VZCZCXYZ0009
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHKI #0977/01 3021122
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 291122Z OCT 09
FM AMEMBASSY KINSHASA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0260
RUEBWJA/USDOLABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 2292
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS KINSHASA 000977 
 
SIPDIS 
 
PASS TO DOL/ILAB (TMCCARTER) 
DEPT FOR DRL/ILCSR (TDANG) 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI CG
SUBJECT:  DRL OFFICER?S VISIT HIGHLIGHTS GRAVITY OF CHILD 
LABOR PROBLEM IN THE DRC 
 
¶1.  (U) Summary:  During an October 12-19 visit to the 
DRC, 
DRL Foreign Affairs Officer Tu Dang met with a wide range 
of stakeholders, including government officials, NGOs, 
labor unions and other civil society organizations to 
discuss labor and corporate social responsibility issues. 
She also toured the Gecamines mining site in Kipushi, 
Katanga province.  Embassy Kinshasa Economic/Commercial 
FSN employee Nkandamana Kabangu accompanied Ms. Tu Dang 
during her visit.  Throughout her trip, both GDRC 
officials and NGO activists confirmed the existence of 
child labor in the DRC?s mining sector.  They also 
outlined several programs for combating this problem. 
Post will continue to pressure the DRC government to 
improve its performance on child and forced labor issues 
and welcomes additional visits by DRL as an opportunity 
to advocate and educate the GDRC on these 
issues.  End summary. 
 
Background Information on visit to Kinshasa and 
Lubumbashi 
------------------------------------------ 
 
¶2.  (U) In September 2008, DRL Assistant Secretary David 
Kramer and DAS Jeff Krilla visited Kinshasa and met with 
the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo 
(GDRC) to discuss our shared interest in promoting worker 
rights and combating forced labor and the worst forms of 
child labor.  As a follow up to the DRL AS? visit, on 
October 12-19, DRL Foreign Affairs Officer Tu Dang met 
with a wide range of stakeholders, including the 
government, NGOs, labor unions and other civil society 
organizations to discuss labor and corporate social 
responsibility issues.  Meetings took place in Kinshasa, 
Lubumbashi, and Kipushi, with a particular focus on labor 
practices in the extractive industry in the Katanga 
province. 
 
Child labor:  a reality in DRC mines 
------------------------------------ 
 
¶3.  (U) During an October 13 meeting, the GDRC?s Ministry 
of Labor Chief of Staff Henriette Minchiabu confirmed the 
existence of the worst forms of child labor in the DRC?s 
mining sector.  Minchiabu reported that children work in 
mines and stone quarries where they are involved in 
breaking stones and often transport heavy loads for the 
traders.  She also said that children work as water 
sellers, domestic servants, and entertainers in bars and 
restaurants.  She added that children continue to be 
recruited and used by armed groups for a variety of 
purposes.  At the same time, Minchiabu denied the 
existence of ?forced labor? in the DRC.  (Note:  ?Forced 
labor? is defined in accordance with ILO Convention 29 as 
all work or service which is exacted from any person 
under the menace or penalty for its nonperformance and 
for which the worker does not offer himself or herself 
voluntarily, and includes indentured labor.  End note.) 
 
¶4.  (SBU) Minchiabu continued that children are engaged 
in 
child labor because they don?t have access to schooling. 
Additionally, children work to support their families, 
and 
this is particularly prevalent for those children who are 
the heads of their households, either because they have 
no 
parents or their parents are unemployed.  She concluded 
that children want to stay in child labor because they 
enjoy earning money. 
(Comment:  Post does not share Minchiabu?s opinion that 
?forced labor? does not exist in the DRC.  End comment.) 
 
¶5.  (U) The GDRC has addressed child labor through the 
labor code, children?s law, penal code, civil code and 
other laws.  However, the Ministry of Labor has yet to 
Qother laws.  However, the Ministry of Labor has yet to 
develop a national action plan to comprehensively address 
child labor.  Minchiabu opined that preventive efforts 
should be the focus, particularly on raising awareness on 
exploitative child labor through the media.  With regards 
to local capacity to address the issue of child labor, 
she pointed out that there are local NGOs who focus on 
the issue, but she was not aware of how many or exactly 
which ones.  The priorities of the Ministry of Labor 
include addressing the high rate of unemployment and lack 
of funding for labor issues. 
 
