COSTA RICA

In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 4.7 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Costa Rica were working.⁴³⁴ The 1998 Survey of Costa Rican Homes estimated that 15.4 percent (147,087) of children between the ages of 5 and 17 work. Approximately 45 percent (66,762) of these working children are between the ages of 5 and 14.⁴³⁵ The Office of the Ombudsman estimated that 44 percent of working children are employed above the adult limit of 48 hours weekly, and 30 percent of these children receive no salary for their work.⁴³⁶

In rural areas, children and adolescents work in agriculture and cattle raising, primarily on family-owned farms. Children have traditionally helped with harvests of coffee beans and sugar cane.⁴³⁷ During the coffee harvest, many children work in the fields, including children from Nicaragua.⁴³⁸

In urban areas, children are involved in many kinds of work. They work as domestic servants and are involved in activities related to construction, carpentry, furniture making, baking, sewing, and the small-scale production of handicrafts. Children bag groceries at supermarkets, sell goods and food on public streets and highways, and watch over parked vehicles in exchange for small fees.⁴³⁹

Costa Rica is a growing destination for sex tourism,⁴⁴⁰ which is particularly prevalent in urban areas.⁴⁴¹ According to the National Institute for Children (PANI), street children in the urban areas of San José, Limón, and Puntarenas are among those at greatest risk. PANI estimates that as many as 3,000 children in Metropolitan San Jose alone are involved in prostitution.⁴⁴² According to the Office of the Ombudsman, an estimated 50 percent of women involved in prostitution began working when they were between the ages of 8 and 13.⁴⁴³

Girls from Costa Rica are reportedly trafficked through Central America to work in the sex trades of the United States, Canada, and Europe. Costa Rica has also been used as a destination country for girls trafficked from the Philippines to work in the country’s sex trade.⁴⁴⁴

Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Costa Rica. While enrollment rates indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect a child’s participation in school.⁴⁴⁵ In 1997, gross primary net enrollment was 103.5 percent, and net primary school enrollment was 89 percent in Costa Rica.⁴⁴⁶ The Ministry of Public Education (MOPE) reports that approximately 184,000 children between the ages of 5 and 17 (or 20 percent of children in this age group) do not attend school at all.⁴⁴⁷ In 1996, 87 percent of students reached grade five.⁴⁴⁸ MOPE estimates from May 2000 showed that 64 percent of students in Costa Rica finish secondary school.⁴⁴⁹

According to official government statistics, slightly more than one-half of all children who work also attend school.⁴⁵⁰ Currently, 36 percent of children do not go to school, and 4.4 percent of children drop out before completing the required years of schooling.⁴⁵¹

The Costa Rican Labor Code prohibits the employment of children under the age of 15.⁴⁵² The Youth and Adolescent Law also prohibits employment of children under the age of 15.⁴⁵³

The Ministry of Labor and Social Security (MLSS), however, may issue waivers to this provision.⁴⁵⁴

Adolescents between the ages of 15 and 18 are permitted to work for a maximum of 6 hours daily and 36 hours weekly. Following a 1993 incident in which two adolescents died from chemical poisoning as a result of exposure while working on banana plantations, Costa Rican authorities prohibited the employment of youths under the age of 18 in the banana industry.⁴⁵⁵ Costa Rica’s Constitution provides special employment protection for women and youth⁴⁵⁶ and prohibits forced or bonded labor, including instances involving children.⁴⁵⁷

The PANI, in cooperation with the MLSS, enforces child labor regulations in the formal sector, but child labor remains an integral part of the informal economy.⁴⁵⁸ While the ministry has no inspectors dedicated solely to enforcement of child labor laws, all 130 labor inspectors receive child labor awareness training.⁴⁵⁹ According to the MLSS, some labor inspectors are reluctant to remove children from work in the formal sector out of concern that these children will then enter even worse forms of child labor in the informal sector.⁴⁶⁰

Although adult prostitution is legal in Costa Rica,⁴⁶¹ a 1999 law prohibits prostitution with minors.⁴⁶² The Costa Rican Children’s Bill of Rights states that children and adolescents have the right to be protected against prostitution and pornography.⁴⁶³ Article 170 of the Costa Rican Penal Code provides for a prison sentence of 4 to 10 years if the victim of prostitution is less than 18 years old.⁴⁶⁴ The age of sexual consent in Costa Rica is 16, but all those under the age of 18 are protected from sexual exploitation, specifically child prostitution and child pornography.⁴⁶⁵

Costa Rican law also prohibits trafficking in women and girls for the purpose of prostitution.⁴⁶⁶ Article 172 of the Costa Rican Penal Code mandates a 5 to 10 year prison sentence for those promoting or facilitating the transport of women or children in or out of the country for reasons of prostitution.⁴⁶⁷

The Government of Costa Rica ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment on June 11, 1976, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on September 10, 2001.⁴⁶⁸

