In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 13 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 years in Bolivia were working.²⁰⁸ Bolivia’s Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development, however, reports that approximately 23 percent (nearly 370,000) of children between the ages of 7 and 14 work, and approximately 221,000 of those children do not attend school at all.²⁰⁹ Children in Bolivia generally enter the labor market between the ages of 10 and 12, but working children as young as 6 are reported to work.²¹⁰ Children and adolescents frequently work the same number of hours as adults.²¹¹

The greatest percentage of child labor occurs in rural areas, particularly in the construction, livestock and agricultural sectors.²¹² In the rural areas, work for children is traditionally considered a formative experience from which children derive skills and basic tools for their future.²¹³ The number of working boys in rural areas is twice as great as the number of working girls.²¹⁴

The ratio of working boys to working girls in urban areas is almost 1 to 1.²¹⁵ The number of working boys is almost twice that of working girls in the construction and transport sectors, and 67 percent of working children in the manufacturing sector are boys. Girls account for almost all the working children in the domestic service sector, and for about 75 percent of all working children in the hotel and restaurant sectors. The ratio of working boys to girls in the commercial sector is nearly even.²¹⁶

Children participate in all aspects of small-scale, traditional mining in Bolivia, including the extraction of underground ore, which often involves handling explosives for drilling and blasting operations; the transporting of ore from the interior of the mines, during which children often carry heavy loads directly on their backs; the crude processing of the mineral including crushing it with hammers and heavy machinery; and the amalgamation of the ore, which exposes children to mercury vapor.²¹⁷

Another recognized form of child labor is the criadito practice. Criados are maids or houseboys, often of indigenous origin, who are sent by their parents to work in middle-class and upper-class households, usually in urban centers. Children are required to perform domestic labor in exchange for education, clothing, room, and board. Since there are no controls over the treatment of children in this arrangement, many become virtual slaves for the years of their indenture. Employers frequently do not honor their part of the agreement, and criado children often do not receive schooling.²¹⁸

A major factor contributing to child labor in Bolivia in the 1990s is the economic, political and social crisis which has elevated levels of poverty throughout the country.²¹⁹ Many of the resulting “new poor” have lost their sources of income from the formal and informal sectors of the economy.²²⁰

Commercial sexual exploitation of children is reported in Bolivia, particularly in the nightclub scene of poor urban areas.²²¹ Individuals who prostitute children often look for new recruits at bus and train stations where young people first arrive in cities.²²² Press reports also indicate that some policemen responsible for issuing licenses to adult prostitutes in the city of Cochabamba have accepted under-the-table payments in return for altering the documentation of minors in order to enable them to work as prostitutes.²²³

Many rural Bolivian children are lured to more prosperous countries like Peru, Chile, Argentina, and Spain with promises of good salaries and an opportunity to support their families back home.²²⁴ Bolivian traffickers living abroad return to Bolivia to entice minors with false promises. They disguise the children as tourists and traffic them to other countries. The Bolivian Commission on Social Policy reports that more than 24,000 children have been trafficked since June 2000.²²⁵

In 1997, net primary school attendance in Bolivia was 81.5 percent,²²⁶ and net primary school enrollment was 97.4 percent.²²⁷ However, according to government reports, more than 56 percent of Bolivian children and adolescents do not attend or have abandoned school.²²⁸ In urban centers, 57 percent of all children between the ages of 7 and 12 abandon school before the sixth grade. The dropout rate increases to 89 percent in rural regions.²²⁹ In the year 2000, nearly 55,000 families refrained from sending one or more of their children to school. This suggests that, as a result, approximately 221,000 children between the ages of 6 and 15 abandoned school that year.²³⁰ A study published by the Ministry of Education indicates that four out of five illiterate citizens are female, and that girls frequently leave school at a young age to work and supplement the family income.²³¹

A study carried out by the Ministry of Planning’s Educational Reform Team showed that in rural areas only 0.7 percent of girls and 1.4 percent of boys finish high school. The numbers are significantly higher in urban areas, with 26 percent of girls and 31 percent of boys graduating from high school. ²³²

In rural areas, access to school and additional costs associated with schooling frequently represent significant obstacles for poorer families. In addition, corporal punishment and verbal abuse make schooling less attractive to many children.²³³ These factors contribute to an increasing school desertion rate and a widening gap between a child’s chronological age and his or her academic level.²³⁴

