US embassy cable - 05MAPUTO1086

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 MAPUTO 001086 
 
SIPDIS 
STATE FOR AF/S - HTREGER AND DRL/IL - LHOLT 
DOL/ILAB FOR TMCCARTER 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, EIND, ETRD, PHUM, SOCI, MZ, USAID, Trafficking in Persons 
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: UPDATE ON WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR 
INFORMATION 
 
REF: STATE 143552 
 
Summary 
-------- 
1. Mozambique is party to the ILO convention against the 
worst forms of child labor (Convention 182). The Government 
of the Republic of Mozambique (GRM) has a regulatory 
framework in place to monitor and prosecute infractions of 
the labor code, but it does not have a regulatory body 
specifically devoted to child labor cases. The Ministry of 
Labor (MOL) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have 
increased efforts to develop programs to combat the worst 
forms of child labor, but impact to date remains minimal. 
The Labor Law regulates child labor. However child labor 
remains a problem in Mozambique; forced and bonded labor are 
common practices in the rural areas. End Summary. 
 
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor 
----------------------------------- 
2. Updated statistics on the incidence of child labor in 
Mozambique are unavailable. However according to a 2001 
report released by the Brussels-based International 
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), nearly 33 percent 
of Mozambican children between the ages of 10-14 were 
expected to be economically active. UNICEF has similar 
estimates, and states that more than 1 million Mozambican 
children under 14 were subject to exploitative labor in 2003. 
A rapid assessment child labor survey of children under 18 
conducted between 1998-2002 by the MOL and UNICEF identified 
the worst forms of child labor prevalent in Mozambique as 
children working in commercial agriculture, domestic labor, 
and child prostitution. Forced and bonded labor are common 
practices in the rural areas. However, there is no 
legislation that prohibits such practices. 
 
3. The major factors contributing to child labor in 
Mozambique are chronic family poverty, lack of employment for 
adults, breakdown of family support mechanisms, changing 
economic environment, lack of education opportunities 
resulting from inadequate education system, gender 
inequality, and the impact of HIV/AIDS. According to Save 
the Children, nearly 500,000 children in Mozambique have lost 
one or both parents to AIDS. This number is expected to rise 
to approximately 1.13 million by the end of 2007. Save the 
Children estimates that one in every five households in 
Mozambique care for at least one orphan. Children orphaned 
by HIV/AIDS often are forced to work because they are left 
without any adult family members or with only extended family 
members who were unable to support them. 
 
Laws and Regulations Defining Child Labor 
----------------------------------------- 
4. The government ratified ILO Conventions 182 and 29 
(Forced Labor) in June 2003. Post cannot confirm whether 
Mozambique has developed a list of occupations considered to 
be worst forms of child labor as called for in Article 4 of 
Convention 182. Focus on children's rights has increased 
over the past year. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) 
has now been charged with working to deposit at the UN the UN 
Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the 
Child on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution, and Child 
Pornography, as well as the UN Optional Protocol to Prevent, 
Suppress, and Punish Trafficking in Persons. However, no 
timeline has been set by the GRM. 
 
5. Law 8/98 sets the minimum age for employment at 15 years, 
but in exceptional cases allows for children between the ages 
of 12 and 15 to work with the joint approval of the 
Ministries of Labor, Health, and Education. The law sets 
restricted conditions on the work minors between the ages of 
15 and 18 may perform, limits the number of hours they can 
work, and establishes training, education, and medical exam 
requirements. For children between 15 and 18 years of age, 
the employer is required to provide for their education and 
professional training and to ensure that conditions of work 
are not damaging to their physical and moral development. 
 
6. With assistance from UNICEF and a local NGO, Community 
Development Foundation (FDC), the GRM undertook a legal 
review of children's rights in late 2003, which resulted in 
the formation of a Child Protection Committee in 2004. The 
committee, comprised of child welfare organizations and 
government officials, is currently finalizing a draft for a 
new Statute of Assistance for Minors. (Note: The existing 
statute, which determines jurisdiction for children's issues, 
dates back to colonial times. End note.) The committee is 
also responsible for drafting separate children's protection 
legislation, which is due in December 2005. 
 
7. For minors under 18 years the maximum workweek is 38 
hours and the maximum workday is 7 hours. Minors under 18 
years of age are not permitted to work in unhealthy or 
dangerous occupations or those requiring significant physical 
effort. Children must undergo a medical examination before 
beginning work. By law children must be paid at least the 
minimum wage or a minimum of two-thirds of the adult salary, 
whichever is higher. The Constitution prohibits forced 
labor, except in the context of penal law. 
 
8. Due to high adult unemployment in the formal sector, 
estimated at around 50 percent, few children are employed in 
regular wage positions. However children, including those 
under the age of 15, commonly work on family farms; 
independently in seasonal harvests or commercial plantations, 
where they are paid on a piecework basis, which principally 
involves picking cotton or tea leaves; or in the urban 
informal sector, where they perform such tasks as guarding 
cars, collecting scrap metal, working as vendors, and selling 
trinkets and/or food in the streets. Regulations are not 
enforced in the informal labor sector. Children also are 
employed as poorly paid domestic laborers, and this number 
continues to increase. 
 
9. Mozambican law does not specifically prohibit trafficking 
in persons. Traffickers can be prosecuted using laws on 
sexual assault, rape, abduction, and child abuse, but to 
Post's knowledge no such cases have been brought to trial. 
The government has responded to trafficking-related 
allegations in the press by conducting follow-up 
investigations and issuing public awareness announcements. 
In September 2003, the government launched a program to 
enhance its child protection laws, including the development 
of legislation to specifically address trafficking in 
children. A pilot program of police stations dedicated to 
dealing with trafficking victims, and staffed with trained 
officers, was implemented in Maputo, Beira and Nampula. 
 
