VZCZCXRO8200
RR RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHJO RUEHMR RUEHRN
DE RUEHTO #0109/01 0372050
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 062050Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY MAPUTO
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 1246
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY
RUEHLO/AMEMBASSY LONDON 0615
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
RUCPDOC/DEPT OF COMMERCE WASHDC

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 MAPUTO 000109 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DOL/ILAB FOR TINA MCCARTER 
DRL/ILCSR FOR TU DANG 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD KTIP PHUM SOCI MZ
SUBJECT: MOZAMBIQUE -- CHILD LABOR INFORMATION 
 
REF: A. 08 STATE 43120 
     ¶B. 08 STATE 127448 
     ¶C. 09 STATE 21472 
     ¶D. 09 STATE 92560 
     ¶E. 09 STATE 120277 
 
¶1.  (SBU)  SUMMARY: Approximately 75 per cent of Mozambicans 
work as subsistence farmers.  Child labor is culturally 
tolerated and accepted as a source of employment especially 
in agriculture.  Child labor in the urban context is largely 
related to domestic servitude.  The Ministry of Labor 
(MITRAB) is responsible for carrying out labor inspections. 
MITRAB takes little initiative to prevent or combat child 
labor, however it collects statistical data in urban areas at 
the provincial and national level.  The MITRAB has two main 
divisions which deal with child labor, the Labor Inspection 
Office (LIO) and the Office for Information and Statistics 
(OIS).  Neither office publicly releases its budget; though 
the entire MITRAB budget was $1.8 million in 2009.  MITRAB 
believes that the use of child labor is extensive and often 
abusive, but does not conduct frequent outreach or maintain 
reliable data or documents.  END SUMMARY. 
 
--------------------------------------- 
PREVALENCE AND SECTORAL DISTRIBUTION OF 
EXPLOITIVE CHILD LABOR 
--------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) The most recent available survey, Child Labor In 
Mozambique, August-December 2007, published by MITRAB, does 
not specify the number of children who work in servitude as 
domestic laborers.  These minors, recruited mainly in 
poverty-stricken rural areas, are promised food, clothing and 
schooling in the city, in exchange for performing domestic 
work.  MITRAB concedes that it is difficult to monitor such 
cases.  Those employing a child domestic worker often falsely 
declare the child as a family member and often the child is 
not aware that he is being exploited.  Exploitive child labor 
is common in agricultural rural areas.  According to 
Francisco Mazoio of Mozambique's largest union, the 
OTM-Central Syndicate, parents who had been hired to work on 
cotton, coconut and cashew plantations in northern Mozambique 
(Zambezia, Nampula and Cabo Delgado provinces) often used 
their own children in order to increase their income.  These 
children worked long hours, were prevented from attending 
school and received no pay. 
 
-------------------- 
LAWS AND REGULATIONS 
-------------------- 
 
¶3.  (SBU) In the Mozambican legal system, laws approved by 
the legislature require implementing regulations before they 
can be enforced.  Implementing regulations have yet to be 
drafted for the 2008 Child Protection Act.  The Act calls for 
the creation of a national commission to protect children 
(currently the responsibility of the Ministry of Women and 
Social Action, which has other competing interests). 
UNICEF,s Maputo office expressed concern that the 
implementing regulations for the Act are not in place yet. 
Anti-trafficking legislation is also pending draft 
regulations, although Mozambique was one of the first 
countries in southern Africa to pass an anti-trafficking law 
in 2008. 
 
