VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHNR #0100/01 0160633
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 160633Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY NAIROBI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 8252
RUEHC/DEPARTMENT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 4553

UNCLAS NAIROBI 000100 
 
DEPT FOR DRL/IL TU DANG 
DEPT PASS TO DEPT OF LABOR FOR DOL/ILAB TINA MCCARTER 
 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI KE
SUBJECT:  UPDATE ON THE WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR FOR THE 2008 TDA 
REPORT 
 
REF: 08 STATE 127448 
 
Reftel requested the following information regarding Kenya's 
implementation of its international commitments to eliminate the 
worst forms of child labor, as required under the Trade and 
Development Act (TDA): 
 
A), B) Laws and Regulations 
--------------------------- 
 
Kenya has ratified ILO Convention 182 on the worst forms of child 
labor.  As called for by Article 4 of the Convention, Kenya 
developed a list of occupations considered to be the worst forms of 
child labor. 
 
In October 2007, the Kenyan Parliament passed and President Kibaki 
signed five labor reform laws that include important provisions on 
child labor.  The Employment Act of 2007 regulates minimum 
conditions for all employees, including children, in all aspects of 
employment. The Act defines a child as one aged 18 years and below, 
harmonizing the labor law with the 2001 Children's Act (described 
below).  The Employment Act defines Worst Forms of Child Labor as 
"work such as slavery, child prostitution, illicit activities or 
work likely to injure health of a juvenile - where juvenile relates 
to ages between 16 - 18 for young persons."  Labor and Police 
Officers are empowered to investigate child labor complaints.  A 
Labor Officer is authorized to cancel an agreement of service 
between an employer and a child in any labor (except for on-the-job 
training as per the Industrial Training Act). Children shall not 
work between 6:30 in evening and 6:30 in the morning (night work). 
 
Children between 13 and 16 years can only be engaged in light work 
(as prescribed by the Minister of Labor) that is not harmful to 
their health or development or schooling needs unless it is part of 
vocational training.  Nobody should enter into a written agreement 
with a child between 13-16 years of age, and no parent or guardian 
should allow such an agreement to be entered into with a child. 
Children of this age bracket shall not attend to machinery, or where 
underground works take place and access is by means of an inlet 
shaft or hole. 
 
Since many children lack birth certificates, and a person must be at 
least 18 to receive a national ID card, it can be difficult to 
determine whether a worker is a legal child.  The Employment Act 
states that a court may determine a dispute as to the true age of 
the child employed.  Where it is not possible to get evidence of 
true age, the Labor Officer may use his opinion to determine the 
"true" age of that employee/child. 
 
Any employer found employing a child in any activity not allowed by 
the Employment Act shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a 
fine up to 200,000 shillings (about USD 2,560), or up to twelve (12) 
months imprisonment, or both.  If death or injury occurs to a child 
employed against the provisions of the Act, that employer shall be 
liable to a fine up to 500,000 shillings (about USD 6,410) which 
shall be applied wholly or in part for benefit of the injured child 
or his/her immediate relatives, or up to twelve (12) months 
imprisonment, or both. 
 
The Minister may, after consultation with the National Labor Board, 
make rules providing for any of the purposes for the administration 
of the Employment Act... for all or any of the following purposes: 
 
- Prescribing the conditions of the employment of women, young 
persons or children in any specified trade or occupation. 
- Prescribing the age at which a child may be employed. 
- Requiring employers of children to furnish information about such 
children or their employment or the conditions of their employment 
to any specified officer. 
 
Any rule made under this section may distinguish between juveniles 
of different ages and sexes and, in relation to women or juveniles, 
between different localities, occupations and circumstances. 
 
The Labor Institutions Act 2007, Section 35 states that a Labor 
Officer may institute, appear or appeal on behalf of employees in 
any civil proceedings against his employer and may take into custody 
and return any child to his parents or guardian, whom he reasonably 
suspects to being employed in contravention of the Employment Act. 
 
The Kenyan Constitution prohibits slavery, bonded and forced labor, 
and servitude, including by children. The law prohibits the 
procurement of girls under 21 for the purpose of unlawful sexual 
relations, the commercial sexual exploitation of children, and the 
transportation of children for sale. 
 
