Cablegate: Rwanda Update of Worst Forms of Child Labor
VZCZCXYZ0033
RR RUEHWEB
DE RUEHLGB #1198 3481617
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141617Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3572
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0250
UNCLAS KIGALI 001198
SIPDIS
SIPDIS
PLEASE PASS TO DOL/ILAB-TINA MCCARTER AND DRL/IL- TU DANG
E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PHUM ELAB EIND ETRD SOCI USAID RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA UPDATE OF WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR
INFORMATION
REF: A. STATE 184972
B. KIGALI 192
1. Summary. There are few updates to post's August
submission of Worst Forms of Child Labor information for
mandatory reporting requirements as requested (ref A). GOR
continues to take the issue seriously; however, progress is
gradual due to the lack of capacity in the Ministries charged
with execution of the government's five-year action plan.
End summary.
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
-----------------------------------
2. The most recent relevant statistics from UNICEF (ref B)
are:
-- 352,550 children are engaged in child labor
-- 83.1 percent in the commercial agricultural sector
-- 11.9 percent in the domestic sector
-- 1.2 percent in commerce
-- 0.7 percent in manufacturing
-- 7,000 street children
-- 1.3 million orphans (defined by the GOR as children with
no or one parent)
-- 106,000 child headed households
Child Labor Laws and Enforcement
--------------------------------
3. The GOR's lead authority for implementation and
enforcement of proscriptions against worst forms of child
labor continues to be the Ministry of Public Service, Skills
Development and Labor (MIFOTRA). In August a MIFOTRA
training workshop for labor inspectors included a session on
child labor issues. According to MIFOTRA Director of Labor
Inspectors, Julie Kamukala, GOR labor inspectors will be
integrating child labor issues into district performance
contracts. The government has thirty labor inspectors that
address child labor issues (Note. Rwanda is comprised of four
provinces and thirty districts. End note). When inspectors
find cases of child labor they generally educate the violator
on Rwandan child labor laws and issue a warning. On 12
December, Kamukala said MIFORTA labor inspectors would begin
keeping track of child labor law enforcement statistics in
2007 but there are no current statistics on how many labor
inspections were conducted in 2006.
Current Policies and Programs to Eliminate the WFCL
--------------------------------------------- ------
4. In addition to the work by the Labor Inspectors
Department of MIFOTRA, the Ministry of Gender and Family
Promotion, with assistance from UNICEF and Save the Children,
continues to develop the National Action Plan for Orphans and
Vulnerable Children Plan of Action. There are child issues
courts operating but they have not yet handled child labor
cases.
5. Comment. It is country team's view that the GOR
continues to make progress towards eliminating the worst
forms of child labor. End comment.
ARIETTI