2006 MOROCCO UPDATE OF THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR

UNCLAS CASABLANCA 000016 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB CHARITA CASTRO, CHRIS CAMILLO STATE ALSO FOR DRL/IL ALFRED ANZALDURA, CHERYL CLAYTON, DRL/BA, NEA/RA, NEA/MAG, NEA/ENA, G/IWI, AND G/TIP E.O. 12958:N/A TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD EAID PHUM SOCI KWMN MO SUBJECT: 2006 MOROCCO UPDATE OF THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR REFS: (A) 05 CASABLANCA 992 (B) CASABLANCA 435 (C) CASABLANCA 530 -------------- SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION -------------- ¶1. (U) This message provides requested input for the Department of Labor's annual report on the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Host County's commitment to combat and eliminate them. It updates information provided by Post in 2005 (ref A) concerning Morocco's child labor laws and regulations, law enforcement efforts, information on violations and prosecutions, governmental, and non-governmental programs, and policies to eradicate child labor. ¶2. (U) The Government of Morocco (GOM) recognizes that there is an ongoing problem with child labor in the country. Morocco has strengthened several legal codes aimed at ending the exploitation of children. In 2004, the government passed reforms to the Family Code, the Labor Code, and the Penal Code, all of which strengthened children's rights. These laws are detailed in Post's 2004 and 2005 reports. In addition, the GOM adjusted the ages for compensatory schooling from 7-13 to 6-15 in 2000. ¶3. (U) In 2006, the GOM took significant steps to alleviate the problem of child labor. A proposed bill regulating domestic workers (ref B) is in the assessment phase and a new Child Rescue Plan of Action (ref C) is now underway. The GOM has expanded coordination with local, national, and international NGOs on various education and training programs. End Summary and Introduction. -------------- A Problem of Enforcement -------------- ¶4. (U) Morocco continues to have one of the highest rates of child labor in the Middle East and North Africa. According to the National Board of Statistics, approximately 600,000 Moroccan children, between the ages of 7-14, are employed in the labor sector. The vast majority of these children, 87 percent, come from rural areas. In addition 18 percent all of children between the ages of 12 and 14 are child laborers. ¶5. (SBU) While Morocco's Labor Code set the legal age of employment for children at 15 in 2004, according to NGO directors and Moroccan labor inspectors, no employer has ever been convicted for violating this restriction. Morocco's informal sector, where most children work, is not closely monitored by the Ministry of Labor's small cadre of labor inspectors. ¶6. (U) According to a 2004 International Labor Organization (ILO) report on child labor, child domestic workers are "perhaps the most vulnerable group of child workers" and "urban child labor poses the greatest danger to children health and well being." It is difficult to know exactly how many Moroccan girls work as domestic laborers due to the nature of the work, however, estimates reach as high as from 66,000 to 88,000. In December 2005, Human Rights Watch published "Inside the Home Outside the Law" a report on the abuse of child domestics in Morocco. The report claimed that 33 percent of all child domestics begin their employment before the age of 10 and regularly work 14 to 18 hours a day, earning as little as four cents an hour. The report also stated that these domestic workers are "highly vulnerable to physical, psychological, and sexual abuse." -------------- -------------- Government's Efforts in the Fight Against Child Labor -------------- -------------- ¶7. (U) This year the GOM announced a number of new initiatives to combat child labor. Secretary of State for Families, Children and the Handicapped, Yasmina Baddou, is the driving force behind the efforts. In January, Baddou announced that she is working with the Ministry of Labor on a bill that would ban child domestic labor. The bill will include strict penalties for employing child maids or acting as an intermediary in the hiring of underage domestics. In addition, the Ministry of Labor announced it is working in cooperation with the ILO-IPEC to develop new Child Labor Monitoring Units for the first time. Currently, the child labor law enforcement has been ostensibly covered by national labor inspectors who are neither trained in child labor law nor able to monitor the informal labor sector adequately. ¶8. (U) In May, Baddou's office announced a number of additional programs aimed at child rescue. The first, Inqad ("Rescue"),is a program aimed at ending the culture of employing child maids in Morocco. Inqad, developed with technical assistance from USDOL's child rescue program ADROS and UNICEF, is a comprehensive program involving the Ministries of Labor, Justice, and National Education, as well as the Secretariat of State for Families, Children, and the Handicapped, and the Secretariat for Literacy and Non-Formal Education. The first phase of the program, an awareness campaign using TV, radio, brochures, and the national press, is underway. The goal of the program is to change public opinion about the practice, withdraw the girls from the labor market, and successfully re-integrate them into society. ¶9. (U) The second campaign launched by Baddou's office is a project to tackle child abuse. The project will initially create five pilot units, beginning with Casablanca and Marrakech, followed by Tangier, Fes, and Laayoune. The units will provide intervention and follow up services for children who are victims of violence and exploitation. The units will all eventually offer counseling, legal guidance, psychological support, and promote children's rights. In addition to the pilot units, the GOM announced on July 19 the creation of a mobile unit for urgent social services to benefit street children. The first mobile unit was to begin operations in Casablanca in September 2006. -------------- Morocco's Street Kids -------------- ¶10. (U) Despite Morocco's