Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07SANTODOMINGO2697
2007-12-07 18:52:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Santo Domingo
Cable title:
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - UPDATE ON WORST FORMS OF
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 PP RUEHWEB DE RUEHDG #2697/01 3411852 ZNR UUUUU ZZH P 071852Z DEC 07 FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO TO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 9759 INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0382 RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 002697
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR DRL/IL TDANG, WHA/CAR CWARD
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB TMCCARTER,
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - UPDATE ON WORST FORMS OF
CHILD LABOR
REF: STATE 149662
UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 002697
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR DRL/IL TDANG, WHA/CAR CWARD
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB TMCCARTER,
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - UPDATE ON WORST FORMS OF
CHILD LABOR
REF: STATE 149662
1. As requested Reftel, following is an update on host
government efforts in combating the worst forms of child
labor (WFCL).
Laws and Regulations Proscribing WFCL
--------------
2. The law prohibits employment of children younger than 14
and places restrictions on employment of children under age
16. Regulations limit working hours of those between the ages
of 14 and 16, prohibit employment of those under the age of
18 in hazardous occupations, in establishments serving
alcohol, and limit nighttime work. Labor code Article 245
sets the country's minimum age of employment.
3. Article 25 of the Labor Code prohibits forced labor, child
prostitution and child pornography. The government passed an
additional law this year criminalizing the electronic
dissemination, sale, and/or purchase of child pornography.
The minimum age to join the military is 16 years old.
4. The country ratified Convention 182. The government
passed resolution 52-2004 that lists occupations that are
considered to be the worst forms of child labor.
Regulations for implementation and enforcement
-------------- -
5. Fines and legal sanctions may be applied to firms
employing underage children. While the government effectively
enforces these regulations in the formal sector, regulations
have proved inadequate in deterring child labor in the
informal sector which lies beyond regulatory reach.
Complaints are investigated by Secretariat of Labor (SET)
inspectors. The SET employed 191 labor inspectors this year
compared to 146 labor inspectors in 2006. According to the
Secretariat's statistics, they conducted roughly 69,000 total
SIPDIS
inspections as of November. These routine labor inspections
included examination of work sites for indications of child
labor. These inspections resulted in 10 findings of child
labor violations, down from 15 the previous year. The
Secretariat offered training for its inspectors to
SIPDIS
standardize criteria regarding child labor. They also
offered, in collaboration with the International Labor
Organization - International Plan to Eliminate Child labor
(ILO-IPEC),a workshop for labor inspectors in San Juan de la
Maguana about child labor.
Social programs to prevent/withdraw children from the WFCL
-------------- --------------
6. The government is collaborating with ILO-IPEC to implement
the time-bound Program to Eradicate the Worst Forms of Child
Labor. Phase Two of the program, budgeted at 25 million
pesos (approximately $750,000 USD) and targeting over 5,000
at risk youth, began December 3. Efforts will be focused in
greater Santo Domingo, the neighboring province of San
Cristobal, the southeast provinces of Azua, San Juan de la
Maguana, and Barahona, and the province of Santiago.
Additionally, DevTech Systems will lead an association of
nine NGOs and the Ministries of Youth, Education and Labor in
a program to combat the worst forms of child labor. The
program, entitled "Education/Youth Employment Public Private
Partnerships," budgets nearly $5,000,000 USD over four years
and targets roughly 8,500 children aged 6 to 17 that DevTech
estimates are at risk for or involved in exploitative labor.
Efforts will be directed toward the agricultural sector (on
the Haitian border, in the South, East and Northeast Cibao
region) and the urban informal sector, as well as toward
those children employed as domestic workers and those engaged
in or at risk for illicit work (e.g., drug trafficking,
sexual exploitation) in San Francisco de Macoris, Santo
Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, and the tourist and beach
areas of Samana, Las Terrenas, Boca Chica and the Eastern
coast.
