Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09KYIV95
2009-01-16 09:35:00
UNCLASSIFIED
Embassy Kyiv
Cable title:  

UKRAINE: UPDATE OF CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TDA

Tags:  ELAB ETRD PHUM SOCI UP 
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VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKV #0095/01 0160935
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160935Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY KYIV
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7037
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHINGTON DC
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0159
UNCLAS KYIV 000095 

SIPDIS

DEPT OF LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB - TMCCARTER
STATE FOR DRL/ILCSR (TDANG) AND EUR/UMB (RBMARCUS)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ETRD PHUM SOCI UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: UPDATE OF CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TDA
REPORT

REF: A) 2008 STATE 127448
B) 2008 KYIV 953
C) 2007 KYIV 2925

UNCLAS KYIV 000095

SIPDIS

DEPT OF LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB - TMCCARTER
STATE FOR DRL/ILCSR (TDANG) AND EUR/UMB (RBMARCUS)

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB ETRD PHUM SOCI UP
SUBJECT: UKRAINE: UPDATE OF CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TDA
REPORT

REF: A) 2008 STATE 127448
B) 2008 KYIV 953
C) 2007 KYIV 2925


1. As requested by ref A, below Post provides updated
information on child labor issues in Ukraine to aid in the
drafting of the 2008 Trade and Development
Act (TDA) report. Refs B-C contain previous Post reporting
on child labor issues.


2. Post will also send this information via email to USDOL
POC Tina McCarter. Post's POC is Christian Yarnell,
Economic Officer - Email: yarnellc@state.gov; Phone: 011-
380-44-490-4276; Fax: 011-380-44-490-4277).

Laws/Regulations Proscribing the Worst Forms of Child Labor
-------------- --------------


3. Ukraine's Labor Code sets 16 as the minimum age for
employment, although as of age 15 adolescents may engage in
"light work" with their parents' consent. The law does
not, however, clearly define the term "light work." In
addition, children aged 14 can legally do some forms of
agricultural and social work on a short-term basis, with
the consent of one parent.


4. The law "On Childhood Protection" provides the primary
legal framework for combating child labor. Article 21 of
this law forbids the "involvement of children in the worst
forms of child labor" and defines the "worst forms of child
labor" in line with ILO Convention 182. Ukraine ratified
ILO Convention 182 on December 14, 2000. The law "On
Childhood Protection" provides a list of occupations
considered among the worst forms of child labor but does
not specify particular activities within those broad
occupations. Ukraine's National Tripartite Social and
Economic Council is helping to draft a more detailed list
of work activities that, by their nature or the
circumstances in which they are carried out, are likely to
harm the health, safety, or morals of children. Ministry
of Health Decree No. 46 of 1994 provides a list of
dangerous and hazardous work where the employment of
children is prohibited. ILO Convention 182 calls for
periodical review of this list, but the Ministry of Health
has been reluctant to do so.

Implementation and Enforcement
--------------


5. The State Labor Inspectorate (full name: State
Department of Surveillance over Labor Legislation

Observance) under the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy
is responsible for implementing and enforcing child labor
laws in the formal sector. In the informal sector,
responsibility for enforcement falls to the Department of
Juvenile Affairs (under the Ministry of Family, Youth, and
Sport) and the Criminal Police (under the Ministry of
Internal Affairs). The GOU cooperates with the ILO's
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor
(IPEC).


6. Experts agree that child labor in Ukraine exists most
frequently in the informal sector, where the activities
children are engaged in are often illegal. Common examples
include sex services, pornography, and unsanctioned coal
mining. In such cases, law enforcement agencies usually
take the lead and seek prosecution of those responsible for
the illegal activity and illegal hiring of children.
ILO/IPEC reports recent surveys indicate that enhanced GOU
enforcement efforts have at least eliminated child labor
underground at unsanctioned coal mines, although children
likely continue to work on the surface at such mines.
Children also engage in petty labor for small businesses.
In June 2008, for example, the procuracy in the city of
Donetsk launched ten criminal cases on child labor charges
against small business owners. The children involved had
been found working nights at a car wash, unloading trucks,
and working at a construction site.


7. According to Article 150 of Ukraine's Criminal Code, the
unlawful employment of an underage child carries a sentence
of up to six months imprisonment, or judicial restraint for
up to three years, along with restrictions for up to three
years on the right to occupy certain positions and conduct
certain business activities. A stiffer sentence of
imprisonment from two to five years is possible if multiple
underage children are involved, if the offender causes

considerable damage to the health or physical condition of
the child, or if the work involves some kind of hazardous
production. In addition, Article 304 of the Criminal Code,
which was amended on October 10 to provide for more severe
sentences, allows for imprisonment, or judicial restraint,
for a term of three to seven years for the involvement of
adolescents aged 14 - 18 in criminal activity, drunkenness,
begging, or gambling. Article 304 calls for imprisonment
of four to ten years if children under 14 years old are
involved.


