VZCZCXRO7867
PP RUEHPOD
DE RUEHPOD #0020/01 0361741
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
P R 051741Z FEB 10
FM AMEMBASSY PODGORICA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 1598
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHINGTON DC
INFO RUEHPOD/AMEMBASSY PODGORICA 1687

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 PODGORICA 000020 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DRL/ILCSR FOR SARAH MORGAN, G/TIP FOR LUIS CDEBACA, DOL/ILAB FOR LEYLA STROTKAMP, RACHEL RIGBY AND TINA MCCARTER 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI MW
SUBJECT: MONTENEGRO UPHOLDING CHILD LABOR COMMITMENTS 
 
REF: 09 STATE 131997 
 
¶1. Summary.  Exploitive child labor is not a significant problem 
in Montenegro.  Despite having a solid framework of social and 
labor legislation, the Government of Montenegro (GoM) could do 
more to protect at-risk Roma children from labor exploitation 
but often lacks the resources to do so.  Generally speaking, the 
GoM is upholding its international commitments to eliminate the 
worst forms of child labor.  End Summary. 
 
Background 
----------- 
 
¶2. Montenegro, with a population of approximately 640,000 (of 
which 125,000 are under age 15), does not face a significant 
child labor problem.  Overall, there is nearly universal 
enrollment in Montenegro for primary school children 
(approximately 98 percent), with secondary school education 
numbers also high (90 percent.)  Primary education is mandatory 
and free of charge. 
 
¶3. The minimum age of employment is 15 years old.  Children 
under 18 are not permitted to work in jobs that involve 
particularly difficult physical work, overtime and night work, 
underground or underwater work, or in jobs that "may have a 
harmful effect or involve increased risk for their health and 
lives."  The Montenegrin Labor Law, passed in 2008, provides for 
monetary penalties for violation of these provisions, with fines 
ranging from 10 to 300 times the minimum wage.  The GoM 
abolished obligatory military service in 2006, and the minimum 
age for voluntary recruitment into the Montenegrin military is 
18 years. 
 
¶4. The Labor Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labor and Social 
Welfare is responsible for the enforcement of labor laws, 
including those protecting children from exploitation in the 
workplace.  The Ministry has 40 inspectors covering labor 
issues, although there are no resources devoted exclusively to 
investigating child labor.  There were more than 10,000 labor 
investigations conducted during 2008, but none uncovered 
evidence of child labor. 
 
Conditions for Roma Children 
----------------------------- 
 
¶5. There is, however, a high incidence of child labor within the 
Roma community, which, according to the 2003 census, comprises 
0.42 percent of Montenegro's total population.  Roma in 
Montenegro, as throughout the region, face difficult living 
conditions and discrimination in education, healthcare, social 
protection and employment.  Unemployment among Roma is high -- 
43 percent among men and 95 percent among women -- and some 53 
percent of Roma officially live in poverty. 
 
¶6. While free primary education is provided by the Montenegrin 
government, families are responsible for purchasing books, 
school supplies, and providing transportation.  Consequently, 
less than one third of all Roma children attend primary school, 
and, according to one local NGO, 50 percent of Roma children 
drop out after primary school.  Roma children frequently work in 
the informal sector, selling merchandise on the street, washing 
cars, or engaging in organized begging to provide financial 
support to their families. 
 
¶7. To help address this situation, the GoM has created an 
"Action Plan for the Decade of Roma Inclusion 2005-2015" and 
adopted the "Strategy for the Improvement of the Status of the 
RAE (Roma, Ashkali, Egyptian) Population in Montenegro" in 
¶2007.  The strategy is intended to improve living standards for 
Roma and better integrate them into Montenegrin society.  The 
GoM allocated 400,000 Euros for the first year of the strategy's 
implementation, and has pledged to allocate 0.2 percent of its 
total budget each year to finance activities prescribed by the 
strategy.  However, the GoM has consistently failed to implement 
these laws with respect to Roma children. 
 
¶8. In 2004, the GoM, UNICEF, and several Roma NGOs implemented 
the "Roma Education Initiative in Montenegro," which seeks to 
establish a comprehensive model of integration of Roma children 
into the formal education system in Montenegro.  While Roma 
rates of education are still low, the initiative is a step in 
the right direction toward greater Roma integration into 
Montenegrin society. 
 
A Good Legislative Framework... 
-------------------------------- 
 
¶9. Since becoming an independent country in 2006, Montenegro has 
ratified all international agreements and treaties which were 
concluded by the former State Union of Serbia and Montenegro, 
including ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor. 
The GoM adopted its Strategy Paper on Poverty Reduction and 
 
PODGORICA 00000020  002 OF 002 
 
 
Social Inclusion in July 2007.  The strategy is focused on four 
essential categories:  health, education, social protection, and 
employment.  To directly address child protection, the "National 
Strategy for Social and Child Protection 2008-2012" was created 
to assist with the development of institutions to ensure the 
essential rights of most vulnerable groups of society. 
 
...But Weak Enforcement 
------------------------ 
 
¶10. National legislation on health and safety at work has yet to 
be fully brought in line with European standards.  The Law on 
Labor Inspection was adopted in December 2008, but the capacity 
of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare, including its Labor 
Inspection Department, remains weak. 
 
¶11. A Deputy Ombudsman for Children's Rights was appointed in 
July 2009, and the Council on Child Rights has begun to meet on 
an ad hoc basis.  However, there is still a gap between the 
goals of the national strategy on development of child and 
social protection and implementation in practice.  The Law on 
Child and Social Protection (2005) has not yet been brought into 
line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and with 
international practice, and the Council on Child Rights has no 
systematic work program.  The capacity to monitor children's 
rights remains weak. 
 
¶12. The GoM has not made a specific public statement or 
commitment to eradicate exploitive child labor.  It has, 
however, continued to sponsor public awareness campaigns on 
trafficking and began funding for a trafficking victims shelter 
in April 2006. 
 
¶13. COMMENT.  Montenegro has adequate laws that meet 
international standards to discourage child labor.  It is 
generally effective in deterring child labor among the general 
population, and we are not aware of any allegations of 
exploitive child labor in the country.  However, the GoM should 
be more active and effective in assisting its most vulnerable 
population -- Roma children.  While the GoM has developed an 
action plan to assist and integrate Roma into the general 
population, more resources and attention must be focused on this 
task, as they are the children most at risk of exploitation. 
END COMMENT. 
LOWENTHAL