Comprehensive Policy to Eliminate worst forms of child labor
-------------- --------------
7. Last year the National Steering Committee against Child
Labor implemented a National Strategic Plan to Eliminate the
Worst Forms of Child Labor. The Plan sets objectives,
identifies priorities, and assigns responsibilities so that
the number of child laborers in exploitative environments can
be significantly reduced by 2016. It creates municipal and
provincial committees throughout the country tasked with
developing strategies and initiatives to combat child labor
locally. As part of the Plan, the country's Agricultural
Bank has included a clause in its standard contract
forbidding loan recipients from using child labor in their
fields.
8. Education is free, universal, and in theory compulsory for
all minors through the eighth grade. Although the Ministry
of Education reported a 97 percent enrollment rate in grades
one through eight in 2004, a government study estimated that
the average grade level achieved by children in public
schools was the fifth grade in rural areas and the sixth
grade in urban areas.
Is the country making progress toward eliminating the WFCL?
-------------- --------------
9. Yes. The Dominican Government continues to work actively
with non-governmental organizations like the ILO and
contractor DevTech Systems to identify child laborers and
remove them from exploitative environments. The government
works actively with civil society and with the media to
develop and implement prevention campaigns targeting the
country's youth. One concern, however, is the large number
of children without documentation. The Central Electoral
Board (JCE) estimates that as much as twenty percent of the
general population are undocumented. Children lacking
documentation can legally attend school only through the
fifth grade.
10. As last year's Report notes, there has not been a
comprehensive, focused study on the number of child laborers
in the Dominican Republic since 2000. The Central Bank
statistics department has semi-annual reports available in
the following links.
http://www.bancentral.gov.do/estadisticas.asp
?a=Mercado de Trabajo
http://www.bancentral.gov.do/cgibin/RpWebEngi ne.exe
/PortalAction?&MODE=MAIN&BASE=
ENFTNUEVO&MAIN=WebServerMain.inl
11. According to the 2000 National Survey of the Labor Force
(ENTI) 41 percent of working children can be found in
services, followed by trade (21),agriculture (19),
manufacturing industries (11) and other (8). Post has not
encountered cases of children working in slavery, practices
similar to slavery, debt bondage, serfdom or forced
compulsory labor. Government officials and non-governmental
organizations state that minors are likely trafficked
internally for sexual exploitation, but neither the
government nor NGOs have been able to demonstrate concrete
cases of trafficking.
GOUGHNOUR
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
STATE FOR DRL/IL TDANG, WHA/CAR CWARD
DEPARTMENT OF LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB TMCCARTER,
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID DR
SUBJECT: DOMINICAN REPUBLIC - UPDATE ON WORST FORMS OF
CHILD LABOR
REF: STATE 149662
1. As requested Reftel, following is an update on host
government efforts in combating the worst forms of child
labor (WFCL).
Laws and Regulations Proscribing WFCL
--------------
2. The law prohibits employment of children younger than 14
and places restrictions on employment of children under age
16. Regulations limit working hours of those between the ages
of 14 and 16, prohibit employment of those under the age of
18 in hazardous occupations, in establishments serving
alcohol, and limit nighttime work. Labor code Article 245
sets the country's minimum age of employment.
3. Article 25 of the Labor Code prohibits forced labor, child
prostitution and child pornography. The government passed an
additional law this year criminalizing the electronic
dissemination, sale, and/or purchase of child pornography.
The minimum age to join the military is 16 years old.
4. The country ratified Convention 182. The government
passed resolution 52-2004 that lists occupations that are
considered to be the worst forms of child labor.
Regulations for implementation and enforcement
-------------- -
5. Fines and legal sanctions may be applied to firms
employing underage children. While the government effectively
enforces these regulations in the formal sector, regulations
have proved inadequate in deterring child labor in the
informal sector which lies beyond regulatory reach.
Complaints are investigated by Secretariat of Labor (SET)
inspectors. The SET employed 191 labor inspectors this year
compared to 146 labor inspectors in 2006. According to the
Secretariat's statistics, they conducted roughly 69,000 total
SIPDIS
inspections as of November. These routine labor inspections
included examination of work sites for indications of child
labor. These inspections resulted in 10 findings of child
labor violations, down from 15 the previous year. The
Secretariat offered training for its inspectors to
SIPDIS
standardize criteria regarding child labor. They also
offered, in collaboration with the International Labor
Organization - International Plan to Eliminate Child labor
(ILO-IPEC),a workshop for labor inspectors in San Juan de la
Maguana about child labor.
