GABON: CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT

UNCLAS LIBREVILLE 000039


E.O. 12958:N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM PGOV SOCI GB
SUBJECT: GABON: CHILD LABOR INFORMATION FOR TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT
ACT (GSP) 2008 REPORT

Ref: 08 STATE 127448
08 LIBREVILLE 0146
08 LIBREVILLE 0316



1. In Gabon, the problem of child labor in Gabon is closely linked
to trafficking in persons, and efforts to combat the worst forms of
child labor are merged with efforts to combat child trafficking.
This identification is supported by the limited data available.
This includes a 1998/99 ILO/IPEC survey that revealed that only 17
out of 600 children found working in Gabon were Gabonese, as well as
the fact that the majority of suspected victims of trafficking
rescued between 2001 and 2007 and placed in the country's principal
reception center were from other countries, including Nigeria,
Benin, Togo, Mali, and Cameroon. There are also unconfirmed reports
of child labor in the agricultural sector that does not necessarily
result from trafficking. According to anecdotal evidence, children
aged 12 and above help to clear fields and collect crops at harvest
time. Agricultural trade union officials often claim that it is not
easy to determine whether the children are being used as cheap labor
or whether they are the children of some of hired workers of the
plantation, assisting their parents/relatives.


2. Please see the following section for requested information.

A) Laws and regulations proscribing the worst forms of child
labor:

The constitution and labor code protect children against
exploitation. Specifically, Gabon's Labor Code, Law Number 3/94,
provides the laws and regulations proscribing the worst forms of
child labor. According to this law, the minimum age for employment
is 16 years. Children below the age of 16 may legally work only
with official permission from the ministries of Labor, Education,
and Public Health. Children between 14 and 16 are allowed to work
as apprentices with permission from the Ministry of Education.
Article 6 of Law Number 3/94 further prohibits the employment of
children in jobs that are unsuitable for them because of their age,
state, or condition, or that interfere with their education.
Article 167 stipulates that children under 18 years are prohibited
from working at night in industrial establishments, except in
family-run businesses. However, according to Article 168, children
over 16 years are permitted to work in certain industries that, by
their nature, must be continued at night, such as sugar refinement,
glassmaking, and certain aspects of steel making.

In Gabon, the government specifically links the worst forms of child
labor with trafficking, and so considers its anti-trafficking laws
sufficient to address problems of child labor within its borders.
Law 09/04, enacted September 21, 2004, protects children against
trafficking into Gabon and can carry prison sentences of 5-15 years
and fines from $20,000 to $40,000. Gabon's minimum age for military
recruitment is 18 years. Gabon has ratified, but has not yet fully
complied with, ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor.
However, one key component of Gabon's United Nations' Development
Assistance Framework 2007-2011 is to ensure that national
legislation is in full compliance with previously ratified
international conventions, particularly Convention 182.

B) Regulations for implementation and enforcement of proscriptions
against the worst forms of child labor:

Trafficking in children is a criminal offense which is punishable
under Law 09/04, which can carry prison sentences of 5-15 years and
fines from $20,000-$40,000. Apprehended traffickers can also be
held liable for the repatriation costs for their victims. Gabon has
a creditable record of investigation, arrest, incarceration and
prosecution, and has successfully induced traffickers to pay the
financial cost of repatriating victims. Due to the cumbersome
nature of the Gabonese judicial system, however, and in some cases
due to the absence of evidence from repatriated victims, Gabon has
never successfully secured the conviction of a trafficking offender.
Ministry of Justice officials have acknowledged this deficiency and
are committed to working harder to achieve convictions.

