US embassy cable - 05NEWDELHI9204

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 NEW DELHI 009204 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB, PGOV, KCRM, ETRD, PHUM, SOCI, USAID, BT 
SUBJECT: BHUTAN: LARGELY LACKING WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR 
 
REF: STATE 143552 
 
1.  (U) In response to Reftel, post spoke to Bhutanese 
Ministry of Labor, Education, Employment and Works and Human 
Settlement officials and NGOs to answer questions posed in 
paragraph seven.  We assess that while 45,000 children may at 
times work, the worst forms of child labor are largely absent 
in the kingdom striving for "Gross National Happiness." 
 
A. Laws and regulations proscribing the worst forms of child 
labor: 
 
-- Bhutan is not a member of the ILO and, therefore, has not 
ratified Convention 182.  Bhutan has ratified the UN 
Convention on the Rights of the Child, the SAARC Convention 
on Prevention and Combating the Trafficking Women and 
Children for Prostitution, and the SAARC Convention on 
Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in 
South Asia. 
 
-- There is currently no minimum age for employment and 
children often work on family farms and shops after school 
and during holidays.  It is difficult to quantify how many 
children are working in Bhutan.  One approach used by UNICEF 
is to assume that a high proportion of students above the age 
of ten who are not attending school are working.  Citing the 
National Literacy Survey of 2003, which reported that for 10 
to 14 year olds, the proportion out of school is 4 percent 
for urban boys, 13 percent for urban girls, 29 percent for 
rural boys and 35 percent for rural girls, one can estimate 
that there are 45,000 children working in Bhutan. A large 
majority of these children work for their families. 
 
-- During 2005, the Royal Government of Bhutan introduced, 
and will likely pass, the Labor and Employment Act, which 
will specify the kind of work that is permissible for 
children at different ages. 
 
B.  (U) Regulations for the implementation and enforcement of 
proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- Bhutan does not have a nodal agency to implement and 
enforce child labor laws.  However, the National Commission 
for Women and Children (NCWC), created in 2004, monitors such 
issues nationwide and promotes the rights of women and 
children.  The Bhutanese Penal Code, enforced by the Home 
Ministry through the Royal Bhutanese Police, has statutes 
protecting children from any sort of violence, specifically, 
child abuse, endangerment, trafficking and mental abuse. 
 
C.  (U) Social programs to prevent and withdraw children from 
the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- In April 2005, UNICEF and the NCWC co-hosted a two day 
event to address a number of issues affecting children.  The 
two groups agreed that Bhutan was free from extreme forms of 
violence against children, but that more subdued acts do 
occur.  International standards deems any physical work that 
is stressful and at times harmful as abuse, and common chores 
in Bhutan, such as collecting firewood, fetching water and 
tending to cattle fit into this category. 
 
-- Bhutan took part in the first ever South Asia regional 
consultation on violence against children in May 2005, 
pledging to work with other countries in the region to 
eliminate child abuse in the home, schools, work situations, 
and the community. 
 
-- The RGOB has been successful in removing corporal 
punishment from the school system. 
 
D.  (U) Does the country have a comprehensive policy aimed at 
the elimination of the worst forms of child labor? 
 
-- The worst forms of child labor are extremely rare, if they 
occur at all in Bhutan.  Bhutan's rapidly growing school 
system is the most effective deterrent to the worst forms of 
child labor encroaching into the country.  Bhutan spent 16 
 
NEW DELHI 00009204  002 OF 002 
 
 
percent of its national budget during 2004 on the school 
system, increasing attendance by 4.4 percent over the prior 
year. Gross primary enrollment is estimated at a relatively 
high 87.7 percent.  Also, the recently created NCWC and the 
soon to be ratified Labor and Employment Act, will give the 
government greater visibility of the problem and expanded 
legal authority to prosecute cases. 
MULFORD