VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHMN #1026/01 3411910
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 071910Z DEC 07
FM AMEMBASSY MONTEVIDEO
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 7807
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0506

UNCLAS MONTEVIDEO 001026 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER 
DRL/IL FOR TU DANG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID UY
SUBJECT: URUGUAY: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR INFORMATION 
FOR MANDATORY CONGRESSIONAL REPORTING REQUIREMENTS 
 
REF: STATE 158223 
 
¶1. Per reftel, post submits the following report on worst 
forms of child labor in Uruguay, formatted as requested. 
 
------------ 
Begin Report 
------------ 
 
A) Laws and regulations proscribing the worst forms of child 
labor 
 
The law sets the minimum age for employment at 15 years. 
Adolescents between 15 and 18 years require government 
permission to work and must undergo physical exams to 
identify possible exposure to job-related physical harm. 
Permits are not granted for hazardous, fatiguing, and night 
work.  The government grants work permission to minors only 
if they have finished 9 years of compulsory education or who 
are enrolled in school and are completing compulsory 
education. An exception can be granted for minors ages 13 
through 15 to engage in cultural or artistic activities. 
Minors are not allowed to work for more than 6 hours per day 
within a 36-hour work week. Minors have to rest 1 day a week, 
preferably Sunday, and cannot work between the hours of 10 
p.m. and 6 a.m. 
 
Violations of child labor laws are punishable by fines. 
Parents or adults responsible for working children may be 
subject to imprisonment of 3 months to 4 years. 
 
Forced or compulsory labor, including by children, is 
prohibited by law.  The Uruguayan legal system addresses 
sexual exploitation, prostitution, and trafficking involving 
minors and provides prison terms ranging from 2 to 12 years. 
The minimum age for voluntary military conscription is 18 
years.  There is no compulsory military conscription. 
 
In compliance with its ratification of ILO Convention 182, 
the GOU's National Committee for the Eradication of Child 
Labor (CETI) compiled and maintains a list of the fifty most 
hazardous jobs. The Ministry of Labor presides over CETI, and 
the National Institute for Adolescents and Children (INAU) 
bears primary responsibility for its Executive Secretariat. 
 
B) Regulations for implementation and enforcement of 
proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor 
 
The Ministry of Labor's Inspector General is the GOU's 
foremost authority designated to implement and enforce child 
labor laws.  Responsibilities for implementation and 
enforcement of child labor laws are shared with other 
government agencies.  In practice, INAU bears primary 
responsibility for implementing policies to prevent and 
regulate child labor and to provide training on child labor 
issues. INAU works with the Ministry of Labor to investigate 
complaints of child labor and with the Ministry of the 
Interior to prosecute cases.  INAU currently has 6 inspectors 
focused specifically on child labor issues.  They conduct 
approximately 2,400 inspections per year, and impose 
sanctions in approximately 5 percent of the cases. Officials 
noted that companies out of compliance have a grace period of 
ten days to address cited infractions before sanctions are 
applied. Most inspectors are assigned to the capital city of 
Montevideo, which at times leaves remote rural areas without 
adequate coverage. The Crime Prevention Office within the 
Ministry of the Interior addresses child trafficking and 
maintains a database on cases related to trafficking. 
 
The Children's Code establishes that infractions are 
punishable by a fine of up to 2000 "Readjustable Units," an 
index which varies based on cost of living.  Punishment for 
repeat offenses may include jail sentences for the child's 
employer.  The child's parents or guardians may be punished 
with the same fine or jail time, as well as possible 
limitation or revocation of guardianship of the child. The 
Ministry of Labor has the authority to close down companies 
if there is gross malfeasance regarding child labor. 
 
C) Whether there are social programs specifically designed to 
prevent and withdraw children from the worst forms of child 
labor 
 
In 2005 the Ministry of Social Development was created to 
"formulate, execute, supervise, coordinate, program, follow 
up, evaluate and coordinate strategic policies and plans for 
young people, women, the family, the elderly and the 
handicapped, and to attend to general social development in 
 
response to the social emergency."  Since 2005, the INAU has 
worked with UNICEF and the Montevideo Municipality to develop 
the "Friendly House" program for children, adolescents and 
families at risk.  The program is located in three Montevideo 
neighborhoods and provides a safe environment for youth at 
risk to engage in educational activities, rather than being 
in the street. 
 
The Infancy, Adolescence and Family Program ("INFAMILIA") 
under the Ministry of Social Development (financed by an IDB 
loan and GOU funds) is aimed at improving the living 
conditions and social insertion of children, adolescents, and 
their families at social risk.  The program began in 2003 and 
will end in 2009.  It divides the country in 75 areas of risk 
and coordinates the efforts of the public and private sectors 
and fosters community involvement. Infamilia is part of the 
Comite de Coordinacion Estrategica created in 2005 to 
centralize and coordinate government agencies efforts to 
improve the living conditions of children and adolescents. 
To date, Infamilia has provided services to 1,400 children 
living in the streets, resulting in 40% of them returning 
from the streets and enrolling in education. 
 