8. The government investigates complaints and attempts to
address violations, although incidents of child labor
remain. Ukraine's system of labor inspections is split
among three different bodies -- the State Labor
Inspectorate, the State Committee for Industrial Safety,
Occupational Health, and Mining Supervision, and the State
Committee on Occupational Hygiene (under the Ministry of
Health). Better integration of the inspection function
would likely improve the government's ability to combat
child labor. Some legal restrictions also constrain labor
inspectors in their efforts to combat child labor. For
example, labor inspectors cannot investigate cases at
private residences (including household farms),where some
businesses employing children may be registered.


9. Violators of child labor laws in the formal sector
usually face only small administrative fines, and
punishments do not constitute a serious deterrent.
Employers of children who engage in criminal activities are
more difficult for the government to monitor, but routinely
face criminal prosecution when discovered.


10. Investigating child labor abuses is part of the State
Labor Inspectorate's broader enforcement of labor laws, and
there are no inspectors devoted solely to child labor.
Through 660 inspections during 2008, the State Labor
Inspectorate found 2237 cases in which adolescents under 18
years old were working. Children under 14 years old were
involved in 66 of these cases. Inspectors passed 104 cases
to law enforcement bodies to pursue criminal prosecution.
Authorities filed administrative charges with the courts in
341 cases. Information on how these cases concluded is not
available. Fifty-eight employers faced administrative
liability for refusal to cooperate with labor inspectors.


11. In November, through the ILO/IPEC program, 27 regional
representatives of the State Labor Inspectorate received
training on the child labor monitoring system, including in
the important area of conducting interviews with children.
These inspectors are now expected to train other inspectors
in their regions.

Social Programs to Combat Child Labor
--------------


12. Parliament adopted "The National Program on Supporting
Youth for 2004-2008" on November 18, 2003. The program
aims at creating favorable political, social, economic,
legislative, financial, and organizational conditions for
addressing the urgent problems of young people.


13. The President of Ukraine issued a Decree "On Priority
Measures to Protect Children's Rights" on July 11, 2005.
The government of Ukraine subsequently developed a series
of policy initiatives to implement the President's goals.
Among these initiatives are the following:

-- The Decree "On the Statute of SOS-Children Village,"
issued on March 15, 2006, established a specialized
nonprofit organization, under the supervision of the
Department of Juvenile Affairs, which seeks to provide
disadvantaged children with life skills and educational
opportunities within a family environment.

-- "The State Program on Family Support for 2006-2010" was
approved by the Government on May 11, 2006. It acknowledged
the increasing number of street children and the high level
of child neglect. The initiative sets a minimum level of
financial assistance for vulnerable families. It also
carries provisions for psychological support, and for broad
public awareness campaigns on family values and healthy
lifestyles.

-- "The State Program on Reforming the Boarding System for
Children-Orphans and Children, Deprived of Parental Care,"
approved on May 11, 2006, seeks to restructure the nation's

boarding schools, and to promote foster care and other
alternative models of child care.

-- "The State Program on Education Development for 2006-
2010," approved on July 12, 2006, aims to reform the
Ukrainian education system along European lines. It
supports improved education in rural areas and for children
lacking parental care.

-- The government amended the "Regulation On Setting and
Payment of State Allowances for Families with Children" on
August 1, 2006 to provide single-parent families with state
allowances for children, up to 23 years of age, studying in
institutions of higher education. The state previously
provided such assistance for children only up to 18 years
of age.

-- "The State Program on Combating Trafficking in Human
Beings," approved on March 7, 2007, and in force until
2010, contains special provisions on child trafficking.
The program requires the Ministry of Family, Youth and
Sports, as well as other executive bodies, to allocate
budget funds to help the victims of trafficking, and child
trafficking in particular. The national government
allocated UAH 55,000 in 2008 and local authorities are
planning to allocate UAH 24,600 over three years to carry
out monitoring of rehabilitation centers for victims of
trafficking and for children.


14. The Ministry of Education and Science takes the lead in
developing and implementing programs to support children's
access to schooling. In particular, the Ministry publishes
and supplies free manuals for schools, provides busing for
children in rural areas, and supports teachers in rural
schools through initiatives to provide teachers with
housing and supplemental wages.


15. The government provides support to vocational programs
for older children that can serve as an alternative to
work. The Public Employment Service operates a vocational
training program for unemployed youth who are outside the
education system. In collaboration with the Ministry of
Education and Science, the Public Employment Service also
conducts job counseling and vocational reorientation
activities to meet current labor market demands, and has
expanded its efforts to provide training for school
guidance counselors. Working with the ILO's SCREAM
Initiative ("Supporting Children's Rights through
Education, the Arts, and the Media"),the Ministry of
Education has provided materials to schools across the
country meant to promote children's participation in
extracurricular activities, and to keep them out of the
labor force.


