Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07MONTEVIDEO1026
2007-12-07 19:10:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Montevideo
Cable title:  

URUGUAY: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR INFORMATION

Tags:  ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID UY 
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VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMN #1026/01 3411910
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071910Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7807
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0506
UNCLAS MONTEVIDEO 001026 

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER
DRL/IL FOR TU DANG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID UY
SUBJECT: URUGUAY: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR INFORMATION
FOR MANDATORY CONGRESSIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

REF: STATE 158223

UNCLAS MONTEVIDEO 001026

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER
DRL/IL FOR TU DANG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID UY
SUBJECT: URUGUAY: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR INFORMATION
FOR MANDATORY CONGRESSIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS

REF: STATE 158223


1. Per reftel, post submits the following report on worst
forms of child labor in Uruguay, formatted as requested.

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Begin Report
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A) Laws and regulations proscribing the worst forms of child
labor

The law sets the minimum age for employment at 15 years.
Adolescents between 15 and 18 years require government
permission to work and must undergo physical exams to
identify possible exposure to job-related physical harm.
Permits are not granted for hazardous, fatiguing, and night
work. The government grants work permission to minors only
if they have finished 9 years of compulsory education or who
are enrolled in school and are completing compulsory
education. An exception can be granted for minors ages 13
through 15 to engage in cultural or artistic activities.
Minors are not allowed to work for more than 6 hours per day
within a 36-hour work week. Minors have to rest 1 day a week,
preferably Sunday, and cannot work between the hours of 10
p.m. and 6 a.m.

Violations of child labor laws are punishable by fines.
Parents or adults responsible for working children may be
subject to imprisonment of 3 months to 4 years.

Forced or compulsory labor, including by children, is
prohibited by law. The Uruguayan legal system addresses
sexual exploitation, prostitution, and trafficking involving
minors and provides prison terms ranging from 2 to 12 years.
The minimum age for voluntary military conscription is 18
years. There is no compulsory military conscription.

In compliance with its ratification of ILO Convention 182,
the GOU's National Committee for the Eradication of Child
Labor (CETI) compiled and maintains a list of the fifty most
hazardous jobs. The Ministry of Labor presides over CETI, and
the National Institute for Adolescents and Children (INAU)
bears primary responsibility for its Executive Secretariat.

B) Regulations for implementation and enforcement of

proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor

The Ministry of Labor's Inspector General is the GOU's
foremost authority designated to implement and enforce child
labor laws. Responsibilities for implementation and
enforcement of child labor laws are shared with other
government agencies. In practice, INAU bears primary
responsibility for implementing policies to prevent and
regulate child labor and to provide training on child labor
issues. INAU works with the Ministry of Labor to investigate
complaints of child labor and with the Ministry of the
Interior to prosecute cases. INAU currently has 6 inspectors
focused specifically on child labor issues. They conduct
approximately 2,400 inspections per year, and impose
sanctions in approximately 5 percent of the cases. Officials
noted that companies out of compliance have a grace period of
ten days to address cited infractions before sanctions are
applied. Most inspectors are assigned to the capital city of
Montevideo, which at times leaves remote rural areas without
adequate coverage. The Crime Prevention Office within the
Ministry of the Interior addresses child trafficking and
maintains a database on cases related to trafficking.

The Children's Code establishes that infractions are
punishable by a fine of up to 2000 "Readjustable Units," an
index which varies based on cost of living. Punishment for
repeat offenses may include jail sentences for the child's
employer. The child's parents or guardians may be punished
with the same fine or jail time, as well as possible
limitation or revocation of guardianship of the child. The
Ministry of Labor has the authority to close down companies
if there is gross malfeasance regarding child labor.

C) Whether there are social programs specifically designed to
prevent and withdraw children from the worst forms of child
labor

In 2005 the Ministry of Social Development was created to
"formulate, execute, supervise, coordinate, program, follow
up, evaluate and coordinate strategic policies and plans for
young people, women, the family, the elderly and the
handicapped, and to attend to general social development in

response to the social emergency." Since 2005, the INAU has
worked with UNICEF and the Montevideo Municipality to develop
the "Friendly House" program for children, adolescents and
families at risk. The program is located in three Montevideo
neighborhoods and provides a safe environment for youth at
risk to engage in educational activities, rather than being
in the street.

The Infancy, Adolescence and Family Program ("INFAMILIA")
under the Ministry of Social Development (financed by an IDB
loan and GOU funds) is aimed at improving the living
conditions and social insertion of children, adolescents, and
their families at social risk. The program began in 2003 and
will end in 2009. It divides the country in 75 areas of risk
and coordinates the efforts of the public and private sectors
and fosters community involvement. Infamilia is part of the
Comite de Coordinacion Estrategica created in 2005 to
centralize and coordinate government agencies efforts to
improve the living conditions of children and adolescents.
To date, Infamilia has provided services to 1,400 children
living in the streets, resulting in 40% of them returning
from the streets and enrolling in education.

