BULGARIA 2005 CHILD LABOR UPDATE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SOFIA 001749

SIPDIS

DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER
DRL/IL FOR LAUREN HOLT

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI BU USAID
SUBJECT: BULGARIA 2005 CHILD LABOR UPDATE

REFS: (A) STATE 143552 (B) 04 SOFIA 1616


1. SUMMARY: Since our 2004 report, Bulgaria has made
significant progress in implementing a national strategy to
fight child labor abuses. The GoB has signed an agreement
with the International Labor Organization (ILO),
established a child labor unit within the Ministry of Labor
and Social Policy, and appointed a Chief Coordinator to
manage child labor issues. However, in 2004 the General
Labor Inspectorate (GLI) forwarded 84 child labor
violations to the Prosecutor's Office for prosecution under
the country's amended child labor legislation, and to date
only one employer has been sanctioned by a small fine. END
SUMMARY.

PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING GOVERNMENT PLAN


2. Officials in the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy
have emphasized to us Bulgaria's March 22, 2005, Memorandum
of Understanding with the ILO as an example of the
government's commitment to ending child labor abuses (ref
B). In accordance with the memorandum, the Ministry of
Labor and Social Policy has established a Child Labor Unit
tasked with coordination of child labor issues and
development of a national database on child labor in
Bulgaria. In addition, in May 2005 the Labor Minister
appointed a Chief Coordinator to be funded by the ILO for
one year.

WORK AHEAD: IMPROVING COORDINATION AND MONITORING


3. NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE: The ILO memorandum calls
for establishment of a National Steering Committee to be
chaired either by the Labor Minister or other high-level
government official nominated by the minister. The
committee will coordinate policies aimed at eliminating the
worst forms of child labor and will integrate the issue of
child labor into the government's overall social services
policy. On February 3, 2005, Bulgaria signed the EU Joint
Inclusion Memorandum (JIM),which will allow Bulgaria to
coordinate with the EU on child labor and other social
issues upon accession.


4. Other key initiatives of the government's strategy to
fight child labor abuse include:

--CHILD LABOR MONITORING SYSTEM: The Ministry of Labor and
Social Policy, in conjunction with other government bodies
and NGOs, will establish a child labor monitoring system to
include four centers (three in the Sofia region and one in
the municipality of Kurdzhali) to monitor child labor and
prepare training manuals for social workers;

--TRADE UNION TRAINING: ILO will translate and publish a
newsletter rade Unions and Child Labor ith the
objective of training trade union members and leaders on
the worst forms of child labor; and

--INFORMAL CHILD LABOR: The Ministry of Labor and Social
Policy and the ILO will conduct an Occupational Safety and
Health Study of children working in the informal sector and
will produce a list of prohibited types of work to serve as
a reference for child protection agencies.

MIXED ENFORCEMENT RESULTS


5. After the illegal employment of children was
criminalized in March 2004 (ref B),the GLI initiated a
comprehensive public awareness campaign to inform employers
of their duties under the new legislation. This has
included information on the GLI website, the publication of
press articles, and participation in specialized TV
programs.


6. In 2004, the Inspectorate cited 138 violations
involving youth under the age of 18 (down by 96 from 2003),
representing 0.3 percent of all employment violations.
Most labor violations involving minors were related to
small- and medium-size enterprises either employing
children without permission or failing to observe maximum
working hours for those with work permits. Of these 138
cases, GLI has forwarded 84 more serious violations to the
Prosecutor's office as violations of the amended Penal
Code. The Code allows for strict punishment, including
imprisonment for up to six months. To date, however,
Bulgarian courts have issued a sentence in only one of
these cases - a fine of 500 Bulgarian leva (USD 333).


7. As in previous years, most permits granted for legal
employment of those under the age of 18 were in the hotel
and restaurant sector, with significant numbers of permits
also issued for retail and apparel manufacturing. In 2004,
the Inspectorate received a total of 5,418 applications for
permits to employ minors, of which 5,096 were issued (1,066
permits more than in 2003).

PUBLIC AWARENESS


8. The Bulgarian government has formulated public
awareness campaigns under the ILO's International Program
on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC). These programs
focused on educating journalists, community leaders,
employers, teachers, parents, and youth clubs on the
consequences of the worst forms of child labor. Using a
train-the-trainer approach, these Children's Rights
programs focused on 80 young leaders from 10 municipalities
as well as members of school affiliates of the UN
Association of Bulgaria. These students will further
educate 1,200 students and parents. Additionally, 32
journalists received training on child labor issues in the
hope of spurring investigative reports on child labor
abuses in Bulgaria.


9. In addition to this public awareness campaign, these
programs will produce an analysis of the media coverage of
child labor issues in Bulgaria and will publish a handbook
for reporters. Participants will prepare investigative
reports on child labor related to different sectors of the
economy and will produce leaflets and posters to raise
awareness of child labor issues.


10. COMMENT: Bulgaria's constructive partnership with the
ILO underlines a greater government awareness of the need
to adequately address child labor. Spurred by the recent
agreement with the ILO, the Bulgarian government has built
new child labor administrative capacity, including improved
inter-agency coordination and a comprehensive child labor
plan. The General Labor Inspectorate appears to be
implementing its new responsibilities eagerly, and is
actively seeking to establish cooperation with appropriate
agencies in the U.S. However the GLI, the NGO community,
and the U.S. mission alike continue to be frustrated by the
slow progress in prosecuting cases of alleged child labor
abuses. END COMMENT.

BEYRLE