------------------------------------------- 
INSTITUTIONS AND MECHANISMS FOR ENFORCEMENT 
------------------------------------------- 
 
¶4. (SBU) According to two OIS employees, MITRAB works alone 
and without support in its efforts to enforce child labor 
laws.  There are no mechanisms in place for making complaints 
about hazardous and forced child labor.  The LIO confirms 
that it lacks adequate funding.  In fact, its officials are 
not aware of just how much funding, if any, is allocated for 
inspection purposes.  The LIO lacks the most basic of 
resources, such as vehicles.  Its inspectors often have to 
rely on the very company committing violations to provide 
travel to the site of a violation.  Mozambique has a total of 
130 labor inspectors but they are underpaid, making them 
vulnerable to bribes.  Poor training is also a factor 
contributing to inadequate supervision and enforcement.  For 
example, MITRAB failed to obtain any data at all for four of 
the eleven provinces in Mozambique in a recent report. 
 
¶5.  (SBU)  MITRAB's inspectors are not trained, funded, or 
equipped to monitor child labor issues in a large country 
 
MAPUTO 00000109  002 OF 002 
 
 
twice the size of California, in which over 80 percent of the 
population lives in rural areas.  MITRAB is also more 
motivated to inspect commercial establishments, as the 
Ministry takes a percentage of any fines assessed.  MITRAB 
officials inspected five thousand businesses in 2008 and 
8,155 infractions were detected; however data for 2009 is not 
yet available.  It has no detailed information distinguishing 
complaint-driven from government-initiated inspections. 
There is also no information available as to how many of 
these cases were related to child labor or exploitive labor. 
MITRAB officials stated that only about 30% of the 8,155 
infractions were penalized because MITRAB prefers to educate 
first and punish later. (NOTE: Post suspects that the 
extremely low number of fines is due to corruption.  END 
NOTE)  There are no statistics tracking convictions and 
MITRAB could not provide specifics as to the average time 
required to resolve a child labor case, indicating several 
months as a minimum. 
 
---------------------------- 
INSTITUTIONAL MECHANISMS FOR 
EFFECTIVE ENFORCEMENT 
---------------------------- 
 
¶6.  (SBU)  Domestic trafficking is a component of child labor 
in some cases.  Mozambique created an anti-trafficking 
brigade (ATB) in 2008 that works under the Ministry of the 
Interior and is responsible for investigating and prosecuting 
trafficking in persons (TIP) cases.  No arrests have been 
made, despite many suspected TIP cases having been reported 
in the media.  Police note that TIP is a complex transaction 
involving several individuals; often the key trafficker is 
not known to those who work for him.  A police official who 
works on cases of abuse against women and children, including 
TIP cases, declined to provide ATB personnel or funding 
particulars.  In 2009 Mozambique launched a dedicated hotline 
for reporting TIP-related cases. According to Rede-Came, an 
NGO that works to prevent child abuse, between November and 
December of last year, about 1,900 complaints were received. 
Unfortunately, no investigations were opened. 
 
---------------------------------- 
GOVERNMENT POLICIES ON CHILD LABOR 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶7. (SBU)  The Government of Mozambique (GRM) does not have a 
formal plan or policy that specifically addresses child 
labor. The Ministry of Women and Social Action (MIMAS) is 
charged with overall responsibility for the welfare of 
children.  MIMAS chairs an inter-ministerial group on social 
issues which includes representatives from the Ministry of 
Education, Health, Justice, Labor and Interior.  UNICEF 
believes that the January 2010 appointment of a new MIMAS 
Minister, Iolanda Cintura, may spur greater activity. 
 
--------------- 
SOCIAL PROGRAMS 
--------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU)  The GRM does not indentify exploitive child labor 
as an issue in its whole-of-government poverty reduction 
plans.  It does, however, establish targets for access to 
education for children as part of its five-year plan. 
Access-to-education programs include free distribution of 
school materials and food, designed to encourage school 
attendance by vulnerable children.  MIMAS receives less than 
one percent of the total government budget and relies on 
UNICEF for such basic necessities as office supplies and 
equipment, as well as technical support.  The Interior 
Ministry,s Office for Assistance to Women and Children 
Victims of Violence relies on police units based throughout 
the country.  Because these officers lack training, 
unprofessional handling of sensitive cases may discourage 
victims from seeking help. 
ROWE