Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08GUATEMALA54
2008-01-18 23:16:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Guatemala
Cable title:  

GUATEMALA'S CHILD LABOR UPDATE

Tags:  ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID PGOV GT 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #0054/01 0182316
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 182316Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4620
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0857
UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000054

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID PGOV GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA'S CHILD LABOR UPDATE

REF: A. 07 STATE 158223

B. 07 GUATEMALA 901

The following information updates 2006 information (ref B) on
the worst forms of child labor. Responses are keyed to Ref A.


A. Laws and regulations proscribing the worst forms of child
labor:

The Guatemalan government did not promulgate any new laws on
child labor in 2007. The Guatemalan Labor Code sets the
minimum age for employment at 14 years. In exceptional
cases, the Labor Inspectorate may authorize work permits to
children under the age of 14, although such authorization is
not common. In 2007, the Inspectorate did not issue any such
permits. The legal workday for children under the age of 14
is capped at six hours per day and 36 hours per week, and
they are prohibited from working at night, overtime, or in
dangerous occupations. The minimum age for military
recruitment is 18 years. Military service is voluntary.

Guatemala's child labor laws are consistent with
International Labor Organization (ILO) standards. Guatemala
ratified Convention 182 and has developed a list of
occupations considered to be the worst forms of child labor,
as called for in the Convention.


B. Regulations for implementation and enforcement of
proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor:

Civil fines and administrative remedies are available to
government agencies that enforce child labor laws. The Labor
Code mandates sanctions for violations of labor laws,
including child labor provisions. The Penal Code
criminalizes all forms of trafficking, defines the categories
of perpetrators of trafficking offenses, and establishes
prison terms of seven to 12 years for persons found guilty of
trafficking.

The Child Workers Protection Unit of the Ministry of Labor is
charged with implementing and enforcing child labor laws and
educating minors, parents, and employers on the rights of
minors in the labor market; however, like most Guatemalan

government entities, the unit lacked resources to adequately
punish and deter violations. The extent to which complaints
were investigated and violations prosecuted was limited due
to Guatemala's weak labor inspection and labor court systems.


The 2006 budget for the Child Workers Protection Unit was
Q329,740 (approx. USD 43,400). The Ministry of Labor
employed roughly 300 labor inspectors and had a total of 37
courts of first instance (eight in the capital dedicated to
labor cases, and 29 outside the capital for both labor and
family law cases) and five appellate courts (four for labor
cases and one for both labor and family law cases). In 2006,
the Labor Inspectorate investigated four child labor cases
and 247 cases involving adolescents aged 14 to 17. (Note:
We are still awaiting official year-end 2007 statistics from
the Ministry of Labor, which we requested some time ago. We
have not yet received a response due to the recent government
transition. End note.) The Public Ministry detained 15
individuals on charges of sexual commercial exploitation of a
minor. No cases were brought against employers of children
under the age of 14.

The government, through a USG-supported NGO, provided
awareness raising and training activities for labor
inspectors responsible for enforcing labor laws, including
child labor provisions.


C. Social programs specifically designed to prevent and
withdraw children from the worst forms of child labor:

The Defense of Children's Rights Unit of the Human Rights
Ombudsman's Office and the Social Welfare Secretariat of the
QOmbudsman's Office and the Social Welfare Secretariat of the
President's Office are charged with preventing and
withdrawing children from exploitative situations.

With the cooperation of ILO's International Program on the
Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC),the government has enacted
programs to combat child labor in fireworks production,
gravel production, domestic service, trash collection, the
coffee industry, and the commercial sex industry. One of the
programs offers scholarships and free meals during the year
to encourage families to send their children to school
instead of to work.

IPEC continued operating programs as part of a seven-year
regional effort to combat commercial sexual exploitation of
minors. An international NGO collaborated with several local
civil society groups in executing a program to strengthen the
capacity of the government and civil society to prevent
children from engaging in hazardous labor.

In 2007, the Guatemalan government, in collaboration with
NGOs, conducted rescue operations throughout the year, which
resulted in the rescue of 20 sexually exploited children.
The children were sent to Casa Alianza, a shelter for street
children and child victims of abuse, for protection and
attention. Judges, national police, and the Public Ministry
referred 60 additional cases to Casa Alianza. During 2007,
Casa Alianza continued to attend to 56 cases of sexually
exploited minors, and the Secretariat of Social Welfare
attended to six cases. "Casa del Migrante," a Guatemalan
NGO-operated shelter for trafficked victims on the
Guatemalan-Mexican border, attended to 700 trafficking cases,
including cases involving minors.


D. Comprehensive policy aimed at the elimination of the
worst forms of child labor:

The Guatemalan government established a National Commission
for the Elimination of Child Labor in 2002 and has made a
public commitment to eradicate the worst forms of child labor.

The Constitution provides for free compulsory education for
all children up to the sixth grade. However, less than half
the population completed primary education. UNICEF reported
that from 2000 to 2005, 73 percent of children enrolled in
rimary school reached the fifth grade. Completionrates
were lower in rural and indigenous areas.


E. Progress toward eliminating the worst forms of child
labor:

Guatemala is making slow but continual progress toward
eliminating the worst forms of child labor. Child labor is
linked to the country's widespread poverty, especially in the
rural areas. The Ministry of Labor, based on the 2006
Employment Survey conducted by the National Institute of
Statistics, estimated that 75.4 percent of Guatemala's
workforce was employed in the informal sector. The informal
and agricultural sectors employed children under 14 years of
age, usually in small family enterprises. Economic necessity
forced most families to have their children work to
supplement family income, particularly in rural and
indigenous communities. In 2007, child labor was used in the
food processing and fresh produce industries, as well as in
flower production and fireworks production. The Ministry of
Labor estimated that approximately 3,700 children were
illegally employed in fireworks production. Trafficking
victims included minors from Honduras, El Salvador, and
Nicaragua who were trafficked both internally and across
Guatemalan borders to Mexico and the U.S. for commercial sex
and labor exploitation.

According to the most recent official data from the National
Survey on Life Conditions (ENCOVI) conducted by the National
Institute of Statistics, an estimated 528,000 children, or 18
percent, (68.7 percent boys, 33.3 percent girls) between ages
7 and 14 worked in Guatemala in 2006. Of the 18 percent,
12.7 percent attended school while working; 5.6 percent did
not attend school. Child labor was more prevalent in rural
areas (71.7 percent) than in urban areas (28.3 percent).
Children worked in the following sectors: agriculture (63.7
percent),commerce (19.1 percent),manufacturing (9.7
percent),social and health services (4.6 percent),
construction (1.9 percent),and transport and communications
Qconstruction (1.9 percent),and transport and communications
(0.8 percent). The majority worked in western Guatemala,
with an estimated 34 percent in the country's southwest
region and 22 percent in the northwest region. The majority
(74.5 percent) worked as unskilled laborers requiring no
specific skill, 14.7 percent as service workers and
commercial vendors, 8.9 percent as artisans, printing press
operators, and assembly line workers, 1.1 percent as machine
operators and assemblers, 0.7 percent as laborers in the
agricultural and fishing sectors, and 0.1 percent as office
workers.
Derham