VZCZCXYZ0000
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNM #0231/01 0560851
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 250851Z FEB 08
FM AMEMBASSY NIAMEY
TO SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 4130

UNCLAS NIAMEY 000231 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB PHUM ETRD SOCI USAID PREL NG
SUBJECT: NIGER GSP PETITION: INTERIM DEMARCHE 
 
REF: A. (A) STATE 10106 (B) 07 NIAMEY 1427 (C) 07 NIAMEY 
        1368 
     ¶B. (D) 07 NIAMEY 1239 (E) 07 NIAMEY 727 
 
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Demarche delivered 
------------------ 
 
¶1. (SBU)  DCM on February 20 made ref A demarche with Labor 
Ministry Secretary General Assane Harouna, National 
Commission against Forced Labor and Discrimination director 
Issa Dan Azoumi and the head of the Labor Ministry's child 
labor division, Dounama Abdou.  They noted that the slavery 
study was in progress; a team was doing research outside of 
Niamey February 12 -26.  There were actually two child labor 
studies being conducted, one by the National Statistics 
Institute and one by the National Commission on Human Rights 
and Fundamental Liberties (CNDHLF) National Commission on 
Forced Labor and Discrimination.  The Labor Ministry 
officials said they would provide details on relevant 
activities in writing. 
 
¶2. (SBU) DCM on February 13 made ref A demarche with Justice 
Ministry Secretary General Maazou Adamou Seydou.  Seydou 
expressed strong interest in the issues raised, but said that 
most of those issues (e.g. forced and child labor) fall under 
the purview of the Labor Ministry.  The exception was 
trafficking in persons (TIP), for which Justice had the lead. 
 He reviewed recent efforts to combat trafficking in persons, 
notably a December 2007 program held in conjunction with the 
UN Office on Crime and Drugs (UNODC).  The program trained 15 
magistrates, gendarmes and police so that they could in turn 
train their counterparts on combating trafficking and taking 
care of victims of trafficking.  He said the draft TIP law 
was undergoing final review in the Prime Minster's office 
before being submitted to the Council of Ministers for 
approval.  Seydou hoped that the Council of Ministers would 
approve the law in time for it to be considered during the 
next session of the National Assembly, which begins in March. 
 
¶3. (SBU) Econoff on February 13 made ref A demarche with the 
Director for the Protection of Children in the Ministry for 
the Promotion of Women and the Protection of Children, 
Souleymane Issoufou.  Issoufou noted that Niger has been 
working hard to implement procedures to eliminate child labor 
and child trafficking in Niger.  He reminded Econoff that 
Niger is a poor country where some forms of child labor 
unfortunately do occur, but where the worst forms of child 
labor and child trafficking are rare.  In reviewing ref A,s 
suggested complementary steps he agreed that it was important 
to raise public awareness about practices, penalties, and 
laws to combat child labor and child trafficking.  To that 
end, he said that the Ministry is trying to use public 
awareness to reduce the number of children who are brought to 
the capital under the tutelage of marabouts for the purpose 
of begging. Issoufou noted that he and the Minister had met 
with the USDOL team that visited in November and had provided 
all of the materials they had requested.  He stated that he 
would be happy to provide further assistance as needed. 
Issoufou agreed that it was important for research to 
distinguish between various types of slavery; however, he 
noted that the study cited in ref A was not being carried out 
by his Ministry.  With regard to trafficking in children, 
Issoufou stated that Niger has the strictest adoption laws in 
Africa in order to protect children and to avoid the kind of 
exploitation that happened in the recent "Arche de Zoe" 
affair in Chad.  Issoufou reminded Econoff (who is also 
Conoff) that Niger recently began requiring all children who 
travel abroad in the company of an adult who is not their 
parent to have authorization from the police department.  He 
said that the procedure to get this authorization is rigorous 
and requires a thorough investigation of the parents and of 
any adults accompanying the child.  Issoufou made it clear 
that, although work in the area of protecting children 
remains, he feels that there has been much progress. 
 
------------------------------------ 
Summary of Recent Labor Developments 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶4. (U) In January 2008, the Ministry of Labor organized a 
capacity-building training session on ILO Conventions 138 and 
182 for labor inspectors and judges.  The training was 
conducted by ILO experts. 
 
¶5. (U) In December, UNODC supported the Ministry of Justice 
in a train-the-trainer session for security forces and judges 
on trafficking in persons.  The training focused on victim 
protection, witness protection, special investigation 
techniques, and international cooperation.  The Ministry of 
Justice has approved the integration of the module for this 
training in the curricula of law enforcement schools, ie. the 
FNIS (a paramilitary force under the Interior Ministry), 
Police, Gendarmerie, and Customs. 
 
¶6. (U) In November, the Ministry of Justice transmitted the 
draft TIP law to the cabinet council under the Prime Minister 
for review before its submission to the Council of Ministers 
and to the National Assembly for adoption during the upcoming 
session starting in March.  At year's end, the draft was at 
the Prime Minister's office. 
 
¶7. (U) On November 8, the National Commission on Human Rights 
and Fundamental Liberties (CNDHLF) established a national 
coordination committee to conduct a study on forced labor, 
child labor and other forms of slavery practices funded by 
the government.  The study is aimed at identifying the causes 
of these phenomena in order to propose appropriate solutions 
to eliminate them.  The study will last six months.  The 
documentation stage of the study has been completed.  A field 
survey is under way (February 12-26).  Findings will be 
presented in June. 
 