16. Ukraine's Constitution calls for universal education,
and authorities generally enforce this requirement. Public
education is free, but students are sometimes expected to
cover their own expenses for books, supplies (including
school uniforms),and transportation. These expenses can
be quite costly for poorer Ukrainian families and can, in
rare cases, prevent some children from attending school.
Transportation can be a particularly difficult impediment;
the state's ability to provide buses in some school
districts, particularly those between small villages, is
limited by budgetary constraints. The Ministry of
Education is implementing a $96 million World Bank project
meant to improve the country's education system and ensure
equal access for all Ukrainians.

Comprehensive Policy for Elimination of Child Labor
-------------- --------------


17. Through the 2005 Decree "On Priority Measures to
Protect Children's Rights," the President empowered the
Government to draft a National Action Plan (NAP) to last
until 2016 aimed at the effective implementation of the UN
Convention on the Rights of the Child, as well as a
National Program to Combat Child Homelessness for the
period of 2006-2010. The National Program to Combat Child
Homelessness was approved in 2006 and tracks closely with
the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The draft
NAP outlines an improved Child Labor Monitoring System and
would help guarantee consistent state budget funding for
the protection of the rights of children, but it has not
yet received the necessary Parliamentary and Presidential
approval to take effect.


18. The 2005 Presidential Decree also requested the
Ministry of Justice to examine and improve the juvenile
justice system. The Ministry of Interior, meanwhile, was
tasked to improve efforts to locate missing children,
better identify individuals who involve children in illicit
activities (begging, prostitution, etc.),and bring these
individuals to justice.


19. President Viktor Yushchenko has made the elimination of
the worst forms of child labor a government priority since
taking office in 2005, and has spoken publicly on the issue
on several occasions.

Progress toward Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labor
-------------- --------------


20. As established by the Constitution of Ukraine, child
labor has been and remains formally prohibited. However,
it has always existed, and was an integral part of the
Soviet educational system, considered valuable experience
in preparing children for the workplace. The situation
changed dramatically after the downfall of the Soviet Union
and the subsequent collapse of the Ukrainian economy in the
early to mid 1990s, however, when child labor as a large
scale social and economic problem took on new dimensions.
The collapse of the economic system fostered the emergence
of a large shadow economy in which child labor was widely
used. Poverty became the primary driving force for child
labor, and general social disorder rendered children
unprotected, particularly in relation to the employer. As
the economic situation has improved in recent years,
however, child labor has become less of a problem. Child
labor still exists, especially in poorer areas, but is no
longer widespread.


21. Children are not found in Ukraine to be working in
slavery or practices similar to slavery. Children are
trafficked to work and for sexual exploitation, however.
Ukraine is a point of origin for internationally trafficked
men, women, and children. The main destinations are
Russia, Turkey, Western and Central Europe, particularly
Poland and the Czech Republic, and the Middle East. The
country is also a transit route for individuals from
Central Asia, Russia, and Moldova. According to the
International Organization for Migration (IOM),the main
trafficking victims are females up to 30 years of age (for
sexual exploitation) and older females (for labor
exploitation),males of all ages (for labor exploitation),
and children under the age of 16 (both for sexual and labor
exploitation). Children who were trafficked across the
border or within the country are forced to provide sexual
services, engage in unpaid work, or beg. IOM reports that
there were 37 known cases of trafficking of minors under 18
years of age in 2008 for the purpose of sexual
exploitation. The law provides for penalties of three to
eight years' imprisonment for trafficking in persons for
various purposes, including sexual and labor exploitation.
Under some aggravated circumstances involving trafficking
of minors aged 14 to 18, traffickers may be sentenced to
prison terms of from five to 12 years. Traffickers of
minors under the age of 14 may be sentenced to terms of
from eight to 15 years.


22. The government has made progress in combating child
labor in recent years, but important work remains. The
majority of local government agencies, as well as some
central government bodies, still do not possess sufficient
awareness, commitment, and capacity to plan and implement
interventions to combat child labor. In addition,
Ukrainian society has only recently begun to recognize the
existence of child labor and associated problems. Broad
societal support, strong and consistent political
commitment, as well as support from a wide range of
government agencies still need be ensured. Institutional
capacity also needs to be strengthened, both in substantive
(child labor related knowledge and methodology) and
technical (program management capacity and resource
mobilization) areas. That said, the government's recent
efforts to combat child labor, and its cooperation with the
ILO on this issue, have been a very positive step.

TAYLOR