Lack of proper birth certification is a significant obstacle to accessing education for many children in Bolivia. Children must be properly registered with the state in order to have access to education and public health services. The Bolivian Code for Boys, Girls and Adolescents, which was formalized in June 2000, establishes that all youths under the age of 18 must be officially registered with the state. While the code states that birth certification should be provided without charge,²³⁵ in practice Bolivian legislation only provides free birth certificates for infants up to 3 months of age. As a result, families frequently have to bear the cost of birth certification. Children from families who cannot afford this cost are left without proper documentation and are subject to being denied access to formal education and government-provided health and social security benefits.²³⁶ According to one international organization, as of November 2000 only 89,480 children out of an estimated 400,000 children under the age of 7 had been properly registered with the state.²³⁷

In accordance with the Bolivian Code for Boys, Girls and Adolescents, 14 is the legal minimum age for employment.²³⁸ The code also states that working children and adolescents between the ages of 14 and 18 are required to obtain authorization from their parents or wards. If neither exists, then they need to request authorization from a labor inspector of the Labor Ministry.²³⁹

In March 2001, the Government of Bolivia adopted the stipulations of the Child and Adolescent Code that allow judges and other authorities of the Bolivian Ministry of Justice to impose penalties for violations of the rights of minors within the country.²⁴⁰

The General Labor Law allows for apprenticeships for children younger than 14, which may not exceed a two-year period.²⁴¹ Apprenticeships require a signed contract in which salary and other terms are clarified.²⁴² All apprenticeship contracts must be stamped by a labor inspector.²⁴³ According to the General Labor Law, employers are required to oversee that apprentices attend school during normal school hours.²⁴⁴

The General Labor Law also prohibits minors from dangerous, unhealthy and physically taxing work or work that negatively affects their moral and proper upbringing. It also outlaws minors from working in underground mines. The Labor law further states that women and children under 18 years of age are only permitted to work during the day except those involved in fields where exceptions apply, such as nursing or domestic service.²⁴⁵

Prostitution is legal in Bolivia for individuals over 18.²⁴⁶ Although child prostitution is outlawed, enforcement is poor and police raids are ineffectual and easily avoided.²⁴⁷ Bolivian law prohibits forced labor.²⁴⁸ All forms of pornography are illegal under Bolivian law.²⁴⁹

The Government of Bolivia ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment on June 11, 1997.²⁵⁰

Due to frequent changes in Bolivia’s Cabinet of Ministers, the Inter-Institutional Commission on the Eradication of Child Labor was slow to develop, but in July 2000 the commission began to meet on a regular basis.²⁵¹ In December 2000, the commission completed a National Plan on the Progressive Eradication of Child Labor 2000-2010 that was approved by Bolivia’s Congress. The plan proposes combined efforts from the public, private, nongovernmental organization (NGO), and local community sectors to address all forms of child labor by offering children financial, health, and recreational opportunities, and by providing families with economic alternatives.²⁵²

In 1996, Bolivia became a member of the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC). The U.S. Department of Labor has provided funding to support an IPEC project to progressively eliminate child labor in small-scale traditional mining in the Andean region. The local NGOs Centro de Desarrollo Regional (CDR), Medioambiente Minera y Industria (MEDMIN) and Centro de Promoción Minera (CEPROMIN) are implementing this project, which aims to remove 2,000 children and adolescents from hazardous mining work and prevent 1,000 others from entering the sector through education, health, and vocational services.²⁵³ IPEC also supports a project to progressively eradicate urban child labor in the capital city of La Paz.²⁵⁴

Defense for Children International (DNI), supported by the Bolivian arm of the Global March to Eliminate Child Labor, develops and publishes pamphlets on the current state of working children in Bolivia.²⁵⁵ DNI’s goal is to raise the awareness of authorities and the business community about the adoption of measures in favor of children’s rights.²⁵⁶

Local NGOs, such as Environmental Development Action in the Third World (ENDA), are developing projects and strategies that aim to remove working children from hazardous environments and place them in schools. ENDA recently developed a project that provides micro credits and skills training to the families of working children to help them overcome dependence on income earned through the labor of their children and, at the same time, to increase the productivity and income of these families.²⁵⁷ Similarly, the local NGO Qharuru has developed a holistic service center for shoe shiners and working street children.²⁵⁸ Now in its 15th year, the center supports and collaborates with government-run night schools created for working minors, and offers various types of support such as health services for working children.²⁵⁹

Since 1997, the Private Workers Confederation of Bolivia (CEPB) has been working in conjunction with the ILO to provide occupational training to working adolescents, with the goal of placing these adolescents in the local labor sectors.²⁶⁰

