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RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #1604/01 3491041
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 151041Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6554
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP  0134
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0795

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 04 MAPUTO 001604 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
SENSITIVE 
 
AF/S FOR HTREGER 
DRL/IL FOR TDANG 
DOL/ILAB FOR TMCCARTER 
USAID FOR AFR/SA 
MCC FOR SGAULL 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PREL PGOV PHUM SOCI MZ
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR REPORT 
 
REF: STATE 184972 
 
MAPUTO 00001604  001.2 OF 004 
 
 
Summary 
-------- 
 
¶1. Mozambique is a party to the ILO convention against the 
worst forms of child labor.  The Government of the Republic 
of Mozambique (GRM) has a regulatory framework in place to 
monitor and prosecute infractions of the labor code, but it 
does not have a regulatory body specifically devoted to 
child labor cases.  The Ministry of Labor (MOL) and non- 
governmental organizations (NGOs) have increased efforts to 
develop programs to combat the worst forms of child labor, 
but impact to date remains minimal.  The Labor Law regulates 
child labor; however, child labor remains a problem in 
Mozambique.  Forced and bonded labor are common practices in 
rural areas.  End Summary. 
 
 
Laws Proscribing the Worst Forms of Child Labor 
--------------------------------------------- -- 
 
¶2.  Law 8/98 sets the minimum age for employment at 15 
years, but, in exceptional cases, allows for children 
between the ages of 12 and 15 to work with the joint 
approval of the Ministries of Labor, Health, and Education. 
The law sets restricted conditions on the work that minors 
between the ages of 15 and 18 may perform, limits the number 
of hours they can work, and establishes training, education, 
and medical exam requirements.  Children between the ages of 
15 and 18 are prohibited from being employed in unhealthy or 
dangerous occupations or occupations requiring significant 
physical effort, as determined by the MOL.  Article 79 of 
the Labor Law stipulates that employers must provide 
children between 12 and 15 with vocational training and 
offer age-appropriate work conditions.  For children between 
15 and 18 years of age, the employer is required to provide 
for their education and professional training and to ensure 
conditions of work that are not damaging to their physical 
and moral development.  During 2006 the government's Child 
Protection Committee, which was formed in 2004 in response 
to an NGO analysis of children's legal issues, finalized the 
drafting of a child protection law.  The Council of 
Ministers plans to submit the draft law for parliamentary 
approval in 2007. 
 
¶3.  For minors under 18 years, the maximum workweek is 38 
hours and the maximum workday is 7 hours.  Children must 
undergo a medical examination before beginning work.  By 
law, children must be paid at least the minimum wage or a 
minimum of two-thirds of the adult salary, whichever is 
higher.  Children, including those under the age of 15, 
commonly worked on family farms in seasonal harvests or 
commercial plantations, where they were paid on a piecework 
basis.  In the urban informal sector children performed such 
tasks as guarding cars, collecting scrap metal, working as 
vendors, and selling trinkets and food in the streets, and 
presumably are paid on a piecework basis.  Children also 
were employed as poorly paid domestic laborers, and their 
number continues to increase. 
 
¶4.  Mozambican law does not specifically prohibit 
trafficking in persons.  Traffickers can be prosecuted using 
13 related articles of the penal code on sexual assault, 
rape, abduction, and child abuse. Mozambique prosecuted its 
first trafficking case in March 2006, resulting in the 
conviction of two men for kidnapping and attempting to sell 
a 13-year-old boy.  The government has investigated reports 
of trafficking, including press reports, issued public 
awareness announcements, and held local workshops.  In March 
2006, the Ministry of Justice signed an agreement with an 
NGO to jointly draft a comprehensive law against trafficking 
in persons, including children.  Trained police officials 
continued to staff women's shelters at police stations to 
protect trafficking victims in Maputo, Beira, Nampula, and 
several large towns in Gaza Province. 
 
