Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
05YEREVAN1550
2005-08-25 12:28:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Yerevan
Cable title:  

ARMENIA: EXPLOITIVE CHILD LABOR REMAINS RARE

Tags:  ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI AM USAID GTIP ILO 
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UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 YEREVAN 001550 

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN AND DRL/IL-LAUREN HOLT
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI AM USAID GTIP ILO
SUBJECT: ARMENIA: EXPLOITIVE CHILD LABOR REMAINS RARE

REF: A) STATE 143552 B) YEREVAN 1387 C) 04 YEREVAN 1838

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 YEREVAN 001550

SIPDIS

SENSITIVE

DEPT FOR EUR/CACEN AND DRL/IL-LAUREN HOLT
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI AM USAID GTIP ILO
SUBJECT: ARMENIA: EXPLOITIVE CHILD LABOR REMAINS RARE

REF: A) STATE 143552 B) YEREVAN 1387 C) 04 YEREVAN 1838


1. (U) Sensitive but unclassified. Please protect
accordingly.

--------------
SUMMARY
--------------


2. (SBU) In March 2005, the Armenian National Assembly
adopted and President Robert Kocharian signed legislation
that established the State Labor Inspectorate, a new
government agency responsible for implementing and enforcing
Armenia's new Labor Code. The Labor Code, enacted July 12
and drafted to meet International Labor Organization (ILO)
standards (ref B),prohibits child labor but conflicts with
several articles of Armenia's existing civil and criminal
codes. An interagency working group tasked with
synchronizing the laws and setting the Labor Inspectorate on
course plans to submit its findings in December 2005.
Bonded, arduous, or exploitive child labor is very rare in
Armenia. The high demand for employment, especially for
unskilled workers, and the Armenian cultural premium on
family make it unlikely that employers would force valuable
or hazardous jobs on children. While conventional bonded or
slave child labor may not be a significant problem in
Armenia, we have encouraged the GOAM to take more active
measures to protect women from trafficking (ref C) and sexual
exploitation. The GOAM has never prosecuted a case of
exploitive child labor, and maintains that it is not a
problem in Armenia. End Summary.

--------------
ARMENIA: EXPLOITIVE CHILD LABOR RARE
--------------


2. (SBU) The following responses are keyed to Ref A and
update Ref B.

A) Laws against the worst forms of child labor:

-In 2005, Armenia ratified three international instruments on
the protection and promotion of children's rights: the
Optional Protocol to the Convention of the Rights of the
Child (CRC) on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and
Pornography (February 28),the Optional Protocol to the CRC

on the involvement of children in armed conflict (March 21),
and International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention 182 on
the worst forms of child labor (March 22).

-Armenia's new labor code, adopted November 9, 2004, and
enacted July 12, 2005, incorporates the CRC protocols and ILO
Convention 182, prohibits child labor (Article 17, Section
1),sets the minimum age for employment at 14 years old
(Article 17, Section 2),and prohibits exceptions to the
minimum age requirements (Article 17, Section 3). Children
14 to 16 years old must also obtain permission from a parent
or guardian to work (Article 17, Section 2).

-Under the new labor law, children under 18 years old are
prohibited from working in hazardous conditions (Article 257,
Sections 1-4),though the law does not adequately define
those conditions. The Government has not developed a list of
occupations considered to be among the worst forms of child
labor.

-The Armenian Criminal Code, adopted April 11, 2003, does not
specifically address the "worst forms of child labor," but
punishment for exploitive child labor includes: human
trafficking (one to eight years imprisonment and fines under
Section 7, Chapter 20, Article 132),involving minors in
prostitution (one to six years imprisonment and fines under
Section 7, Chapter 20, Article 166),child trafficking (three
to seven years imprisonment and fines under Section 7,
Chapter 20, Article 168),disseminating and involving minors
in child pornographic material (two to four years
imprisonment and fines under Section 9, Chapter 25, Article
263).

-The minimum age for completing educational requirements in
Armenia varies according to the age at which the child first
enrolled in school. Generally, however, primary and basic
education is compulsory to age 14. UNICEF's 2004 Armenia
report asserted that 25 percent of children in Armenia did
not continue studies after eighth grade.

B) Regulations for implementation and enforcement of
proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor:

-On March 24, 2005, the Armenian National Assembly adopted
and President Robert Kocharian signed legislation that
established the State Labor Inspectorate, a new government
agency with responsibility for implementing and enforcing
Armenia's new labor code. On April 19, 2005, the State Labor
Inspectorate officially replaced the Monitoring and
Inspections Department of the State Social Insurance Fund.
The Monitoring and Inspections Department had neither
received nor investigated a single child labor complaint
since its establishment in 1992.

