EFFORTS TO ERADICATE CHILD LABOR IN NICARAGUA

UNCLAS MANAGUA 001609 SIPDIS SENSITIVE SIPDIS DEPT FOR WHA/CEN AND DRL E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PHUM PGOV KDEM KCRM KWMN NU SUBJECT: EFFORTS TO ERADICATE CHILD LABOR IN NICARAGUA ¶1. (U) SUMMARY: On June 14, Foreign Affairs Officer and POL Intern met with Bertha Rosa Guerra, International Labor Organization (ILO) Nicaragua National Coordinator for the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC). Guerra believes that due to recent coordinated efforts by various public and private actors, the incidence of child labor appears to be decreasing in Nicaragua. More efforts need to be undertaken, particularly in sensitizing government officials and private actors to what constitutes child labor, including the use of child domestic workers, and to the reality that child labor is an economic development constraint as well as a human rights issue. As a public education tool, IPEC sponsored on June 20, a widely attended performance at the Teatro Nacional Ruben Dario, entitled "El Trabajo Infantil No Es Un Juego" (Child Labor is Not a Game). END SUMMARY. ALLEGED SPECULATION ABOUT INCIDENCE OF CHILD LABOR - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶2. (U) On June 14, Foreign Affairs Officer and POL Intern met with Bertha Rosa Guerra, International Labor Organization (ILO) Nicaragua National Coordinator for the International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC). (Note: The IPEC program receives ongoing U.S. Government support. End Note.) The meeting began with a discussion of a June 2006 La Prensa article stating that informal child labor was increasing in Nicaragua. Guerra opined that the article's assertion was speculative, and merely reflected the opinion of its author. She also discussed the current ILO campaign and report entitled "La Eliminacion del Trabajo Infantil: Un Objecto a Nuestro Alcance" (The Elimination of Child Labor: A Goal Within Our Reach),arguing for the eradication of the worst forms of child labor by 2016, as a practical reality, at least in Latin America. APPARENT DECLINE IN CHILD LABOR - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶3. (U) According to Guerra, a new survey produced by the Nicaraguan National Statistics Institute (INEC),based on information gathered in November 2005, and to be released within the next few weeks, will offer hard data. She commented that there is virtually no child labor in the country's formal sector and that unofficial statistics indicate that in Nicaragua, child labor has decreased by six percent. In explaining how this decrease had been realized, she stated that there has been a strong coordinated effort by all economic, social and political sectors channeled through the multi-sector National Commission on Child Labor. ¶4. (U) The Commission, which includes government ministries, local NGOs specializing in children's issues, the business community, trade unions, and international humanitarian organizations such as UNICEF, CARE and Save the Children has undertaken a concerted effort to raise awareness of the problem in Nicaragua and focus on eradicating it. She underscored the importance of international donor technical assistance and financial support in enabling the effort to be a success. However, she stressed that there is a greater need for coordination and cooperation among international donors to integrate their development programs in the area of child labor. AN ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT CONSTRAINT AND HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶5. (U) Guerra highlighted that public and private actors still need to develop an understanding that child labor is not simply a human rights issue, but is also a serious economic development constraint, impacting on the long-term prosperity of Nicaragua. Of Nicaragua's youth, only 48% attend school, and among these young people, 18% do not attend regularly. She pointed out that a country that ignores this problem is compromising its future. Child laborers are less likely to get decent schooling and thus will have limited opportunities to be exposed to important educational and socialization concepts that are requisites for the effective functioning of participatory democracy, such as respect for the rule of law and civic virtues. Children who must spend their time working have less ability and less inclination to be imaginative, ambitious or forward thinking, which are essential to moving Nicaragua into the future as a modern nation, she said. ¶6. (U) In identifying the worst forms of child labor, Guerra gave the following information, based on her reading of the provisions of ILO Convention 182 on the elimination of the worst forms of child labor: sexual exploitation; using children for drug trafficking; trafficking children for any form of labor; slavery or similar activities (which could include child domestic workers); child soldiers; and, forms of labor that endanger the physical, social, psychological or moral well-being of the child. Each national government decides what forms of labor shall be identified for category "six" for its country and reports that information to the ILO. On July 28, the Nicaraguan Ministry of Health is scheduled to release the nation's list of dangerous working conditions. Guerra said that all of the above categories of worst forms of child labor, except the use of children as soldiers, occur at present in Nicaragua. "HIJOS DE CRIANZA" AND OTHER "INVISIBLE" CHILD LABORERS - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶7. (SBU) On child domestic workers, which Guerra characterized as a widespread, but often "invisible" problem, she opined that the phenomenon is a cultural issue connected with class relations and with changing people's mindsets. There has been a law reform proposal in the National Assembly since 2005 to restrict the circumstances by which children below 14 years are allowed to live in other people's homes as "Hijos de Crianza." The reform would prohibit anyone under 14 years of age from working in the home of someone other than his/her own family. Due to other political priorities, Guerra said that the National Assembly has not yet passed the bill. She also remarked that due to the technical, financial, and personnel weaknesses of the Ministry of Family and the Ministry of Labor, the National Commission on Child Labor has not placed sufficient emphasis on addressing the situation of children working on the streets, especially in Managua. She felt that the phenomenon of child street workers is invisible to many urban inhabitants. "EL TRABAJO INFANTIL NO ES UN JUEGO:" ENTERTAINMENT TO EDUCATE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ¶8. (U) On June 20v Foreign Affairs Officer and POL Intern attended the IPEC sponsored performance at the Teatro Nacional Ruben Dario, entitled "El Trabajo Infantil No Es Un Juego." The audience included representatives from other governments, local NGOs, international development and humanitarian organizations including Save the Children and CARE and large numbers of adults and school-age children. The Nicaraguan Ministers of Health, Family, and Labor were present. The entertainment included a dialogue by two Nicaraguan comedians on abstinence before marriage and the importance of educating one's children to give them a better future, as well as Nicaraguan historical and regional music and dance performances given by former child laborers and their families. ¶9. (U) The high-profile event also featured speeches on eradicating child labor, by the Nicaraguan Ministry of Labor, and by Guillermo Dema Rey, Sub-regional Coordinator for the IPEC Program. While noting concrete advances made in Nicaragua through the coordination activities of the National Commission for the Eradication of Child Labor, and through inclusion of eradicating child labor in the national development plan, Dema Rey underscored what he indicated remained major challenges in order to achieve the goal of a "Nicaragua without child labor." He stated that Nicaragua continues to require substantial technical and financial support from IPEC to reach this objective. ¶10. (U) Among the most urgent challenges Dema Rey noted are: the need for direct intervention in preventing and eradicating the problem in economic sectors, such mining and stone quarrying, agriculture, forestry, and fishing, especially in the Caribbean area; and in implementing a national policy on solid waste to prevent children from working at dangerous waste facilities around the country. He stressed the need for integrating all national public policies toward the goal of preventing and eradicating child labor and in clearly incorporating child labor as one of the country's poverty indicators. He highlighted the great need to incorporate awareness about child labor and sexual exploitation of children in national educational efforts beginning at the pre-school level. Dema Ray also called for the creation of new national plan to prevent and eliminate child labor for the period 2006-2016, in line with the ILO's international public goal of eliminating child labor worldwide by 2016. BRENNAN