The Children's Act of 2001 prohibits all forms of exploitative and 
 
hazardous child labor and child sexual exploitation.  On July 14, 
2006, President Mwai Kibaki signed into law the Sexual Offenses Act, 
which specifically criminalizes child trafficking, trafficking for 
sexual exploitation, child prostitution, child pornography and sex 
tourism, rape and defilement. 
For child trafficking, the minimum penalty is 10 years of 
imprisonment plus a fine, and for trafficking for sexual 
exploitation, the minimum penalty is 15 years of imprisonment, a 
fine, or both. 
 
The law also prohibits children less than 18 years from being 
recruited into the military and holds the government responsible for 
protecting, rehabilitating, and reintegrating into society children 
involved in armed conflict. The Ministry of Labor is responsible for 
enforcing child labor laws, but the ministry's enforcement of the 
laws against child labor continues to be nominal due to a lack of 
resources. 
 
The Ministry of Labor has only 90 inspectors to cover all types of 
labor infractions; the ministry expects to boost the number of 
inspectors to 300 in 2009.  There are no reliable statistics on the 
number of child labor cases investigated by government; there were 
no convictions.  Police are involved in combating child labor 
through their participation in District Child Labor Committees, 
which bring together all stakeholders (reps from the ministries of 
labor, agriculture, education, local authority, and NGOs).  In 2008, 
the government remained active in raising awareness on child labor, 
including the worst forms of child labor, through its interaction 
with the District Child Labor Committees. 
 
The police anti-trafficking unit and the Criminal Investigation 
Department (CID) are responsible for combating trafficking, but are 
only nominally effective due to a lack of resources and training. 
 
 
C) Social Programs to Prevent Worst Forms of Child Labor 
--------------------------------------------- -------- 
 
UNICEF, the Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife, the World Tourism 
Organization, and NGOs continued to work with Kenyan hotels and tour 
operators to increase their awareness of child prostitution and sex 
tourism. They encouraged all hospitality-sector businesses to adopt 
and implement the code of conduct developed by the NGO End Child 
Prostitution and Child Pornography and Trafficking of Children for 
Sexual Purposes (ECPAT).  In 2006, 30 hotels on the coast signed the 
ECPAT code of conduct. The Ministry of Tourism and Wildlife's 
campaign to register villas and cottages and impose the same 
requirements as on hotels resulted in an estimated 1,200 
registrations. In 2007, 20 more hotels had signed the code of 
conduct; during 2008 no additional hotels have signed the code of 
conduct, but stakeholders continued their efforts to raise 
awareness. 
 
Many NGOs were active on child labor issues and assisted in the 
return to school of child laborers. During 2008 the government 
continued to implement 73 programs for the elimination of child 
labor with 25 partner agencies.  The partners placed the children in 
schools, vocational training institutions, and apprenticeships, and 
supported income-generating activities for an estimated 10,000 
parents. Partners also provided support to schools for 
income-generating activities to help keep children from poor 
families in school. 
 
D) Current Government Policies and Programs 
---------------------------------------- 
 
In February 2006, the government renewed the 3-year mandate for the 
National Steering Committee on the Elimination of Child Labor, which 
includes the attorney general, eight ministries, representatives of 
child welfare organizations, other NGOs, unions, and employers.  An 
Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee on Child Labor chaired by 
the vice president is responsible for setting general policy. 
Government policy on combating child labor is guided by the National 
Action Plan; the ILO, NGOs, and donors use the National Action Plan 
as a basis for project funding. 
 
Primary education is mandatory in Kenya.  Parents have been 
prosecuted for not sending their children to school, but enforcement 
of this decision is rare.  In 2008, the government together with an 
NGO operated an emergency toll free hotline to enable children and 
adults to report cases of abuse, trafficking and child labor, and to 
speak with trained personnel for counseling and referral to a 
national network of service providers for assistance. 
 
The government's provision of free tuition for primary and secondary 
education as well as anti-poverty programs are Kenya's most 
effective efforts against child labor.  The government's free 
 
primary education program (FPE) has raised child enrollment to more 
than 7.6 million.  However, nearly a million children may be out of 
class due to poverty and cultural considerations, particularly in 
arid/pastoral areas and in slums.  The majority of primary and 
secondary classrooms are overcrowded; non-tuition school fees (e.g., 
books/uniforms/feeding) remain deterrents to enrollment.  The 
government has introduced a limited number of mobile schools to help 
improve enrollment, particularly in the arid/pastoral areas. 
 
