US embassy cable - 05CAIRO7068

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 CAIRO 007068 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL/IL (LHOLT) AND NEA/ELA 
LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB (TMCCARTER) 
GENEVA FOR INFO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, EIND, EG, PHUM, SOCI, ETRB, USAID 
SUBJECT: EGYPT - UPDATE ON GSP PROVISIONS ON THE WORST 
FORMS OF CHILD LABOR 
 
REF: A. 04 CAIRO 06563 
 
     B. STATE 143552 
 
1.  Summary:  The Government of Egypt (GOE) continues to make 
progress on restricting and regulating child labor.  The GOE 
and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) are working 
together to increase awareness of child labor-related issues 
and enforcement.  Per ref B request, the following 
information updates developments in child labor in Egypt 
since our last report in August 2004 (ref A).  End Summary. 
 
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Laws and regulations proscribing the worst forms of child 
labor (Section A) 
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2. The Department for Legal Protection of the Child at the 
Ministry of Justice is working with the National Council for 
Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM) to finalize changes to Child 
Law number 12 of 1996 and its executive regulations.  The 
changes will reflect the UN Convention on the Rights of the 
Child (UN CRC) and feedback from the government and NGO 
community.  The Ministry of Justice initiated during the 
reporting period efforts to draft and enact comprehensive 
anti-trafficking legislation in accordance with international 
standards.  The NCCM worked with local NGOs and concerned 
government authorities to organize seminars and workshops on 
the suggested legal amendments to legislation regulating 
children's employment and governing childcare.  The NCCM is 
coordinating with the Ministry of Education to include the 
most important articles of the CRC in schools' curricula. 
 
3. Changes to the Child Law would increase penalties for 
child abuse in homes, schools and care institutions, protect 
children's privacy and the right to non-discrimination and 
allow jail confinement for punishment only in the strictest 
of cases after pursuing social channels for child protection 
and rehabilitation. The changes would also raise the marrying 
age for males and females, guarantee gender equality, raise 
the minimum level for child employment to 15, prohibit 
engaging in hazardous activities and raise the legal 
responsibility for children. 
 
4. While not a matter of law, the Mufti of Egypt (a senior 
government-appointed Islamic cleric) publicly stated it is 
religiously forbidden to exploit children, especially 
underage, in any activity or commercial operation and that 
children should only focus on getting a good education.  The 
Mufti stated children should not be morally, physically or 
psychologically abused as this is religiously unacceptable 
and is considered sinful for their employers and caretakers. 
Such public statements carry great weight and bolster social 
and cultural ethics combating child abuse. 
 
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Regulations for the implementation and enforcement of 
proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor. 
(Section B) 
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5. Enforcement of laws barring child labor remains a priority 
for the GOE.  Several cases involving the enforcement of 
child labor-related legislation by the Ministry of Manpower 
and Migration (MOMM), the NCCM and the Ministry of Interior 
were reported by the local press throughout the reporting 
period (August 2004-August 2005).  In most reported cases 
children were removed from the work environment and legal 
action was taken against the employers who were found to be 
in violation of child labor-prohibiting legislation.  Over 
the past year, the local press increasingly reported on 
arrests of individuals coercing street children to beg, steal 
and work in informal activities and reported on strict 
penalties on individuals caught abusing their domestic 
servants. 
 
6. The NCCM is working with the Ministry of Interior to train 
police officers working with juveniles on best practices in 
dealing with children at risk and children's rights. 
 
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Whether there are social programs to prevent and withdraw 
children from the worst forms of child labor (Section C) 
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7. The NCCM established a permanent committee to combat 
violence against children, which will have branches in all 
governorates.  The committees will include representatives 
from the Ministries of Interior, Social Affairs, Justice, 
Education and Health and representatives from the civil 
society and volunteers from the governorates to follow up on 
cases of violence and take the necessary measures to reduce 
such cases. 
 
