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DE RUEHCL #0254/01 3481920
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 141920Z DEC 07
FM AMCONSUL CASABLANCA
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7922
INFO RUEHAAA/NSC WASHDC
RUCPDOC/USDOC WASHDC
RUEATRS/DEPT OF TREASURY WASH DC
RUEHRB/AMEMBASSY RABAT 8171
RUEHTU/AMEMBASSY TUNIS 2071
RUEHAS/AMEMBASSY ALGIERS 2951
RUEHNK/AMEMBASSY NOUAKCHOTT 2306
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID 3762
RUEHRO/AMEMBASSY ROME 0299
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS 0614
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0330
RUEHBS/AMEMBASSY BRUSSELS 0968
RUEHBS/USEU BRUSSELS
RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 0641

UNCLAS CASABLANCA 000254 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB TINA MCCARTER 
 
STATE ALSO FOR DRL/IL TU DANG, DRL/NESCA, NEA/RA, NEA/MAG, NEA/ENA, 
G/IWI, AND G/TIP 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD EAID PHUM SOCI KWMN USAID MO
SUBJECT: 2007 MOROCCO UPDATE OF THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR 
 
REF: STATE 158223 
 
------------------------ 
SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION 
------------------------ 
 
¶1.  Summary:  This message provides requested updates for the 
Department of Labor's annual report on the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor and Morocco's commitment to combat and eliminate them.  It 
updates information provided by Post in 2006 and years prior, 
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.  The Government of Morocco (GOM) recognizes that there is an 
ongoing problem with child labor in the country and has made 
significant progress towards eradication of the problem.  In recent 
years, 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 compulsory schooling from 7-13 to 6-15 in 2000. 
 
¶3.  Last year we reported that NGOs were taking the lead in the 
fight against the growing problem of child sex tourism.  This year, 
however, the GOM appears to be acknowledging the problem and working 
towards a plan of action to fight the phenomenon.  They have also 
begun training health care professionals to deal with the issue.  In 
addition, in November, Morocco hosted the Annual General Assembly of 
INTERPOL.  At the meeting, INTERPOL adopted the decision to make 
pedophilia and trafficking in persons priorities in the coming year. 
 The move was seconded by Morocco which has also pledged to make the 
issue a priority.  END SUMMARY AND INTRODUCTION. 
 
---------------------------------- 
MOROCCO CONFORMS LEGALLY BUT...... 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶4.  In recent years Morocco has amended more than 240 articles of 
legislation to enhance the rights of children.  These amendments 
were subsequently adopted by the Government and passed into law by 
Parliament to conform with international obligations as a signatory 
of the United Nations' Convention on the Rights of Children. 
However, the country continues to suffer from a high rate of child 
labor due to lack of enforcement of these laws. 
 
¶5.  Child labor in general is prohibited in Morocco's labor code. 
However, domestic labor of adults and children remains unregulated. 
While a bill regulating domestic labor was proposed over a year ago, 
the Minister of Social Development, Families and Solidarity recently 
announced additions to the proposed bill specifically addressing the 
problem of child domestics.  The new proposal would formally forbid 
the hiring of girls under age 15 as domestic workers.  Moreover, for 
the first time it would punish those who recruit the young girls for 
domestic labor.  The adoption of the bill appears to be stalled over 
a section that would allow labor inspectors to enter private homes, 
something they are reluctant to do. 
 
---------------------------------- 
...HAS DIFFICULTY WITH ENFORCEMENT 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶6.  Application of minimum age of employment law continues to be 
flouted in both the formal and informal sectors.  According to 
Ministry of Justice (MOJ) officials, no Moroccan employer has ever 
been convicted of employing a child under the age of 15 despite the 
acknowledgement that there is a child labor problem in the country. 
 Since 2005 several employers have been convicted of abuse of child 
domestics but not prosecuted for their illegal employment. 
Morocco's informal sector, where the majority of children work, is 
not monitored by the Ministry of Labor's small cadre of labor 
inspectors.  Currently, there are no labor inspectors dedicated 
solely to child labor issues.  The Ministry of Labor, however, is 
developing a plan to employ labor inspectors exclusively dedicated 
to the domestic labor market. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
GOVERNMENT EFFORTS TO ERADICATE CHILD LABOR 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶7.  The GOM continues to make the elimination of child labor a 
national priority.  In January 2007 Morocco launched the first phase 
of the National Plan of Action for Children.  Phase one, the 
awareness campaign, lasted from January 22 to February 23 and used 
print media, radio and television to disseminate information about 
the dangers of child labor. 
 
