MOZAMBIQUE: UPDATE ON WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 001086

SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/S - HTREGER AND DRL/IL - LHOLT
DOL/ILAB FOR TMCCARTER
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI MZ USAID
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: UPDATE ON WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR
INFORMATION

REF: STATE 143552

Summary
--------------

1. Mozambique is party to the ILO convention against the
worst forms of child labor (Convention 182). The Government
of the Republic of Mozambique (GRM) has a regulatory
framework in place to monitor and prosecute infractions of
the labor code, but it does not have a regulatory body
specifically devoted to child labor cases. The Ministry of
Labor (MOL) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have
increased efforts to develop programs to combat the worst
forms of child labor, but impact to date remains minimal.
The Labor Law regulates child labor. However child labor
remains a problem in Mozambique; forced and bonded labor are
common practices in the rural areas. End Summary.

Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
--------------

2. Updated statistics on the incidence of child labor in
Mozambique are unavailable. However according to a 2001
report released by the Brussels-based International
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU),nearly 33 percent
of Mozambican children between the ages of 10-14 were
expected to be economically active. UNICEF has similar
estimates, and states that more than 1 million Mozambican
children under 14 were subject to exploitative labor in 2003.
A rapid assessment child labor survey of children under 18
conducted between 1998-2002 by the MOL and UNICEF identified
the worst forms of child labor prevalent in Mozambique as
children working in commercial agriculture, domestic labor,
and child prostitution. Forced and bonded labor are common
practices in the rural areas. However, there is no
legislation that prohibits such practices.


3. The major factors contributing to child labor in
Mozambique are chronic family poverty, lack of employment for
adults, breakdown of family support mechanisms, changing
economic environment, lack of education opportunities
resulting from inadequate education system, gender
inequality, and the impact of HIV/AIDS. According to Save
the Children, nearly 500,000 children in Mozambique have lost
one or both parents to AIDS. This number is expected to rise
to approximately 1.13 million by the end of 2007. Save the
Children estimates that one in every five households in
Mozambique care for at least one orphan. Children orphaned
by HIV/AIDS often are forced to work because they are left
without any adult family members or with only extended family
members who were unable to support them.

Laws and Regulations Defining Child Labor
--------------

4. The government ratified ILO Conventions 182 and 29
(Forced Labor) in June 2003. Post cannot confirm whether
Mozambique has developed a list of occupations considered to
be worst forms of child labor as called for in Article 4 of
Convention 182. Focus on children's rights has increased
over the past year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA)
has now been charged with working to deposit at the UN the UN
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the
Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child
Pornography, as well as the UN Optional Protocol to Prevent,
Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons. However, no
timeline has been set by the GRM.


5. Law 8/98 sets the minimum age for employment at 15 years,
but in exceptional cases allows for children between the ages
of 12 and 15 to work with the joint approval of the
Ministries of Labor, Health, and Education. The law sets
restricted conditions on the work minors between the ages of
15 and 18 may perform, limits the number of hours they can
work, and establishes training, education, and medical exam
requirements. For children between 15 and 18 years of age,
the employer is required to provide for their education and
professional training and to ensure that conditions of work
are not damaging to their physical and moral development.


6. With assistance from UNICEF and a local NGO, Community
Development Foundation (FDC),the GRM undertook a legal
review of children's rights in late 2003, which resulted in
the formation of a Child Protection Committee in 2004. The
committee, comprised of child welfare organizations and
government officials, is currently finalizing a draft for a
new Statute of Assistance for Minors. (Note: The existing
statute, which determines jurisdiction for children's issues,
dates back to colonial times. End note.) The committee is
also responsible for drafting separate children's protection
legislation, which is due in December 2005.


7. For minors under 18 years the maximum workweek is 38
hours and the maximum workday is 7 hours. Minors under 18
years of age are not permitted to work in unhealthy or
dangerous occupations or those requiring significant physical
effort. Children must undergo a medical examination before
beginning work. By law children must be paid at least the
minimum wage or a minimum of two-thirds of the adult salary,
whichever is higher. The Constitution prohibits forced
labor, except in the context of penal law.


8. Due to high adult unemployment in the formal sector,
estimated at around 50 percent, few children are employed in
regular wage positions. However children, including those
under the age of 15, commonly work on family farms;
independently in seasonal harvests or commercial plantations,
where they are paid on a piecework basis, which principally
involves picking cotton or tea leaves; or in the urban
informal sector, where they perform such tasks as guarding
cars, collecting scrap metal, working as vendors, and selling
trinkets and/or food in the streets. Regulations are not
enforced in the informal labor sector. Children also are
employed as poorly paid domestic laborers, and this number
continues to increase.


9. Mozambican law does not specifically prohibit trafficking
in persons. Traffickers can be prosecuted using laws on
sexual assault, rape, abduction, and child abuse, but to
Post's knowledge no such cases have been brought to trial.
The government has responded to trafficking-related
allegations in the press by conducting follow-up
investigations and issuing public awareness announcements.
In September 2003, the government launched a program to
enhance its child protection laws, including the development
of legislation to specifically address trafficking in
children. A pilot program of police stations dedicated to
dealing with trafficking victims, and staffed with trained
officers, was implemented in Maputo, Beira and Nampula.