The National Plan to Address the Social Emergency ("PANES")
is a poverty-fighting program targeted at the very poor,
indigents, and individuals who are not able to meet their
daily subsistence needs. The program began in 2005 and ends
in 2007. It provides a monthly subsidy, called the Citizen
Income ("Ingreso Ciudadano"),to poor families in exchange
for parents' commitment to take their children to public
medical facilities, keep their children in school, to do
community work, and seek job-training. Some of the families
receiving the subsidy have five children or more.

Beginning in early 2008, the Citizen Income will be replaced
by the Plan de Equidad (Equity Plan) introducing a similar
subsidy for families of approximately 330,000 children and
adolescents at risk. The amount per child is calculated on a
progressive scale beginning at USD 32 for the first child and
USD 45 for each adolescent. The goal of the program is to
reach 500,000 beneficiaries by 2009. Another strong program
component is educational coverage for the approximately
52,000 children ages 0-3; a specific education plan for ages
4 to 12 to include physical education in 392 urban public
schools; and a similar plan for adolescents ages 12 to 19 to
reduce school drop out. The program goals are to: 1) reduce
poverty by 5 percent; 2) reduce extreme poverty by 62
percent; and 3) reduce the impact of poverty on children and
adolescents under 18 from 45 percent to 37 percent. It is
estimated that eight out of ten children and adolescents
living in poverty under the age of eighteen will be reached
by the benefits of the program.

D) Does the country have a comprehensive policy aimed at the
elimination of the worst forms of child labor?

The Interdepartmental Commission for the Prevention and
Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation, along
with INAU, has a national plan of action against commercial
sexual exploitation of children that includes protection
measures for victims and witnesses. The plan includes
awareness raising, strengthening of legal protections,
reintegration and retention of working children in school,
and development of alternative income generation for families
of working children. Concerns exist about the lack of
resources to fully support the national action plan.

The Ministry of Education Human Rights Bureau and the
Ministry of Tourism and Sports have produced anti-trafficking
public service announcements on national television. In
2007, the Montevideo branch of the Office of International
Migration completed a four year project which is designed to
promote the creation of networks aimed at strengthening local
and regional capacities to fight human trafficking, child
pornography and migrant smuggling throughout the region. El
Faro, SOMOS, Arco Iris, Andenes, Claves - Juventud Para
Cristo, and BICE (Catholic technical assistance) work with
trafficking victims, including children.

The government is also participating in an IDB-financed
program within Mercosur that includes initiatives to address
child labor, reduce school attrition, and improve children's
performance in school.

The GOU is also working with ILO-IPEC and other MERCOSUR
governments to implement a regional plan to combat child
labor.

The GOU offers free lunches to needy children in all publicly
funded schools. Public school is provided free from primary
school through the university level. Schools are generally
overcrowded.

Uruguayan law mandates kindergarten, primary and secondary
education for a minimum of nine years. However, INAU
officials indicated that these regulations are not always
enforced. Enrollment is estimated at over ninety percent in
primary schools, but attendance records are poor. It is
likely that attendance levels are lower than the enrollment
rate since compulsory attendance is not regularly enforced.

E) Is the country making continual progress toward
eliminating the worst forms of child labor?

A key focus of the current Frente Amplio (Broad Front)
administration is to address issues of child labor within the
context of its overall platform to promote social justice and
egalitarianism within Uruguayan society. In part, the FA
sees the worst forms of child labor as a consequence of
social inequity. Over the past three years, it has
repeatedly and publicly committed itself to fight for the
elimination of child labor. Within the constraints of its
limited resources, the GOU has ensured that the necessary
laws are in place, that investigations of illegal child labor
cases are carried out by the Ministry of Labor and INAU.
CETI also continues to coordinate government and NGO efforts
to eliminate child labor.

In 2006, the GOU's Instituto Nacional de Estadsticas
(National Statistics Institute) released a report which
included a specific section on child labor issues related to
children between the ages of 5 and 17. Statistics from the
2006 report demonstrate that 5.4 percent of Uruguayan
children between the ages of 5 and 17 perform some sort of
work outside the home environment. Of those children who
work outside the home, 36.7 percent in Montevideo and 50.9
percent in the interior of the country perform that work
without supervision. The average age of children who leave
school in order to work outside the home is 13 years in areas
with more than 5000 residents, and 11 years of age in
smaller/rural areas. The study highlights the marked
differences between regions and notes that the phenomenon of
child labor (in this case, defined as work performed outside
the home),is concentrated primarily in children between the
ages of 12 to 17 years, wherein work seems to be a strong
alternative to secondary education.

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End Report
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Harding