¶8.  Phase two, completed in March 2007, encompassed the signing of 
five conventions or compacts between the Ministry of Social 
Development, Families and Solidarity and various partners in 
preparation of the implementation of phase three of the plan. 
  -- The first compact, with the King's National Initiative for 
Human Development (INDH), will integrate the INDH goal of attacking 
poverty in Morocco with the elimination of child domestics by 
providing assistance and education to families who find it necessary 
to allow daughters to work as domestics in order to supplement the 
family income. 
  -- The Secretariat of State for Literacy and Non-Formal Education 
agreed, in compact two, to continue the awareness campaign begun in 
early 2007, educating Moroccans on the dangers of employing or 
working as a child domestic.  In addition, the Secretariat pledged 
to increase non-formal education programs targeted at former child 
maids with the goal of reintegrating them into the formal education 
system. 
  -- The third compact, concluded with the National Observatory for 
the Rights of Children (ONDE), will mobilize different partners, 
governmental and non-governmental, to conduct programs warning 
against the employment of child maids.  The ONDE will also continue 
to work on programs to assist child victims of abuse through legal 
and financial support, call centers, and programs for the protection 
of child maids. 
  -- Twenty million dirham (USD 2.6 million) was committed for 
further implementation of the Plan of Action by the Moroccan Agency 
for Social Development in the fourth compact.  This money will be 
used to develop the capacities of families to help them create 
income generating projects to supplement a meager income instead of 
placing their children in the labor market. 
  -- The final compact was signed with Zakoura Foundation, Morocco's 
largest micro-credit NGO.  The Foundation agreed to prioritize loans 
for families who allow their children to be withdrawn from the labor 
market and reintegrated into the educational system on a permanent 
basis. 
 
¶9.  The third and final phase of the Plan, which will continue until 
2015, has initiated the process of implementing the agreements noted 
above.  The project is underway in Greater Casablanca, concentrating 
in the regions of Doukkala-Abda and Chaouia-Ouerdigha, Marrakech 
focusing on the regions of Tansift-El Haouz, Rabat targeting the 
regions of Rabat-Sale and Zemmour-Zaer, Fez and Fez-Boulemane, Taza, 
Taounate and Errachidia, all areas known to be struggling with high 
percentages of the worst forms of child labor. 
 
¶10.  The GOM currently recognizes that the phenomenon of child 
sexual exploitation in Morocco in the form of child sex tourism is 
on the rise, partly as a consequence of the rapid expansion of the 
number of general tourists.  No statistics are available at this 
time.  Recently, however, post learned of a planned study to access 
the overall problem of trafficking in Morocco.  The study, to be 
sponsored by International Organization for Migration, UNHCR, 
UNICEF, and UNIFEM will be conducted by UNDP.  The study is 
scheduled to begin in January 2008 with results to be reported by 
UNICEF in early summer.  The problems of sex tourism and children 
trafficked for labor in Morocco will be covered in the study.  To 
address this growing problem, the GOM is in the planning stages of a 
new National Strategy for the Prevention of the Sexual Exploitation 
of Children.  The GOM, through the ONDE, conducted workshops in 
Marrakech with regional health care professionals on the treatment 
of child victims of physical and sexual abuse. 
 
----------------------------- 
THE EXPENSE OF FREE EDUCATION 
----------------------------- 
 
¶11.  While Moroccan law calls for free mandatory education for 
children ages 6-15, according to national statistics only 86 percent 
of Morocco's children reach the fifth grade and approximately only 
20 percent graduate from high school.  The situation is worse in 
rural areas where girls' attendance can be as low as 20 percent. 
Access to education for children in urban areas presents few 
obstacles; however, in rural areas the level of access is limited at 
best.  Lack of adequate facilities beyond primary education in most 
rural communities often ensures that young girls will not attend 
secondary school.  Parents are far less likely to send a female 
child away to boarding school or allow her to travel any distance 
away from home to attend classes, due to cultural and safety 
reasons.  Moreover, the expense of sending a child away to school is 
often prohibitive for rural families.  Given the choice between 
sending a female or male child to school most families opt for the 
male child.  Education of a male child is often seen as an 
investment in the future whereas the education of the female child 
beyond primary school is frequently viewed as an unnecessary 
 
expense. 
 
¶12.  Another reason for low attendance in rural areas is an absence 
of teachers.  There is a great deal of anecdotal evidence that 
teachers in rural areas are absent a great many days a year. 
Teachers' absences are often due to the governmental system of 
appointing young teachers to rural areas far from the family home. 
The teachers frequently travel home for weeks at a time while the 
absences are overlooked due to lack of sufficient oversight in the 
rural areas. 
 