¶6.  (U) A number of observers on the ground have backed 
Minchiabu?s statement that child labor is prevalent in 
the 
DRC.  For example, Jean Mayombe, Vice President of the 
leading DRC union ?Confederation Syndicale du Congo,? 
(CSC) 
and his colleagues also confirmed the existence of child 
labor in the DRC?s mining sector due to a lack of social 
protections, inadequate enforcement of labor laws and the 
lack of training for women.  Mayombe estimated that 95 
percent of the DRC workforce is in the informal sector. 
 
 
¶7.  (U) Solidarity Center Program Director Michael 
Schwaabe 
told Dang on October 13 that an increasing number of 
children are working in Kolwezi mines in the southern 
Katanga province.  Catholic Relief Services in Katanga 
(CRS) explained that the local population?s interest in 
working in the mining sector is based on the lack of 
alternative sources of income.  Increasingly, children 
and adults are drawn to work in the mines due to the 
easy-money mentality.  Mining companies often pay higher 
salaries than other sectors and for many mining is the 
best-paid job. 
 
¶8.  (U) The UNICEF Chief in Katanga, Roger Botralahy, 
observed that labor practices are different for different 
minerals and ores.  He reported that forced labor exists 
in 
the northern Katanga province where the soldiers force 
children and adults to mine for them or to transport 
heavy 
packages.  He also said that child labor exists within 
the 
Congolese military (FARDC) especially in Kamina, Pueto, 
and 
Kalemie (all in Katanga province) where 91 children 
soldiers live.  (Note:  UNICEF is not supporting these 
children directly, but monitors their situation.  End 
note.) 
 
¶9.  (U) Botralahy noted that this issue is so sensitive 
that UNICEF is required to present an official letter 
prior to visiting these children.  He reported that 
indigenous 
cultural practices, like witchcraft, play an integral 
part 
in the prevalence of street children.  For example, there 
is a practice of branding children with handicaps or even 
minor abnormalities (e.g. speech defects, learning 
disabilities, etc.) as ?witches,? which results in 
parents abandoning their child and leaving them for a 
life in the streets.  He furthermore noted that 8-10 year 
old girls, called the ?canetons? (ducklings in French) 
are forced into 
prostitution by the ?madams? in the mining areas of 
Katanga 
in order make money. 
 
¶10.  (U) Marcel Munene, who is the Director of the DRC 
parastatal copper and cobalt mining firm Gecamines in 
Kipushi, also confirmed the existence of child labor in 
the 
artisanal mines.  He deplored the fact that children are 
working in the mines and opined that children and adults 
are ignorant of proper mining techniques and mining 
safety 
standards, which places them at increased risk of injury 
or 
death.  Munene noted that the deepest mine in DRC is 
located at Kipushi, which has a depth of 1,490 meters. 
According to Munene, the GDRC should adopt a long-term 
solution by installing new infrastructure, acquiring new 
equipment, converting some of its mining activities into 
agriculture, and providing training to young people.  He 
estimated that the restoration of Gecamines? 
infrastructure in Kipushi would require at least USD 60 
million in funding, but a feasibility study would first 
need to be conducted.  While he noted that child labor is 
a problem in the mining sector, he stated that it is out 
of the scope of his mandate to follow-up on such issues. 
Qof the scope of his mandate to follow-up on such issues. 
 
 
¶11.  (U) During a visit to a stone quarry in Kipushi on 
the 
Gecamines? compound, DRL Officer witnessed children, 
women 
and men working.  Children were mostly engaged in 
breaking 
stones and carrying loads.  Women were involved in 
digging 
and breaking stones, while some mothers were carrying 
their 
babies in their arms while breaking stones.  When asked 
why 
they work, the children replied that they wanted to 
financially support their parents and besides, they 
didn?t 
have money for schooling.  However, most of the children 
interviewed indicated that they would rather go to school 
than be in the mines. 
 