Social programs to prevent/withdraw children from the WFCL
-------------- --------------
6. The government is collaborating with ILO-IPEC to implement
the time-bound Program to Eradicate the Worst Forms of Child
Labor. Phase Two of the program, budgeted at 25 million
pesos (approximately $750,000 USD) and targeting over 5,000
at risk youth, began December 3. Efforts will be focused in
greater Santo Domingo, the neighboring province of San
Cristobal, the southeast provinces of Azua, San Juan de la
Maguana, and Barahona, and the province of Santiago.
Additionally, DevTech Systems will lead an association of
nine NGOs and the Ministries of Youth, Education and Labor in
a program to combat the worst forms of child labor. The
program, entitled "Education/Youth Employment Public Private
Partnerships," budgets nearly $5,000,000 USD over four years
and targets roughly 8,500 children aged 6 to 17 that DevTech
estimates are at risk for or involved in exploitative labor.
Efforts will be directed toward the agricultural sector (on
the Haitian border, in the South, East and Northeast Cibao
region) and the urban informal sector, as well as toward
those children employed as domestic workers and those engaged
in or at risk for illicit work (e.g., drug trafficking,
sexual exploitation) in San Francisco de Macoris, Santo
Domingo, Santiago, Puerto Plata, and the tourist and beach
areas of Samana, Las Terrenas, Boca Chica and the Eastern
coast.
Comprehensive Policy to Eliminate worst forms of child labor
-------------- --------------
7. Last year the National Steering Committee against Child
Labor implemented a National Strategic Plan to Eliminate the
Worst Forms of Child Labor. The Plan sets objectives,
identifies priorities, and assigns responsibilities so that
the number of child laborers in exploitative environments can
be significantly reduced by 2016. It creates municipal and
provincial committees throughout the country tasked with
developing strategies and initiatives to combat child labor
locally. As part of the Plan, the country's Agricultural
Bank has included a clause in its standard contract
forbidding loan recipients from using child labor in their
fields.
8. Education is free, universal, and in theory compulsory for
all minors through the eighth grade. Although the Ministry
of Education reported a 97 percent enrollment rate in grades
one through eight in 2004, a government study estimated that
the average grade level achieved by children in public
schools was the fifth grade in rural areas and the sixth
grade in urban areas.
Is the country making progress toward eliminating the WFCL?
-------------- --------------
9. Yes. The Dominican Government continues to work actively
with non-governmental organizations like the ILO and
contractor DevTech Systems to identify child laborers and
remove them from exploitative environments. The government
works actively with civil society and with the media to
develop and implement prevention campaigns targeting the
country's youth. One concern, however, is the large number
of children without documentation. The Central Electoral
Board (JCE) estimates that as much as twenty percent of the
general population are undocumented. Children lacking
documentation can legally attend school only through the
fifth grade.
10. As last year's Report notes, there has not been a
comprehensive, focused study on the number of child laborers
in the Dominican Republic since 2000. The Central Bank
statistics department has semi-annual reports available in
the following links.
http://www.bancentral.gov.do/estadisticas.asp
?a=Mercado de Trabajo
http://www.bancentral.gov.do/cgibin/RpWebEngi ne.exe
/PortalAction?&MODE=MAIN&BASE=
ENFTNUEVO&MAIN=WebServerMain.inl
11. According to the 2000 National Survey of the Labor Force
(ENTI) 41 percent of working children can be found in
services, followed by trade (21),agriculture (19),
manufacturing industries (11) and other (8). Post has not
encountered cases of children working in slavery, practices
similar to slavery, debt bondage, serfdom or forced
compulsory labor. Government officials and non-governmental
organizations state that minors are likely trafficked
internally for sexual exploitation, but neither the
government nor NGOs have been able to demonstrate concrete
cases of trafficking.
GOUGHNOUR