10. Mozambique's Campaign Against Trafficking in Children, in 
which the government actively participates, is working to 
establish an assistance center in Moamba for repatriated 
victims of child trafficking. The project, which has 
received USG funding, is located close to the border post of 
Ressano Garcia, a major thoroughfare for trafficked persons. 
 
Implementation and Enforcement of Labor Laws 
-------------------------------------------- 
11. The MOL is authorized to regulate child labor in both 
the informal and formal sectors. Labor inspectors are 
authorized to obtain court orders and use police to enforce 
compliance with child labor provisions. Violations of child 
labor provisions are punishable with fines. Enforcement 
remedies generally are adequate in the formal sectors, but 
remain poor in the regulation of informal child labor. The 
Labor Inspectorate and police force lack adequate staff, 
funds, and training to investigate child labor cases, 
especially in areas outside of the capital, where many cases 
occur. The government provides training for police on child 
prostitution and abuse (including pornography); however, 
there is no specialized child labor training for the Labor 
Inspectorate. The government has disseminated information 
and provided education about the dangers of child labor. 
 
12. Education is compulsory through the age of 12. There is 
a matriculation fee for each child, and children are 
responsible for purchasing books and school supplies. 
Children who have a certificate that testifies that their 
parents' incomes are below a certain poverty level do not pay 
any matriculation fees. Nevertheless, the fees and 
associated costs are a significant financial burden for many 
families. Enforcement of compulsory education laws is 
inconsistent due to the lack of resources and the need for 
additional schools. 
 
Social Programs to Counter Child Labor 
-------------------------------------- 
13. The MOL and other organizations have done some work on 
child labor issues, but with little impact. The MOL has 
developed an action plan for reducing child labor and 
allocated funds to organize seminars to discuss this issue. 
The first ever workshop on child labor in Mozambique's 
tobacco sector organized by the Eliminating Child Labor in 
Tobacco Foundation (ECLT) and FDC was held in May 2004 in 
Chimoio, Manica province. Following two days of intense 
debate, there was widespread recognition that child labor 
exists in Mozambican tobacco farms and that the issue needs 
to be properly addressed. Commercial farmers who attended 
pledged not to employ labor below the age of 18. The trade 
union movement in Mozambique has been involved in the 
eradication of child labor. The Confederation of Trade 
Unions (OTM) has participated in several initiatives against 
child labor particularly in rural areas where it is common. 
Activities have included participation in seminars and 
workshops and in the design of the child labor regulations. 
 
14. The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of International 
Labor Affairs (ILAB) intends to fund USD 3 million to improve 
access to and quality of education programs as a means to 
combat exploitive child labor in Mozambique. Projects funded 
under this solicitation will provide educational and training 
opportunities to children as a means of removing and/or 
preventing them from engaging in exploitive work or the worst 
forms of child labor. 
 
15. The GRM also has programs aimed at supporting children 
from impoverished families to stay in school and away from 
the labor market and the worst forms of child labor. For 
example, the GRM has established a scholarship program to 
cover the costs of school materials and fees for children. 
These programs are especially targeted at young girls and 
child-headed households, a phenomenon resulting from the high 
prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Mozambique. 
 
National Policy and Plan of Action 
---------------------------------- 
16. The GRM's Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2001-2005 
includes an education investment component. The GRM 
designated approximately 4.5 percent of its total 
expenditures for education in 2004, up from 2.41 percent in 
2003. The Ministry of Education has made significant 
progress in increasing enrollments at all levels; however, 
significant challenges remain. In 2004, 73.2 per cent of 
primary school age girls were enrolled in primary education 
in Mozambique compared to 78.0 per cent of boys. Completion 
rates are still much lower, especially for girls. In 2003, 
only 38.7 per cent of children starting school managed to 
pass the exam after grade 5. For girls the figure was only 
35.4 per cent. Over the next five years the government wants 
to increase enrollment rates to 80 percent overall and to 78 
percent for girls. The GRM's program envisages 2,500 new 
secondary school classrooms by 2009, and the recruitment of 
7,000 new teachers. The program also promises to improve the 
quality of education at all levels by investing in teacher 
training and school equipment, by increasing the amount of 
time children spend at school, and by systematically updating 
the curriculum. 
 
17. The Government of Mozambique and UNICEF signed a Master 
Plan of Operations in 2002. The overall goal of the 
co-operation between UNICEF and the GRM is to support and 
strengthen the capacities of the country to fulfill the basic 
rights of children and to improve their living conditions and 
prospects. The UNICEF country program is worth USD 86 
million for the years 2002 to 2006. It is guided by the 
Convention on the Rights of Children and the Convention on 
the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women. To achieve 
its goals, UNICEF is working with the GRM on a national, 
provincial and district level, as well as with young people 
and children in the community. 
18. Mozambique's government-run TV channel, TVM, is 
introducing a new program dedicated to child rights called 
"Roda Viva." The main objective of the program is to cover 
activities related to the second National Child Parliament, 
which was held in April 2004 in Maputo, and will include 
reports from different provinces about the follow up to the 
recommendations adopted at the National Child Parliament. 
The program is being produced in close collaboration between 
UNICEF and the Ministry for Women and the Coordination of 
Social Action. UNICEF has supported the production of the 
first 13 parts financially and technically, and will 
facilitate the coverage from additional provinces in 2005. 
La Lime