Actions taken to combat child labor 
----------------------------------- 
 
¶12.  (U) Both the GDRC and other private organizations 
have 
implemented a number of programs to combat child labor in 
the DRC.  For instance, Minchiabu claimed that 30,000 
child 
soldiers have been demobilized as a result of a 
vocational 
training program supported by the Ministry of Labor and 
implemented by the Solidarity Center and Save the 
Children. 
Solidarity Center Program Director Michael Schwaabe 
reported that his NGO combats the worst forms of child 
labor in collaboration with the NGOs and trade unions. 
One project which Solidarity Center in conjunction with 
Save the Children is implementing is the USDOL-funded 
?Reducing the Exploitation of Working Children Through 
Education? (REETE) Program.  The REETE Project targets 
8,000 children for withdrawal and 4,000 children for 
prevention from mining, mining-related services, small- 
scale commerce, agro-pastoral activities and the worst 
forms of child labor in the Katanga Province, the Kasai 
Orientale Province, and the Ituri District. 
 
¶13.  (U) Francois Philippart, PACT Manager in Katanga, 
and 
Yves Bawa, Regional PACT Manager in Ituri, Oriental 
Province, stated that their NGO has been promoting social 
reintegration of the street children back into their 
communities while dealing with female illiteracy and 
conflict resolution in the extractive industries.  They 
shared that children work largely because of economic 
reasons, or lack of schooling or other opportunities. 
PACT noted that child labor is a problem and said that 
they 
would be interested in coordinating with the ILO and 
other 
NGOs to improve workers? rights.  They reported that 
diggers generally know the market price for their mined 
products but they have no choice but to accept the low 
price paid by the broker.  They suggested that promoting 
small business development in the Katanga region would 
create jobs, decrease local dependence on imports, and 
diversify skill sets.  Since 2003, PACT has focused on 
community empowerment, livelihoods promotion and natural 
resource management. 
 
¶14.  (U) UNICEF is currently working with NGOs to take 
children out of the mines.  UNICEF has initiated income- 
generating activities for children?s parents through NGOs 
as an incentive for them to keep their children out of 
child labor and in school. Jeff Imans of the 
International Rescue Committee (IRC) mentioned that the 
labor practices of smaller mining companies are 
problematic.  Other concerns include the problem of 
smuggling minerals to other 
countries, and the continual use of child soldiers.  He 
announced that IRC will start a child protection program 
soon in Kolwezi, as well as a gender-based violence 
project 
in Katanga.  For the moment, IRC is engaged in community 
reconstruction based on education, health, and the 
environment.  IRC is implementing a health project funded 
by the World Bank. 
 
¶15.  (U) Finally, Yero De and Dolet Nyembo of the 
Q15.  (U) Finally, Yero De and Dolet Nyembo of the 
International Labor Organization (ILO) noted ILO?s 
involvement in addressing labor practices in both 
industrial and artisanal mining in Katanga province.  The 
 
ILO is currently working with a Belgian NGO called ?Group 
One? to withdraw children from the mines and eradicate 
child labor.  The ILO proposes a three-pronged approach: 
1) organize diggers into cooperatives in order to improve 
their working conditions; 2) improve working conditions 
in mining companies; and 3) promote social dialogue 
between workers, companies, and the government.  ILO reps 
noted that the GDRC, public and private unions, 
enterprises, and the ILO have started a tripartite 
dialogue framework on child labor.  He suggested that 
creating employment opportunities, strengthening the 
skills of women, enrolling children back in school, and 
decreasing DRC reliance on imports should be on the top 
of the agenda for the GDRC. 
 
Comment 
------- 
 
¶16.  (U) DRL Officer Tu Dang?s visit underscored the fact 
that child labor remains a serious problem in DRC?s 
mining 
sector.  Her trip offered a forum to emphasize that U.S. 
laws prohibit the import of products made with forced 
labor, 
including by children.  Moreover, it provided an 
opportunity 
to see first-hand the working conditions of some miners. 
Post will continue to monitor developments related to 
child 
and forced labor in the DRC and to advocate for their 
eradication.  End comment. 
 
¶17.  (U) This cable was/was cleared by Ms. Tu Dang. 
 
GARVELINK