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FM AMEMBASSY MBABANE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3889
INFO RUCNSAD/SOUTHERN AF DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY COLLECTIVE

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 05 MBABANE 000046 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DRL/ILCSR (SMORGAN), G/TIP (LCDEBACA, AF/S (MHARRIS) 
DOL/ILAB (LSTROTKAMP, RRIGBY, TMCCARTER) 
 
E.O. 12958 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD KTIP PHUM SOCI USAID WZ
SUBJECT: SWAZILAND: INFORMATION ON CHILD LABOR AND FORCED LABOR IN 
2009 
 
REF: State 131997 
 
¶1.  Per reftel request, Post submits responses regarding the use of 
forced labor and/or exploitive child labor in the production of 
goods in Swaziland, and government actions to address these issues. 
 
¶2.  In preparing our response, Post conducted interviews and 
discussions with Labor Commissioner Erickson Dlamini, ILO Project 
Director for Swaziland (HIV/AIDS) Khombisile Nkonde, Save the 
Children Manager Mandla Mazibuko, Swaziland Action Group Against 
Abuse (SWAGAA) Director Cebile Manzini Henwood, Labor Consultant and 
former Swaziland Federation of Trade Unions President Jan Sithole, 
and Swaziland Federation of Labor (SFL) President Vincent Ncongwane. 
 In addition, Post has used the 2008 Program Toward the Elimination 
of the Worst Forms of Child Labor's (TECL) National Action Plan 
Towards the Elimination of Child Labor in Swaziland (APEC), which 
outlines previous studies of child labor, active laws and 
international accords, and sets forth government and 
non-governmental (NGO) programs to fight problems associated with 
child labor. 
 
Task 1: Forced Labor and/or Exploitative Child Labor 
--------------------------------------------- ------- 
¶3.  The Government of the Kingdom of Swaziland (GKOS) prohibits a 
child, defined as a person under 15 years old, from engaging in any 
industrial work.  A young person, defined as a person over 15 but 
less than 18, can work, but must receive approval from the Minister 
of Labor to engage in certain types of industrial work. 
 
¶4.  Although definitive recent studies are not available, Post 
contacts consistently indicated that forced labor and/or exploitive 
child labor are not prevalent or significant in the production of 
goods in Swaziland.  Labor inspections, which include child labor 
issues, though not comprehensive, did not reveal forced labor or 
exploitive child labor during the year. 
 
Task 2: Worst Forms of Child Labor 
---------------------------------- 
¶5.  2A) Although child labor in domestic service, street vending, 
and cattle herding is widespread, exploitative labor as defined in 
reftel is uncommon.  The government's National Action Plan Towards 
the Elimination of Child Labor in Swaziland reported that commercial 
sexual exploitation of children, children used by adults to commit 
crime, child trafficking, and cases of very hazardous work are found 
in the country, although the numbers are relatively low, especially 
compared to other developing countries.  The studies that formed the 
basis for the document are more than four years old, and no current 
review exists.  Government did not collect or publish data on 
exploitative child labor in 2009. 
 
