Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06KATHMANDU817
2006-03-27 11:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Kathmandu
Cable title:  

UPDATE ON DEPT OF LABOR-FUNDED PROJECTS IN NEPAL

Tags:  ELAB ECON KOCI SMIG KWMN NP 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0001
OO RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKT #0817/01 0861135
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 271135Z MAR 06
FM AMEMBASSY KATHMANDU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0882
INFO RUEHBJ/AMEMBASSY BEIJING PRIORITY 4095
RUEHLM/AMEMBASSY COLOMBO PRIORITY 4363
RUEHKA/AMEMBASSY DHAKA PRIORITY 9446
RUEHIL/AMEMBASSY ISLAMABAD PRIORITY 2346
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON PRIORITY 3753
RUEHNE/AMEMBASSY NEW DELHI PRIORITY 9426
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
-------

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