GUATEMALA'S CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TDA 2008

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000067

SIPDIS

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

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID PGOV GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA'S CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TDA 2008
REPORT

REF: A. 08 STATE 127448

B. 08 GUATEMALA 54

C. 08 GUATEMALA 693

D. 08 GUATEMALA 100

The following information updates 2007 information (refs B,
D) 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 2008. The Guatemalan Labor Code sets the
minimum age for employment at 14 years. Article 150 of the
Labor Code establishes that in exceptional cases the Labor
Inspectorate may authorize children under the age of 14 to
work. To grant such authorization, the Labor Inspectorate
must verify that: the child will work in an apprenticeship,
or that employment is necessary due to the parents' extreme
poverty; that the work is not excessive in length or
intensity; and that it does not interfere with the child's
educational obligations.

While the law permits such authorizations, the Ministry of
Labor (MOL) made a commitment, in accordance with ILO
Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor, not to
provide such authorizations. In keeping with this
commitment, the Labor Inspectorate reported that it had not
made any such authorizations in 2008.

Children under 18 years of age are prohibited from employment
in hazardous occupations and conditions considered the worst
forms of child lbor contained in Executive Order 250-2006
(Regultion for the Application of ILO Convention 182
regarding the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Immediate Action
for its Elimination).

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. No one under the age of 18 is authorized to
perform hazardous work, without exception.

The worst forms of child labor under ILO Convention 182,
which was ratified by Guatemala, include all forms of slavery
or similar practices, such as the sale and trafficking of
children, debt bondage, and forced labor including forced or
compulsory recruitment of children for armed conflict; the
use, procurement or offer of children for prostitution, the
production of pornography or pornographic performances; and
the use, procurement or offer of children for illicit
activities; and all work that is likely to harm the health,
safety or morals of children.

The minimum age for military recruitment is 18 years.
Military service is voluntary.

Guatemala's child labor laws are consistent with ILO
standards. Guatemala ratified ILO 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:

Executive Order 250-2006 establishes administrative, civil
and criminal penalties for the employment of anyone under the
age of 18 in hazardous work. 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 six to 12 years for persons found
guilty of trafficking.

The Child Workers Protection Unit of the MOL is charged with
implementing and enforcing child labor laws and educating
Qimplementing 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 2008 budget for the Child Workers Protection Unit was
Q110,000 (approx. USD 14,193.55),including Q60,000 (approx.

USD 7,741.94) provided by Save the Children/Norway. The MOL
employed 245 labor inspectors, including six inspectors
dedicated to child labor. It has 28 labor courts -- 25
lower-level courts (eight in the capital dedicated to labor
cases and 17 outside the capital for both labor and family
law cases),and three appellate courts. An additional seven
lower-level courts handle labor cases. (Note: The Ministry
of Labor plans to open eight additional lower-level labor
courts in March 2009. End Note.) The National Civil Police
has a unit of approximately ten officers dedicated to
investigating cases involving child crime victims, including
victims of child labor.

The Public Ministry worked with the NGO End Child
Prostitution, Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children
for Sexual Purposes (ECPAT/Guatemala) to train government
officials on crimes of sexual and commercial exploitation
with an emphasis on trafficking of children. ECPAT/Guatemala
provided awareness-raising training to more than 320 tourism
and law-enforcement officials nationwide.


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
President's Office are charged with preventing and
withdrawing children from exploitative situations.

While the government does not specifically incorporate child
labor as an issue in social policies or programs, the
government's cash transfer program (My Family Progresses)
provides conditioned payments on a monthly basis to parents
in exchange for their children's school attendance and
vaccinations. According to the GOG, as of October, 49,921
families in extreme poverty had benefited under this program,
and a study conducted in nine municipalities showed that
3,700 students had returned to school. The Child Workers
Protection Unit also implemented an ILO-funded program in the
department of San Marcos, a predominantly indigenous, poor
area in western Guatemala, to prevent female minors from
working as domestic child laborers.

In collaboration with NGO Casa Alianza, which provided
shelter and social support for street children and child
victims of abuse, the government conducted 15 raids through
the end of September, which resulted in the rescue of 24
sexually exploited minors under age 18. (Note: Casa Alianza
closed its Guatemala operations on January 16 due to lack of
funding. End Note.) The Secretariat of Social Welfare
attended to 504 child protection cases, including cases of
sexually exploited minors.

The ILO's International Program on the Elimination of Child
Labor (IPEC) continued operating programs to combat
commercial sexual exploitation of children. The programs
helped government and local organizations in strengthening
legislation, policies and programs.


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

The Guatemalan government established an inter-institutional
National Commission for the Prevention and Elimination of
Child Labor in 2002 and has made a public commitment to
eradicate the worst forms of child labor. The Commission and
the MOL's Child Workers Protection Unit, with the help of
Save the Children/Norway, executed a program to strengthen
the Executive Secretariats for the Prevention and Elimination
of Child Labor in the departments of Guatemala, Solola,
Huehuetenango, Quiche, San Marcos and Totonicapan.
QHuehuetenango, Quiche, San Marcos and Totonicapan.

Guatemala is a signatory to the Hemispheric Agenda of the
Americas, which obligates the GOG to eradicate the worst
forms of child labor by the year 2015 and all child labor by
the year 2020. On December 9, the GOG renewed its Memorandum
of Understanding with the ILO for the continued
implementation of IPEC.

The constitution and law provide for free compulsory
education for all children up to the ninth grade. However,
less than half the population over the age of 13 had
completed primary education. Ministry of Education
statistics for 2007, the most recent available, reported that
42 percent of children who entered first grade completed
sixth grade, and 45 percent of those entering seventh grade
completed the ninth grade. Completion rates were lower in
rural and indigenous areas. While on average non-indigenous

children between 7 and 17 years of age had received 4.4 years
of schooling, indigenous children of the same age had
received 3.7 years, according to the National Statistics
Institute's 2006 National Survey on Life Conditions (ENCOVI).



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. The majority of
child labor in Guatemala continued to occur in rural
indigenous areas where economic necessity forced children to
supplement family income. The informal and agricultural
sectors employed children below 14 years of age, usually in
small family enterprises. There were credible reports that
child labor was used in fireworks, gravel, sugar and flower
production, food processing and harvesting of fresh produce.
The Labor Inspectorate implemented an operational plan in
November in the fireworks industry and reportedly made
advances in the prevention of child labor in this sector.
The MOL estimated that approximately 3,700 children were
employed in fireworks production. According to credible
estimates, approximately 75 percent of Guatemala's workforce
is employed in the informal sector.

The Child Workers Protection Unit reported that in 2008 a
total of 1,025 adolescents (695 boys and 330 girls) 14 to 17
years of age requested permission to work. According to the
2006 ENCOVI report, the most recent available, an estimated
528,000 children between ages 5 and 14 worked in Guatemala.
Child labor was more prevalent in rural areas (67 percent)
than in urban areas (33 percent). The majority worked in
western Guatemala, with an estimated 33.2 percent in the
country's southwest region and 19.8 percent in the northwest
region. Thirty-two percent of child workers between 10 and
14 years of age did not attend school, and almost half of
children between the ages of 5 and 17 who worked did not
attend school. Child labor was concentrated in the
agriculture, cattle, hunting and fishing industries (55.5
percent of child laborers between 5 and 17 years of age).
Almost 70 percent of child laborers between 5 and 17 years of
age were considered to be living in poverty (47.1 percent) or
extreme poverty (22.6 percent),and 83.3 percent of child
laborers living in extreme poverty were residing in rural
areas.
McFarland