CHAD: 2005 CHILD LABOR UPDATE

UNCLAS NDJAMENA 001367 SIPDIS DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/C, INR, DRL/IL FOR LAUREN HOLT; LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICAWATCHERS; DOL FOR TINA MCCARTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI CD USAID SUBJECT: CHAD: 2005 CHILD LABOR UPDATE REF: A. STATE 143552 ¶B. 04 NDJAMENA 1343 ¶C. NDJAMENA 386 ¶D. NDJAMENA 387 ¶1. (U) Summary: The Chadian Government continues to move ahead on its commitments against child labor. Its efforts are hampered by a lack of capacity and resources. The most significant development during this period is the completion of a survey of child domestic workers in N'Djamena. Per A, post submits the following update on child labor in Chad. This information supplements information already provided in Refs B-D. End Summary. ¶A. LEGAL REGIME: The Government is harmonizing its legal code to conform with ILO 182 and 138, which includes revising relevant government decrees. These changes include increasing the penalty for employing children under 14. In addition, legal changes concerning the prostitution of minors included increasing the penalty to 5-10 years in prison and a fine between 200 and 2,000 USD were completed during the reporting period. ¶B. REGULATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF LEGAL REGIME: The Ministry of Labor lacks resources to increase the number of labor inspectors. Chad's judicial system remains weak and backlogged. Prosecution of labor cases is rare. However, in May, a Chadian man was arrested in Cameroon for forcing two children to beg. The Chadian police had been investigating the perpetrator, a Chadian, and assisted Cameroonian authorities in his arrest. ¶C. SOCIAL PROGRAMS AND WITHDRAWAL OF CHILDREN FROM THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR: The Chadian Government remains heavily dependent on international and non-governmental organizations on children's issues. Lack of shelter facilities remains a problem. Nonetheless, 256 child herders were rescued by a combinations of non-governmental organizations, local authorities, and religious institutions. During the reporting period, other children in similar exploitative labor situations have been recovered by the military, police, and non-governmental organizations. In some of these cases, local magistrates, judges, local officials, or police commanders provided shelter and protection for the children. Otherwise, religious institutions provide temporary shelter. The Catholic-church backed Justice and Peace Commission rescues child herders and works with local government authorities to counsel parents and determine whether the children can return home. A Koranic School program, financed by a wealthy sheik and sanctioned by the Supreme Council of Muslims provides food, education, and shelter to 52 children sent by their parents to seek employment in N'Djamena. The school provides an alternative to begging. ¶D. COMPREHENSIVE POLICY TO ELIMINATE CHILD LABOR: Chad has an Action Plan to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor. It will be revised to accommodate recommendations from a a UNICEF-funded survey of child domestic workers that was completed in February 2005. The study provided the first systematic examination of child workers between the ages of five and eighteen. The study also explored the process through which the children are placed in exploitative situations. In the majority of cases, poverty was cited as the key reason for seeking domestic employment. The majority of child workers (62 percent) were boys. Young girls migrate to N'Djamena from southern Chad to earn money to afford to buy cooking utensils and other household items in preparation for marriage in the villages. Most children who migrate into N'Djamena for work come from southern Chad, Logone Occidental and Oriental and Mandoul. Twenty-four percent of working children are between the ages of eight and fourteen. Sixty-eight percent were between fifteen and seventeen years of age. Thirty-one percent of the child workers were never enrolled in school. Eighty-six percent could not read or write any language. Eleven percent could read or write French and two percent could read or write in Arabic. Most children left school for financial reasons, some for problems in schools, and a few to seek apprenticeships. The report's recommendations include: universal access to free education, stabilization of family situations, enforcement of government regulations prohibiting children from working, a multi-ministerial anti-child labor campaign in the countryside, and protection measures that include centers for exploited children. ¶E. PROGRESS TOWARD ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOR: Various Government ministries (Labor, Social Action and Family, and Education) are inching forward on the efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor. Extreme poverty, continued problems in the educational sector, and lack of capacity and resources are significant obstacles to their efforts. In conjunction with UNICEF, the Government has focused on prevention activities. Several ministries have held awareness-raising and training events, which have included trips outside N'Djamena as well as sensitization of the country's lawmakers. The ministries supported the efforts of a DOL-funded researcher to complete a survey on government actions against the worst forms of child labor. The Ministry of Social Action held a conference with Muslim leaders on the plight of the mouhadjir children forced to beg by Islamic leaders. This year, the ministry is planning a baseline survey of child prostitution in the oil-producing area. - - - - COMMENT - - - - ¶2. (U) To date, the Government's efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor have focused on laying the legal foundation for honoring its commitments to international conventions aimed at protecting children. Current priorities include completing studies aimed at identifying the scope, magnitude, and causes of the worst forms of child labor in Chad. Its next challenge includes finding the resources for nationwide campaigns against child labor in the schools, villages, and streets of Chad's major cities. Post works closely with directorate-level government personnel responsible for children's issues and will continue to seek ways to find financial and material support for the government's fight against child labor. TAMLYN NNNN