¶8. (U) During the year, the Ministry of Labor has initiated a 
National Survey on Child Labor in Niger (ENTE), to be led by 
the National Statistics Institute (INS).  The national survey 
aims to generate data on children's activities (including 
education and economic and non-economic activities) and 
create a database of both quantitative and qualitative data 
on child labor in Niger. 
 
¶9. (U) During the year, a tripartite committee (government, 
employers and labor unions) held several meetings to review 
the 1967 labor decree on the regulatory part of the Labor 
Code, which includes a proposed list of the worst forms of 
child labor.  Based on the tripartite committee's work, the 
government will promulgate a decree that lists the worst 
forms of child labor. 
 
¶10. (U) On November 3-4, Timidria held a workshop to solicit 
the support of religious leaders regarding a campaign to 
sensitize the population on the issue of slavery and forced 
labor.  The Government of Niger's Minister of Religious 
Affairs remarks at the workshop emphasized the government's 
desire to end slavery (ref C). 
 
¶11. (U) On October 27-28, the anti-slavery NGO Timidria 
organized a national workshop on slavery to educate 60 civil 
society participants on strategies to eradicate slavery and 
discrimination in Niger.  The workshop focused on the 
effective implementation of the 2003 anti-slavery law and the 
civil society's contribution in the fight against slavery. 
The Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice, 
representing the government, made a keynote address in which 
he reiterated the GON,s commitment to international basic 
human rights and its resolve to combat slavery.  He reminded 
the audience that the government had funded a study to 
determine the extent of forced labor, child labor and 
discrimination in the country. 
 
¶12. (U) On October 3-4, the Ministry of Labor, in conjunction 
with the ILO/IPEC, held a national workshop to design and 
establish a child labor monitoring system (SOSTEN).  The 
workshop was aimed at:  defining a conceptual framework for 
the child labor monitoring system and proposing an 
application for Niger; presenting SOSTEN experiences in the 
sub-region; identifying possible mechanisms for the 
rehabilitation of at-risk children or victims of child labor; 
and establishing a SOSTEN database and training its users. 
 
13 (U) On September 27-28, the Ministry of Labor organized a 
workshop to: approve the conclusions and recommendations of 
an institutional study on the National Steering Committee on 
Child Labor (CDN) and the MOL Child Labor Division; approve 
the guidelines for the implementation and the recommendations 
of the sub-regional workshop on National Child Labor 
Divisions Capacity Building held in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso 
on June 26-29, 2007; review, amend and approve an action plan 
to strengthen the technical and operational capacities of the 
National Child Labor Division; create regional steering 
committees on child labor; and approve the National Steering 
Committee's action plan. 
 
¶14. (U) In May 2007, under the US DOL program on the 
prevention and elimination of child labor in mining in West 
Africa, the ILO/IPEC funded two public 
education/sensitization projects.  The first project aims at 
combating child labor in traditional gold mines through 
literacy and sensitization for 100 women miners, and the 
socio-professional reinsertion of 100 girls between 14 and 17 
years old at the Komabangou gold mine.  AFETEN (Action en 
Faveur de l,Elimination du Travail des Enfants au Niger), a 
local NGO, is implementing the project.  The second project 
supports the fight against child labor through sensitization, 
sports and civic education for 1,118 children aged 7 to 17 at 
the Komabangou gold mining site.  The project is being 
implemented by Action-Education, a local NGO.  The National 
Steering Committee on Child Labor (CDN) led by the Ministry 
of Labor approved both projects on May 9. 
 
¶15. (U) In May 2007, ILO/IPEC launched, under the US DOL 
program, two vocational training programs for children.  The 
first project aims at rescuing 680 children and supporting 
100 family members of child miners at the M,Banga mining 
site.  ALTEN (Association pour la Lutte contre le Travail des 
Enfants au Niger), a local NGO, is implementing the project. 
The second project will work toward combating child labor by 
mobilizing community organization to help with the 
socio-professional training of 100 child workers at M,Banga 
gold mining site.  This project is being implemented by EPAD 
(Ecole-Parrainage et Action de Developpement).  The National 
Committee on Child Labor (CDN) led by the Ministry of Labor 
approved both projects on May 9. 
 
¶16. (U) UNODC will conduct a research on TIP in Niger in 
order to assess the judicial system,s response to TIP cases. 
 A case study will be conducted in six regions (Agadez, 
Dosso, Maradi, Niamey, Tillabery, and Zinder) and will focus 
on a) domestic labor; b) Libya and Algeria migration patterns 
associated with TIP; and, c) international arranged 
marriages; and d) drug smuggling.  UNODC will use the 
US-funded ANDDH study on TIP. 
 
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Comment 
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¶17. (U) As outlined above, the Nigererien government is 
working to enhance workers' rights, particularly regarding 
forced and child labor.  Its resources are, however, severely 
limited, and many of the problems arise from longstanding 
traditional practices that cannot be easily reversed.  Some 
GON actions were delayed in 2007 by the rebellion in the 
north that began in February, cabinet reshuffles in March and 
June, and a major reshuffle within the judiciary in September. 
 
¶18. (U) Post's ability to engage the GON on labor issues and 
to report on labor developments was severely degraded with 
the loss of its political officer position in May 2007. 
Without a political officer, post can prepare required 
reports such as the Human Rights Report and the Trafficking 
in Persons report, but it will be hard pressed to provide 
even occasional spot reports on labor developments, 
particularly outside of Niamey.  It will not be able to 
provide the kinds of labor advocacy or in-depth reporting on 
issues such as slavery, forced labor and child labor that it 
has in the past. 
ALLEN