VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAK #6652/01 3481220
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141220Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0290
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1523

UNCLAS ANKARA 006652 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL/IL TU DANG; DOL FOR ILAB TINA MCCARTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR INFORMATION 
UPDATE 
 
REF: A. STATE 184972 
 
     ¶B. 05 ANKARA 5107 
 
¶1.  Turkey continues its efforts to eliminate all forms of 
child labor, increasing access to basic and vocational 
education to improve the prospects of children currently 
working, and withdrawing them from employment while they are 
children.  Post provided in September 2005 detailed 
information regarding Turkey's efforts to combat the worst 
forms of child labor (see ref b).  Post provides new 
information and clarification of information previously 
provided in ref b below, in response to the request for 
updated information on those efforts conveyed in ref a, 
paragraph 8, sections A through E. 
 
¶A.  Whether Turkey has adequate laws and regulations 
proscribing the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- Turkey continued to implement provisions stipulated 
throughout Turkish law regarding the elimination of child 
labor, as well as its cooperative agreement with the ILO's 
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor 
(IPEC), the commitment to which was extended in 2006 through 
September 2011.  Turkey's efforts in this area are primarily 
coordinated through the GOT's Time-Bound Policy and Program 
Framework for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor, which is designed to totally eliminate the worst forms 
of child labor in Turkey within 10 years.  In addition, 
Turkey ratified the Council of Europe's Social Charter in 
October 2006, which further underscores the rights of 
children in Turkey. 
 
¶B.  Regulations for implementation and enforcement of 
proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- As noted last year, Turkish laws addressing the child 
labor issue contain implementation provisions which 
specifically mention public agencies in charge of 
implementation and monitoring.  There is an Emergency Action 
Plan on child labor and a new nation-wide economic 
Development Plan -- the ninth in a series of such plans -- 
designed to map out GOT priorities and programs in the 
economic and social fields over the next seven years.  This 
Development Plan also incorporates efforts aimed at combating 
the worst forms of child labor. 
 
-- The GOT continued to conduct awareness-raising and 
training activities for officials in charge of enforcing 
child labor laws. In 2006, there were Time-Bound meetings in 
Ankara, Bursa, and Izmir.  The GOT also issued this year in 
both Turkish and English a publication entitled, "An 
Integrated Programme For the Elimination of the Worst Forms 
of Child Labor In the Furniture Sector in Three Provinces." 
It is designed to assist members of the country's labor 
inspectors' board in implementing and enforcing child labor 
laws and in making employers aware of their provisions.  The 
publication was produced as a pilot project.  It will serve 
as a reference guide as well as a basis for more 
comprehensive guides the government hopes to produce covering 
other economic sectors where child labor remains an issue. 
 
¶C.  Whether there are social program to prevent and withdraw 
children from the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- Information provided last year remains current, with the 
exception that the GOT has extended care and rehabilitation 
services provided to children subject to the worst forms of 
child labor to 44 centers around the country (up from 30 in 
2005). 
 
¶D.  Does the country have a comprehensive policy aimed at the 
elimination of the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- Information provided last year on the Time-Bound Program 
remains current. 
 
¶E.  Is the country making continual progress toward 
eliminating the worst forms of child labor: 
 
-- New data on this issue remain difficult to find.  Official 
figures from Turkey's State Statistics Institute are dated 
and have not been collected in recent years due to budget 
cutbacks.  The Child Labor Unit in Turkey's Ministry of Labor 
and Social Security (MOLSS) has been pressing for more 
detailed, up-to-date information in order to close the 
knowledge gap as to the nature, magnitude, consequences and 
emerging trends in Turkey's effort to combat the worst forms 
of child labor.  According to MOLSS officials, the State 
Statistics Institute has responded by initiating a new 
 
collection effort in this area in 2006, which should be 
completed and made public in 2007. 
 
Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at 
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/ 
 
WILSON