-According to State Labor Inspectorate Director Arsen
Grigoryan, staff from the now-defunct State Social Insurance
Fund Monitoring and Inspections Department transferred to the
new State Labor Inspectorate. The Labor Inspectorate will
maintain ten regional field offices, but has made little
progress toward establishing a support infrastructure,
implementing an inspection regime or sifting through the
requirements of the new labor code. The new agency -- which
resembles the old department -- has not designated specific
inspectors to specialize in child labor issues and has not
received any child labor complaints.

-During a USG-sponsored workshop in May 2005, GOAM officials
drafted the Inspectorate's mission statement, designed the
Labor Inspectorate's departmental structures, and identified
timelines for training inspectors. USAID also sponsored a
study tour for eight State Labor Inspectorate officials to
visit their counterparts in Bulgaria.

-According to UNICEF child protection officer Naira
Avetisyan, the new labor code -- which is based on
international protocols and European Union standards --
conflicts with existing Armenian legislation, has ambiguous
enforcement mechanisms, and is rife with technical errors.
The new Labor Inspectorate, she says, will require "some
time" to "wade through" its new duties.

-Head of the Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs Department
of Women, Family and Children Lala Ghazaryan told us her
department drafted the child labor section of the new labor
code, but that the language was "too general to be
effective." Minister of Labor Aghvan Vardanyan, according to
Ghazaryan, signed a memorandum in August establishing an
interagency commission that will now revise the legislation.
Ghazaryan predicted the commission would submit
recommendations to the National Assembly "by around December"

2005.

-According to Armenian Human Rights Ombudsman Larissa
Alaverdyan, none of the 850 written human rights complaints
she received this year included cases of child labor.
Armenian National Police Juvenile Police Division Head Nelly
Duryan said none of the 280 juvenile police officers she
manages had investigated any cases related to child labor.

C) Social programs to prevent children from engaging in the
worst forms of child labor:

-According to official Ministry of Education statistics,
approximately ten thousand Armenian children are currently
enrolled in special state-run boarding schools and
orphanages, where the GOAM provides education and food free
of charge. Approximately nine hundred children reside in
state orphanages. The remaining nine thousand reside in 53
special boarding schools. UNICEF-Armenia child protection
officer Naira Avetisyan said approximately eight thousand of
these enrollees are registered with the Ministry of Education
as disabled.

-Ministry of Labor and Social Affairs Social Support
Department Head Astghik Minasyan confirmed press reports that
the GOAM has begun issuing one-time allowances of AMD 20,000
(approximately USD 43) to approximately five thousand needy
families. The program, which began August 22, 2005, is
intended to provide families with assistance in purchasing
clothing and school supplies for their primary school-aged
children.

-Armenian NGO "Orran" maintains a home for approximately
sixty orphaned and abandoned children, including children
rescued from Armenian streets. According to Executive
Director Heriknaz Harutunyan, none of the children for which
her NGO provides assistance had been victims of exploitive
child labor, though we know that many had been street
prostitutes.

-"Orran" NGO Executive Director Heriknaz Harutunyan estimates
that approximately fourteen thousand Armenian children do not
attend school because their families lack funds for basic
supplies, clothing, and food. In 2002, the last year UNICEF
compiled data on homelessness in Armenia, UNICEF reported the
Ministry of Interior had identified 135 "children living and
working in Armenian streets." UNICEF-Armenia child
protection officer Naira Avetisyan says the number of
children currently "living and working" in the streets in
2005 is "about the same."

-The NGO Fund for Armenian Relief (FAR) maintains a
Children's Reception Center that shelters, assesses, and
refers "troubled and vulnerable" children to special
institutions including state-run boarding schools and
orphanages. Acting Director Sarkis Movsisyan told us that,
since 2000, the Armenian National Police have referred more
than 900 children to the center. According to Movsisyan,
some parents or family members had charged fees to
"customers" for the minors' "sexual services." Juvenile
Police officers and state social workers work with the
children to develop criminal cases and provide social
services.

D) Comprehensive policies designed to eliminate the worst
forms of child labor:

-On February 23, 2005, Foreign Minister Vartan Oskanian and
UNICEF Representative Sheldon Yett signed the Program of
Cooperation between the Government of Armenia and UNICEF
2005-2009 Action Plan. The Action Plan defines the current
situation of children and women in Armenia, lists "lessons
learned" from past cooperation, defines national priorities
and "social programs for disadvantaged groups, including
children and women," lists child protection measures the GOAM
should implement, and defines the partnership strategy and
commitments. The GOAM-UNICEF Action Plan tracks goals
enumerated in the National Plan of Action for the Protection
of the Rights of the Child (ref B and C),adopted in November

2002.

E) Armenia's continued progress toward eliminating the worst
forms of child labor: There are no significant exploitive
child labor problems in Armenia.
EVANS