VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHGT #0054/01 0182316
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 182316Z JAN 08
FM AMEMBASSY GUATEMALA
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4620
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA PRIORITY 0857

UNCLAS GUATEMALA 000054 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOL/ILAB TINA MCCARTER 
DEPT FOR DRL/IL TU DANG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID PGOV GT
SUBJECT: GUATEMALA'S CHILD LABOR UPDATE 
 
REF: A. 07 STATE 158223 
     ¶B. 07 GUATEMALA 901 
 
The following information updates 2006 information (ref B) on 
the worst forms of child labor.  Responses are keyed to Ref A. 
 
¶A.  Laws and regulations proscribing the worst forms of child 
labor: 
 
The Guatemalan government did not promulgate any new laws on 
child labor in 2007.  The Guatemalan Labor Code sets the 
minimum age for employment at 14 years.  In exceptional 
cases, the Labor Inspectorate may authorize work permits to 
children under the age of 14, although such authorization is 
not common.  In 2007, the Inspectorate did not issue any such 
permits.  The legal workday for children under the age of 14 
is capped at six hours per day and 36 hours per week, and 
they are prohibited from working at night, overtime, or in 
dangerous occupations.  The minimum age for military 
recruitment is 18 years.  Military service is voluntary. 
 
Guatemala's child labor laws are consistent with 
International Labor Organization (ILO) standards.  Guatemala 
ratified Convention 182 and has developed a list of 
occupations considered to be the worst forms of child labor, 
as called for in the Convention. 
 
¶B.  Regulations for implementation and enforcement of 
proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor: 
 
Civil fines and administrative remedies are available to 
government agencies that enforce child labor laws.  The Labor 
Code mandates sanctions for violations of labor laws, 
including child labor provisions.  The Penal Code 
criminalizes all forms of trafficking, defines the categories 
of perpetrators of trafficking offenses, and establishes 
prison terms of seven to 12 years for persons found guilty of 
trafficking. 
 
The Child Workers Protection Unit of the Ministry of Labor is 
charged with implementing and enforcing child labor laws and 
educating minors, parents, and employers on the rights of 
minors in the labor market; however, like most Guatemalan 
government entities, the unit lacked resources to adequately 
punish and deter violations.  The extent to which complaints 
were investigated and violations prosecuted was limited due 
to Guatemala's weak labor inspection and labor court systems. 
 
 
The 2006 budget for the Child Workers Protection Unit was 
Q329,740 (approx. USD 43,400).  The Ministry of Labor 
employed roughly 300 labor inspectors and had a total of 37 
courts of first instance (eight in the capital dedicated to 
labor cases, and 29 outside the capital for both labor and 
family law cases) and five appellate courts (four for labor 
cases and one for both labor and family law cases).  In 2006, 
the Labor Inspectorate investigated four child labor cases 
and 247 cases involving adolescents aged 14 to 17.  (Note: 
We are still awaiting official year-end 2007 statistics from 
the Ministry of Labor, which we requested some time ago.  We 
have not yet received a response due to the recent government 
transition.  End note.)  The Public Ministry detained 15 
individuals on charges of sexual commercial exploitation of a 
minor.  No cases were brought against employers of children 
under the age of 14. 
 
The government, through a USG-supported NGO, provided 
awareness raising and training activities for labor 
inspectors responsible for enforcing labor laws, including 
child labor provisions. 
 
¶C.  Social programs specifically designed to prevent and 
withdraw children from the worst forms of child labor: 
 
The Defense of Children's Rights Unit of the Human Rights 
Ombudsman's Office and the Social Welfare Secretariat of the 
QOmbudsman's Office and the Social Welfare Secretariat of the 
President's Office are charged with preventing and 
withdrawing children from exploitative situations. 
 
With the cooperation of ILO's International Program on the 
Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC), the government has enacted 
programs to combat child labor in fireworks production, 
gravel production, domestic service, trash collection, the 
coffee industry, and the commercial sex industry.  One of the 
programs offers scholarships and free meals during the year 
to encourage families to send their children to school 
instead of to work. 
 