¶5.  On May 2, 2006, the Mozambican NGO Civic Education Forum 
(FECIV) inaugurated the country's first permanent shelter 
for trafficking victims outside the town of Moamba.  The 
shelter is located half way between Maputo and the South 
African border post of Ressano Garcia, which is a major 
crossing point for trafficked persons.  The shelter receives 
 
MAPUTO 00001604  002.2 OF 004 
 
 
funding from several NGOs and the USG, and serves 
approximately 25 women and children at a time.  FECIV also 
began a program to screen for victims of trafficking among 
the 800 to 1,000 illegal Mozambican immigrants repatriated 
each month by South African immigration authorities.  The 
Department of Migration maintains an agreement with the 
government of South Africa to share facilities and 
information, including information on trafficking in 
persons. 
 
¶6.  The government ratified ILO Conventions 29, 138, 182 in 
June 2003.  Mozambique ratified the UN Convention on the 
Rights of the Child in April 1994, the UN Optional Protocol 
to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the Sale of 
Children, Child Prostitution, and Child Pornography in March 
2003, and the UN Protocol to Prevent, Suppress, and Punish 
Trafficking in Persons in September 2006.  Focus on 
children's rights continues to be a primary focus of the 
government, particularly as it relates to HIV/AIDS and 
trafficking in persons. 
 
Implementation and Enforcement of Labor Laws 
-------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  The MOL is authorized to regulate child labor in both 
the informal and formal sectors.  Labor inspectors are 
authorized to obtain court orders and use police to enforce 
compliance with child labor provisions.  Violations of child 
labor provisions are punishable with fines ranging from 1 to 
10 times the monthly minimum wage.  Enforcement remedies 
generally are adequate in the formal sector, but remain poor 
in the regulation of informal child labor.  The Labor 
Inspectorate and police force lack adequate staff, funds, 
and training to investigate child labor cases, especially in 
areas outside of the capital, where many cases occur.  Post 
is unaware of any child labor investigations occurring in 
¶2006.   The government provides training for police on child 
prostitution and abuse (including pornography); however, 
there is no specialized child labor training for the Labor 
Inspectorate. The government has disseminated information 
and provided education about the dangers of child labor. 
 
Social Programs to Counter Child Labor 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8.  The MOL and other organizations have done some work on 
child labor issues, but with little impact.  The MOL has 
developed an action plan for reducing child labor and 
allocated funds to organize seminars to discuss this issue. 
In 2006 the Eliminating Child Labor in Tobacco Foundation 
issued the results of a study conducted during the latter 
months of 2005 to measure incidents of child labor in the 
tobacco growing industry in Tete and Niassa Provinces.  The 
study found that 80 percent of tobacco farms employed 
children, and the majority of these children were under age 
¶15.  The Foundation planned to present the results to the 
Mozambican government for action.  The trade union movement 
in Mozambique has been involved in the eradication of child 
labor.  The Confederation of Trade Unions (OTM) has 
participated in several initiatives against child labor, 
particularly in rural areas where this is common, including 
participation in seminars and workshops as well as in the 
design of the child labor regulations. 
 
¶9.  The U.S. Department of Labor Bureau of International 
Labor Affairs currently funds two projects in Mozambique, 
which began in 2005.  The first project is a study on child 
domestic workers in rural and urban areas, including child 
trafficking victims.  The second project is a study on child 
prostitution throughout the country. 
 
¶10.  The GRM also has programs aimed at supporting children 
from impoverished families to stay in school and away from 
the labor market and the worst forms of child labor.  For 
example, the GRM has established a scholarship program to 
cover the costs of school materials and fees for children. 
These programs are targeted particularly at vulnerable 
groups affected by HIV/AIDS such as young girls, orphans, 
and child-headed households. 
 
¶11.  Education is compulsory and free through the age of 12, 
but there is a matriculation fee for each child, and 
children are responsible for purchasing books, uniforms, and 
 
MAPUTO 00001604  003.2 OF 004 
 
 
school supplies (spending on these associated costs often 
was higher than matriculation fees).  Such fees and 
associated costs represented a significant financial burden 
for many families.  Children who have a certificate that 
testifies that their parents' incomes are below a certain 
poverty level do not pay any matriculation fees. 
Enforcement of compulsory education laws is inconsistent due 
to the lack of resources and the need for additional 
schools. 
 
