US embassy cable - 05SOFIA1749

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 SOFIA 001749 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER 
DRL/IL FOR LAUREN HOLT 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, EIND, ETRD, PHUM, SOCI, BU, USAID 
SUBJECT: BULGARIA 2005 CHILD LABOR UPDATE 
 
REFS: (A) STATE 143552 (B) 04 SOFIA 1616 
 
1.  SUMMARY: Since our 2004 report, Bulgaria has made 
significant progress in implementing a national strategy to 
fight child labor abuses.  The GoB has signed an agreement 
with the International Labor Organization (ILO), 
established a child labor unit within the Ministry of Labor 
and Social Policy, and appointed a Chief Coordinator to 
manage child labor issues.  However, in 2004 the General 
Labor Inspectorate (GLI) forwarded 84 child labor 
violations to the Prosecutor's Office for prosecution under 
the country's amended child labor legislation, and to date 
only one employer has been sanctioned by a small fine.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
PROGRESS IN IMPLEMENTING GOVERNMENT PLAN 
 
2.  Officials in the Ministry of Labor and Social Policy 
have emphasized to us Bulgaria's March 22, 2005, Memorandum 
of Understanding with the ILO as an example of the 
government's commitment to ending child labor abuses (ref 
B).  In accordance with the memorandum, the Ministry of 
Labor and Social Policy has established a Child Labor Unit 
tasked with coordination of child labor issues and 
development of a national database on child labor in 
Bulgaria.  In addition, in May 2005 the Labor Minister 
appointed a Chief Coordinator to be funded by the ILO for 
one year. 
 
WORK AHEAD: IMPROVING COORDINATION AND MONITORING 
 
3.  NATIONAL STEERING COMMITTEE:  The ILO memorandum calls 
for establishment of a National Steering Committee to be 
chaired either by the Labor Minister or other high-level 
government official nominated by the minister.  The 
committee will coordinate policies aimed at eliminating the 
worst forms of child labor and will integrate the issue of 
child labor into the government's overall social services 
policy.  On February 3, 2005, Bulgaria signed the EU Joint 
Inclusion Memorandum (JIM), which will allow Bulgaria to 
coordinate with the EU on child labor and other social 
issues upon accession. 
 
4.  Other key initiatives of the government's strategy to 
fight child labor abuse include: 
 
--CHILD LABOR MONITORING SYSTEM:  The Ministry of Labor and 
Social Policy, in conjunction with other government bodies 
and NGOs, will establish a child labor monitoring system to 
include four centers (three in the Sofia region and one in 
the municipality of Kurdzhali) to monitor child labor and 
prepare training manuals for social workers; 
 
--TRADE UNION TRAINING:  ILO will translate and publish a 
newsletter  rade Unions and Child Labor  ith the 
objective of training trade union members and leaders on 
the worst forms of child labor; and 
 
--INFORMAL CHILD LABOR:  The Ministry of Labor and Social 
Policy and the ILO will conduct an Occupational Safety and 
Health Study of children working in the informal sector and 
will produce a list of prohibited types of work to serve as 
a reference for child protection agencies. 
 
MIXED ENFORCEMENT RESULTS 
 
5.  After the illegal employment of children was 
criminalized in March 2004 (ref B), the GLI initiated a 
comprehensive public awareness campaign to inform employers 
of their duties under the new legislation.  This has 
included information on the GLI website, the publication of 
press articles, and participation in specialized TV 
programs. 
 
6.  In 2004, the Inspectorate cited 138 violations 
involving youth under the age of 18 (down by 96 from 2003), 
representing 0.3 percent of all employment violations. 
Most labor violations involving minors were related to 
small- and medium-size enterprises either employing 
children without permission or failing to observe maximum 
working hours for those with work permits.  Of these 138 
cases, GLI has forwarded 84 more serious violations to the 
Prosecutor's office as violations of the amended Penal 
Code.  The Code allows for strict punishment, including 
imprisonment for up to six months.  To date, however, 
Bulgarian courts have issued a sentence in only one of 
these cases - a fine of 500 Bulgarian leva (USD 333). 
 
7.  As in previous years, most permits granted for legal 
employment of those under the age of 18 were in the hotel 
and restaurant sector, with significant numbers of permits 
also issued for retail and apparel manufacturing.  In 2004, 
the Inspectorate received a total of 5,418 applications for 
permits to employ minors, of which 5,096 were issued (1,066 
permits more than in 2003). 
 
PUBLIC AWARENESS 
 
8.  The Bulgarian government has formulated public 
awareness campaigns under the ILO's International Program 
on the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC).  These programs 
focused on educating journalists, community leaders, 
employers, teachers, parents, and youth clubs on the 
consequences of the worst forms of child labor.  Using a 
train-the-trainer approach, these Children's Rights 
programs focused on 80 young leaders from 10 municipalities 
as well as members of school affiliates of the UN 
Association of Bulgaria.  These students will further 
educate 1,200 students and parents.  Additionally, 32 
journalists received training on child labor issues in the 
hope of spurring investigative reports on child labor 
abuses in Bulgaria. 
 
9.  In addition to this public awareness campaign, these 
programs will produce an analysis of the media coverage of 
child labor issues in Bulgaria and will publish a handbook 
for reporters.  Participants will prepare investigative 
reports on child labor related to different sectors of the 
economy and will produce leaflets and posters to raise 
awareness of child labor issues. 
 
10.  COMMENT:  Bulgaria's constructive partnership with the 
ILO underlines a greater government awareness of the need 
to adequately address child labor.  Spurred by the recent 
agreement with the ILO, the Bulgarian government has built 
new child labor administrative capacity, including improved 
inter-agency coordination and a comprehensive child labor 
plan.  The General Labor Inspectorate appears to be 
implementing its new responsibilities eagerly, and is 
actively seeking to establish cooperation with appropriate 
agencies in the U.S.  However the GLI, the NGO community, 
and the U.S. mission alike continue to be frustrated by the 
slow progress in prosecuting cases of alleged child labor 
abuses.  END COMMENT. 
 
BEYRLE