¶7.  2B) Laws and Regulations: In 2009, GKOS passed the People 
Trafficking and People Smuggling (Prohibition) Act.  This law 
provides a significant improvement in the legal environment 
surrounding child trafficking and prostitution and sets up stiff 
penalties for violators.  In addition, the law provides for a Task 
Force, already in existence, to set up a national strategy to combat 
trafficking.  The law was signed into law in December 2009, and Post 
will closely monitor whether its initiatives to promote prevention, 
prosecution, and protection are implemented in 2010. 
¶8.  Regarding the adequacy of laws and regulations to protect 
against exploitive child labor, Post concurs with the APEC findings 
that there are weaknesses and absences in existing laws regarding 
the child.  Definitions of child, right to marriage, sexual 
exploitation, and child protection lack clarity; some of these would 
be addressed in the Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence bill 
currently in parliament.  Swazi law and custom, which prevails over 
much of rural life, often conflicts with common law in areas 
pertaining to child labor. 
¶9.  2C), Section I: Hazardous Child Labor.  Per instructions, 
answers are keyed to questions numbered 1-14 in reftel. 
-1.  The Ministry of Labor, Department of Social Welfare under the 
Deputy Prime Minister's Office, and police services are responsible 
for enforcement of laws relating to hazardous child labor. 
-2.  There are no effective mechanisms for exchanging information; 
implementation of the APEC would enhance interactions on hazardous 
child labor. 
-3.  Complaints regarding hazardous child labor can be made to each 
of the aforementioned entities; no records regarding such complaints 
were available, and Post does not believe such records are kept. 
-4.  Funding and resources for inspections has been inadequate, and 
the Ministry of Labor does not have inspectors specifically to 
investigate child labor violations. 
-5.  See response 4. 
-6.  According to the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Labor, 
no specific child labor inspections were conducted in 2009.  He 
indicated that child labor issues are included on the routine labor 
inspection questionnaire, and that labor inspectors sometimes 
receive complaints, prompting a review.  If child labor violations 
are discovered, inspectors generally would issue a letter to the 
 
MBABANE 00000046  002 OF 005 
 
 
owner of the farm or business instructing them to cease and desist. 
The Labor PS was not aware of how common such letters might be. 
-7.  No statistics were available on the number of children removed 
from hazardous work environments, although the number is likely low. 
 Children rescued under the USDOL Reducing Exploitive Child Labor in 
Southern Africa through Education program (RECLISA), designed to 
prevent and withdraw children from the worst forms of child labor, 
are now fully sponsored by the government of Swaziland. 
 
-8.  Post contacts were unaware of any child labor cases opened in 
¶2009. 
 
-9.  Post contacts were unaware of any child labor cases closed in 
¶2009. 
 
-10.  Post contacts were unaware of violations found or hazardous 
child labor convictions in 2009. 
 
-11.  There were no data available in 2009 on the length of child 
labor cases. 
 
-12.  Not applicable. 
 
-13.  Efforts to focus on exploitive child labor have been stalled 
along with developments on approving the APEC. 
 
-14.  Post contacts were unaware of training for inspectors 
specifically on hazardous child labor in 2009. 
 
¶10.  2C), Section II: Forced Child Labor.  Per instructions, 
questions are keyed to questions numbered 1-14 in reftel. 
-1.  The Ministry of Labor, Department of Social Welfare under the 
Deputy Prime Minister's Office, and police services are responsible 
for enforcement of laws relating to forced child labor. 
-2.  There are no effective mechanisms for exchanging information on 
forced child labor; implementation of APEC would assist in this 
regard. 
-3.  Complaints regarding forced child labor can be made to each of 
the aforementioned entities; no records regarding such complaints 
were available, and Post does not believe such records are kept. 
-4.  Funding and resources for inspections has been inadequate, and 
the Ministry of Labor does not have inspectors assigned specifically 
to investigate child labor violations. 
-5.  See response 4. 
-6.  According to the Principal Secretary of the Ministry of Labor, 
no specific child labor inspections were conducted in 2009.  He 
indicated that child labor issues are included on the routine labor 
inspection questionnaire, and that labor inspectors sometimes 
receive complaints, prompting a review.  If child labor violations 
are discovered, inspectors generally would issue a letter to the 
owner of the farm or business instructing them to cease and desist. 
The Labor PS was not aware of how common such letters might be. 
-7.  No statistics were available on the number of children removed 
from forced work environments, although the number is likely low. 
Children rescued under the USDOL Reducing Exploitive Child Labor in 
Southern Africa through Education program (RECLISA), designed to 
prevent and withdraw children from the worst forms of child labor, 
are now fully sponsored by the government of Swaziland. 
 
-8.  Post contacts were unaware of any child labor cases opened in 
¶2009. 
 
-9.  Post contacts were unaware of any child labor cases closed in 
¶2009. 
 
-10.  Post contacts were unaware of violations found or forced child 
labor convictions in 2009. 
 
