TURKEY: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR INFORMATION

UNCLAS ANKARA 006652 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR DRL/IL TU DANG; DOL FOR ILAB TINA MCCARTER E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI TU SUBJECT: TURKEY: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR INFORMATION UPDATE REF: A. STATE 184972 ¶B. 05 ANKARA 5107 ¶1. Turkey continues its efforts to eliminate all forms of child labor, increasing access to basic and vocational education to improve the prospects of children currently working, and withdrawing them from employment while they are children. Post provided in September 2005 detailed information regarding Turkey's efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor (see ref b). Post provides new information and clarification of information previously provided in ref b below, in response to the request for updated information on those efforts conveyed in ref a, paragraph 8, sections A through E. ¶A. Whether Turkey has adequate laws and regulations proscribing the worst forms of child labor: -- Turkey continued to implement provisions stipulated throughout Turkish law regarding the elimination of child labor, as well as its cooperative agreement with the ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC),the commitment to which was extended in 2006 through September 2011. Turkey's efforts in this area are primarily coordinated through the GOT's Time-Bound Policy and Program Framework for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor, which is designed to totally eliminate the worst forms of child labor in Turkey within 10 years. In addition, Turkey ratified the Council of Europe's Social Charter in October 2006, which further underscores the rights of children in Turkey. ¶B. Regulations for implementation and enforcement of proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor: -- As noted last year, Turkish laws addressing the child labor issue contain implementation provisions which specifically mention public agencies in charge of implementation and monitoring. There is an Emergency Action Plan on child labor and a new nation-wide economic Development Plan -- the ninth in a series of such plans -- designed to map out GOT priorities and programs in the economic and social fields over the next seven years. This Development Plan also incorporates efforts aimed at combating the worst forms of child labor. -- The GOT continued to conduct awareness-raising and training activities for officials in charge of enforcing child labor laws. In 2006, there were Time-Bound meetings in Ankara, Bursa, and Izmir. The GOT also issued this year in both Turkish and English a publication entitled, "An Integrated Programme For the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor In the Furniture Sector in Three Provinces." It is designed to assist members of the country's labor inspectors' board in implementing and enforcing child labor laws and in making employers aware of their provisions. The publication was produced as a pilot project. It will serve as a reference guide as well as a basis for more comprehensive guides the government hopes to produce covering other economic sectors where child labor remains an issue. ¶C. Whether there are social program to prevent and withdraw children from the worst forms of child labor: -- Information provided last year remains current, with the exception that the GOT has extended care and rehabilitation services provided to children subject to the worst forms of child labor to 44 centers around the country (up from 30 in 2005). ¶D. Does the country have a comprehensive policy aimed at the elimination of the worst forms of child labor: -- Information provided last year on the Time-Bound Program remains current. ¶E. Is the country making continual progress toward eliminating the worst forms of child labor: -- New data on this issue remain difficult to find. Official figures from Turkey's State Statistics Institute are dated and have not been collected in recent years due to budget cutbacks. The Child Labor Unit in Turkey's Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MOLSS) has been pressing for more detailed, up-to-date information in order to close the knowledge gap as to the nature, magnitude, consequences and emerging trends in Turkey's effort to combat the worst forms of child labor. According to MOLSS officials, the State Statistics Institute has responded by initiating a new collection effort in this area in 2006, which should be completed and made public in 2007. Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ WILSON