VZCZCXRO6877
PP RUEHMA RUEHPA
DE RUEHAB #0457 2080631
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P 270631Z JUL 09
FM AMEMBASSY ABIDJAN
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 5284
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC PRIORITY

UNCLAS ABIDJAN 000457 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB ECON SOCI PGOV PREL IV
SUBJECT: GOCI LAUNCHES REMEDIATION PROGRAM TO COMBAT CHILD 
LABOR IN THE COCOA SECTOR 
 
REF: ABIDJAN 435 
 
1.(U) Summary: The Ivorian government launched its new 
remediation program on July 22 in a ceremony that also 
commemorated World Day Against Child Labor. The program will 
target 31 cocoa-growing villages and is intended to help 
change traditional practices by ensuring that each village 
has a primary school, health clinic, and income generating 
activities to supplement the income from cocoa. The Minister 
for Civil Service and Labor announced that the government is 
revising existing laws to strengthen the provisions dealing 
with the worst forms of child labor and increase to 20 years 
in prison the penalty that can be given to violators of the 
law.  End Summary 
 
¶2. (U) Ambassador attended the GOCI's July 22 ceremony in 
honor of World Child Labor Day at which a recently announced 
remediation program (see ref A) designed to reduce child 
labor in the cocoa sector was also launched. A brochure 
distributed to attendees describes the remediation program as 
consisting of 1) programs to sensitize parents to the dangers 
associated with child labor and immediately end the 
involvement of children in dangerous chores; 2) sensitization 
of parents to the importance of education and sending 
children to school; 3) supporting parents in the effort to 
change traditional practices by providing schools, clinics 
and incoming generating activities to supplement their income 
from cocoa. 
 
¶3. (U) Held under the auspices of the Prime Minister, the 
ceremony was notable for the clear and repetitive message 
delivered by government officials to the local population: 
children must go to school and cannot be allowed to do 
certain kinds of work. Speaking on behalf of the Prime 
Minister, Minister of Family and Social Affairs Jeanne 
Peuhmond reiterated the government's opposition to the misuse 
of children for strenuous work, and reaffirmed the 
government's determination to eradicate this phenomenon. She 
told parents that the appropriate place for their children is 
in school, not in the fields, and urged them to give their 
children - especially girls - a chance to learn and succeed 
in life. Hubert Oulaye, the Minister for Civil Service and 
Labor hit the same themes and named all 31 villages that will 
benefit from the government's remediation program. He 
acknowledged that a weak legal framework in Cote d'Ivoire had 
contributed to the abuse of an outdated and wholly 
insufficient labor code, and said the government was in the 
process of revising appropriate laws to outlaw the worst 
forms of child labor and increase the penalty for violation 
of this law to up to 20 years in jail. Mme. Peuhmond 
reiterated this intent in her remarks. Oulaye admitted, 
however, that even with a change in the law, Cote d'Ivoire 
will be hard pressed to reach the goal of eliminating the 
worst forms of child labor by 2016. He called on all 
concerned (including interested donors) to contribute fully 
to the effort. 
 
¶4. (U) The ceremony was held in Adoua village in the Aboisso 
region, one of the oldest cocoa-growing areas in the country. 
 The prefect, who also heads the village committee to combat 
child labor, stated in his remarks that the villagers had 
contributed to the dismantling of several trafficking 
networks, repatriated 13 minor children (with help from 
German aid agency GTZ); returned 38 Ivorian children to their 
families, and documented 124 additional minor children as 
regular workers. This was the result of numerous public 
sensitization programs and seminars. The prefect joked about 
the fact that he had been successful despite never having 
learned to speak French properly because he spent his 
childhood working in the cocoa fields -- but he called on 
parents to accept that the world had changed. 
 
¶5. (U) Comment: The ceremony was an impressive one in that 
the government's message was clear and was delivered in a 
manner that came across as both genuine and serious. Post 
will seek to obtain the revised law that the Ministers 
referred to and will keep Department posted on any major 
developments on this front. 
 
 
NESBITT