UPDATE ON DEPT OF LABOR-FUNDED PROJECTS IN NEPAL

UNCLAS KATHMANDU 000817 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR SCA/INS DEPT PASS TO DOL (VROZENBERGS) E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: ELAB ECON KOCI SMIG KWMN NP SUBJECT: UPDATE ON DEPT OF LABOR-FUNDED PROJECTS IN NEPAL REF: A. KATHMANDU 629 ¶B. KATHMANDU 317 ¶C. 05 KATHMANDU 1798 ¶D. 04 KATHMANDU 1661 SUMMARY -------------- ¶1. (SBU) During a February 27 - March 7 visit to Nepal, Department of Labor (DOL) International Relations Officer Vivita Rozenbergs found a mixed picture with respect to projects geared towards addressing child labor in Nepal. The regional anti-trafficking and child Timebound program executed by the International Labor Organization's International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC),scheduled to end in August 2006, had achieved less than hoped. ILO-IPEC will begin a new labor project in August 2006 to focus on the eradication of bonded child labor and rehabilitation of bonded child laborers. The private voluntary organization (PVO) World Education's Phase II of the Brighter Futures Program to combat child labor is ongoing and doing well. The Community-Based Innovations to Reduce Child Labor through Education (CIRCLE) project has ongoing education awareness projects with eight local NGOs focusing on keeping children in schools rather than working. New labor and employment policies being drafted by His Majesty's Government of Nepal (HMGN) are targeted at reducing child labor and poverty. The Nepal Trade Union Congress explained that its non-formal education project also worked to unionize child laborers' parents, but questioned the impact of U.S. government funding to combat child labor. End Summary. BACKGROUND ON CHILD LABOR AND TRAFFICKING IN NEPAL -------------- -------------- ¶2. (U) In 2002, the ILO estimated that approximately 41 percent of Nepali children between the ages of 10 to 14 years were working. The majority of working children participate in the agricultural sector, while others work in the transportation, communication, or service sectors. Children work as porters, domestic servants, rag-pickers (informal recyclers),stone breakers in quarries, brick-makers, and carpet weavers (ref D). Most working children do not receive wages and often work under exploitative and hazardous conditions. While Nepal has labor laws against child labor in the formal sector, most children work in the informal sector and are not subject to legal protection. The ILO estimates that approximately 12,000 girls and women are trafficked each year from Nepal mainly for commercial sexual exploitation, while others are trafficked into domestic servitude and forced labor situations (ref A). Boys are most often trafficked into exploitative labor situations such as embroidery factories, circuses and domestic servitude. According to the local child rights non-government organization (NGO) Child Workers in Nepal Concerned Center (CWIN),there are 19 international non-government organizations (INGOs) and 157 NGOs in Nepal involved in combating child labor and trafficking in persons. ILO TIMEBOUND PROJECT ENDING, BONDED LABOR PROJECT TO BEGIN -------------- -------------- ¶3. (SBU) DOL International Relations Officer Vivita Rozenbergs visited Nepal February 27 - March 7 to ascertain the status of current and future DOL-funded projects that focus on child labor. Rozenbergs noted that Phase I of the anti-trafficking and child labor regional program run by the ILO-IPEC, called Timebound, would end in August 2006. In a meeting with Under Secretary Sanjay Khanal of the Ministry of Labor, Khanal requested that DOL fund Phase II of the Timebound program, which would continue to target the elimination of seven of the worst forms of child labor and address issues of child soldiers (ref C). Rozenbergs agreed to convey Khanal's funding request to Washington. However, Rozenbergs explained that it was unlikely DOL or any other donor would fund ILO-IPEC for Phase II of Timebound, as the Acting Director of the ILO, Pracha Vasuprasat, reported that HMGN had achieved very little during Phase I of Timebound program. Vasuprasat added that HMGN would need to show significant results for there to be any hope for ILO to attract funds to run Phase II of Timebound. Rozenbergs explained that in August 2006, ILO-IPEC would begin a project titled "Sustainable Elimination of Child Bonded Labor in Nepal." The project aims to contribute to the eradication of bonded child labor and rehabilitation of bonded child laborers in eight western districts of Nepal. WORLD EDUCATION STARTED SECOND PHASE OF PROJECT TO ELIMINATE CHILD LABOR -------------- -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Rozenbergs explained that although Phase I of the Brighter Futures Program (BFP): Combating Child