¶13.  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. 
 
---------------- 
UNCLEAR PROGRESS 
---------------- 
 
¶14.  Accurate data on child labor in Morocco is unavailable.  On 
November 20, the new Minister of Social Development, Families and 
Solidarity, Nouzha Skalli, announced that the total number of 
children in the labor force was approximately 177,000.  This 
estimate cuts the number quoted by other ministries, government and 
non-government entities in recent years by more than 400,000.  The 
number formerly used in official and unofficial circumstances was 
600,000 which was derived from a 2000 survey conducted jointly by 
the GOM, the International Organization for Migration, UNICEF and 
the World Bank.  Many NGOs dealing with child labor issues believe 
the newly announced statistics significantly underestimate the 
problem. 
 
¶15.  These same NGOs estimate that tens of thousands of girls, some 
as young as five, still work as child domestics.  Underage boys 
often work as low paid "apprentices" in garages or as laborers. 
Both boys and girls still work in the handicraft sector throughout 
the country and in Fez and Marrakech in particular.  The number of 
programs to rescue child laborers in Morocco, both governmental and 
non-governmental, continues to increase each year leading to 
consistently diminishing number of child laborers.  The majority of 
child laborers work in the agricultural sector mainly on family 
farms. 
 
--------------------------- 
TRAFFICKING AND SEX TOURISM 
--------------------------- 
 
¶16.  Children are trafficked domestically for labor.  The highest 
rate of trafficking is for child domestics.  Young girls are 
trafficked mainly from rural areas to work primarily in Rabat, 
Casablanca and Marrakech.  Family, friends, or professional 
intermediaries match the girls with employers in larger cities.  In 
most cases the intermediaries receive a placement fee in addition to 
a monthly percentage of the child's pay.  The system is similar for 
boys working as apprentices.  Young women are trafficked to large 
cities to work as prostitutes.  Agadir is a known sex tourism 
destination with underage female prostitutes catering to a largely 
Arab/Gulf clientele.  There are an increasing number of reports that 
young boys are being trafficked to large cities, Marrakech in 
particular, to serve as prostitutes as well.  NGOs, such as "Don't 
Touch my Child," report that the level of child sex tourism in 
Morocco has increased dramatically in recent years. 
 
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COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶17.  There is little doubt that the GOM has attached priority to 
eradication of the worst forms of child labor, in principle.  The 
country's laws adhere to international regulations on the 
elimination of child labor and the Plan of Action for Children 
demonstrates the GOM's political will to end the practice.  Both 
government and privately funded sensitization campaigns over the 
past few years have been highly successful in initiating the turn of 
the cultural mindset against the practice of employing young 
children, especially child maids.  We spoke with NGO leaders who 
claim there is now a sense of shame in some village families upon 
exposure as having sent their children to the city to work. 
 
¶18.  That said, without enforcement of the law the problem will 
continue to exist in force.  Currently, there is neither a mechanism 
to identify domiciles that employ child domestics nor an official 
system to withdraw them.  Overworked labor inspectors are not 
trained in identifying child laborers outside or inside the home. 
Intermediaries, though well known in villages by civil society and 
local officials, are never prosecuted as traffickers. 
 
¶19.  In order to ameliorate the situation the GOM should identify 
and train a cadre of labor inspectors dedicated to the enforcement 
of child labor law.  USDOL should consider funding a program to 
assist the GOM in training such a cadre in an effort similar to 
DOL's recently completed social dialogue program to train labor 
inspectors in labor code regulations.  In addition, police and local 
officials need to address the problem of intermediaries/traffickers 
through identification and prosecution. 
 
¶20.  Local NGOs have been very active in fighting trafficking for 
child labor.  The GOM should consider increased partnering with 
local NGOs or associations to identify and assist families who feel 
the need to send their children to work as domestics or apprentices, 
develop prevention plans relevant to the region, assist in the local 
reinsertion of rescued child laborers, and support local efforts to 
identify and prosecute local intermediaries.  The USG should 
consider funding a program to identify and train representatives 
from local NGOs partnering with the GOM on how best to assist in 
these child rescue efforts.  On the policy side, the Embassy will 
continue to engage on this issue with the Government and with 
parliament, particularly to advocate for the needed legislation 
noted above. 
 
¶21.  Embassy Rabat has coordinated on this message. 
GREENE