VZCZCXYZ0001
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHDG #0151/01 0311127
ZNR UUUUU ZZH (CCY AD54DD74 MSI2732-695)
P 311127Z JAN 08 ZDS ZDK
FM AMEMBASSY SANTO DOMINGO
TO RUEHZA/WHA CENTRAL AMERICAN COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 0054
INFO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS SANTO DOMINGO 000151 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
        C O R R E C T E D C O P Y 
CHANGES THROUGHOUT TEXT 
 
WHA/CAR 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI USAID DR
SUBJECT: DOL VISIT HIGHLIGHTS U.S. FIGHT AGAINST CHILD LABOR 
 
¶1. (SBU) Summary: On January 14 and 15, Department of Labor 
Deputy Undersecretary Charlotte Ponticelli traveled to the 
Dominican Republic to attend the launch of the second phase 
of a DOL-funded child labor project, meet the Secretaries of 
Labor and Education, civil society and business leaders as 
well as Embassy staff, and visit project sites in Capotillo 
and Haina.  The launch and the meeting highlighted the 
various stakeholders' commitment to fighting child labor and 
support for other labor and education issues. It also showed 
that issues remain and more needs to be done. End Summary. 
 
¶2. (U) DevTech systems in collaboration with EDUCA, a local 
NGO, and Instituto Tecnologico Santo Domingo (INTEC), a 
private university, launched a $4 million DOL funded project 
aimed at preventing hazardous child labor through 
public-private partnerships.  Ambassador Fannin, and 
representatives from the Secretariats of Labor, Education, 
and Youth attended.  Several local newspapers and TV stations 
covered the event. 
 
 
-------------------- 
Government Officials 
-------------------- 
 
--Secretariat of Labor 
 
¶3. (SBU) Dep. U/S Ponticelli held separate meetings with various 
leaders from the Secretariat of Labor (SET) including Secretary 
Jose Ramon Fadul and Director of Labor Washington Gonzalez. 
Though Fadul pledged continued support for child labor programs, 
he said this would be hard because many Dominican households 
face extreme poverty, and eliminating child labor may result 
in decreased household income. In a separate meeting, Gonzalez 
stated there needs to be alternatives to the lost income of child 
labor, otherwise children will continue working. Project 
implementers and business sector representatives contended that most 
parents want to send their children to school, and that the main 
disincentive for doing so is not financial, but the fact that 
the school day is so short and that parents would prefer to take 
their children to work with them rather than leave them uncared for 
during the day. 
 
¶4. (SBU) Fadul stated the government needs to create an 
environment to improve and increase employment through 
private sector involvement as it is not the government's role 
to create new jobs.  In an earlier meeting, Gonzalez admitted there 
is no coherent national policy on employment, especially an adequate 
policy on increasing employment or training individuals to enter the 
workforce. Many Dominicans still perceive the government as 
the generator and provider of jobs. 
 
¶5. (U) Gonzalez acknowledged the first step is to have hard, 
solid data on employment such as labor pool demographics, 
labor industries and sectors, and compensation and salaries. 
Though the Central Bank presently has some statistics on 
unemployment rates and labor sectors, they remain inadequate. 
 
--Secretariat of Education 
 
¶6. (U) In her meeting with Dep. U/S Ponticelli, Education 
Secretary Alejandrina German expressed concern about the 
 
SIPDIS 
quality of education.  Despite a high enrollment rate, (the 
Secretary stated that only eight percent of children are not 
 
SIPDIS 
enrolled in school), she is aware of the poor quality of 
education.  Some of the problems that plague the educational 
system are very limited actual classroom time (avg. 2.5 
hours/day), overcrowding, inadequate facilities, dismal 
school attendance, inadequate pedagogic methods (e.g., no 
grading system), a system of political patronage, a lack of a 
merit system to ensure quality teachers, and the role of the 
teachers' unions and their frequent strikes. German noted 
that Dominican culture prevents some women, both professional 
and non-professional, from being more involved in education 
programs. Nonetheless, German strongly supports the after 
school program, Espacios para Crecer (EpC), that is being 
implemented by the DOL-funded child labor project and would 
like to replicate the model throughout the DR, but she 
acknowledged difficulties in doing so. 
 
------------- 
Civil Society 
------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU) Sonia Pierre, director of the Movement of 
Dominican-Haitian Women (MUDHA) in her meeting with Dep. U/S 
Ponticelli stated that the lack of identity documents is a 
serious issue for Haitian migrant workers.  Though the 
Registry of Foreigners ("Pink Book" or Libro de Extranjeria) 
provides for registration of children born in the country of 
non-Dominican parents, the government's implementation is 
inadequate.  Moreover, the Central Elections Board (JCE) has 
taken steps to retroactively rescind previously issued birth 
certificates or national ID and voting cards (cedulas) to 
persons whom they suspect to be of Haitian descent.  Pierre 
said that the lack of documentation has rendered these 
migrant workers functionally stateless, many left in bateyes 
(settlements where most present and previous sugar cane 
workers live) without many economic opportunities and with 
living conditions rife for child labor and exploitive child 
labor. 
 
¶8. (SBU) Pierre stated that these dire conditions persist in 
the bateyes owned by the government's Consorcio Estatal de 
Azucar (CEA).  In contrast, the owners of Consorcio Azucarero 
de Empresas Industriales (CAEI) bateyes have invested in 
improvements in living conditions that she wished could be 
expanded to other bateyes. 
 
---------------- 
Business Leaders 
---------------- 
 
¶9. (SBU) Members of the Consejo Nacional de la Empresa 
Privada (CONEP), a local business organization, told 
Ponticelli that the business community has stepped up in 
funding education and labor programs.  However, despite the 
increasing involvement of the private sector, CONEP members 
emphasized the need for the government to likewise implement 
programs that will both eliminate child labor and improve 
education. 
 
¶10. (SBU) William Malamud, an Executive Vice President of the 
local American Chamber of Commerce, agreed about the dismal 
state of education in the country.  He has advocated for the 
GODR to increase its budget to improve the quality of 
education.  The severely deficient educational system is a 
competitiveness issue acutely felt by the business community. 
With CAFTA-DR, potential for economic growth is enormous; 
however, without a trained and educated labor force, this 
growth will be limited. 
 
------- 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶11. (SBU) Comment: Deputy Undersecretary Ponticelli's visit 
was very helpful in highlighting the assistance that the 
United States, through DOL funding, is providing to fight 
child labor.  The visit was also an opportunity to see 
first-hand the progress of the ongoing Espacios para Crecer 
(Rooms to Grow) project, as well as to meet with a variety of 
interlocutors where progress is being made and to see what 
challenges remain. In entering the second phase, Rooms to 
Grow has demonstrated that public/private partnership is a 
viable model and political will exists to combat child labor 
in the Dominican Republic. 
 
12 (U) Deputy Undersecretary Ponticelli has cleared this report. 
FANNIN