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