The National Plan to Address the Social Emergency ("PANES") 
is a poverty-fighting program targeted at the very poor, 
indigents, and individuals who are not able to meet their 
daily subsistence needs.  The program began in 2005 and ends 
in 2007.  It provides a monthly subsidy, called the Citizen 
Income ("Ingreso Ciudadano"), to poor families in exchange 
for parents' commitment to take their children to public 
medical facilities, keep their children in school, to do 
community work, and seek job-training.  Some of the families 
receiving the subsidy have five children or more. 
 
Beginning in early 2008, the Citizen Income will be replaced 
by the Plan de Equidad (Equity Plan) introducing a similar 
subsidy for families of approximately 330,000 children and 
adolescents at risk.  The amount per child is calculated on a 
progressive scale beginning at USD 32 for the first child and 
USD 45 for each adolescent.  The goal of the program is to 
reach 500,000 beneficiaries by 2009.  Another strong program 
component is educational coverage for the approximately 
52,000 children ages 0-3; a specific education plan for ages 
4 to 12 to include physical education in 392 urban public 
schools; and a similar plan for adolescents ages 12 to 19 to 
reduce school drop out.  The program goals are to:  1) reduce 
poverty by 5 percent; 2) reduce extreme poverty by 62 
percent; and 3) reduce the impact of poverty on children and 
adolescents under 18 from 45 percent to 37 percent.  It is 
estimated that eight out of ten children and adolescents 
living in poverty under the age of eighteen will be reached 
by the benefits of the program. 
 
D) Does the country have a comprehensive policy aimed at the 
elimination of the worst forms of child labor? 
 
The Interdepartmental Commission for the Prevention and 
Protection of Children Against Sexual Exploitation, along 
with INAU, has a national plan of action against commercial 
sexual exploitation of children that includes protection 
measures for victims and witnesses. The plan includes 
awareness raising, strengthening of legal protections, 
reintegration and retention of working children in school, 
and development of alternative income generation for families 
of working children.  Concerns exist about the lack of 
resources to fully support the national action plan. 
 
The Ministry of Education Human Rights Bureau and the 
Ministry of Tourism and Sports have produced anti-trafficking 
public service announcements on national television.  In 
2007, the Montevideo branch of the Office of International 
Migration completed a four year project which is designed to 
promote the creation of networks aimed at strengthening local 
and regional capacities to fight human trafficking, child 
pornography and migrant smuggling throughout the region.  El 
Faro, SOMOS, Arco Iris, Andenes, Claves - Juventud Para 
Cristo, and BICE (Catholic technical assistance) work with 
trafficking victims, including children. 
 
The government is also participating in an IDB-financed 
program within Mercosur that includes initiatives to address 
child labor, reduce school attrition, and improve children's 
performance in school. 
 
The GOU is also working with ILO-IPEC and other MERCOSUR 
governments to implement a regional plan to combat child 
labor. 
 
The GOU offers free lunches to needy children in all publicly 
funded schools.  Public school is provided free from primary 
school through the university level.  Schools are generally 
overcrowded. 
 
Uruguayan law mandates kindergarten, primary and secondary 
education for a minimum of nine years.  However, INAU 
officials indicated that these regulations are not always 
enforced.  Enrollment is estimated at over ninety percent in 
primary schools, but attendance records are poor.  It is 
likely that attendance levels are lower than the enrollment 
rate since compulsory attendance is not regularly enforced. 
 
E) Is the country making continual progress toward 
eliminating the worst forms of child labor? 
 
A key focus of the current Frente Amplio (Broad Front) 
administration is to address issues of child labor within the 
context of its overall platform to promote social justice and 
egalitarianism within Uruguayan society.  In part, the FA 
sees the worst forms of child labor as a consequence of 
social inequity.  Over the past three years, it has 
repeatedly and publicly committed itself to fight for the 
elimination of child labor.  Within the constraints of its 
limited resources, the GOU has ensured that the necessary 
laws are in place, that investigations of illegal child labor 
cases are carried out by the Ministry of Labor and INAU. 
CETI also continues to coordinate government and NGO efforts 
to eliminate child labor. 
 
In 2006, the GOU's Instituto Nacional de Estadsticas 
(National Statistics Institute) released a report which 
included a specific section on child labor issues related to 
children between the ages of 5 and 17.  Statistics from the 
2006 report demonstrate that 5.4 percent of Uruguayan 
children between the ages of 5 and 17 perform some sort of 
work outside the home environment.  Of those children who 
work outside the home, 36.7 percent in Montevideo and 50.9 
percent in the interior of the country perform that work 
without supervision.   The average age of children who leave 
school in order to work outside the home is 13 years in areas 
with more than 5000 residents, and 11 years of age in 
smaller/rural areas.  The study highlights the marked 
differences between regions and notes that the phenomenon of 
child labor (in this case, defined as work performed outside 
the home), is concentrated primarily in children between the 
ages of 12 to 17 years, wherein work seems to be a strong 
alternative to secondary education. 
 
---------- 
End Report 
---------- 
Harding