10. Mozambique's Campaign Against Trafficking in Children, in
which the government actively participates, is working to
establish an assistance center in Moamba for repatriated
victims of child trafficking. The project, which has
received USG funding, is located close to the border post of
Ressano Garcia, a major thoroughfare for trafficked persons.

Implementation and Enforcement of Labor Laws
--------------

11. The MOL is authorized to regulate child labor in both
the informal and formal sectors. Labor inspectors are
authorized to obtain court orders and use police to enforce
compliance with child labor provisions. Violations of child
labor provisions are punishable with fines. Enforcement
remedies generally are adequate in the formal sectors, but
remain poor in the regulation of informal child labor. The
Labor Inspectorate and police force lack adequate staff,
funds, and training to investigate child labor cases,
especially in areas outside of the capital, where many cases
occur. The government provides training for police on child
prostitution and abuse (including pornography); however,
there is no specialized child labor training for the Labor
Inspectorate. The government has disseminated information
and provided education about the dangers of child labor.


12. Education is compulsory through the age of 12. There is
a matriculation fee for each child, and children are
responsible for purchasing books and school supplies.
Children who have a certificate that testifies that their
parents' incomes are below a certain poverty level do not pay
any matriculation fees. Nevertheless, the fees and
associated costs are a significant financial burden for many
families. Enforcement of compulsory education laws is
inconsistent due to the lack of resources and the need for
additional schools.

Social Programs to Counter Child Labor
--------------

13. The MOL and other organizations have done some work on
child labor issues, but with little impact. The MOL has
developed an action plan for reducing child labor and
allocated funds to organize seminars to discuss this issue.
The first ever workshop on child labor in Mozambique's
tobacco sector organized by the Eliminating Child Labor in
Tobacco Foundation (ECLT) and FDC was held in May 2004 in
Chimoio, Manica province. Following two days of intense
debate, there was widespread recognition that child labor
exists in Mozambican tobacco farms and that the issue needs
to be properly addressed. Commercial farmers who attended
pledged not to employ labor below the age of 18. The trade
union movement in Mozambique has been involved in the
eradication of child labor. The Confederation of Trade
Unions (OTM) has participated in several initiatives against
child labor particularly in rural areas where it is common.
Activities have included participation in seminars and
workshops and in the design of the child labor regulations.


14. The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of International
Labor Affairs (ILAB) intends to fund USD 3 million to improve
access to and quality of education programs as a means to
combat exploitive child labor in Mozambique. Projects funded
under this solicitation will provide educational and training
opportunities to children as a means of removing and/or
preventing them from engaging in exploitive work or the worst
forms of child labor.


15. The GRM also has programs aimed at supporting children
from impoverished families to stay in school and away from
the labor market and the worst forms of child labor. For
example, the GRM has established a scholarship program to
cover the costs of school materials and fees for children.
These programs are especially targeted at young girls and
child-headed households, a phenomenon resulting from the high
prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Mozambique.

National Policy and Plan of Action
--------------

16. The GRM's Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2001-2005
includes an education investment component. The GRM
designated approximately 4.5 percent of its total
expenditures for education in 2004, up from 2.41 percent in

2003. The Ministry of Education has made significant
progress in increasing enrollments at all levels; however,
significant challenges remain. In 2004, 73.2 per cent of
primary school age girls were enrolled in primary education
in Mozambique compared to 78.0 per cent of boys. Completion
rates are still much lower, especially for girls. In 2003,
only 38.7 per cent of children starting school managed to
pass the exam after grade 5. For girls the figure was only
35.4 per cent. Over the next five years the government wants
to increase enrollment rates to 80 percent overall and to 78
percent for girls. The GRM's program envisages 2,500 new
secondary school classrooms by 2009, and the recruitment of
7,000 new teachers. The program also promises to improve the
quality of education at all levels by investing in teacher
training and school equipment, by increasing the amount of
time children spend at school, and by systematically updating
the curriculum.


17. The Government of Mozambique and UNICEF signed a Master
Plan of Operations in 2002. The overall goal of the
co-operation between UNICEF and the GRM is to support and
strengthen the capacities of the country to fulfill the basic
rights of children and to improve their living conditions and
prospects. The UNICEF country program is worth USD 86
million for the years 2002 to 2006. It is guided by the
Convention on the Rights of Children and the Convention on
the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. To achieve
its goals, UNICEF is working with the GRM on a national,
provincial and district level, as well as with young people
and children in the community.

18. Mozambique's government-run TV channel, TVM, is
introducing a new program dedicated to child rights called
"Roda Viva." The main objective of the program is to cover
activities related to the second National Child Parliament,
which was held in April 2004 in Maputo, and will include
reports from different provinces about the follow up to the
recommendations adopted at the National Child Parliament.
The program is being produced in close collaboration between
UNICEF and the Ministry for Women and the Coordination of
Social Action. UNICEF has supported the production of the
first 13 parts financially and technically, and will
facilitate the coverage from additional provinces in 2005.
La Lime