The government has mandated the Vice President's office to spearhead 
the national anti-trafficking initiative, strongly supported by the 
International Organization for Migration (IOM).  With the formation 
of a coalition government in 2008, the National Steering Committee 
to Combat Human Trafficking came under the purview of the newly 
created Ministry of Gender and Children's Development.  Due to 
bureaucratic machinations, the Steering Committee did not meet 
regularly in 2008, as it had in 2007.  As a result, the draft 
National Plan of Action to Combat Trafficking remains unpublished. 
 Nevertheless, led by the Ministry of Labor, with the support of 
IOM, several ministries continued to implement a trafficking 
education, awareness, and inspection program for the country's 35 
foreign employment agencies. 
 
In 2008, the government continued to actively participate in a 
4-year, USD 5 million Project of Support to the Kenya Timebound 
Program on the Elimination of Child Labor funded by USDOL and 
implemented by ILO-IPEC.  The project aims to withdraw 15,000 
children and prevent 7,000 children from exploitive labor in 
domestic service, commercial sexual exploitation, commercial and 
subsistence agriculture, fishing, herding, and informal-sector 
street work. The government also collaborated with ILO-IPEC on the 
USD 5.3 million, regional project, "Building the Foundations for 
Eliminating the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Anglophone Africa," 
funded by USDOL. 
 
The government also worked cooperatively on the 4-year, USD 14.5 
million "Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, and Ethiopia Together" (KURET) 
Project funded by USDOL and implemented by World Vision, in 
partnership with the International Rescue Committee and the Academy 
for Educational Development. The KURET Project aims to withdraw or 
prevent a total of 30,600 children from exploitive labor in 
HIV/AIDS-affected areas of these four countries through the 
provision of educational services.  In 2008,  KURET rescued 5,389 
children from exploitive child labor in Kenya and provided 
education/training opportunities for them.  KURET has withdrawn and 
rescued 7,263 children in Kenya 2004-2008. 
 
During the year the Child Protection Department of the Ministry of 
Gender and Child Services hired 150 new children's officers. This 
followed the hiring of an additional 160 officers in 2007. The 
government's cash transfer program for orphans and vulnerable 
children (partially funded by UNICEF) expanded in 2008 to reach more 
than 25,000 children in 17 districts, providing approximately $8-$15 
(500-1,000 shillings) per child per month to help fund basic needs, 
including school costs, so that the children would not have to 
work. 
 
E) Progress and prevalence 
----------------------- 
 
In 2008, the government maintained support for efforts to combat 
child labor and made progress.  Extensive poverty throughout Kenya, 
however, continued to drive child labor, particularly in the 
informal sector.  Child trafficking for labor, including commercial 
sexual exploitation, continued to be a significant problem during 
¶2008.  With additional resources, the government could more 
effectively fight the widespread problems of child labor and 
trafficking. 
 
An estimated one million children between five and 17 years of 
age--most between 13 and 17 years old--worked in 2008; approximately 
774,000 of those children were classified as being in child labor. 
The employment of children in the formal industrial wage sector in 
violation of the Employment Act was rare.  Primarily, children 
worked on family plots or in family units on tea, coffee, sugar, and 
rice plantations or herding livestock for their family.  Children 
also worked in fishing and mining, including abandoned gold mines, 
and small quarries. Children often worked long hours as domestic 
servants in private homes for little or no pay, and there were 
reports of physical and sexual abuse of child domestics. 
 
In 2008, thousands of children were exploited for commercial sex.  A 
2006 study by UNICEF on sex tourism and the commercial sexual 
exploitation of children along Kenya's coast reported up to 15,000 
girls and perhaps up to 30% of all children 12 to 18 engage in 
"casual" prostitution. It found that up to 3,000 additional boys and 
girls were engaged in prostitution on a full-time, year-round basis, 
 
and that 45% of girls involved in prostitution and sex tourism were 
between 12 and 13 when they first engaged in transactional sex. 
While child sex tourism is a serious social ill, slavery and debt 
bondage are not problems in Kenya. 
 
Poverty, the death of one or both parents, and self-interest may 
contribute to a family's decision to place a child with better-off 
relatives, friends, or acquaintances, who sometimes traffic and/or 
exploit the child.  Child trafficking in Kenya occurs mainly through 
personal and familial networks.  The HIV/AIDS pandemic renders many 
children orphans, increasing their vulnerability to child labor and 
trafficking. 
 
 
RANNEBERGER