the sense that it is uncommon
to find children working in &sweatshops8 analogous to the
conditions that may exist in other countries. Informal child
labor persists in prostitution, family-owned businesses such
as small mechanic shops, and other clandestine operations.


15. According to the results of the Ministry of Labor's 2000
National Child Labor Survey, 482,720 Dominican children
between the ages of 5 and 17 work, at least informally (total
estimated population for this age group is 2.4 million). Of
the 428,720 children that work, 56.2% are less than 14 years
old; 21.1% are between 14 and 15, and the remaining 22.7% are
adolescents 16 or older. Curiously, 89.7% of those that work
also attend school, and only 10.3% of working children do not
attend school.


16. In areas of high-level unemployment, families often feel
pressured to encourage their children to earn supplemental
income to put food on the table. Homeless children,
especially in urban areas, are frequently at the mercy of
adults who collect them and put them to work begging or
selling meager goods on the street. In return for their work
they are given basic housing. The ages at which these
children work, the hours they work, and their failure to
comply with compulsory school attendance all violate the law.


17. The Government has attempted to eliminate the use of
children for cutting sugar cane. However, it is not uncommon
to see poor Haitian and Dominican children working in the
cane fields (locally referred to as bateyes) of San Pedro de
Macoris, for example, with the tacit acceptance of sugar
companies. Many undocumented Haitian boys as young as 9
years old plant sugar, while 14- and 15-year olds have been
spotted cutting sugar cane. The Ministry of Education
maintains that it promotes education for all, regardless of
nationality, and that birth registration problems persist not
only for Haitians but for Dominican children as well. (Note:
Children can attend school without proof of birth until they
reach the eighth grade. At the eighth grade level, which is
normally reached at age 13 or 14, a birth certificate is
required to attend. However, obtaining a birth certificate
in the DR can be a lengthy, complicated process; birth
certificates are not administered at the hospital immediately
after a child is born but by a local registrar (or Justice of
the Peace). End Note)

END QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS.


18. COMMENT: The root of child labor problems in the
Dominican Republic, as in most countries where child labor
exists, is poverty. Since the last report was submitted, the
exchange rate to the dollar has doubled, from approximately
RD$18 to the dollar to a high of RD$36 to the dollar in July

2003. A worsening economy will surely make the GODR,s
continued efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor
more difficult. One of the challenges the GODR faces is the
fact that there are several committees and commissions
currently involved in addressing children,s rights and
labor, but no specific policy to address child labor issues
alone. The Ministry of Labor would be well served to
continue improving its record-keeping capabilities of child
labor violations and sentences, as well as assign more
inspectors to at-risk areas for child labor. The National
Directive Committee on Child Labor should also work harder to
posit itself to publicly and actively lead the charge against
child labor.
HERTELL