Labor Through Education, executed by World Education, will finish in March 2006, DOL was providing World Education with USD 3.5 million over three years in a sole source agreement for Phase II of the BFP, that overlapped with Phase I and began in October ¶2005. The goal of Phase I of BFP was to reduce the number of children involved in six of the 16 worst forms of child labor in a total of 22 out of Nepal's 75 districts. Phase II of the BFP focuses on reducing child laborers involved in nine of the 16 worst forms of child labor (the same six from Phase I plus three additional) in a total of 27 districts. Noting he had been on project site visits with World Education officials, Khanal opined that World Education was doing important child labor work that needed to be done. COMMUNITY-BASED INNOVATIONS TO REDUCE CHILD LABOR PROGRAM CONTINUES -------------- -------------- ¶5. (SBU) Rozenbergs also visited the DOL-funded CIRCLE project that worked to build capacity of eight local NGOs to do educational awareness programs, run by non-profit international development organization Winrock International. Most of the ongoing projects of the eight NGOs involved in CIRCLE are scheduled to finish at various times in 2006. The deadline for new CIRCLE project proposals that would last through 2008 is March 24. As a CIRCLE partner, local NGO Aasaman has been successful in increasing school enrollments in eastern Nepal by conducting awareness programs about the importance of education and registering for children's birth certificates. (Note: Many children are not allowed admission to school due to lack of a birth certificate which is difficult to obtain when a child is older, but free if registered within 35 days of birth. End Note.) CWIN has conducted community-based awareness programs such as street dramas in ten districts in eastern and western Nepal about the dangers of child labor. HMGN OFFICIALS SET FORTH PRIORITIES -------------- ¶6. (SBU) In two meetings with Rozenbergs, HMGN officials reiterated HMGN's commitment to combating child labor and trafficking in persons. The officials explained that the Ministry of Labor and Transport Management had revised its national Master Plan on Child Labor in 2004 that calls for eliminating the 16 worst forms of child labor by 2009 and all forms of child labor by 2014. Nepal had also finalized its National Action Plan of Against Trafficking in Children and Women for Sexual and Labor Exploitation in 2003. The Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MWCSW) is responsible for coordinating HMGN anti-trafficking efforts in the eight action areas outlined in the plan. Sanjay Khanal explained that HMGN was drafting new labor and employment policies to address child labor and poverty alleviation. He lamented that there was still no national monitoring system for child labor statistics other than collecting information manually from NGOs and HMGN's Social Welfare Council. Hari Prasad Mainali, Under Secretary at the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Welfare (MWCSW),explained that MWCSW priorities included trafficking of children, domestic child labor, and child rag-pickers. TRADE UNION INVOLVED IN INFORMAL EDUCATION TO UNIONIZE PARENTS -------------- -------------- ¶7. (SBU) In a meeting with Laxman Basnet, President of the Nepal Trade Union Congress (NTUC),Basnet explained that NTUC's involvement in the non-formal education sector was one avenue used to unionize working children's parents. Basnet stated that, through the Timebound program, NTUC had provided two hours a day of informal education to 500 child bricklayers. He said that NTUC used the interaction with the children's parents, who were also bricklayers, to try and unionize them. The NTUC President asserted that, under existing Nepali law, no workers, to include adults, benefited from real protections so that it was not possible for NTUC to prevent children from working. He opined that if an employee complained about child laborers in the workplace that the boss would likely fire the complainee. HMGN labor law sets the minimum age for employment at 14, and permits children aged 14-16 to work only six hours a day in non-hazardous jobs. End Note.) Basnet commented that he thought awareness projects were most effective in combating child labor. He cautioned that U.S. government funding for ILO was not having a proportionate impact for the amount of money provided. COMMENT -------------- ¶8. (SBU) It was evident from Rozenbergs' meetings with the ILO that the Timebound Program has struggled at times over the last four years. World Education and Winrock have done well with the BFP and CIRCLE programs respectively. The elimination of the worst forms of child labor in Nepal, however, remains a formidable challenge. ¶9. (U) Vivita Rozenbergs did not clear this cable. MORIARTY