US embassy cable - 04KINSHASA1573

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 KINSHASA 001573 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA FAULKNER 
DRL/IL FOR MARINDA HARPOLE 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: EAID, ECON, EIND, ELAB, ETRD, PGOV, PHUM, SOCI, CG 
SUBJECT: UPDATED CHILD LABOR INFORMATION 
 
REF: A. SECSTATE 163453 
     B. 03 KINSHASA 2100 
 
1. Summary.  The GDRC has made nominal efforts to comply with 
international calls for child labor reform.  The resulting 
legislation provides a proper framework to fight the worst 
forms of child labor.  However, a lack of financing, 
personnel, transparency, and government follow-through has 
left the status quo relatively unaltered.  As long as the 
DRC's socioeconomic climate provides numerous incentives for 
and few alternatives to exploitative child labor, such 
practices will continue in the DRC.  End Summary. 
 
CHILD LABOR LEGISLATION IN THE DRC 
---------------------------------- 
 
2. The GDRC ratified ILO Convention 182 on March 28, 2001. 
On October 16, 2002, the GDRC passed law 015/2002, which 
mandated sweeping changes to the DRC's labor codes, 
especially relating to child labor.  The law also called for 
the establishment of a national committee on child labor to 
coordinate the GDRC's fight against the worst forms of child 
exploitation.  (Note.  National Labor Commission (NLC) 
approval and various ministerial decrees are still required 
before law 015/2002 can go into effect.  In the meantime, the 
national committee on child labor has been established, but 
has yet to be integrated into ministry-level policy work or 
conferred any investigative or punitive powers.  End Note.) 
 
3. In addition to the establishment of the national committee 
on child labor, technical highlights of law 015/2002 include: 
 
--Establishment of a minimum age for employment, including 
apprenticeships, of 15 years. 
 
--Definition of the worst forms of child labors as: a) all 
forms of slavery or slavery-like conditions, including 
trafficking of children, mandatory or forced labor, and 
forced military enrollment; b) use or recruitment of a child 
for prostitution, the production of pornography, or 
pornographic perfomances; c) work that might prejudice the 
child's health, security, dignity, or morality; and d) the 
use of children for illicit activities, especially in drug 
production or trafficking. 
 
--Establishment of a penalty of six months imprisonment and a 
fine of FC 30,000 (about USD 80) for each count of a child 
labor conviction. 
 
4. Comment.  A legal framework to fight the worst forms of 
child labor has been established in the DRC.  However, intial 
high-level support for actual reform has waned.  Law 015/2002 
is significant, but packs little punch without NLC approval 
and ministerial backing.  GDRC sources claim that the NLC and 
ministries of Labor, Social Affairs, and Family are 
"reviewing" the legislation.  End Comment. 
 
APPLICATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS 
----------------------------------- 
 
5. The DRC Ministry of Labor investigates child labor abuses 
through its Inspection Generale du Travail (General Labor 
Inspection Service).  There are currently no inspectors 
specifically devoted to child labor, but the Ministry of 
Labor plans to create group of specialized child labor 
inspectors in its decree pursuant to law 015/2002. 
 
6. No specific information is available on the number of 
labor inspectors employed by the GDRC.  (Comment.  No 
specific information is available on the number of employees 
in most GDRC offices.  This is due to the general haziness of 
the civil service payroll, which has not been audited since 
shortly after independence.  Many employees work without pay, 
and many receive pay without working.  End Comment.) 
 
7. Child labor complaints are currently handled by the DRC's 
penal courts.  This responsibility is set to be transferred 
to the national commission on child labor once it is approved 
by the NLC.  (Comment.  Child labor law enforcement 
mechanisms often fall prey to the DRC's endemic corruption. 
Shifting authority from one inspection body to another will 
have little effect without an attendant increase in financing 
and accountability.  End Comment.) 
 
RELATED POLICIES AND PROGRAMS 
----------------------------- 
 
8. In recent months, the GDRC and the Congolese Armed Forces 
(FARDC) have demobilized large numbers of child soldiers, 
implemented procedures for the issuance of official 
demobilization certificates, and carefully considered the 
needs of children associated with armed groups in the 
planning and implementation of the World Bank-funded national 
disarmament, demobilization and reinsertion (DDR) program. 
The GDRC has also cooperated with MONUC investigations into 
cases of abuse against children, particularly child soldiers 
and children in prostitution.  However, there is much work 
left to be done throughout the country.  There are still a 
significant number of child soldiers within the ranks of the 
FARDC, a large number of girls engage in prostitution in 
order to earn money to survive, and an unknown number of 
children work in artisinal mining.  In addition, in areas not 
under central GDRC control, including parts of North and 
South Kivu provinces and the Ituri district of Province 
Orientale, the forcible recruitment of children by rebel 
groups continues. 
 
9. Compulsory education to age 15 is offical policy in the 
DRC, but, in practice, education is available only to those 
who can afford it.  UNDP statistics indicate a primary school 
enrollment rate of 35 percent and a secondary school rate of 
12 percent as of 2001/2002.  Children in the DRC receive an 
average of 4.3 years of schooling.  (Comment.  Most families 
who can afford to send children to school choose to send 
their male child(ren), presumably in the belief that they 
will have a better chance of obtaining future employment. 
This results in a severe gap in education levels between 
males and females in the DRC.  End Comment.) 
 
COMMENT AND PROGRESS REPORT 
--------------------------- 
 
10. The DRC has largely fulfilled the statutory requirements 
for compliance with ILO Convention 182.  Enforcement, 
however, is lax due to institutionalized corruption and 
bureaucratic disorganization.  Nevertheless, the DRC has made 
progress in sensistizing its population to child labor 
issues.  International pressure, work with MONUC's child 
protection program, and the presence of various children's 
rights NGOs have laid a foundation for more effective 
implementation of existing laws as bureacratic competency 
increases and economic conditions improve. 
MEECE