8. Projects carried out under the USAID-funded NGO Service 
Center were instrumental in carrying out child labor advocacy 
and providing direct support to affected children, including 
in the governates outside of the capital.  In Alexandria, for 
example, NGO advocacy resulted in the establishment of a new 
unit to provide non-conventional education for school 
dropouts and free health services to working children. 
Extensive field research was conducted in Qena and Suez with 
findings presented to national and local government as well 
as the ILO.  In Qalubiya Governate, a beneficiary community 
development association carried out an extensive advocacy 
campaign for the enforcement of child labor laws. 
 
9. The Regional Consultation on the Violence Against Children 
study was held in Cairo in June 2005.  The study is a United 
Nations-led collaboration, mandated by the General Assembly, 
to draw together existing research and relevant information 
about the forms, causes and impact of violence affecting 
children and young people (up to the age of 18 years).  The 
study will promote ideas for action to prevent and reduce 
such violence and to suggest ways in which these might be 
strengthened at local, national, and international levels. 
 
10. The MOMM worked with the Ministry of Education to 
identify governorates with high dropout rates, and has 
increased child labor inspection in those areas.  The 
Ministry of Education is working with government authorities 
to link school attendance with the national identification 
system through which Egyptians receive ID numbers.  This 
linkage would allow the Ministry to identify dropouts and 
target areas with high dropout rates. 
 
11. The Minister of Information and the NCCM are cooperating 
to increase public awareness on the issue of child labor and 
its hazards.  Advertisements highlighting the negative impact 
of child labor on children, their families and employers are 
being aired on national television in addition to printed 
advertisements on public buses. 
 
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Does Egypt have a comprehensive policy aimed at the 
elimination of the worst forms of child labor (Section D) 
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12. The NCCM worked with the MOMM, Egyptian Trade Union 
Federation (ETUF), ILO, United Nations Children's Fund 
(UNICEF), Ministries of Social Affairs, Agriculture, 
Education, Health and Interior to formulate and implement the 
national strategy to combat child labor and eliminate the 
worst forms of child labor.  Several meetings headed by 
Egyptian First Lady Suzanne Mubarak were organized by the 
NCCM during the reporting period to discuss issues related to 
child protection generally, and child labor specifically, and 
were attended for the first time by the Egyptian Prime 
Minister.  The high-level involvement in child-related issues 
lends importance and political weight to the enforcement and 
speed at which policies and projects are implemented. 
 
13. The NCCM used in the formulation of the strategy results 
of a national survey conducted in 2001 by the Central Agency 
for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) on child 
labor in Egypt.  The NCCM was expected to announce results of 
the national survey in a ceremony under the auspices of the 
Egyptian First Lady in 2003.  Although the ceremony was not 
held, results of the survey were finally publicized at the 
end of 2004 on the website of the NCCM 
www.nccm.org.eg/ardefault.htm.  The NCCM used the results of 
the survey to target four governorates, including Sharkia, 
Menofia, Menia and Damietta, found to have the highest rate 
of the worst forms of child labor, to set up social and 
economic projects to remove working children into 
non-hazardous activities.  The projects aim at gradually 
eliminating all forms of child labor. 
 
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Is Egypt making continual progress toward eliminating the 
worst forms of child labor (Section E) 
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13. Many challenges remain, but the GOE is making progress 
toward eliminating the worst forms of child labor.  The NCCM 
continued to organize a series of workshops for children, 
youth, government and NGO representatives to raise awareness 
of the UN CRC and is preparing Egypt's third report on its 
progress in the implementation of the UN CRC and is 
discussing the report with concerned parties in government 
and the the NGO community in the governorates.  The MOMM 
organized awareness-raising workshops and seminars in all 26 
governorates on the negative impact of employing children in 
hazardous and non-hazardous activities, legislation 
prohibiting child labor and problems obstructing the 
enforcement of child labor regulations. 
 
 
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