TANZANIA: NO EVIDENCE OF FORCED OR CHILD LABOR IN THE

UNCLAS DAR ES SALAAM 000413

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DOL ILAB FOR RRIGBY
DEPT DRL/ILCSR FOR MMITTELHAUSER
ALSO G/TIP FOR SSTEINER, AF/E FOR JLIDDLE
NAIROBI FOR REGIONAL LABOR OFFICER
JUSTICE ICITAP FOR EBEINHART, OPDAT FOR JSILVERWOOD

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM ELAB ETRD SOCI TZ
SUBJECT: TANZANIA: NO EVIDENCE OF FORCED OR CHILD LABOR IN THE
PRODUCTION OF GOODS

REF: STATE 043120


1. (U) Post has neither record nor evidence of the use of child
labor or forced labor in the production of goods in Tanzania.


2. (SBU) According to ILO and ILO-IPEC officials in Dar es Salaam,
quantifiable evidence of child or forced labor in the production of
goods in Tanzania is difficult to establish. While rumors have
circulated that minors may be used as "snake boys" for the mining of
tanzanite, neither ILO nor post has evidence to verify reports of
child or forced labor in the mining or cutting of tanzanite or the
use of child and/or forced labor in the production of other goods.



3. (SBU) We note that USG-funded programs in FY 2006-07 to reduce
trafficking in persons (TIP),including the International Office of
Migration's (IOM) awareness raising campaigns, and nation-wide
programs in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar by the U.S. Department of
Justice to train police, immigration and state prosecutors in
anti-TIP measures, have had the added effect to raise awareness
about forced and child labor. In addition, the Parliament of
Tanzania passed a new, comprehensive anti-TIP law in April 2008. In
urban areas, public opinion has swung to consider it to be
unacceptable to utilize child or forced labor for services or in the
production of goods.


4. (U) Since May 2007, programs funded by the U.S. Department of
Labor and implemented by the non-governmental organization, Winrock,
have been underway in many rural areas of Tanzania to spread the
message that neither child nor forced labor be tolerated in
agricultural work.


5. (U) Tanzanian law establishes 14 years as the minimum age for
employment. Eligible children can only be employed to do light work
not considered harmful to their health and development. The law
also stipulates that children less than 18 years cannot be crew
members on a ship, be employed in a mine, factory, or any other
worksite, including informal settings and agriculture, where work
conditions may be considered hazardous.


6. (U) Tanzania has ratified all eight ILO core labor conventions
including on the elimination of forced or compulsory labor, and on
abolition of child and forced labor. Tanzania ratified both
Convention 138 (Minimum Age Convention, 1973) and Convention 182
(Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention, 1999). Tanzania also
ratified ILO Convention 29 (Forced Labor convention, 1930) and
Convention 105 (Abolition of Forced Labor Convention, 1957).
Tanzania's 2004 Employment and Labor Relations Act and the Labor
Institutions Act both provide for the protection of children from
exploitation in the workplace and prohibit forced or compulsory
labor.

GREEN