VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKI #0611 2071059
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 251059Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTAT WASHDC 8228
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2173
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000611 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO DOL/ILAB (TMCCARTER) 
DEPT FOR DRL/IL (TDANG) 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EINV ETRD EAID PHUM SOCI CG
 
SUBJECT: DRC: 2007 WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR 
 
REF: 07 SECSTATE 149662 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary. The GDRC needs to make greater progress in 
combating the worst forms of child labor, as reflected by 
information that has been obtained for the first year of the new 
government.  The Ministry of Labor is responsible for enforcing 
child labor laws, but lacks the necessary capacity and resources to 
do so.  End Summary. 
 
CHILD LABOR LAWS AND REGULATIONS IN THE DRC 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (U) The GDRC created the National Committee to Combat the Worst 
Forms of Child Labor (NCCL) in June 2006, but is still unable to 
carry out its mandate.  The Committee's goals are to develop and 
assure the implementation of a national strategy to eliminate the 
worst forms of child labor. 
 
APPLICATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF LAWS 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶3.  (U) Child labor law enforcement remains inadequate, particularly 
in the mining sector.  Children work illegally as artisanal miners 
and in other informal sectors.  (See also Post's 2007 Human Rights 
Report.)  Increasing industrialization in the extractive industries 
sector will likely focus public attention and scrutiny on reducing 
the number of children working in this sector.  The government's 
capacity and willingness to meaningfully participate in such efforts 
are unclear, and many firms operating in the sector, including 
Chinese and Indian-owned operations, have thus far shown little 
inclination to promote compliance with child labor laws.  (Note: A 
USAID contractor has entered into a partnership with select 
international mining firms - so far only in Katanga province - that 
have committed themselves to reducing the number of child miners in 
the DRC.  End note.) 
 
¶4.  (U) The DRC's Ministry of Labor remains the responsible body for 
investigating child labor abuses, but there is no dedicated child 
labor inspection service.  NGO's continued to pressure the Ministry 
of Labor to focus on this problem, with few or no results. 
 
¶5.  (U) The DRC's criminal courts will continue to hear child labor 
complaints until the NCCL forms.  NGO's and the ILO have reportedly 
been active in pushing prosecutors to bring cases against violators 
of child labor laws. 
 
RELATED POLICIES AND PROGRAMS 
----------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (U) The GDRC continued to demobilize child soldiers in 2007 
through the disarmament, demobilization and reinsertion (DDR) 
program.  The reduction of funding specifically available for child 
demobilization has almost certainly resulted in a decrease of the 
number of NGO's focusing on this process.  UNICEF estimates that 
11,000 children still need to be demobilized, while the UNDP's 
estimates are more than twice that figure. 
 
¶7.  (U) The relatively high financial costs and loss of potential 
income for education continue to push children into the informal 
labor sector, because many parents are unable to simultaneously pay 
school fees and give up the income their children may earn to help 
support the family.  For budgetary and political reasons, the 
Ministry of Education has been unable to implement plans, announced 
in 2005, to fund teachers' salaries, an action that would have 
eliminated, at least in theory, the need for parents to pay the 
teachers.  The USG continues to support programs to reduce the 
educational gap between boys and girls and to increase school 
attendance. 
 
COMMENT AND PROGRESS REPORT 
--------------------------- 
 
¶8.  (U) We have not observed major progress by the GDRC in combating 
child labor since 2006.  Enforcement continues to be lax due to 
institutionalized corruption and bureaucratic disorganization. 
Child labor, especially in the artisanal mining sector, is likely to 
remain a significant challenge for the new government. 
 
GARVELINK