US embassy cable - 04AMMAN6977

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 AMMAN 006977 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA FAULKNER AND DRL/IL FOR MARINDA HARPOLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, ETRD, PHUM, SOCI, JO 
SUBJECT: CHILD LABOR INFORMATION UPDATE: JORDAN 
 
REF: SECSTATE 163453 
 
1. Post has contacted appropriate ministries, international 
organizations and NGOs as requested in reftel to update the 
Department of Labor's 2003 "Findings on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor" report. The majority of the information found in 
the 2003 report remains unchanged and the worst forms of 
child labor, as defined in ILO Convention 182, are virtually 
non-existent in Jordan. The following paragraphs highlight 
organizations and initiatives dealing with child labor. 
 
2. National Task Force for Children (NTFC): The NTFC 
established by Queen Noor in 1995 was renamed the Information 
and Resource Center (IRC) of the King Hussein Foundation 
after the death of King Hussein in 1999. The IRC continues to 
conduct research on child labor and currently has undertaken 
an effort focused on street children in Irbid with funding 
provided by the Swiss Embassy. The program director seeks to 
develop indicators and a baseline for child labor. She hopes 
that they will eventually expand the research to include 
neighborhoods of Amman. 
 
3. National Council for Family Affairs (NCFA): The NCFA was 
founded by royal decree and gained its official capacity in 
2001 under the chairmanship of Her Majesty Queen Rania 
Al-Abdullah. The NCFA shares the same mandate as the former 
NTFC to advance the interests of children. However, the NCFA 
works under the expanded goal of ensuring a better quality of 
life for Jordanian families. The NCFA is a quasi-governmental 
organization that provides policy recommendations and 
advocacy. It also facilitates and coordinates between the 
government and NGOs. In May 2004 the NCFA, in conjunction 
with the World Bank, concluded a study of disadvantaged 
children in Jordan (see paragraph 8). One section of the 
study focuses exclusively on working children. The issue of 
child labor falls under the responsibility of the Childhood 
Unit at the NCFA and they have undertaken two major projects 
to alleviate child labor through the UK-based NGO Questscope. 
 
4. Questscope: The UK-based Questscope has implemented two 
programs in coordination with the Ministries of Labor, 
Education and Social Development in order to alleviate child 
labor. Both programs focus on underprivileged children 
detained at juvenile delinquency centers. The first program 
provides for a system of mentoring between children at the 
delinquency centers and university students. Originally 
started with EU funding in 1998 on a small scale the program 
will expand to serve 6,000 children by the end of 2004 with 
funding provided by the World Bank. The estimated budget is 1 
million USD for two years. Current World Bank funding will 
expire in April 2005. The second program is a non-formal 
education project whereby drop-outs can participate in 
classes after normal school hours to earn a diploma from the 
Ministry of Education. This program fills a gap between 
regular classroom time and the adult literacy programs. 
Drop-outs who earn a diploma through this program are 
guaranteed one-year vocational training by the government. 
The non-formal education program is activity based to engage 
young minds. The program is currently funded by the EU and is 
looking to expand. 
 
5. SCREAM - Stop Child Labor: The Ministry of Labor's Child 
Labor Unit (CLU) has initiated this ILO-IPEC program to raise 
awareness of child labor among young people. The CLU 
conducted a SCREAM workshop in June 2004 to train 38 
educators and volunteers on child labor issues in Jordan and 
their negative consequences. Those who participated in the 
workshop are supposed to educate youth in their schools and 
communities about child labor. Still in the nascent stages, 
the CLU plans on expanding and institutionalizing the 
program. CLU volunteers have already been trained on the 
SCREAM program and are working with community centers in 
Amman on a regularly scheduled basis to raise awareness on 
child labor. 
 
6. Pending Legislation: As we reported in 2003, His Majesty 
King Abdullah issued a royal decree increasing the minimum 
age of workers in hazardous occupations from 17 to 18. 
Parliament has not yet passed the corresponding law, but 
draft legislation is pending approval. In the meantime the 
royal decree has effectively increased the minimum age to 18 
and the Ministry of Labor has issued instructions to its 
inspectors to enforce this change. Legislation guaranteeing 
the rights of children is also pending and is currently being 
reviewed in a technical committee to finalize the language. 
The law is part of an effort by the government to coordinate 
its legislation with the international agreements it has 
signed. The NCFA in coordination with the World Bank is 
continuing a study of legislation concerning child labor in 
Jordan to ensure compatibility with international agreements. 
 
7. National Plan of Action for Children: The government has 
scheduled to release a National Plan of Action for Children 
on October 25, 2004. The plan is intended to provide a clear 
strategy to enhance the lives of children in Jordan. It will 
also outline certain initiatives that the government will 
undertake to meet its goals. 
 
8. A copy of the NCFA/World Bank Jordan Country Study on 
Children will be e-mailed to Tina Faulkner at DOL/ILAB. The 
following items will be pouched to Ms. Faulkner: 
 
A) "Child Labor in Jordan," Prepared by Kamal Saleh, 
Department of Statistics. 
B) "Towards a Healthy Environment for Children 2003," Study 
by the Ministry of Labor, Child Labor Unit. 
C) "Health Hazards and Risks for Abuse Among Child Labor in 
Jordan," by Muntaha Gharaibeh, RN, Ph.D. and Shirley Hoeman, 
RN, Ph.D. 
 
HALE