The government has devoted many resources to the fight against child
trafficking, and subsequently, child labor. This includes the
establishment of a governing regulatory body for Gabon's
anti-trafficking effort, the Inter-ministerial Committee to Combat
Trafficking in Children. The committee was established with the
adoption of Law 09/04 to coordinate the government of Gabon's
interagency response to trafficking. Charged with coordinating the
identification and protection of victims, as well as the arrest and
prosecution of trafficking suspects, the committee is chaired by a
representative from the Ministry of Labor and includes members from
the Ministries of Interior, Human Rights, Foreign Affairs, and
Justice. After a slow beginning plagued by an inadequate budget,
the committee is currently in the process of disseminating
nationwide guidelines for the identification, extraction from
exploitive situations, short-term care, and repatriation of victims
to all of the relevant ministries and agencies.

Given the nature of the government's interagency effort to combat
child trafficking, it is impossible to provide exact statistics on
the number inspectors, investigators, police and others involved in
addressing the issue of child labor. Likewise, comprehensive
official statistics on the number of investigations are also
unavailable.

Gabonese authorities acknowledge trafficking as a problem, and have
taken steps to raise its awareness as such within the population.
The government does not provide specialized training for officials,
but encourages NGOs and other donor countries to provide training,
and permits and encourages full participation in the training by
security and ministry officials. Both UNICEF and the Italian NGO
ALISEI have been active in providing assistance to victims and
assisting the training of law enforcement and ministry officials.
Currently, the government is working closely with a U.S. Department
of Justice official on the planning of an upcoming International
Criminal Investigative Training Assistance Program (ICITAP) project
that will provide training, technical assistance, and limited
material support to security forces and others involved in the
government's anti-trafficking efforts.

C) Social programs specifically designed to prevent and withdraw
children from the worst forms of child labor.

The government provides support to three reception centers in Gabon
for trafficking victims, which provide education, medical, and
psychological services. Two centers are located in Libreville and
one in Port Gentil. Child victims reside in a center until their
repatriation can be arranged. Reception centers are clean and
adequately funded, and center staff members work with the embassies
of countries of origin to repatriate victims. Comprehensive
official figures on number of victims and funding sources are
unavailable.

The government also worked throughout the year with local and
international organizations on prevention and protection of victims.
There is a joint UNICEF-government call center for suspected
instance of trafficking, which is staffed by employees of the
Gabonese government, housed in a government-owned office building,
with expenses covered by the government. The government also
provides some material to support local and international
non-governmental organizations working on the issue. In February
2008, the government, along with the Italian NGO ALISEI and local
NGO partners, released a collection of all of the current laws and
regulations concerning child trafficking to foster better
understanding among all of the actors in the fight against this
problem.

The government ran information/educational campaigns throughout the
year. Gabon's inter-ministerial committee ran campaigns to target
cities, towns and villages outside of Libreville. Government media
also provided coverage to trafficking issues, including ongoing
regional initiatives to combat this problem.

D) Policy or national program of action on child labor or specific
forms of child labor.

Gabon's national program of action to eliminate child trafficking
targets child labor as well. Gabon produced a Poverty Reduction
Strategy Paper in 2006, one component of which aims to strengthen
relevant judicial processes. Education is compulsory until age 16
and is generally available through sixth grade.

E) Progress toward eliminating the worst forms of child labor:

Gabon is primarily a destination country for children trafficked
from other African countries (Benin, Nigeria, Togo, Burkina Faso,
Mali, Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Cameroon) for the purpose of forced
labor. Unfortunately, accurate information about child labor is
difficult to obtain, and Post resources do not currently allow us to
undertake a comprehensive study of the question. However, some
general patterns are discernable.

Girls are primarily trafficked for domestic servitude, forced market
vending, forced restaurant labor, and sexual exploitation. Boys are
trafficked for forced street hawking and forced labor in small
workshops. There is anecdotal evidence that children work in the
agricultural, animal husbandry, fishing, and mining sectors. More
recently, young adults appear to have been trafficked to Gabon under
false pretenses to work as forced domestic servants and prostitutes.
Government authorities working on trafficking issues claim this
trend towards older victims is in direct response to their
awareness-raising efforts to combat child trafficking.

REDDICK