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

In 1990, the Government of Costa Rica established the National Directive Committee for the Progressive Eradication of Child Labor and the Protection of Adolescent Laborers, under the direction of PANI, to research child labor and monitor the progress of the implementation of ILO initiatives.⁴⁶⁹ The National Directive Committee has developed a national plan aimed at addressing child labor and fostered a number of institutions that address child labor, including the Executive Secretariat for the Eradication of Child Labor, the Office of Eradication of Child Labor and Protection of Adolescent Laborers, and the National Commission Against the Commercial Exploitation of Minors and Adolescents.⁴⁷⁰

The Executive Secretariat for the Eradication of Child Labor is responsible for providing technical assistance to government organizations involved in programs dealing with child labor. The Office of Eradication of Child Labor and Protection of Adolescent Laborers, created in December 1997 under the auspices of the MLSS, is responsible for monitoring and enforcement of child labor practices with businesses. The National Commission Against the Commercial Exploitation of Minors and Adolescents is composed of representatives from 5 government ministries (Health, Labor, Justice, Security, and Tourism) and 15 governmental and nongovernmental organizations, including the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), and the University of Costa Rica.⁴⁷¹

The National Directive Committee has also developed the System of Child Labor-Related Indicators, an annual report on the effectiveness of government programs dealing with child labor. The Costa Rican Office of the Ombudsman monitors such programs and reports directly to the National Directive Committee.⁴⁷²

In 1996, the MLSS with assistance from ILO-IPEC, established a National Coordinating Committee for the Eradication of Child Labor. The Committee has developed a national plan to reduce child labor in Costa Rica and prevent children from entering child labor in the first place.⁴⁷³

Costa Rica has been an IPEC member since 1996.⁴⁷⁴ With funding from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), IPEC began a project in 1998 to combat child prostitution in San Jose. The project aimed to withdraw children from prostitution, while preventing other children from entering prostitution. The project involved workshops to inform children about the dangers of prostitution, vocational and professional training, counseling, recreational opportunities, and medical and nutrition services. As a result of the project, 212 children received educational and vocational training opportunities. The government has supported such efforts to address child prostitution. The Costa Rican Ministry of Health, for example, has agreed to donate a building to be used as a shelter for rescued girls.⁴⁷⁵ Currently, it is anticipated that Costa Rica will participate in a regional ILO-IPEC program to combat commercial sexual exploitation of children in Central America. Previous IPEC efforts to address the prostitution of children in Costa Rica will be integrated into this regional project. Moreover, the regional project will build upon the experience of earlier efforts. Research and design for the regional project began in the Spring of 2001.⁴⁷⁶

With funding from USDOL, Costa Rica is participating in a IPEC regional project to address child labor in the coffee sector. The project, which began in 1999 and is scheduled to run through 2003, aims to withdraw or prevent at least 2,700 children from full-time work in the coffee industry in Turrialba and Guanacaste. The project also seeks to reintegrate younger children into the formal education system and provide vocational training for adolescents. It is anticipated that 850 families of the children in the program will be trained in alternative income generating activities, and 350 families will be provided with access to micro-credits.⁴⁷⁷

The ILO-IPEC Central American regional office in San Jose has also sponsored several activities in Costa Rica. One such program seeks to eradicate child labor in the agricultural market of Cartago.⁴⁷⁸ Another project seeks the progressive elimination of child labor in the fishing sector of the Gulf of Nicoya.⁴⁷⁹ In addition, the MLSS has proposed a 6- to 10-year project to ILO-IPEC to eliminate all forms of child labor in Cartago, Costa Rica. An assessment of the child labor situation in Cartago began in the Spring of 2001.⁴⁸⁰

Recognizing that underage employment exists in the country, Costa Rica’s MLSS implements a protection program that requires the registration of workers under the age of 15 who are already in the workforce. By August 1999, 108 children under the age of 15 had been registered by their employers.⁴⁸¹ Other efforts have also been undertaken to work with employers to address child labor. The National Institute of Apprenticeship, working with the MLSS, has developed an ongoing educational seminar entitled “A Plan for Sensitivity.” Some 550 members of the business community have participated in this program that addresses child labor issues.⁴⁸²

Costa Rica’s National Agenda for Children and Adolescents (2000-10) guarantees the restitution of the rights of working children and adolescents and of children who have been commercially sexually exploited or sexually abused.⁴⁸³ Agenda goals include preventing and eliminating the worst forms of child and adolescent labor and promoting employment opportunities for adolescents who have completed their schooling. The agenda also seeks to guarantee that child and adolescent workers have greater access to health care that can contribute to their physical, mental, and social well-being; that heads of households with child or adolescent workers have better opportunities and improved conditions in the workplace; and that adolescent workers are afforded better protection in the workplace.⁴⁸⁴

Working closely with the Costa Rican Judicial Investigative Unit (OIJ) and the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the NGO Casa Alianza is involved in investigating cases of sex tourism involving children in Costa Rica.⁴⁸⁵ The Public Prosecutor’s Office, meanwhile, has conducted 112 studies on child prostitution as part of its efforts to increase public awareness about the problem,⁴⁸⁶ and the PANI is designing a safe-haven for minors at Ciudad Quesada in Alajuela Province.⁴⁸⁷