The Constitution of Bolivia proclaims the provision of education as a principal responsibility of the state and establishes free, compulsory primary education for 8 years. Basic primary education is free and compulsory for a minimum of 8 years for children aged 6 to 14.²⁶¹ The Child and Adolescent Code outlines the government’s responsibility to honor the educational rights of Bolivian children.²⁶² The government is responsible for providing basic education to adolescents and adults who were not able to attend school with their cohort age groups during the regular primary school years.²⁶³ The code also outlines the government’s responsibility to provide adolescents with easy access to school and with curricula designed and adapted for working adolescents.²⁶⁴

The Child and Adolescent Code calls upon the government to take steps to reduce school desertion rates, to build schools where they do not exist, to adapt the school calendar and attendance schedule to local realities, and to raise awareness within communities and among parents about the importance of registering children for school and maintaining their regular attendance. The code further stipulates that the Government of Bolivia must provide primary school students with school materials, transportation, meals, and medical services.²⁶⁵

The General Labor Law requires any employer who has hired more than 30 school-aged children (typically between the ages of 6 and 14) to provide them with a school if there is not a public school available. In the case of employers who have hired fewer than 30 school-aged children, they are expected to work together to provide a community school for all working children in the area to attend.²⁶⁶

According to the Law of Popular Participation (1994), municipal governments are responsible for providing, maintaining, enlarging, and relocating as needed, school infrastructure, furniture, equipment, and instructional materials. The municipal governments receive funding for such activities, but most have not yet met this responsibility.²⁶⁷

During the 1990s, Bolivia’s Educational Reform Program developed the System for Measuring the Quality of Education (SIMECAL). SIMECAL is used to evaluate students’ academic performance and identify factors that influence it. Indicators drawn from SIMECAL measurements are used to coordinate improvements in education quality within the national educational system.²⁶⁸

In 2000, the Vice-Ministry of Gender Affairs designed a second phase (2001-2004) of its Scholarization of Child Workers program (PENNT), which targets children between the ages of 7 and 12.²⁶⁹ PENNT provides in-kind contributions to children, in the form of materials, food, and financial aid.²⁷⁰ The main objectives of the program are to strengthen Bolivia’s educational institutions and pedagogical training centers, promote family and community participation, improve the target group’s access to quality health services, and raise awareness at the local and national level about the dangers of child labor and the importance of education.²⁷¹ This program functions in four of the country’s main urban centers, with the long-term objective of promoting equality and enhancing human capital, thereby contributing to Bolivia’s economic and social progress.²⁷²

The Government of Bolivia’s Vice-Ministry of Alternative Education has created the Alternative Youth Education (EJA) program, which targets girls, street children, children and adolescent workers, and at-risk youth. The program is designed to keep children and adolescents in school by offering them night classes with specially designed curricula that are flexible and adapted to the population’s specific needs.²⁷³ These curricula include coursework in basic market skills and democratic principles, the latter of which teaches children about their rights as citizens.²⁷⁴

Spending by the Government of Bolivia on education has ranged from between 4.9 and 5.9 percent of gross national product (GNP) from 1994 to 1996.²⁷⁵ Public spending dedicated to primary education as a percentage of GNP had ranged from 1.62 percent to 2.37 from 1990 to 1999.²⁷⁶

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a percentage of GNP. The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.²⁷⁷

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country, this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

²⁰⁸ World Development Indicators 2000 .

²⁰⁹ The Ministry of Planning and Sustainable Development has reported that of the approximately 1.6 million children and adolescents between the ages of 7 and 14 in the country nearly 370,000 work. Ministerio de Desarrollo Sostenible y Planificación, Vice-Ministerio de Asuntos de Género, Generacionales y Familia, Dirección General de Asuntos Generacionales y Familia, Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia Escolar de Niñas y Niños Trabajadores, February 2001, 6 [hereinafter Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia Escolar ]. The age ranges that define the categories of “children” and “adolescents” in Bolivia are unclear in the Child and Adolescent Code and in the Labor Code, but official statistics classify anyone who is economically active between the ages of 7 and 10 as a child and anyone who is economically active between the ages of 10 and 19 as an adolescent. Plan Nacional para la Erradicación Progresiva del Trabajo Infantil 2000-2010, Elaborado por la Comisión Interinstitucional de Erradicación Progresiva del Trabajo Infantil, La Paz, 2000, 18.

²¹⁰ Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia Escolar at 6.

