JAMAICA: CHILD LABOR REMAINS A PROBLEM; CONVICTION RATE

NCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINGSTON 000417

SIPDIS
SENSITIVE

STATE FOR WHA/CAR (ACADIEUX) (VDEPIRRO) (WSMITH)
WHA/EPSC (MROONEY)(FCORNEILLE)
INR/RES (RWARNER)
SANTO DOMINGO FOR FCS AND FAS
HOMELAND SECURITY FOR ALEX GISSER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB PTER ASEC PBTS KCRM CVIS PHUM KFRD SOCI JM XL
SUBJECT: JAMAICA: CHILD LABOR REMAINS A PROBLEM; CONVICTION RATE
UNCHANGED


1. (U) Summary: The Government of Jamaica (GOJ) has taken
significant steps to pass and enforce legislation on child labor,
although conviction rates in this field, as in others in Jamaica,
remain low. Conoff accompanied Tina McCarter and Linda Bermudez of
the Department of Labor (DOL) Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor
and Human Trafficking from May 4-6 to meet various GOJ agencies and
NGOs to assess the response to child labor issues in Jamaica.
Despite the fact that the GOJ recently increased the compulsory age
of education from 16 to 18 and confirmed children's right to
education under the Education Act, field research confirms child
labor practices remain a concern. End Summary.

Background
--------------


2. (SBU) Child labor is difficult to detect in Jamaica due to the
underground nature of the trade. Sixty percent of Jamaica's
workforce is in the informal sector, while eighty six percent of
births are to unwed mothers. Children are often pressured to enter
the workforce at fourteen, sacrificing their education to provide
for their families. While child labor is not prevalent in large
industries, due to GOJ regulation and inspections, established
sectors often spur cottage industries that employ children.


3. (SBU) High incarceration rates and an increase in adult migration
have led to large numbers of single parent families or children
living with relatives. Janet Cupidon-Quallo of UNICEF reported that
roughly four in ten Jamaican children live in poverty. Parents that
migrate to North America or the UK send remittances to Jamaica,
which account for just over 20 percent of the country's GDP.


Efforts by Various Jamaican Ministries
--------------


4. (SBU) The GOJ has tried different approaches to combat the child
labor problem. Current efforts focus on cooperation with NGOs to
maximize the effectiveness of community efforts. The Ministry of
Labor (MOL) and the Ministry of Social Security (MSS) have augmented
responsibilities for preventing child labor as a result of an
International Labor Organization (ILO) project that ended in 2004.
During a meeting, Marva Ximmenes, Director of the Child Care Unit of
the MOL, highlighted the role of the National Taskforce on
Trafficking in child labor prevention. The taskforce was established
in 2004 by the MOL, providing a platform for NGOs and GOJ agencies
to collaborate on prevention, education and media dissemination of
anti-trafficking programs. In addition to maintaining public
awareness forums, the taskforce recently completed a national survey
to detail the scope of the problem, as a study conducted back in
2000 had revealed that the public then had been largely unaware of
the trafficking issues in the country.


5. (SBU) Jamaica's Child Care Protection Act (CCPA) of 2004
established both an Office of the Children's Advocate as a watchdog
and public awareness-raising arm, as well as the Office of
Children's Registry as a repository for mandatory reports of child
abuse. Section 6 of the CCPA provides that every Jamaican has a
duty to report child abuse. Since establishing a hotline in 2007,
reports of abuse have increased significantly, although many are
unsubstantiated reports of neglect rather than confirmed cases of
child abuse. As a result, the GOJ established parish-wide Centers
for Investigating Sexual Offenses Against Children (CISOCA),and
have ensured proper training of officers in identifying and
categorizing levels of child abuse. The CDA is annually allocated
roughly JD 30 million (USD 340,000) to maintain the registry and JD
20 million (USD 225,000) for public relations, education, and
community awareness efforts.


6. (SBU) Robert Rainford, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of
Justice (MOJ),has the primary responsibility for Jamaica's efforts
to address child labor. The Childcare and Protection Act established
a Children's Court specializing in crimes that affect Jamaica's
youth. The MOJ has also established the Possibility Program with the
Ministry of Youth, Culture and Sport, that focuses on reintegration
and rehabilitation of children who live on the streets. Legislative
efforts include a draft Child Pornography Bill and an amendment that
further defines rape and incest as violations of the Sexual Offenses
Act. Finally, the MOJ collaborates with the Ministry of National
Security via the Taskforce on Child Abuse to ascertain that
recovered missing children are duly reintegrated with their
families. Rainford further highlighted the MOJ's Victims Support
Unit that includes alert programs, search systems, and support for
the rehabilitation of victims of child abuse.

Education As A Means To Combat Child Labor
--------------


7. (SBU) Our contacts at the DOL noted that robust education systems
are a powerful deterrent to child labor, and the GOJ has implemented
policies to strengthen education as a social safety net. According
to an ILO official, the Ministry of Education is very enthusiastic
about child labor prevention efforts and has mandated that such
efforts be integrated into national planning mechanisms. Jamaica has
a 98 percent school enrollment rate, but attendance hovers around 64
percent because of the expense of school uniforms, lunch and books,
coupled with lost wages for not working on family farms or selling
items on the street. To address this, the GOJ, under the Ministry
of Social Security, has established PATH, a program that provides
stipends to pay for educational expenses. However, students must
maintain an 85 percent school attendance rate to qualify, resulting
in underutilization of the program.


8. (SBU) ILO's Tackling Child Labor Through Education (TACKLE)
program is funded by the European Union across eleven countries,
including Jamaica. The ILO's Nasolo Thompson discussed the evolving
nature of child labor, particularly involving young women for sexual
tourism, but admitted that child labor in the underground economy is
very difficult to detect. She lamented that Jamaica's Statistical
Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labor is not able to
produce entirely reliable numbers.


9. (U) USAID also utilizes livelihoods programs and education
outreach as important tools to prevent child labor. Children First,
an organization in Spanish Town that teaches vocational skills to
roughly 300 school dropouts, receives most of its funding from
USAID. Additionally, a recent program that targeted 71 poor
performing schools to increase literacy and numeracy levels was
among the most successful USAID projects to date, graduating all but
two schools.


10. (U) COMMENT: Despite GOJ and NGO efforts, only three cases of
child labor have been brought to the attention of the court in the
country's history. (NOTE: The GOJ has a low conviction rate for
most crimes, including violent crimes such as murder, with a
conviction rate of about five percent. END NOTE) One case was
successfully prosecuted, while the other two remain in the Resident
Magistrate's circuit court. The complex nature of the issue, coupled
with the inability to quantify and detect abuse, has resulted in a
disconnect between a desired intent to address the problem and
actual results. Ms. Bermudez and Ms. McCarter were unable to clear
this cable prior to their departure; they will submit their findings
for comment prior to dissemination of the annual report on child
labor.


MOSS