HUMAN RIGHTS/LABOR: USG-FUNDED ANTI-CHILD LABOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MANILA 005861 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EAP/MTS, EAP/MLS, EAP/PD, R, DRL/IL, DRL/SEA DEPT OF LABOR/ILAB - C. CASTRO E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV ELAB KDEM KPAO RP SUBJECT: HUMAN RIGHTS/LABOR: USG-FUNDED ANTI-CHILD LABOR PROJECT; SHELTER, PRISON VISITS; OUTREACH TO STUDENTS REF: A. MANILA 5794 ¶B. MANILA 3830 ¶C. MANILA 2555 ¶D. MANILA 1897 ¶1. (U) Summary: Focusing on key human rights and labor items, poloff and pol LES visited Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental Province in the Central Philippines, December 13-14. A USDOL-funded anti-child labor project in the area is proceeding well. Conditions at a local shelter run by the GRP for women and children were adequate. The municipal jail was overcrowded and there was one child being held in the facility (the team expressed concern about this). As part of Mission's outreach activities for Human Rights Week, poloff spoke with students on U.S. support for human rights and democracy. End Summary. DOL-Funded Anti-Child Labor Project Launched -------------- ¶2. (U) Poloff and pol LES visited Dumaguete City in Negros Oriental Province in the Visayan region of the Central Philippines, December 13-14. The visit focused on human rights and labor issues. In Dumaguete, the team met with the Goretti Foundation, a local non-governmental organization. The Foundation has recently launched a one-year project entitled "Implementing and Sustaining the Elimination of Child Labor" under the ILO-managed Philippine Time Bound Program (PTBP) to combat child labor. (Note: The USDOL funds several initiatives through the ILO to combat child labor in the Philippines -- see refs B and D for background, including the Goretti Foundation project. End Note.) ¶3. (U) The project targets 1186 sugarcane plantation child laborers working in six municipalities (as well as 1488 children at risk of becoming child laborers) with the aim of removing them from the workplace and enrolling them in formal or vocational education. The project also provides skills training and resources to assist the children's families in setting up livelihood activities. According to the Foundation, the project's greatest challenge is resistance from parents who fear the loss of income from their children's labor. To counter this, the Foundation is conducting activities to educate parents on the hazards of child labor. (Note: Another USDOL-funded project under the PTBP is scheduled to end in February 2006. This project, which is run by the Association for the Welfare of Filipino Children, has returned approximately 1700 working and at-risk children to public schools in four municipalities in Negros Oriental, according to the ILO. End Note.) ¶4. (U) The local government has been very supportive of anti-child labor programs, according to the Foundation. The local government has agreed to finance regular meetings of NGOs working on the issue, for example, and was active in urging sugar plantation owners to set aside plots of land that families could use as income-generating vegetable gardens under the Foundation project. The local government had also pledged to provide seedlings and microfinance for livelihood activities. Contacts noted, however, that both the local government and the GRP suffered from serious resource constraints, which makes a comprehensive anti-child labor effort in the region problematic. Shelter, Prison Visits -------------- ¶5. (U) The team also visited a municipal shelter for women and children. Eleven of the 16 women and children currently at the shelter come from areas outside Dumaguete City. The majority of women there, according to a social worker, were victims of rape. The shelter can comfortably hold 40 occupants. Shelter staff, however, explained that the shelter does not take in older children -- teenage street children, for example -- and that there were no facilities for these children in the province. Overall, facility conditions appeared to be adequate. ¶6. (U) The Dumaguete municipal jail, however, was another story. The dilapidated jail was overcrowded. According to the warden, there were 274 inmates, though the facility was originally built to hold 96. The warden said the facility was currently holding one child. The child (a male; the age was not given) had not been charged with any crime, but was awaiting psychiatric evaluation. He was being kept in a separate cell, the warden said. The warden noted that the province does not have any separate detention facilities for children. The team expressed concern about the situation this minor was in. The warden indicated that the jail often has child prisoners who pass through either because a parent was incarcerated or because the child had been accused of crimes. (Note: See ref C which reviews the status of child prisoners in the Philippines. End Note.) Talk at Local University -------------- ¶7. (U) Poloff also spoke to a group of approximately 100 students and professors at Silliman University on the topic of "Promoting Human Rights and Democracy: A Cornerstone of U.S. Foreign Policy." The event was part of Silliman University's ongoing lecture series in commemoration of International Human Rights Week (ref A). During the hour-long session, students and professors asked well-informed and probing questions about the U.S. position on the International Criminal Court, the U.S. relationship with Saudi Arabia, U.S. advocacy of trade liberalization, the Guantanamo Bay detention facility, and situation at the Abu Ghraib facility in Iraq. In response to questions in the latter area, poloff reiterated recent remarks that Secretary Rice had made on this matter during her recent trip to Europe. Attendees told poloff and pol FSN that they had enjoyed the session and looked forward to additional Mission visits. Jones