VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHCL #0016/01 0181538
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 181538Z JAN 07
FM AMCONSUL CASABLANCA
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 7568
INFO RUEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 7829
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 1974
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 2850
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 2213
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 3684
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0267
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0510
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0236
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 0937
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0611

UNCLAS CASABLANCA 000016 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
 
LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB CHARITA CASTRO, CHRIS CAMILLO 
 
STATE ALSO FOR DRL/IL ALFRED ANZALDURA, CHERYL CLAYTON,  DRL/BA, 
NEA/RA, NEA/MAG, NEA/ENA, G/IWI, AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD EAID PHUM SOCI KWMN MO
SUBJECT: 2006 MOROCCO UPDATE OF THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR 
 
REFS: (A) 05 CASABLANCA 992 
 
  (B) CASABLANCA 435 
  (C) CASABLANCA 530 
 
 
------------------------ 
SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION 
------------------------ 
 
¶1.  (U)  This message provides requested input for the Department of 
Labor's annual report on the Worst Forms of Child Labor and Host 
County's commitment to combat and eliminate them.  It updates 
information provided by Post in 2005 (ref A) concerning Morocco's 
child labor laws and regulations, law enforcement efforts, 
information on violations and prosecutions, governmental, and 
non-governmental programs, and policies to eradicate child labor. 
 
¶2.  (U) The Government of Morocco (GOM) recognizes that there is an 
ongoing problem with child labor in the country.  Morocco has 
strengthened several legal codes aimed at ending the exploitation of 
children.  In 2004, the government passed reforms to the Family 
Code, the Labor Code, and the Penal Code, all of which strengthened 
children's rights.  These laws are detailed in Post's 2004 and 2005 
reports.  In addition, the GOM adjusted the ages for compensatory 
schooling from 7-13 to 6-15 in 2000. 
 
¶3.  (U) In 2006, the GOM took significant steps to alleviate the 
problem of child labor.  A proposed bill regulating domestic workers 
(ref B) is in the assessment phase and a new Child Rescue Plan of 
Action (ref C) is now underway.  The GOM has expanded coordination 
with local, national, and international NGOs on various education 
and training programs.  End Summary and Introduction. 
 
------------------------ 
A Problem of Enforcement 
------------------------ 
 
¶4.  (U)  Morocco continues to have one of the highest rates of child 
labor in the Middle East and North Africa. According to the National 
Board of Statistics, approximately 600,000 Moroccan children, 
between the ages of 7-14, are employed in the labor sector.  The 
vast majority of these children, 87 percent, come from rural areas. 
In addition 18 percent all of children between the ages of 12 and 14 
are child laborers. 
 
¶5. (SBU) While Morocco's Labor Code set the legal age of employment 
for children at 15 in 2004, according to NGO directors and Moroccan 
labor inspectors, no employer has ever been convicted for violating 
this restriction.   Morocco's informal sector, where most children 
work, is not closely monitored by the Ministry of Labor's small 
cadre of labor inspectors. 
 
¶6.  (U) According to a 2004 International Labor Organization (ILO) 
report on child labor, child domestic workers are "perhaps the most 
vulnerable group of child workers" and "urban child labor poses the 
greatest danger to children health and well being."  It is difficult 
to know exactly how many Moroccan girls work as domestic laborers 
due to the nature of the work, however, estimates reach as high as 
from 66,000 to 88,000.  In December 2005, Human Rights Watch 
published "Inside the Home Outside the Law" a report on the abuse of 
child domestics in Morocco.  The report claimed that 33 percent of 
all child domestics begin their employment before the age of 10 and 
regularly work 14 to 18 hours a day, earning as little as four cents 
an hour.  The report also stated that these domestic workers are 
"highly vulnerable to physical, psychological, and sexual abuse." 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Government's Efforts in the Fight Against Child Labor 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
¶7.  (U) This year the GOM announced a number of new initiatives to 
combat child labor. Secretary of State for Families, Children and 
the Handicapped, Yasmina Baddou, is the driving force behind the 
efforts.  In January, Baddou announced that she is working with the 
Ministry of Labor on a bill that would ban child domestic labor. 
The bill will include strict penalties for employing child maids or 
acting as an intermediary in the hiring of underage domestics.  In 
addition, the Ministry of Labor announced it is working in 
cooperation with the ILO-IPEC to develop new Child Labor Monitoring 
Units for the first time.  Currently, the child labor law 
enforcement has been ostensibly covered by national labor inspectors 
who are neither trained in child labor law nor able to monitor the 
informal labor sector adequately. 
 
¶8.  (U) In May, Baddou's office announced a number of additional 
programs aimed at child rescue.  The first, Inqad ("Rescue"), is a 
program aimed at ending the culture of employing child maids in 
Morocco.  Inqad, developed with technical assistance from USDOL's 
child rescue program ADROS and UNICEF, is a comprehensive program 
involving the Ministries of Labor, Justice, and National Education, 
as well as the Secretariat of State for Families, Children, and the 
Handicapped, and the Secretariat for Literacy and Non-Formal 
Education.  The first phase of the program, an awareness campaign 
using TV, radio, brochures, and the national press, is underway. 
The goal of the program is to change public opinion about the 
practice, withdraw the girls from the labor market, and successfully 
re-integrate them into society. 
 
¶9.  (U)  The second campaign launched by Baddou's office is a 
project to tackle child abuse.  The project will initially create 
five pilot units, beginning with Casablanca and Marrakech, followed 
by Tangier, Fes, and Laayoune.  The units will provide intervention 
and follow up services for children who are victims of violence and 
exploitation.  The units will all eventually offer counseling, legal 
guidance, psychological support, and promote children's rights.  In 
addition to the pilot units, the GOM announced on July 19 the 
creation of a mobile unit for urgent social services to benefit 
street children.  The first mobile unit was to begin operations in 
Casablanca in September 2006. 
 