National Policy 
--------------- 
 
¶12. While the Ministry of Education has made significant 
progress in increasing school enrollments at all levels, 
significant challenges remain.  UNICEF estimates that in 
2005, 83 percent of children were enrolled in primary 
education in Mozambique.  Completion rates remain much 
lower; in 2004, only 28 percent of girls and 40 percent of 
boys completed primary school.  The government's 2007 
economic and social plan aims to increase the overall number 
of students by 13 percent as well as recruit 9,000 new 
teachers.  The GRM's Second Poverty Reduction Strategy for 
2006-2010 also includes an education investment component. 
The government has set goals to achieve gender equilibrium 
in primary schools over the next five years, and by 2015 
ensure that all children complete the full cycle of primary 
education.  The program also seeks to improve access to and 
quality of education at all levels, by investing in teacher 
training and school equipment (particularly in rural areas), 
by increasing the amount of time children spend at school, 
by providing additional vocational programs, and by 
orienting the curriculum to specific employment 
opportunities. 
 
¶13. The Ministry of Education and Culture and UNICEF are 
working together to implement an innovative package of 
school interventions to improve access and quality, known as 
the Child-Friendly School (CFS) initiative.  CFS includes 
learning and teaching material, extracurricular life skills 
programs on HIV/AIDS prevention and girls' empowerment, and 
access to social services for orphaned and vulnerable 
children. 
 
¶14.  Since 2000, UNICEF has been supporting the national 
broadcaster Radio Mozambique in the development and 
implementation of Child-to-Child radio.  It now consists of 
24 different programs, which are broadcast by the national 
and all provincial studios of Radio Mozambique in 16 local 
languages and Portuguese.  The program includes themes such 
as child abuse and violence, HIV/AIDS and health awareness, 
and girls' access to education.  To ensure nationwide 
outreach, the programs occasionally are also broadcast live 
from districts and remote communities.  The program involves 
75 children and young people as regular contributors.  In 
2004 the program was expanded to include television.  A 
weekly program, broadcast on Mozambique's government 
television channel, entitled "Roda Viva" is dedicated to 
children's rights and involves 16 children and young people 
in program design, production, and presentation. 
 
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶15.  Current statistics on the incidence of child labor in 
Mozambique are not available; however, according to a 2000 
report released by the Brussels-based International 
Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU), nearly 33 
percent of Mozambican children between the ages of 10-14 
were believed to be economically active.  UNICEF estimates 
that more than one million Mozambican children under 14 are 
subject to exploitative labor.  A rapid assessment child 
labor survey of children under 18 conducted between 1998 and 
2002 by the MOL and UNICEF identified the worst forms of 
child labor prevalent in Mozambique as children working in 
commercial agriculture, domestic labor, and child 
prostitution.  Forced and bonded labor are common practices 
in rural areas, and there is no legislation prohibiting 
these practices. 
 
¶16.  The major factors contributing to child labor in 
Mozambique were chronic family poverty, lack of employment 
for adults, breakdown of family support mechanisms, changing 
 
MAPUTO 00001604  004.2 OF 004 
 
 
economic environment, lack of educational opportunities 
resulting from inadequate education system, gender 
inequality, and the impact of HIV/AIDS.  Regarding 
education, UNICEF reports that more than half of primary 
school-aged children leave school before they complete grade 
five; many of these children eventually enter the informal 
job market, where they are subject to abuse and 
exploitation.  The effect of HIV/AIDS continues to 
intensify.  In 2006 approximately 99,000 children under the 
age of 15 were living with HIV/AIDS; the majority were below 
the age of five.  It is estimated that by 2010 the number 
will increase to 121,000.  According to UNICEF, of the 
country's 1.6 million orphans, more than 470,000 have lost 
one or both parents to AIDS, and that number is expected to 
rise to approximately 626,000 by 2010.  It is estimated that 
one in every five households in Mozambique cares for at 
least one orphan.  Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS often are 
forced to work because they are left without any adult 
family members or with only extended family members who were 
unable to support them. 
 
DUDLEY