²¹¹ International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU), Report on Core Labour Standards for the WTO: Report for the WTO General Council Review of the Trade Policies of Bolivia (Geneva, July 19 and 21, 1999) (www2.iicftu.org/displaydocument.asp?Index= 990916233&Language’EN&Printout=Yes) [hereinafter Report on Core Labour Standards for the WTO ].

²¹² “Trabajo infantil: 370 mil niños trabajan en Bolivia, informo hoy la viceministra de Género, Jarmila Moravek,” El Diario, July 5, 2000 (www.caj.../bdescriptor.in]?bdatos=2000&egistros=25&format=resumen&boolean=0499).

²¹³ Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia Escolar at 7.

²¹⁴ Trabajo infantil en los países Andinos: Bolivia, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru y Venezuela , Primera Edición (ILO: Lima, Peru, 1998), 17 [hereinafter Trabajo infantil en los países Andinos ].

²¹⁵ Ibid.

²¹⁶ Vice-Ministerio de Asuntos de Género, Generaciones y Familia, Dirección General de Asuntos Generacionales y Familia, Solicitud de Cooperación: Proyecto de Continuidad del Programa de Escolarización de Niñas y Niños Trabajadores de 7 a 12 Años de Edad , 10 [hereinafter Solicitud de Cooperación ].

²¹⁷ ILO-IPEC, Program to Prevent and Progressively Eliminate Child Labor in Small-Scale Traditional Gold Mining in South America, ILO-IPEC project document, March 9, 2000, 3 [document on file].

²¹⁸ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000) (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/bolivia.html), Section 5 [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Bolivia ].

²¹⁹ Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia Escolar at 2.

²²⁰ Ibid.

²²¹ U.S. Embassy—La Paz, unclassified telegram no. 003284, July 28, 2000.

²²² U.S. Embassy—La Paz, unclassified telegram no. 005134, Oct. 22, 1999.

²²³ Presencia , “Algunos policías prostituyen a menores,” November 14, 2000.

²²⁴ Los Tiempos (La Paz), Sept. 12, 2001, as quoted in the UN Wire , Bolivia: Officials Launch Investigation on Child Trafficking, September 12, 2001 (www.unfoundation.org/unwire/2001/09/12/current.asp#18042).

²²⁵ Ibid.

²²⁶ USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

²²⁷ World Development Indicators 2000 .

²²⁸ Plan Nacional para la Erradicación Progresiva del Trabajo Infantil 2000-2010, Elaborado por la Comision Interinstitucional de Erradicación Progresiva del Trabajo Infantil (La Paz, 2000), 11.

²²⁹ Solicitud de Cooperación at 12.

²³⁰ Programa de Asistencia Familiar para la Permanencia Escolar at 3.

²³¹ U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Reports for 1999: Bolivia (Washington, D.C., 2000), Section 5 (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_hrp_report/).

²³² Study carried out by Bolivia’s Ministry of Planning’s Educational Reform Team, as cited in Core Labour Standards for the WTO .

²³³ Country Reports 1999—Bolivia at Section 5.

²³⁴ Plan nacional para la erradicación progresiva del trabajo infantile, 2000-2010, Elaborado por la Comisión Interinstitucional de Erradicación Progresiva del Trabajo Infantil, La Paz, 2000, 11.

²³⁵ Presencia , “CNE vulnera Código del Niño,” social section, November 14, 2000.

²³⁶ Ibid.

²³⁷ In reference to the number of children without proper birth certification, the article cites information provided by Roxana Jiménez, executive director, Defensa de Niños Internacional (DNI), Presencia , November 14, 2000, ACNE vulnera Código del Niño.

²³⁸ Codigo del Niño, Niña y Adolescente: Ley número 2026 del 27 de octubre de 1999, U.P.S. editorial, La Paz, Bolivia, 2000, 41.

²³⁹ Ley General del Trabajo-Eleva a Rango de Ley, Chapter 1, General Dispositions, Title II, Article 8 (www.bizinfonet.com/bolivia-pensions/laws/leytraba.htm).

²⁴⁰ Los Tiempos , Vida y Futuro, “Correo del Sur: Protegan legalmente a los niños,” March 21, 2001 (www.lostiempos.com/pvyf4.shtml).

²⁴¹ Ley General del Trabajo, Decreto Reglamentario, Codigo Procesal del Trabajo, Decreto Ley de 24 de mayo de 1939, elevado a rango de Ley el 8 de diciembre de 1942, U.P.S. editorial, La Paz, Bolivia, 2000, 20.

²⁴² Ibid.

²⁴³ Ibid. at 69.

²⁴⁴ Ibid. at 20.