--------------------- 
Morocco's Street Kids 
--------------------- 
 
¶10.  (U) Despite Morocco's efforts to protect and educate its 
children, the number of children living on the street appears to be 
increasing.  According to a survey done by the Secretariat for 
Families, Children, and the Handicapped, there were approximately 
10,000 to 14,000 children living on the streets of Morocco in 1999. 
However, a report by an independent UN special reporter, released on 
December 7, 2006, indicates the number may be as high as 600,000 
(Note: While Post believes this number to be inflated, it does 
underscore the profundity of the situation. End Note).  These 
children are subject to environmental and health problems, violence 
and sexual abuse on the street.  Moreover, in 2004 Bayti, an 
association that houses street children in a number of cities around 
Morocco, claimed that 98 percent of children living on the streets 
are addicted to sniffing glue and other substances. 
 
¶11.  (U) While it is impossible to confirm these numbers there is no 
doubt that the number of street children has been on the rise and 
that drug abuse is an issue of concern, especially in large cities 
like Casablanca and Marrakech.  The GOM is now designing a plan of 
attack to confront the problem.  As part of the Nation Plan of 
Action, the Secretariat of Families, Children and the Handicapped is 
currently examining the circumstances of street children and plans 
to develop a nationwide prevention and treatment campaign.  The 
ultimate goal is to reunite the street children with their families 
and re-integrate them into society. 
--------- 
Education 
--------- 
 
¶12.  (SBU)  Access to adequate schooling is a problem for the 
majority of children in Morocco.  It is estimated that between 2.5 
and 3 million Moroccan children between the ages of 7-14 do not 
attend school.  National statistics show that approximately 250,000 
children drop out of primary school each year and another 130,000 
leave middle and high school.  While Moroccan law calls for 
mandatory attendance for children ages 6-15, according to national 
statistics only 86 percent of Morocco's children reach the fifth 
grade and approximately 20 percent graduate from high school.  The 
situation is worse in the rural areas where attendance for girls can 
be as low as 20 percent. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) The reasons for low attendance in rural areas are varied. 
 Inadequate facilities in small villages often restrict access to 
education, however, teacher absence also play a large role in the 
problem.  One province reported 36,000 workdays lost due to teacher 
illness in 2005.  There is also a great deal of anecdotal evidence, 
from various sources, that teachers in rural areas are absent for 
weeks at a time throughout the year.  In addition, economic issues 
prevent some Moroccan children, who are unable to afford the 
approximately 200 dirhams (25 USD) for books and supplies, from 
attending class.  An added factor may be that according to a recent 
UNICEF study, 87 percent of all Moroccan school children report that 
they are subject to some kind of violence in school. 
 
¶14.  (U) To help counter the problem, non-formal education has 
become a priority for the GOM.  In December 2006, Secretary of State 
Literacy and non-Formal Education, Anis Birou, announced that 
Morocco's illiteracy rate had dropped below 40 percent, due in a 
large part to non-formal education.  The non-formal education 
program in Morocco benefits not only adults but numerous adolescent 
drop-outs.  It also targets those young students at risk of dropping 
out.  The Ministry works with NGOs and mosques on its literacy 
programs.  In July the GOM was awarded UNESCO's Confucius Prize for 
Literary in recognition of the strides it has made in raising the 
national literacy rates. 
 
----------------------------------- 
Child Sex Tourism a Growing Problem 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶15.  (U) Sexual exploitation of children is a problem in high 
tourism areas in Morocco.  Despite statements from the GOM that it 
will not tolerate sex tourism, it remains a serious matter of 
concern in destinations like Marrakech, Tangier and Agadir.  In 
July, Minister of Justice Mohamed Bouzoubaa reported that the number 
of sexual perversion and pedophilia cases registered in Moroccan 
courts in 2005-2006 involving foreigners and Moroccan minors 
increased 26 percent. 
 
¶16.  (U) Moroccan NGOs are taking the lead in the fight against the 
phenomenon of child sex tourism.  In the last year, 25 NGOs focusing 
on the child abuse issue came together under an umbrella 
organization called "No Child is Safe."  The coalition is 
prioritizing ending child sex tourism in Morocco. Coverage of the 
organization and its efforts in enhancing public awareness have been 
supported by the GOM.  The group organized marches, rallies, and 
sit-ins, and used extensive press coverage to expose the mounting 
problem.  In addition to the numerous NGOs addressing the issue, 2M, 
Moroccan semi-independent TV network, aired an award winning report 
tackling the subject of pedophilia in Morocco.  Until very recently 
the subject was considered taboo in Morocco. 
 
----------- 
Conclusions 
----------- 
 
¶17.  (U) The country of Morocco has made significant progress in the 
recent year towards the eradication of child labor.  The GOM 
continues to develop new guidelines to end child labor and new 
systems of monitoring the situation.  The Ministry of Labor is 
working closely with numerous other ministries, including the 
Ministry of Education and the Secretariat of Families, Children, and 
the Handicapped, NGOs, and international organizations to develop a 
comprehensive program to attack the problem of child labor.  The 
number of children remaining in schools is increasing, literacy 
rates are improving and in the last year, thousands of children have 
been removed from the labor market and returned to the education 
system through public and private programs.  Awareness campaigns by 
the GOM and many NGOs warning the general population about the 
damage child labor does appear to be working to change attitudes 
across the country.  That said, the problem of child labor persists 
in Morocco with an estimated 11 percent of children in the labor 
market as a result of weak enforcement of the good child labor 
legislation. 
 
¶18. (U) Embassy Rabat has coordinated on this message. 
 
GREENE