efforts to protect and educate its children, the number of children living on the street appears to be increasing. According to a survey done by the Secretariat for Families, Children, and the Handicapped, there were approximately 10,000 to 14,000 children living on the streets of Morocco in 1999. However, a report by an independent UN special reporter, released on December 7, 2006, indicates the number may be as high as 600,000 (Note: While Post believes this number to be inflated, it does underscore the profundity of the situation. End Note). These children are subject to environmental and health problems, violence and sexual abuse on the street. Moreover, in 2004 Bayti, an association that houses street children in a number of cities around Morocco, claimed that 98 percent of children living on the streets are addicted to sniffing glue and other substances. ¶11. (U) While it is impossible to confirm these numbers there is no doubt that the number of street children has been on the rise and that drug abuse is an issue of concern, especially in large cities like Casablanca and Marrakech. The GOM is now designing a plan of attack to confront the problem. As part of the Nation Plan of Action, the Secretariat of Families, Children and the Handicapped is currently examining the circumstances of street children and plans to develop a nationwide prevention and treatment campaign. The ultimate goal is to reunite the street children with their families and re-integrate them into society. -------------- Education -------------- ¶12. (SBU) Access to adequate schooling is a problem for the majority of children in Morocco. It is estimated that between 2.5 and 3 million Moroccan children between the ages of 7-14 do not attend school. National statistics show that approximately 250,000 children drop out of primary school each year and another 130,000 leave middle and high school. While Moroccan law calls for mandatory attendance for children ages 6-15, according to national statistics only 86 percent of Morocco's children reach the fifth grade and approximately 20 percent graduate from high school. The situation is worse in the rural areas where attendance for girls can be as low as 20 percent. ¶13. (SBU) The reasons for low attendance in rural areas are varied. Inadequate facilities in small villages often restrict access to education, however, teacher absence also play a large role in the problem. One province reported 36,000 workdays lost due to teacher illness in 2005. There is also a great deal of anecdotal evidence, from various sources, that teachers in rural areas are absent for weeks at a time throughout the year. In addition, economic issues prevent some Moroccan children, who are unable to afford the approximately 200 dirhams (25 USD) for books and supplies, from attending class. An added factor may be that according to a recent UNICEF study, 87 percent of all Moroccan school children report that they are subject to some kind of violence in school. ¶14. (U) To help counter the problem, non-formal education has become a priority for the GOM. In December 2006, Secretary of State Literacy and non-Formal Education, Anis Birou, announced that Morocco's illiteracy rate had dropped below 40 percent, due in a large part to non-formal education. The non-formal education program in Morocco benefits not only adults but numerous adolescent drop-outs. It also targets those young students at risk of dropping out. The Ministry works with NGOs and mosques on its literacy programs. In July the GOM was awarded UNESCO's Confucius Prize for Literary in recognition of the strides it has made in raising the national literacy rates. -------------- Child Sex Tourism a Growing Problem -------------- ¶15. (U) Sexual exploitation of children is a problem in high tourism areas in Morocco. Despite statements from the GOM that it will not tolerate sex tourism, it remains a serious matter of concern in destinations like Marrakech, Tangier and Agadir. In July, Minister of Justice Mohamed Bouzoubaa reported that the number of sexual perversion and pedophilia cases registered in Moroccan courts in 2005-2006 involving foreigners and Moroccan minors increased 26 percent. ¶16. (U) Moroccan NGOs are taking the lead in the fight against the phenomenon of child sex tourism. In the last year, 25 NGOs focusing on the child abuse issue came together under an umbrella organization called "No Child is Safe." The coalition is prioritizing ending child sex tourism in Morocco. Coverage of the organization and its efforts in enhancing public awareness have been supported by the GOM. The group organized marches, rallies, and sit-ins, and used extensive press coverage to expose the mounting problem. In addition to the numerous NGOs addressing the issue, 2M, Moroccan semi-independent TV network, aired an award winning report tackling the subject of pedophilia in Morocco. Until very recently the subject was considered taboo in Morocco. -------------- Conclusions -------------- ¶17. (U) The country of Morocco has made significant progress in the recent year towards the eradication of child labor. The GOM continues to develop new guidelines to end child labor and new systems of monitoring the situation. The Ministry of Labor is working closely with numerous other ministries, including the Ministry of Education and the Secretariat of Families, Children, and the Handicapped, NGOs, and international organizations to develop a comprehensive program to attack the problem of child labor. The number of children remaining in schools is increasing, literacy rates are improving and in the last year, thousands of children have been removed from the labor market and returned to the education system through public and private programs. Awareness campaigns by the GOM and many NGOs warning the general population about the damage child labor does appear to be working to change attitudes across the country. That said, the problem of child labor persists in Morocco with an estimated 11 percent of children in the labor market as a result of weak enforcement of the good child labor legislation. ¶18. (U) Embassy Rabat has coordinated on this message. GREENE