VZCZCXYZ0001
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHEG #0106/01 0221049
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 221049Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY CAIRO
TO RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1416

UNCLAS CAIRO 000106 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOL/ILAB FOR MCCARTER; DRL/ILCSR FOR DANG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI EG
SUBJECT: EGYPT: RESPONSE TO REQUEST FOR CHILD LABOR 
INFORMATION FOR TRADE AND DEVELOPMENT ACT REPORT 
 
REF: A. 08 SECSTATE 127448 
     ¶B. 08 CAIRO 1192 
     ¶C. 08 CAIRO 1643 
 
¶1. SUMMARY: The Government of Egypt (GOE) continues to make 
progress towards restricting and regulating child labor.  In 
June 2008, Egypt's Parliament passed a comprehensive set of 
amendments to the Child Protection Law raising the minimum 
age for employment from fourteen to fifteen years, and the 
minimum age for seasonal employment from twelve to thirteen 
years.  The amendments also criminalize trafficking in 
children.  The GOE and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) 
continue working together, including through a World Food 
Program project financed by the U.S. Department of Labor, on 
child labor-related issues and enforcement.  As requested by 
reference A, the following information updates developments 
in child labor in Egypt and the information contained in the 
2007 Trade and Development Act Report Egypt chapter.  END 
SUMMARY. 
 
LAWS AND REGULATIONS PROSCRIBING THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD 
LABOR 
 
¶2. On June 7, 2008, Egypt's People's Assembly approved a 
series of amendments to Egypt's Child Protection Law which 
raised the minimum working age for children and criminalized 
trafficking in children (ref B).  The amendments raised 
minimum working ages from fourteen to fifteen years for 
regular employment and from twelve to thirteen years for 
seasonal employment.  (Source:  Law 126 of the Year 2008 on 
Amending Provisions of the Child Law.) 
 
¶3. The amendments also criminalize trafficking in children 
and establish penalties for the offense.  Specifically, the 
provision bans any "abuse, trafficking, sexual harassment, 
and commercial or economic abuse of children."  The 
amendments establish a punishment of at least five years 
imprisonment and a fine of between LE 50,000 ($9,260) and LE 
200,000 ($37,000) for anyone who "buys, sells, or offers a 
child for sale" or anyone who "participates in transferring a 
child as a slave for sexual or commercial exploitation."  The 
law was developed and approved through the efforts of Egypt's 
quasi-governmental National Council for Childhood and 
Motherhood (NCCM). 
 
REGULATIONS FOR THE IMPLEMENTATION AND ENFORCEMENT OF 
PROSCRIPTIONS AGAINST THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR (Section 
B) 
 
¶4. Egypt has ratified ILO conventions 138 regarding the 
Minimum Age for Admission to Employment and 182 concerning 
Prohibiting the Worst Forms of Child Labor.  In furtherance 
of Egypt's convention obligations, the Ministry of Manpower 
and Migration (MOMM) has established a list of 44 hazardous 
occupations and industries where children under age fifteen, 
and in some cases seventeen, are prohibited from working. 
 
¶5. The GOE appears committed to enforcing child labor laws, 
with First Lady Suzanne Mubarak actively involved in the 
issue through her position as President of the NCCM.  The 
MOMM, working with the NCCM, generally is effective in 
enforcing child labor regulations in the formal sector, 
especially in state-owned enterprises.  Enforcement in the 
informal sector is lax, particularly in villages and poorer 
urban areas where children work to support their families, 
especially with respect to children working as domestic 
servants, in the agricultural sector, or under the auspices 
of family members.  There were, however, a number of local 
press reports during the year of enforcement actions in the 
informal sector.  In most reported cases, children were 
removed from the work environment and legal action was taken 
against the employers who were found to be in violation of 
child labor-prohibiting legislation.  Over the past year, the 
local press reported on number of arrests of individuals 
coercing street children to beg, steal and work in informal 
activities. 
 
WHETHER THERE ARE SOCIAL PROGRAMS TO PREVENT AND WITHDRAW 
CHILDREN FROM THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR (Section C) 
 
¶6. The United Nations World Food Program, working in 
conjunction with the NCCM and NGO partners, continues to 
implement a U.S. Department of Labor financed project with 
the objective of withdrawing child workers from the labor 
force and protecting at risk children.  The NCCM, has created 
a 24-hour child labor hot-line, and working with the ILO and 
NGOs, implemented a number of awareness raising programs 
including the Supporting Children's Rights through Education, 
the Arts and Media (SCREAM) program and the Red Card Against 
Child Labor campaign. 
 
 
DOES EGYPT HAVE A COMPREHENSIVE POLICY AIMED AT THE 
ELIMINATION OF THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR (Section D) 
 
¶7. The NCCM working with the MOMM, Egyptian Trade Union 
Federation (ETUF), ILO, United Nations Children's Fund 
(UNICEF), Ministries of Social Affairs, Agriculture, 
Education, Health and Interior developed in 2006 the "First 
National Strategy for the Progressive Elimination of Child 
Labor."  The NCCM continues to work with its partners to 
implement the strategy.  In June 2008, Suzanne Mubarak 
chaired a conference organized by the NCCM entitled "A Future 
Without Child Labor" in furtherance of the implementation of 
a national strategy.  The high-level involvement in 
child-related issues lends importance and political weight to 
the enforcement and speed at which policies and projects are 
implemented. 
 
IS EGYPT MAKING CONTINUAL PROGRESS TOWARD ELIMINATING THE 
WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR (Section E) 
 
¶8. Challenges remain, but the GOE appears to be making some 
progress toward eliminating the worst forms of child labor, 
including through the June 2008 passage of the comprehensive 
amendments to the Child Law.  While child labor, driven by 
poverty and traditional practice remains a problem, NGOs 
report that public and GOE awareness of the problem and 
concern for the well-being of impoverished children appears 
to be on the rise. 
SCOBEY