VZCZCXRO3425
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHCO #0915/01 3340728
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 300728Z NOV 07
FM AMEMBASSY COTONOU
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0028
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0334
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 1203

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 COTONOU 000915 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
STATE FOR DRL/IL: TU DANG AND AF/W DANA BANKS 
DOL FOR ILAB/MCCARTER 
PARIS FOR POL - D'ELIA 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI EAID BN
SUBJECT: BENIN: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR 
 
REF: STATE 00158223 
 
¶1. This cable responds to the Department's request for information 
for the Worst Forms of Child Labor report (Reftel). 
 
-------------------- 
Laws and Regulations 
-------------------- 
 
¶2.  Benin uses laws and ministerial decrees to set the minimum age 
for employment, to prohibit child trafficking, and to forbid 
children's work in certain sectors. Benin's Labor Code sets the 
minimum age for employment at 14 years of age. Children aged 12 to 
14 may perform domestic work and light work of a temporary or 
seasonal nature, provided that it does not interfere with their 
compulsory schooling. Benin's minimum age for military recruitment 
is 18. 
 
¶3. In April 2006, President Yayi promulgated Act No 2006-04 relating 
to the Displacement of Minors and the Suppression of Child 
Trafficking. The new law provides for increased penalties for the 
trafficking of minors, including imprisonment from six months to 
life, depending on the severity of the crime, and fines from $100 
(50,000 CFA francs) to $10,000 (five million CFA francs). The GOB 
has increased its fight against child trafficking by creating a 
National Child Protection Coordination and Monitoring Working Group, 
by increasing public campaign awareness along its borders, and by 
coordinating the repatriation of Beninese children exploited in 
Nigeria's stone quarries. 
 
¶4. The inter-ministerial decree No 132 of November 2, 2000 provides 
a comprehensive list of the worst forms of child labor. It sets the 
categories of work that are prohibited for under-aged children. 
Examples of forbidden work for children under the age of 18 include 
the operation of motorized vehicles, the operation of crushing 
machinery or use of sharp instruments, and work in slaughterhouses. 
 
¶5. Beninese law does not at present contain a definition of the 
worst forms of child labor; however the GOB ratified both 
International Labor Organization Conventions 138 (setting the 
minimum work age) and 182 (defining the worst forms of child labor) 
in 2001. While Benin did set out several categories of work children 
cannot perform in Decree No 132 (noted above), Benin has not yet 
prepared a list of the worst forms of child labor using the 6-step 
procedure required by Convention 182. According to the Labor Office 
at the Ministry of Labor and Civil Service, a consultant has been 
hired to finalize such a list of hazardous forms of child labor 
which the Office of Labor is expecting to release by the end of 
¶2007. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
Regulations for Implementation and Enforcement of Proscriptions 
Against the Worst Forms of Child Labor 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶6. The legal remedies that are available to government agencies that 
enforce child labor laws cover different statutes in Benin including 
the Penal Code, the Labor Code, the General Collective Convention on 
Labor, the Social Code, case law, and a wide range of other 
legislation and government decrees.  The penalties for violating the 
Labor Code articles relating to child labor include a penalty of 
imprisonment for 2 months to 1 year and/or a fine. Act No. 2006-04 
relating to the Displacement of Minors and the Suppression of Child 
Trafficking also provides a penalty of imprisonment and heavy fines 
for child traffickers.  These penalties are adequate to punish and 
deter violations; however their enforcement is often lax. 
 
¶7. The Government of Benin designated the Ministry of Interior's 
Brigade for the Protection of Minors (BPM) as the lead agency for 
all law enforcement activities related to children, including child 
labor and child trafficking.  During the year the BPM arrested child 
traffickers and rescued and reintegrated trafficked children. Though 
in most cases child trafficking is associated with child labor, the 
BPM was not able to provide statistics related to the worst forms of 
labor. However, the BPM is compiling statistics detailing its work 
during 2007 which will be available for the 2008 TIP report. 
 
¶8. There are approximately 126 government labor agents (inspectors, 
controllers and administrators), who are located at the departmental 
level throughout the 12 departments of Benin. These officials only 
regulate the formal sector (not the informal one, where the majority 
of child labor occurs) and none are dedicated solely to 
investigating child labor cases. When a complaint arises regarding 
child labor, a government labor inspector will visit the work site 
and investigate. If the law is being violated, the labor inspector 
may try to negotiate with the employer to remedy the situation 
 
COTONOU 00000915  002 OF 003 
 
 
immediately. If the labor inspector finds serious violations have 
occurred, the inspector has the authority to sanction the employer 
and order the employer to pay compensation to the victim(s). 
 
