BENIN: CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COTONOU 000021

SIPDIS

STATE FOR AF/W ACOOK
DOL/ILAB FOR TMcCARTER AND TDANG
LONDON FOR PLORD
PARIS FOR BKANEDA


E.0.12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND EINV ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID PGOV BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
ACT (GSP) 2008 REPORT

REF: A) STATE 127448; B) 07 COTONOU 915; C) COTONOU 314

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1. In response to State 127448, Post provides the following
information:

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Laws and Regulations
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2. Benin uses laws and ministerial decrees to set the minimum age
for employment, to prohibit child trafficking, and to forbid
children's work in certain sectors. Benin's Labor law sets the
minimum age for employment at 14 years of age. Children aged 12 to
14 may perform domestic work and light work of a temporary or
seasonal nature, provided that it does not interfere with their
compulsory schooling. Benin's minimum age for military recruitment
is 18.


3. In April 2006, President Yayi promulgated Act No 2006-04 relating
to the Displacement of Minors and the Suppression of Child
Trafficking. The new law provides for increased penalties for the
trafficking of minors, including imprisonment from six months to
life, depending on the severity of the crime, and fines from $100
(50,000 CFA francs) to $10,000 (five million CFA francs). The GOB
has increased its fight against child trafficking by creating a
National Child Protection Coordination and Monitoring Working Group,
by increasing public campaign awareness along its borders, and by
coordinating the repatriation of Beninese children exploited in
Nigeria's stone quarries.


4. The inter-ministerial decree No 132 of November 2, 2000 provides
a comprehensive list of the worst forms of child labor. It sets the
categories of work that are prohibited for under-aged children.
Examples of forbidden work for children under the age of 18 include
the operation of motorized vehicles, the operation of crushing
machinery or use of sharp instruments, and work in slaughterhouses.


5. Beninese law does not at present contain a definition of the
worst forms of child labor; however, the GOB ratified both
International Labor Organization Conventions 138 (setting the
minimum work age) and 182 (defining the worst forms of child labor)
in 2001. While Benin did set out several categories of work children
cannot perform in Decree No 132 (noted above),Benin has not yet
prepared a list of the worst forms of child labor using the 6-step
procedure required by Convention 182. However, according to the
Labor Office at the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service, a
consultant has been hired to finalize that list which will be
released in 2009.

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Regulations for Implementation and Enforcement of Proscriptions
Against the Worst Forms of Child Labor
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6. The legal remedies that are available to government agencies that
enforce child labor laws cover different statutes in Benin including
the Criminal Law, the Labor Law, the General Labor Collective
Convention, the Social Code, case law, and a wide range of other
legislation and government decrees. The penalties for violating the
Labor Law relating to child labor include a penalty of imprisonment
for 2 to 12 months and/or a fine. Act No. 2006-04 relating to the
Displacement of Minors and the Suppression of Child Trafficking also
provides a penalty of imprisonment and heavy fines for child
traffickers. These penalties are adequate to punish and deter
violations; however, their enforcement is often lax.


7. The Government of Benin designated the Ministry of Interior's
Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM) as the lead agency for
enforcement of laws related to children, including child labor and
child trafficking. BPM arrests child traffickers and rescues and
reintegrates trafficked children. Though in most cases child
trafficking is associated with child labor, the BPM has not been
able to provide statistics related to the worst forms of labor.
However, the BPM compiles yearly statistics detailing its success
stories with regard its child protection activities.


8. There are approximately 126 government labor agents (inspectors,
controllers and administrators),who are located at the departmental
level throughout the 12 departments of Benin. These officials only
regulate the formal sector (not the informal one, where the majority
of child labor occurs) and none are dedicated solely to
investigating child labor cases. When a complaint arises regarding
child labor, a government labor inspector will visit the work site
and investigate. If the law is being violated, the labor inspector

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may try to negotiate with the employer to remedy the situation
immediately. If the labor inspector finds serious violations have
occurred, the inspector has the authority to sanction the employer
and order the employer to pay compensation to the victim(s).


9. The Ministry of Labor was unable to provide Post with any
information detailing the number of complaints investigated and
violations addressed regarding the worst forms of child labor.


10. In 2008 the GOB undertook several awareness raising and training
activities on the risks of child labor. On June 12, 2008,
International Day of the Fight against Child Labor, the Government
of Benin organized an awareness campaign on Child Labor throughout
the country. The Office of Labor worked with minors who are
apprentices in handicraft workshops to make them aware of their
rights. The Office of Labor has set up several counseling centers to
provide these apprentices with advice and guidance.


11. The Office of Labor has also acted to strengthen its
institutional capacity to respond to child labor violations. In
July 2007, it created a unit led by two Office of Labor
administrators dedicated to fighting child labor violations.
Additionally, the French Ministry of Labor, through an assistance
program, supports the Beninese Ministry of Labor in training labor
inspectors on inspection techniques and on labor risk analysis.
During the year labor inspectors also received training funded by
UNICEF and ILO on specific techniques enabling them to efficiently
investigate labor violations in the informal sector.

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Social Programs Specifically Designed to Prevent and Withdraw
Children from the Worst Forms of Child Labor
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12. While Benin does not have social programs specifically designed
to prevent the worst forms of child labor, President Yayi has
introduced a new micro-credit program to give poor women the
resources to start businesses. As this program contributes to
income generation activities for women, it may lead to the
alleviation of poverty which often results in child labor.

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Comprehensive Policy Aimed at the Elimination of the Worst Forms
of Child Labor
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13. Benin recently completed drafting and editing of the UNICEF
sponsored National Policy and Strategy for Child Protection and the
ILO sponsored National Plan to Combat Child Trafficking and Labor.
Those two policy documents incorporate the issue of child labor and
are expected to provide coherence, focus and direction to all child
protection related activities undertaken by the GOB. As each policy
is new it is too early to measure the GOB's success in
implementation. Benin incorporated an overall child protection
policy into its National Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper
(DCSRP).


14. Benin's Constitution makes primary education compulsory and
free, but this provision was not implemented until the election of
President Boni Yayi. As of the 2007-2008 academic year, President
Yayi ended the school fees that parents used to pay. While this has
reduced parents' outlays for their children's education, parents
continue to pay additional "fees" for school materials and uniforms.
As a result of President Yayi's elimination of school fees the
number of children enrolled for primary education keeps increasing.


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Benin's Progress toward Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labor
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15. According to statistics (from Benin's 2002 census) published in
a 2006 ILO publication entitled "The End of Child Labor: An
Objective within our Reach", there are 480,023 children, 14 and
under, working in either the formal or informal sectors in Benin in
the following activities: agriculture, hunting and fishing
(275,648); industry (22,476); construction and public works (4,189);
trade/vending and food & beverage (78,823); transportation and
communication (909); and other services including employment as
household staff (97,978).



16. According to Post's and NGO observations, children working in
Benin often work in the agricultural sector performing planting,

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cultivating and harvesting work, in the commercial sector as street
and market vendors, as apprentices in various garages and selling
smuggled gasoline. Children also work in the construction sector
and as domestic servants.


17. Benin is a source, transit point and destination for trafficked
children. According to NGOs and local authorities children are
trafficked internally in Benin to perform domestic work in its
cities and to harvest cotton in the cotton fields of Northern Benin.
Traffickers also take children across the country's borders to
Ghana, Nigeria, Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire, Republic of Congo, Guinea
Bissau and the Central African Republic for indentured servitude in
domestic service, farm labor, labor in stone quarries and commercial
sex.




BROWN