-11.  There was no data available in 2009 on the length of child 
labor cases. 
 
-12.  Not applicable. 
 
-13.  Efforts to focus on exploitive child labor have been stalled 
along with developments on approving the APEC. 
 
-14.  Post contacts were unaware of specific training on forced 
child labor for inspectors in 2009. 
 
¶11. 2D, Section I: Child trafficking.  Per instructions, answers are 
keyed to questions 1-13 in reftel. 
 
-1.  Swaziland did not have agencies or personnel dedicated to the 
enforcement of child trafficking.  Legislation pertaining to child 
trafficking was enacted nto law in December 2009. 
 
-2.  No information o funding provided to agencies responsible for 
investigating child trafficking was available. 
 
 
MBABANE 00000046  003 OF 005 
 
 
-3.  The Secretariat for the Anti-Human Trafficking Task Force 
informed Post that GKOS is in the process of setting up a child 
trafficking hotline, likely housed within the police domestic 
violence unit, but no such hotline was operational in 2009. 
 
-4.  In response to the greater attention child trafficking received 
in 2009, largely as a result of the threat of U.S. sanctions, police 
have begun treating missing children's cases as potential 
trafficking cases.  No statistics regarding specific cases were 
available. 
 
-5.  Post is unaware of any resolutions of child trafficking cases 
in 2009. 
 
-6.  No known arrests for trafficking were made in 2009. 
Legislation specifically outlawing the practice was passed in 
December 2009. 
 
-7.  Post's contacts were unaware of numbers of cases closed or 
resolved. 
 
-8.  Post's contacts were unaware of any convictions. 
 
-9.  Not applicable. 
 
-10.  Not applicable. 
 
-11.  Not applicable. 
 
-12.  Post's contacts were unaware of any training offered on child 
trafficking in 2009.  There were, however, public hearings held by 
the GKOS Anti-Trafficking Task Force in all areas of the country 
prior to the passage of the new legislation, which along with 
extensive media coverage has introduced the concept to a wide range 
of government, business and civil society members. 
 
-13.  Swaziland did not experience armed conflict during the 
reporting period or in the recent past using child soldiers. 
 
¶12. 2D, Section II: Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children.  Per 
instructions, answers are keyed to questions 1-13 in reftel. 
 
-1.  Swaziland did not have agencies or personnel dedicated to the 
enforcement of CSEC.  Legislation including CSEC came into power in 
December 2009. 
 
-2.  No information on funding provided to agencies responsible for 
investigating SCEC was available. 
 
-3.  The Secretariat for the Anti-Trafficking Task Force informed 
Post that GKOS is in the process of setting up a child trafficking 
hotline, likely housed within the domestic violence police unit, but 
no such hotline was operational in 2009.  Such a unit would likely 
include CSEC issues. 
 
-4.  No statistics regarding specific cases were available. 
 
-5.  Post is unaware of any resolutions of CSEC in 2009. 
 
-6.  No arrests were made in 2009.  Legislation including CSEC was 
passed in December 2009. 
 
-7.  Post's contacts were unaware of numbers of cases closed or 
resolved. 
 
-8.  Post's contacts were unaware of any convictions. 
 
-9.  Not applicable. 
 
-10.  Not applicable. 
 
-11.  Not applicable. 
 
-12.  Post's contacts were unaware of any training offered on CSEC 
in 2009. 
 
-13.  Swaziland did not experience armed conflict during the 
reporting period or in the recent past using child soldiers. 
 
¶13. 2D, Section III: Use of Children in Illicit Activities.  Per 
instructions, answers are keyed to questions 1-13 in reftel. 
 
-1.  Swaziland did not have agencies or personnel dedicated to the 
enforcement of CSEC. 
 
-2.  No information on funding provided to agencies responsible for 
investigating children used in illicit activities was available. 
 
-3.  No hotline for children used in illicit activities exists in 
 
MBABANE 00000046  004 OF 005 
 
 
Swaziland, although the proposed anti-trafficking hotline likely 
would cover such issues. 
 