IPEC continued operating programs as part of a seven-year 
regional effort to combat commercial sexual exploitation of 
minors.  An international NGO collaborated with several local 
civil society groups in executing a program to strengthen the 
capacity of the government and civil society to prevent 
children from engaging in hazardous labor. 
 
In 2007, the Guatemalan government, in collaboration with 
NGOs, conducted rescue operations throughout the year, which 
resulted in the rescue of 20 sexually exploited children. 
The children were sent to Casa Alianza, a shelter for street 
children and child victims of abuse, for protection and 
attention.  Judges, national police, and the Public Ministry 
referred 60 additional cases to Casa Alianza.  During 2007, 
Casa Alianza continued to attend to 56 cases of sexually 
exploited minors, and the Secretariat of Social Welfare 
attended to six cases.  "Casa del Migrante," a Guatemalan 
NGO-operated shelter for trafficked victims on the 
Guatemalan-Mexican border, attended to 700 trafficking cases, 
including cases involving minors. 
 
¶D.  Comprehensive policy aimed at the elimination of the 
worst forms of child labor: 
 
The Guatemalan government established a National Commission 
for the Elimination of Child Labor in 2002 and has made a 
public commitment to eradicate the worst forms of child labor. 
 
The Constitution provides for free compulsory education for 
all children up to the sixth grade.  However, less than half 
the population completed primary education.  UNICEF reported 
that from 2000 to 2005, 73 percent of children enrolled in 
rimary school reached the fifth grade.  Completionrates 
were lower in rural and indigenous areas. 
 
¶E.  Progress toward eliminating the worst forms of child 
labor: 
 
Guatemala is making slow but continual progress toward 
eliminating the worst forms of child labor.  Child labor is 
linked to the country's widespread poverty, especially in the 
rural areas.  The Ministry of Labor, based on the 2006 
Employment Survey conducted by the National Institute of 
Statistics, estimated that 75.4 percent of Guatemala's 
workforce was employed in the informal sector.  The informal 
and agricultural sectors employed children under 14 years of 
age, usually in small family enterprises.  Economic necessity 
forced most families to have their children work to 
supplement family income, particularly in rural and 
indigenous communities.  In 2007, child labor was used in the 
food processing and fresh produce industries, as well as in 
flower production and fireworks production.  The Ministry of 
Labor estimated that approximately 3,700 children were 
illegally employed in fireworks production.  Trafficking 
victims included minors from Honduras, El Salvador, and 
Nicaragua who were trafficked both internally and across 
Guatemalan borders to Mexico and the U.S. for commercial sex 
and labor exploitation. 
 
According to the most recent official data from the National 
Survey on Life Conditions (ENCOVI) conducted by the National 
Institute of Statistics, an estimated 528,000 children, or 18 
percent, (68.7 percent boys, 33.3 percent girls) between ages 
7 and 14 worked in Guatemala in 2006.  Of the 18 percent, 
12.7 percent attended school while working; 5.6 percent did 
not attend school.  Child labor was more prevalent in rural 
areas (71.7 percent) than in urban areas (28.3 percent). 
Children worked in the following sectors:  agriculture (63.7 
percent), commerce (19.1 percent), manufacturing (9.7 
percent), social and health services (4.6 percent), 
construction (1.9 percent), and transport and communications 
Qconstruction (1.9 percent), and transport and communications 
(0.8 percent).  The majority worked in western Guatemala, 
with an estimated 34 percent in the country's southwest 
region and 22 percent in the northwest region.  The majority 
(74.5 percent) worked as unskilled laborers requiring no 
specific skill, 14.7 percent as service workers and 
commercial vendors, 8.9 percent as artisans, printing press 
operators, and assembly line workers, 1.1 percent as machine 
operators and assemblers, 0.7 percent as laborers in the 
agricultural and fishing sectors, and 0.1 percent as office 
workers. 
Derham