¶9.  The Ministry of Labor was unable to provide Post with any 
information detailing the number of complaints investigated and 
violations addressed regarding the worst forms of child labor. 
 
¶10. The GOB undertook several awareness raising and training 
activities during 2007 to raise awareness of risks of child labor. 
On April 27, 2007 the Government of Benin organized a training 
session sponsored by the ILO on the risks to children from work in 
the construction sector. Throughout the year the GOB, with the 
support of UNICEF, conducted public awareness campaigns to heighten 
the public's knowledge of the laws governing children's work.  The 
Office of Labor worked with minors who are apprentices in handicraft 
workshops to make them aware of their rights. The Office of Labor 
has set up several counseling centers to provide these apprentices 
with advice and guidance. 
 
¶11. The Office of Labor has also acted to strengthen its 
institutional capacity to respond to child labor violations.  In 
July 2007 it created a unit, led by two Office of Labor 
administrators, dedicated to fighting child labor violations. 
Additionally, the French Ministry of Labor, through an assistance 
program, supports the Beninese Ministry of Labor in training labor 
inspectors on inspection techniques and on labor risk analysis. 
During the year labor inspectors also received training funded by 
UNICEF and ILO on specific techniques enabling them to investigate 
efficiently labor violations in the informal sector. 
 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
Social Programs Specifically Designed to Prevent and Withdraw 
Children from the Worst Forms of Child Labor 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
¶12.  While Benin does not have social programs specifically designed 
to prevent the worst forms of child labor President Yayi has 
introduced a new micro-credit program to give poor women the 
resources to start businesses.  As this program contributes to a 
family's economic success it should work to decrease the "push" 
effect of poverty which often results in child labor. 
 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
Comprehensive Policy Aimed at the Elimination of the   Worst Forms 
of Child Labor 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
 
¶13.  Benin recently completed drafting and editing of the UNICEF 
sponsored National Policy and Strategy for Child Protection and the 
ILO sponsored National Plan to Combat Child Trafficking and Labor. 
Those two policy documents incorporate the issue of child labor and 
are expected to provide coherence, focus and direction to all child 
protection related activities undertaken by the GOB.  As each policy 
is new it is too early to measure the GOB's success in 
implementation.  Benin incorporated an overall child protection 
policy into its National Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper 
(DCSRP). 
 
¶14. Benin's Constitution makes primary education compulsory and 
free. Prior to the 2007 - 2008 school year the GOB was not meeting 
its constitutional requirement to provide a free primary school 
education.  President Yayi ended the school fees that parents 
previously paid for the 2007 - 2008 school year.  While this has 
reduced parents' outlays for their children's education, parents 
continue to pay additional "fees" for school materials and uniforms. 
As a result of President Yayi's elimination of school fees 240,000 
additional children have enrolled for primary education this year. 
The GOB will devote 64 billion FCFA (approximately 14.5 million USD) 
for the education sector in its 2008 budget. 
 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
Benin's Progress toward Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labor 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶15. According to statistics (from Benin's 2002 census) published in 
a 2006 ILO publication entitled "The End of Child Labor: An 
Objective within our Reach" "La fin du travail des enfants: un 
objectif ` notre porte," there are 480,023 children, 14 and under, 
working in either the formal or informal sectors in Benin in the 
following activities: agriculture, hunting and fishing (275,648); 
industry (22,476); construction and public works (4,189); 
trade/vending and food & beverage (78,823); transportation and 
communication (909); and other services including employment as 
household staff (97,978). 
 
 
COTONOU 00000915  003 OF 003 
 
 
¶16. According to Post's and NGO observations children working in 
Benin often work in the agricultural sector performing planting, 
cultivating and harvesting work, in the commercial sector as street 
and market vendors, and selling smuggled gasoline.  Children also 
work in the construction sector and as domestic servants. 
 
¶17. Benin is a source, transit point and destination for trafficked 
children. According to NGOs and local authorities children are 
trafficked internally in Benin to perform domestic work in its 
cities and to harvest cotton in the cotton fields of Northern Benin. 
Traffickers also take children to Ghana, Nigeria, Gabon, Cote 
d'Ivoire, Republic of Congo, Guinea Bissau and the Central African 
Republic for indentured or domestic servitude, farm labor, labor in 
stone quarries and commercial sex. 
 
BROWN