Cablegate: Turkey: Worst Forms of Child Labor Information

VZCZCXYZ0000
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHAK #6652/01 3481220
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 141220Z DEC 06
FM AMEMBASSY ANKARA
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 0290
RUEHC/DEPT OF LABOR WASHDC
INFO RUEHGV/USMISSION GENEVA 1523

UNCLAS ANKARA 006652

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

STATE FOR DRL/IL TU DANG; DOL FOR ILAB TINA MCCARTER

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ELAB EIND ETRD PHUM SOCI TU
SUBJECT: TURKEY: WORST FORMS OF CHILD LABOR INFORMATION
UPDATE

REF: A. STATE 184972

B. 05 ANKARA 5107

1. Turkey continues its efforts to eliminate all forms of
child labor, increasing access to basic and vocational
education to improve the prospects of children currently
working, and withdrawing them from employment while they are
children. Post provided in September 2005 detailed
information regarding Turkey's efforts to combat the worst
forms of child labor (see ref b). Post provides new
information and clarification of information previously
provided in ref b below, in response to the request for
updated information on those efforts conveyed in ref a,
paragraph 8, sections A through E.

A. Whether Turkey has adequate laws and regulations
proscribing the worst forms of child labor:

-- Turkey continued to implement provisions stipulated
throughout Turkish law regarding the elimination of child
labor, as well as its cooperative agreement with the ILO's
International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor
(IPEC), the commitment to which was extended in 2006 through
September 2011. Turkey's efforts in this area are primarily
coordinated through the GOT's Time-Bound Policy and Program
Framework for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child
Labor, which is designed to totally eliminate the worst forms
of child labor in Turkey within 10 years. In addition,
Turkey ratified the Council of Europe's Social Charter in
October 2006, which further underscores the rights of
children in Turkey.

B. Regulations for implementation and enforcement of
proscriptions against the worst forms of child labor:

-- As noted last year, Turkish laws addressing the child
labor issue contain implementation provisions which
specifically mention public agencies in charge of
implementation and monitoring. There is an Emergency Action
Plan on child labor and a new nation-wide economic
Development Plan -- the ninth in a series of such plans --
designed to map out GOT priorities and programs in the
economic and social fields over the next seven years. This
Development Plan also incorporates efforts aimed at combating
the worst forms of child labor.

-- The GOT continued to conduct awareness-raising and
training activities for officials in charge of enforcing
child labor laws. In 2006, there were Time-Bound meetings in
Ankara, Bursa, and Izmir. The GOT also issued this year in
both Turkish and English a publication entitled, "An
Integrated Programme For the Elimination of the Worst Forms
of Child Labor In the Furniture Sector in Three Provinces."
It is designed to assist members of the country's labor
inspectors' board in implementing and enforcing child labor
laws and in making employers aware of their provisions. The
publication was produced as a pilot project. It will serve
as a reference guide as well as a basis for more
comprehensive guides the government hopes to produce covering
other economic sectors where child labor remains an issue.

C. Whether there are social program to prevent and withdraw
children from the worst forms of child labor:

-- Information provided last year remains current, with the
exception that the GOT has extended care and rehabilitation
services provided to children subject to the worst forms of
child labor to 44 centers around the country (up from 30 in
2005).

D. Does the country have a comprehensive policy aimed at the
elimination of the worst forms of child labor:

-- Information provided last year on the Time-Bound Program
remains current.

E. Is the country making continual progress toward
eliminating the worst forms of child labor:

-- New data on this issue remain difficult to find. Official
figures from Turkey's State Statistics Institute are dated
and have not been collected in recent years due to budget
cutbacks. The Child Labor Unit in Turkey's Ministry of Labor
and Social Security (MOLSS) has been pressing for more
detailed, up-to-date information in order to close the
knowledge gap as to the nature, magnitude, consequences and
emerging trends in Turkey's effort to combat the worst forms
of child labor. According to MOLSS officials, the State
Statistics Institute has responded by initiating a new

collection effort in this area in 2006, which should be
completed and made public in 2007.

Visit Ankara's Classified Web Site at
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/ankara/

WILSON

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