VZCZCXYZ0004
PP RUEHWEB

DE RUEHLGB #0381/01 1551106
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 031106Z JUN 08
FM AMEMBASSY KIGALI
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5352

UNCLAS KIGALI 000381 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DOL/ILAB FOR RACHEL RIGBY, DRL/ILCSR FOR MARK MITTELHAUSER, 
G/TIP FOR STEVE STEINER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PHUM PGOV RW
SUBJECT: RWANDA - INFORMATION ON FORCED AND CHILD LABOR IN 
THE PRODUCTION OF GOODS 
 
REF: A. STATE 43120 
 
     ¶B. 07 KIGALI 1095 
 
¶1. (U) Post submits the following information on the presence 
of forced and child labor in the production of goods in 
Rwanda. 
 
- Good: Tea 
 
- Type of exploitation found in tea production: Exploitative 
child labor 
 
- Sources of information and years: 
 
-- Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia Together (KURET) - 
USDOL-supported NGO engaged in child labor issues in Rwanda. 
Interviews with staff, May 2008. 
-- Ministry of Labor - Credible government source within the 
Ministry of Labor, working as child labor assistant. 
Interview, May 2008. 
-- USAID - Agribusiness Specialist on the Economic Growth and 
Rural Development Team.  Email communication, May, 2008. 
 
- Narrative: Boys and girls harvested tea, primarily on their 
own families' small holdings, but in a few cases on larger 
tea plantations.  Child labor of this type was more prevalent 
in districts in which tea growing is concentrated, such as 
Nyaraguru and Gicumbi. Working conditions for children 
cultivating tea could be strenuous, with some child laborers 
exposed to long hours, cold temperatures, cuts, and physical 
strain from carrying heavy baskets.  Besides these 
difficulties, some child laborers were unable to go to school 
due to their work schedules. 
 
Sources cited extreme poverty and parental ignorance of the 
associated risks as the primary reasons why some children 
working in tea cultivation were subject to abusive 
conditions.  There were no reports of debt arrangements or 
other circumstances in which children or adults were forced 
to work on tea plantations. 
 
- Incidence:  We do not have figures for the tea sector 
alone.  Most child laborers work in the agricultural sector 
(mainly in subsistence agriculture), probably several hundred 
thousand.  Of the 1707 children removed from abusive 
agricultural work in tea and other agriculture sectors by 
KURET in 2006-2007, the great majority (92 percent) were aged 
12 to 17 years, with 63 percent aged 15 to 17.  (Note: 
Children in Rwanda may work as apprentices at age 14 or with 
parental permission at 16.  The minimum age for full-time 
employment is 18 years.  End note.)  Of the 12 to 17 year 
olds, 54 percent worked between 30 and 60 hours per week, 25 
percent worked between 60 and 90 hours per week, and 16 
percent worked over 90 hours per week.  Exact numbers of 
children employed in private tea cultivation (as opposed to 
working on family plots) were not available, but the problem 
is not estimated to be significant or particularly 
widespread.  The results of a national child labor survey 
launched in 2007 will be available later in 2008. 
 
- Efforts to combat forced and child labor in the production 
of goods: The Government of Rwanda (GOR) employs labor 
inspectors in each of its 30 districts who are engaged in 
sensitization and prevention efforts against child labor. 
NGOs work jointly with the GOR to provide awareness campaigns 
against child labor and to offer "catch-up" education 
programs to children who have missed schooling due to labor 
participation.  The problem of child labor has been 
incorporated into the GOR poverty reduction strategy and a 
five-year action plan to address child labor is in 
development for consideration by the Cabinet.  Post also 
directs attention to the 2007 Report on the Worst Forms of 
Child Labor (ref B) and the 2007 Report on Human Rights for 
further information on relevant legislation and government 
and NGO efforts to combat child labor. 
 
- Other goods: Small numbers of children may be involved in 
Q- Other goods: Small numbers of children may be involved in 
cultivation of rice and sugar cane and employed in stone 
quarries, but not enough to merit inclusion in this report. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ARIETTI