-4.  No statistics regarding specific cases were available. 
 
-5.  Post is unaware of any resolutions of cases in 2009. 
 
-6.  Post is unaware of arrests made in 2009. 
 
-7.  Post's contacts were unaware of numbers of cases closed or 
resolved. 
 
-8.  Post's contacts were unaware of any convictions. 
 
-9.  Not applicable. 
 
-10.  Not applicable. 
 
-11.  Not applicable. 
 
-12.  Post's contacts were unaware of any training offered in 2009. 
 
-13.  Swaziland did not experience armed conflict during the 
reporting period or in the recent past using child soldiers. 
 
¶14. 2E) Government Policies on Child Labor.  Answers are keyed to 
questions in reftel. 
 
-1.  Government does have a plan that specifically addresses 
exploitive child labor, but the GKOS did not appear to implement the 
plan vigorously during 2009. 
 
The Labor Department's Program Advisory Committee on Child Labor has 
been developing a policy to address child labor and the worst forms 
of child labor.  The committee was created as part of two programs 
funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, (1) the International Labor 
Organization's International Program on the Elimination of Child 
Labor: the Time-Bound Program to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child 
Labor (TECL), and (2) the Southern Africa regional child labor 
project Reducing Exploitive Child Labor through Education in 
Southern Africa (RECLISA).  Both programs include awareness raising 
and training activities.  Meetings were held in various 
constituencies countrywide, with the community leaders, including 
chiefs, sensitizing communities about worst forms of child labor. 
Both programs ended in June 2008. 
 
-2.  Post's contacts were not aware of actions taken in 2009 
addressing exploitive child labor within poverty reduction, 
development, education, or other social policies. 
 
-3.  Not applicable. 
 
-4.  No significant developments on the APEC plans to combat child 
labor occurred in 2009. 
 
-5.  Through previous education campaigns and attention given to 
child trafficking in 2009, awareness of the vulnerability of 
children, including exploitive child labor, grew throughout the 
year.  No specific activities focused on exploitive child labor were 
known to our contacts. 
 
-6.  Post's contacts were not aware of active commissions or task 
forces on exploitive child labor, outside of the formation of an 
effective task force on human trafficking, which has focused 
government and public attention on the matter. 
 
-7.  Post's government and NGO contacts were not aware of any 
bilateral, regional, or international agreements to combat 
trafficking made or signed during the year. 
 
¶15. 2F) Social Programs to Eliminate or Prevent Child Labor: 
Answers are keyed to questions in reftel. 
 
-1.  Regarding social programs to eliminate or prevent child labor, 
the RECLISA program was designed to prevent and withdraw children 
from the worst forms of child labor.  All children that were 
previously funded by the USDOL are now fully sponsored by the 
government of Swaziland. 
 
-2.  In 2009, Save the Children continued with their community 
outreach programs, creating community advisory groups focused on 
child labor issues. 
 
-3.  Post is unaware of government funding of development and 
educational programs on child labor during 2009, outside of payments 
under the RECLISA program. 
 
-4.  Post's contacts were unaware of other government non-monetary 
support to child labor programs. 
 
MBABANE 00000046  005 OF 005 
 
 
 
-5.  During 2009 a great deal of government activity focused on 
human trafficking, in particular trafficking involving children. 
Government is providing for hotlines and will be implementing the 
2009 law, passed in December, during 2010. 
 
-6.  Not applicable. 
 
¶16. 2G) CONTINUAL PROGRESS: During 2009 government made a great deal 
of progress on efforts to combat human trafficking, although much 
work needs to be done to implement laws and policies enacted.  Press 
reports on the issue reflect a changed environment and understanding 
of the issue, and the push to pass legislation has also given the 
Sexual Offenses and Domestic Violence bill new life.  Government 
made little progress, however, on specific plans to combat child 
labor such as the APEC.  Although exploitive child labor is not as 
high as in some other developing countries, child labor was not a 
focus of labor inspections, and this is reflected in the lack of 
prosecutions and convictions. 
 
IRVING