²⁴⁵ Ley General del Trabajo: Eleva a Rango de Ley, Capitolo VI, Articulos, 58-61 (www.bizinfonet.com/bolivia-pensions/laws/leytraba.htm).

²⁴⁶ U.S. Embassy-La Paz, unclassified telegram no. 003434, August 4, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram, 003434].

²⁴⁷ Ibid.

²⁴⁸ Ley General de Trabajo, Decreto Reglamentario, Codigo Procesal del Trabajo, Decreto ley de 24 de mayo de 1939, elevado a rango de Ley el 8 de diciembre de 1942, Capitulo IV, Del Contrato de “Enganche,” U.P.S. editorial, La Paz, Bolivia, 69.

²⁴⁹ Unclassified telegram, 003434.

²⁵⁰ For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see Appendix C.

²⁵¹ U.S. Embassy-La Paz, unclassified telegram no. 003284, July 28, 2000.

²⁵² U.S. Embassy-La Paz, unclassified telegram no. 00517, December 4, 2000.

²⁵³ U.S. Department of Labor, International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC), Program to Prevent and Progressively Eliminate Child Labor in Small-Scale Traditional Gold Mining in South America , ILO-IPEC project document, 1999, 11 [document on file].

²⁵⁴ ILO-IPEC and Environmental Development Action in the Third World (ENDA), Bolivia, Intermediate Evaluation, Erradicación Gradual del Trabajo Infantil en Niños y Niñas Trabajadores de la Calle de la Ciudad de El Alto, February 2000 [document on file].

²⁵⁵ Trabajo infantil en los países Andinos .

²⁵⁶ El Tiempo, “Crece explotación laboral a menores en Bolivia” [online], Honduras, March 20, 1998 (www.casa- alianza.org/ES/human-rights/labor-exploit/press/98032o.shtml).

²⁵⁷ Interview with Oscar Saavedra, program coordinator, ENDA, by U.S. Department of Labor official, El Alto, November 9, 2000.

²⁵⁸ Quaruru, Proyecto de erradicación progresiva del trabajo infantil en La Paz, Bolivia (La Paz, Bolivia: Dierpre Publicaciones), December 1999.

²⁵⁹ Programa de fortalecimiento eucativo de niños trabajadores lustrabotas , Quaruru.

²⁶⁰ Trabajo infantil en los países Andinos at 26.

²⁶¹ UNESCO, La EPT Evaluación 2000 , Informes de País, Bolivia, Parte II: Sección Analitica, 3.1, En la estructura curricular (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/bolivia/rapport_1.html) [hereinafter La EPT Evaluación 2000 ].

²⁶² Codigo del Niño, Niña y Adolescente: Ley número 2026 del 27 de octubre de 1999, U.P.S. editorial, La Paz, Bolivia, 2000, 37.

²⁶³ Ibid.

²⁶⁴ Ibid.

²⁶⁵ Ibid. at 38.

²⁶⁶ Ley General del Trabajo, Decreto Reglamentario, Codigo Procesal del Trabajo, Decreto Ley de 24 de mayo de 1939, elevado a rango de Ley el 8 de diciembre de 1942. U.P.S. editorial, La Paz, Bolivia, 2000.

²⁶⁷ La EPT Evaluación 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/bolivia/rapport_1.html).

²⁶⁸ SIMECAL measurements include access to primary education; dropout and grade repetition rates; efficiency and performance; public expenditure on education; human teaching resources; academic levels of primary school teachers; and student-teacher interaction. See La EPT Evaluación 2000 .

²⁶⁹ Solicitud de Cooperación .

²⁷⁰ Naomi Westland, “Working Children Denied Education,” The Bolivian Times [document on file] [hereinafter “Working Children Denied Education”].

²⁷¹ Solicitud de Cooperación .

²⁷² “Working Children Denied Education.”

²⁷³ Ministerio de Educatión, Cultura y Deportes, Vice-Ministerio de Educación Alternativa, Boletin Informativo del Proyecto Curricular de la Escuela Nocturna-EJA , Año 2-No, 2-Enero 1999.

²⁷⁴ Ministerio de Educatión, Cultura y Deportes, Vice-Ministerio de Educación Alternativa, Nuevos Programas de la Escuela Nocturna: Fase Validación , La Paz, febrero de 1999.

²⁷⁵ World Development Indicators 2000 .

²⁷⁶ United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics [CD- ROM], Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment—A Decade of Education, Country Report, Bolivia (Paris, 2000).

²⁷⁷ See Chapter 1, Section C, 5 for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.