Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08SANTODOMINGO151
2008-01-31 11:27:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Santo Domingo
Cable title:  

DOL VISIT HIGHLIGHTS U.S. FIGHT AGAINST CHILD LABOR

Tags:  ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID DR 
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ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY AD54DD74 MSI2732-695)
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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID DR
SUBJECT: DOL VISIT HIGHLIGHTS U.S. FIGHT AGAINST CHILD LABOR

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000151

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E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID DR
SUBJECT: DOL VISIT HIGHLIGHTS U.S. FIGHT AGAINST CHILD LABOR


1. (SBU) Summary: On January 14 and 15, Department of Labor
Deputy Undersecretary Charlotte Ponticelli traveled to the
Dominican Republic to attend the launch of the second phase
of a DOL-funded child labor project, meet the Secretaries of
Labor and Education, civil society and business leaders as
well as Embassy staff, and visit project sites in Capotillo
and Haina. The launch and the meeting highlighted the
various stakeholders' commitment to fighting child labor and
support for other labor and education issues. It also showed
that issues remain and more needs to be done. End Summary.


2. (U) DevTech systems in collaboration with EDUCA, a local
NGO, and Instituto Tecnologico Santo Domingo (INTEC),a
private university, launched a $4 million DOL funded project
aimed at preventing hazardous child labor through
public-private partnerships. Ambassador Fannin, and
representatives from the Secretariats of Labor, Education,
and Youth attended. Several local newspapers and TV stations
covered the event.


--------------
Government Officials
--------------

--Secretariat of Labor


3. (SBU) Dep. U/S Ponticelli held separate meetings with various
leaders from the Secretariat of Labor (SET) including Secretary
Jose Ramon Fadul and Director of Labor Washington Gonzalez.
Though Fadul pledged continued support for child labor programs,
he said this would be hard because many Dominican households
face extreme poverty, and eliminating child labor may result
in decreased household income. In a separate meeting, Gonzalez
stated there needs to be alternatives to the lost income of child
labor, otherwise children will continue working. Project
implementers and business sector representatives contended that most
parents want to send their children to school, and that the main
disincentive for doing so is not financial, but the fact that
the school day is so short and that parents would prefer to take
their children to work with them rather than leave them uncared for

during the day.


4. (SBU) Fadul stated the government needs to create an
environment to improve and increase employment through
private sector involvement as it is not the government's role
to create new jobs. In an earlier meeting, Gonzalez admitted there
is no coherent national policy on employment, especially an adequate
policy on increasing employment or training individuals to enter the
workforce. Many Dominicans still perceive the government as
the generator and provider of jobs.


5. (U) Gonzalez acknowledged the first step is to have hard,
solid data on employment such as labor pool demographics,
labor industries and sectors, and compensation and salaries.
Though the Central Bank presently has some statistics on
unemployment rates and labor sectors, they remain inadequate.

--Secretariat of Education


6. (U) In her meeting with Dep. U/S Ponticelli, Education
Secretary Alejandrina German expressed concern about the

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quality of education. Despite a high enrollment rate, (the
Secretary stated that only eight percent of children are not

SIPDIS
enrolled in school),she is aware of the poor quality of
education. Some of the problems that plague the educational
system are very limited actual classroom time (avg. 2.5
hours/day),overcrowding, inadequate facilities, dismal
school attendance, inadequate pedagogic methods (e.g., no
grading system),a system of political patronage, a lack of a
merit system to ensure quality teachers, and the role of the
teachers' unions and their frequent strikes. German noted
that Dominican culture prevents some women, both professional
and non-professional, from being more involved in education
programs. Nonetheless, German strongly supports the after
school program, Espacios para Crecer (EpC),that is being
implemented by the DOL-funded child labor project and would
like to replicate the model throughout the DR, but she
acknowledged difficulties in doing so.

--------------
Civil Society
--------------


7. (SBU) Sonia Pierre, director of the Movement of
Dominican-Haitian Women (MUDHA) in her meeting with Dep. U/S
Ponticelli stated that the lack of identity documents is a
serious issue for Haitian migrant workers. Though the
Registry of Foreigners ("Pink Book" or Libro de Extranjeria)
provides for registration of children born in the country of
non-Dominican parents, the government's implementation is
inadequate. Moreover, the Central Elections Board (JCE) has
taken steps to retroactively rescind previously issued birth
certificates or national ID and voting cards (cedulas) to
persons whom they suspect to be of Haitian descent. Pierre
said that the lack of documentation has rendered these
migrant workers functionally stateless, many left in bateyes
(settlements where most present and previous sugar cane
workers live) without many economic opportunities and with
living conditions rife for child labor and exploitive child
labor.


8. (SBU) Pierre stated that these dire conditions persist in
the bateyes owned by the government's Consorcio Estatal de
Azucar (CEA). In contrast, the owners of Consorcio Azucarero
de Empresas Industriales (CAEI) bateyes have invested in
improvements in living conditions that she wished could be
expanded to other bateyes.

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Business Leaders
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9. (SBU) Members of the Consejo Nacional de la Empresa
Privada (CONEP),a local business organization, told
Ponticelli that the business community has stepped up in
funding education and labor programs. However, despite the
increasing involvement of the private sector, CONEP members
emphasized the need for the government to likewise implement
programs that will both eliminate child labor and improve
education.


10. (SBU) William Malamud, an Executive Vice President of the
local American Chamber of Commerce, agreed about the dismal
state of education in the country. He has advocated for the
GODR to increase its budget to improve the quality of
education. The severely deficient educational system is a
competitiveness issue acutely felt by the business community.
With CAFTA-DR, potential for economic growth is enormous;
however, without a trained and educated labor force, this
growth will be limited.

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Comment
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11. (SBU) Comment: Deputy Undersecretary Ponticelli's visit
was very helpful in highlighting the assistance that the
United States, through DOL funding, is providing to fight
child labor. The visit was also an opportunity to see
first-hand the progress of the ongoing Espacios para Crecer
(Rooms to Grow) project, as well as to meet with a variety of
interlocutors where progress is being made and to see what
challenges remain. In entering the second phase, Rooms to
Grow has demonstrated that public/private partnership is a
viable model and political will exists to combat child labor
in the Dominican Republic.

12 (U) Deputy Undersecretary Ponticelli has cleared this report.
FANNIN