VZCZCXRO8128
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #1084/01 2971434
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 241434Z OCT 07
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 3668
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 ABIDJAN 001084 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE PASS TO USTR, C. HAMILTON 
DOL FOR T RASA, D GARMS 
USAID FOR C. GARRETT, S. SWIFT 
EMBASSY ACCRA FOR S. DRIANO 
TREASURY FOR D. PETERS 
COMMERCE FOR M. RIVERO 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ECON EAGR PREL PGOV EAID ELAB EIND IV
SUBJECT: COTE D'IVOIRE ROLLS OUT PRELIMINARY COCOA-CHILD 
LABOR  DIAGNOSTIC AND PLAN OF ACTION AS EFFECTIVE 
HARKIN-ENGLE DEADLINE APPROACHES 
 
REF: ABIDJAN 998 
 
 ¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY.  The Prime Minister's interministerial 
taskforce rolled out preliminary results of its 
industry-funded survey of child labor in the cocoa sector on 
Oct. 12.  It found that 22 percent of children in the region 
are involved in cocoa production, and a majority of them are 
involved in one of the worst forms of child labor, carrying 
heavy loads.  The rest of the report shows a picture of 
largely family-related enterprises, as the great majority of 
children involved in farm labor are members of the family of 
the farm owners.  The Ministry of Labor has produced a 
companion plan to reduce the prevalence of child labor, which 
should be presented formally in the coming weeks.   END 
SUMMARY. 
 
¶2.  (SBU)  On October 12, the Prime Minister's 
Interministerial Taskforce on Child Labor (which effectively 
focuses on the single issue of child labor in the cocoa 
sector) headed by the redoubtable Madame A. Acquah, presented 
the first draft of its preliminary findings concerning the 
prevalence of child labor in Ivorian cocoa production 
centers.  Concentrating on the areas of Agnibilekrou, 
Tiassale and Soubre (the heartland of Central Cote d'Ivoire 
cocoa production), the diagnostic found that 22 percent of 
children in the studied region are involved in cocoa farming. 
 Of those, the vast majority are subject to one form of the 
"worst forms of child labor" as defined by the ILO: carrying 
heavy loads.  84 percent of children who work in the cocoa 
industry affirm engagement in this activity. 
 
¶3.  (SBU/NF)  The report was produced by a group of local 
academic consultants and funded by a consortium of the 
international chocolate industry.  Industry has been 
reluctant to share the extent of its involvement in 
supporting Madame Acquah's efforts, and has repeatedly 
declined to tell Emboffs how much financial backing has been 
provided for the study and follow-on sensitization campaigns. 
 However, given the interest level shown by top-level 
corporate and industry association representatives to this 
question, it is clear that industry takes the issue seriously 
and is determined to achieve success in the 'end game' in the 
months leading up to the Harkin-Engle Protocol's deadline of 
July 1, 2008. 
 
¶4.  (SBU)  The Prime Minister's report presents a fairly 
predictable tableau of child labor in the cocoa sector. 
Three percent of children involved in the cocoa sector 
perform tree and branch-cutting and 18 percent are involved 
in brush burning, although higher numbers are exposed to such 
practices performed by others.  Five percent of children 
working in cocoa production apply pesticides/fungicides 
themselves, although 47 percent are present when others do. 
Intriguingly, girls are slightly more likely to be employed 
by their families to work in cocoa production, and the 
percentage of girls working in the cocoa field who have never 
been schooled is 49 percent, versus 29 percent among boys. 
Even among children involved in cocoa production, the vast 
majority are family members of the farm owner: 93 percent are 
farm owners' own children, their nieces and nephews or 
grandchildren, and only 7.1 percent are unrelated.  Among the 
subset of children involved in dangerous work (and only 2.3 
percent of such children are unrelated to farm owners) all 
report attending at least some school and eat on average 
three meals a day.  The report notes that these last points 
tends to undercut the notion that children are being 
pitilessly exploited. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  The Taskforce presented its report to a broad 
group of academics, NGO leaders involved in cocoa/child labor 
and government officials.  At the meeting, attended by 
Emboff, others subjected the report to a rigorous critique, 
focusing on its structure (which is awkward, putting less 
relevant information up front and making it difficult to 
determine key conclusions of interest to most readers), some 
technical details related to the regression analysis, and 
some valid Ministry of Agriculture criticism about the 
definitions of heavy loads and whether children are forced to 
work.  Overall, however, it appeared that the basic tenets of 
the report were sound.  Once the report incorporates the 
points made by conference participants and is translated into 
 
ABIDJAN 00001084  002 OF 002 
 
 
English, it will be disseminated to foreign audiences while 
the diagnostic will be simultaneously expanded to 50 of the 
country's cocoa growing regions. 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Meanwhile, on October 16 the Ministry of Labor 
released its separate report on Cote d'Ivoire's plan to 
combat the worst forms of child labor (reftel) which it will 
formally present in the coming weeks.  The plan identifies a 
series of steps that need to be accomplished, including 
strengthening the capacity of judges and law enforcement, 
putting in place a system of surveillance (effectively the 
Prime Minister's Taskforce), "reinforcing preventative 
action" (i.e., continuing to encourage foreign NGOs and 
organizations such as Germany's GTZ to conduct sensitization 
campaigns against child labor) and developing a plan to 
remove children from the worst forms of child labor.  The 
latter element appears to lean heavily towards developing 
structures to either repatriating children if trafficked 
across national boundaries, or returning them to their 
families from abusive situations. 
 
¶7.  (SBU/NF)  Comment.  The Harkin-Engle Protocol has clearly 
and effectively motivated the government of Cote d'Ivoire and 
the international chocolate industry to move forward to put 
into place the elements of an overall system capable of 
addressing the question of the worst forms of child labor in 
cocoa production.  The diagnostic element appears further 
along than the plan to combat the problem.  However, Post 
understand from experts in the field from U.S. and other 
international NGOs (Winrock, STCP, IFESH, GTZ and others) 
that, thanks to their sustained efforts,  gradually their 
message concerning the problems associated with inappropriate 
child labor in the fields is sinking in among farmers.  If 
progress can be made in substantially reducing the use of 
children to carry heavy loads, much of the incidence of the 
worst forms of child labor would be eliminated.  Tulane 
University's preliminary study on the effectiveness of public 
and private efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child 
labor should be presented to Congress October 31 (reftel), 
and GoCI officials are clearly attempting to show progress. 
It appears that Cote d'Ivoire is far more capable of meeting 
its child labor targets and the demands of the Harkin-Engle 
Protocol than it did in October of 2006.  End Comment. 
AKUETTEH