US embassy cable - 05NDJAMENA1367

UNCLAS  NDJAMENA 001367 
 
SIPDIS 
 
 
DEPARTMENT FOR AF, AF/C, INR, DRL/IL FOR LAUREN HOLT; 
LONDON AND PARIS FOR AFRICAWATCHERS; DOL FOR TINA MCCARTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, EIND, ETRD, PHUM, SOCI, CD, USAID, Human RIghts 
SUBJECT: CHAD: 2005 CHILD LABOR UPDATE 
 
REF: A. STATE 143552 
 
     B. 04 NDJAMENA 1343 
     C. NDJAMENA 386 
     D. NDJAMENA 387 
 
1.  (U)  Summary: The Chadian Government continues to move 
ahead on its commitments against child labor.  Its efforts 
are hampered by a lack of capacity and resources.  The most 
significant development during this period is the completion 
of a survey of child domestic workers in N'Djamena.  Per A, 
post submits the following update on child labor in Chad. 
This information supplements information already provided in 
Refs B-D.  End Summary. 
 
A.  LEGAL REGIME:  The Government is harmonizing its legal 
code to conform with ILO 182 and 138, which includes revising 
relevant government decrees.  These changes include 
increasing the penalty for employing children under 14.  In 
addition, legal changes concerning the prostitution of minors 
included increasing the penalty to 5-10 years in prison and a 
fine between 200 and 2,000 USD were completed during the 
reporting period. 
 
B.  REGULATIONS FOR IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF LEGAL 
REGIME:  The Ministry of Labor lacks resources to increase 
the number of labor inspectors.  Chad's judicial system 
remains weak and backlogged.  Prosecution of labor cases is 
rare.  However, in May, a Chadian man was arrested in 
Cameroon for forcing two children to beg.  The Chadian police 
had been investigating the perpetrator, a Chadian, and 
assisted Cameroonian authorities in his arrest. 
 
C.  SOCIAL PROGRAMS AND WITHDRAWAL OF CHILDREN FROM THE WORST 
FORMS OF CHILD LABOR:  The Chadian Government remains heavily 
dependent on international and non-governmental organizations 
on children's issues.  Lack of shelter facilities remains a 
problem.  Nonetheless, 256 child herders were rescued by a 
combinations of non-governmental organizations, local 
authorities, and religious institutions.  During the 
reporting period, other children in similar exploitative 
labor situations have been recovered by the military, police, 
and non-governmental organizations.  In some of these cases, 
local magistrates, judges, local officials, or police 
commanders provided shelter and protection for the children. 
Otherwise, religious institutions provide temporary shelter. 
The Catholic-church backed Justice and Peace Commission 
rescues child herders and works with local government 
authorities to counsel parents and determine whether the 
children can return home.  A Koranic School program, financed 
by a wealthy sheik and sanctioned by the Supreme Council of 
Muslims provides food, education, and shelter to 52 children 
sent by their parents to seek employment in N'Djamena.  The 
school provides an alternative to begging. 
 
D.  COMPREHENSIVE POLICY TO ELIMINATE CHILD LABOR:  Chad has 
an Action Plan to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor. 
It will be revised to accommodate recommendations from a a 
UNICEF-funded survey of child domestic workers that was 
completed in February 2005.  The study provided the first 
systematic examination of child workers between the ages of 
five and eighteen.  The study also explored the process 
through which the children are placed in exploitative 
situations.  In the majority of cases, poverty was cited as 
the key reason for seeking domestic employment.  The majority 
of child workers (62 percent) were boys.  Young girls migrate 
to N'Djamena from southern Chad to earn money to afford to 
buy cooking utensils and other household items in preparation 
for marriage in the villages.  Most children who migrate into 
N'Djamena for work come from southern Chad, Logone Occidental 
and Oriental and Mandoul. Twenty-four percent of working 
children are between the ages of eight and fourteen. 
Sixty-eight percent were between fifteen and seventeen years 
of age.  Thirty-one percent of the child workers were never 
enrolled in school.  Eighty-six percent could not read or 
write any language.  Eleven percent could read or write 
French and two percent could read or write in Arabic.  Most 
children left school for financial reasons, some for problems 
in schools, and a few to seek apprenticeships.  The report's 
recommendations include: universal access to free education, 
stabilization of family situations, enforcement of government 
regulations prohibiting children from working, a 
multi-ministerial anti-child labor campaign in the 
 
countryside, and protection measures that include centers for 
exploited children. 
 
E.  PROGRESS TOWARD ELIMINATION OF CHILD LABOR:  Various 
Government ministries (Labor, Social Action and Family, and 
Education) are inching forward on the efforts to combat the 
worst forms of child labor.  Extreme poverty, continued 
problems in the educational sector, and lack of capacity and 
resources are significant obstacles to their efforts.  In 
conjunction with UNICEF, the Government has focused on 
prevention activities.  Several ministries have held 
awareness-raising and training events, which have included 
trips outside N'Djamena as well as sensitization of the 
country's lawmakers.  The ministries supported the efforts of 
a DOL-funded researcher to complete a survey on government 
actions against the worst forms of child labor.  The Ministry 
of Social Action held a conference with Muslim leaders on the 
plight of the mouhadjir children forced to beg by Islamic 
leaders.  This year, the ministry is planning a baseline 
survey of child prostitution in the oil-producing area. 
 
- - - - 
COMMENT 
- - - - 
 
2.  (U)  To date, the Government's efforts to combat the 
worst forms of child labor have focused on laying the legal 
foundation for honoring its commitments to international 
conventions aimed at protecting children.  Current priorities 
include completing studies aimed at identifying the scope, 
magnitude, and causes of the worst forms of child labor in 
Chad.  Its next challenge includes finding the resources for 
nationwide campaigns against child labor in the schools, 
villages, and streets of Chad's major cities.  Post works 
closely with directorate-level government personnel 
responsible for children's issues and will continue to seek 
ways to find financial and material support for the 
government's fight against child labor. 
 
TAMLYN 
 
 
NNNN