A number of private organizations have also organized programs to reduce child labor and aid street children.⁴⁸⁸ The Catholic Church, for example, is constructing a shelter that will provide food, housing, and vocational training for children who would otherwise live and work on the streets of San Jose.⁴⁸⁹

ILO-IPEC’s Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC), with funding from USDOL, is developing a national survey on child labor for Costa Rica. The survey will collect information on the number of children working under hazardous conditions in the country, the nature of the work children do, as well as factors contributing to children’s premature participation in the country’s labor force.⁴⁹⁰

Costa Rican law requires six years of primary and three years of secondary education for all children.⁴⁹¹ The Government of Costa Rica has pledged to have 95 percent of children in school in the next 10 years.⁴⁹²

Costa Rica’s National Agenda for Childhood and Adolescence (2000-2010), in addition to promoting the rights of children who have been exploited, seeks to guarantee children educational opportunities. The agenda’s goals include ensuring that children under the age of 18 have access to formal education and that these children continue their education through formal or informal schooling or through alternative systems such as the National Institute of Learning.⁴⁹³

Government programs aimed at promoting children’s access to primary school include publicity campaigns sponsored by the MLSS and the MOPE, using print, television, and radio. One program, entitled “Let’s Be Better Moms and Dads,” focused on the importance of keeping children enrolled in primary school. The MOPE’s budget has increased by 22 percent within the past 5 years in an effort to keep secondary students in school.⁴⁹⁴ The MOPE has also established a Program for the Integrated Recuperation of Children (PRIN) in an effort to encourage children to return to school.⁴⁹⁵

In Costa Rica, the World Bank’s Basic Education Project, a US$23 million investment, is working toward improving basic education for children in grades 1 to 9, particularly in disadvantaged rural and marginal urban areas. The project is involved in revising curricula; producing and distributing textbooks, teaching manuals and other educational materials; and piloting the use of computers in the classroom.⁴⁹⁶

In 1996, public spending on all levels of education was 5.4 percent of Costa Rica’s gross national product (GNP)⁴⁹⁷ and public spending on primary education was 3.1 percent.⁴⁹⁸ In June of 1998, the Costa Rican Legislative Assembly passed a constitutional amendment increasing spending on education from 4 percent to 6 percent of gross domestic product (GDP).⁴⁹⁹

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.⁵⁰⁰

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.

⁴³⁴ World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World Development Indicators 2000 ].

⁴³⁵ “Informe sobre el trabajo infantil y adolescente en Costa Rica,” Patronato Nacional de la Infancia, San José, Costa Rica, April 1999.

⁴³⁶ U.S. Embassy-San José, unclassified telegram no. 002193, August 20, 1999 [hereinafter unclassified telegram 002193].

⁴³⁷ U.S. Embassy-San José, unclassified telegram no. 000515, February 20, 1998 [hereinafter unclassified telegram 000515].

⁴³⁸ Interview with Bruce Harris, director, Casa Alianza, by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 11, 2000.

⁴³⁹ Unclassified telegram 000515.

⁴⁴⁰ “Foreigners and Sex Tourism in Costa Rica,” La Prensa Libre, February 4, 1999, as cited in “Child Labour in Costa Rica - Latest News,” The Global March Against Child Labor (www.globalmarch.org/cl-around-the-world/ un-concerned-over-sex-tourism.html).

⁴⁴¹ A study of the 160 foreigners detained in Costa Rica for sexual abuse of children between 1992 and 1994, 25 percent were from the United States; 18 percent from Germany; 14 percent from Australia; 12 percent from the United Kingdom; and 6 percent from France. “Foreigners and Sex Tourism in Costa Rica,” La Prensa Libre , February 4, 1999, as cited in “Child Labour in Costa Rica - Latest News,” The Global March Against Child Labor (www.globalmarch.org/cl-around-the-world/un-concerned-over-sex-tourism.html).

⁴⁴² Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.:U.S. Department of State, 2000), Section 5 [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica ].

⁴⁴³ Unclassified telegram 002193.

⁴⁴⁴ Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica at Section 6f.

⁴⁴⁵ For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, See Chapter 1, Introduction.

⁴⁴⁶ World Development Indicators 2000 .

⁴⁴⁷ Unclassified telegram 002193.

⁴⁴⁸ World Development Indicators 2000 .

⁴⁴⁹ U.S. Embassy-San José, unclassified telegram no. 001586, June 23, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram 001586].

⁴⁵⁰ Unclassified telegram 002193.

⁴⁵¹ Mauricio Herrera Ulloa, “Costa Rica: National Plan Sets Goals for Child Rights , ” La Nación , September 19, 2000, as cited in the UN Wire, September 20, 2000 [hereinafter “Costa Rica: National Plan Sets Goals”].

⁴⁵² Unclassified telegram 002193.

⁴⁵³ Unclassified telegram 001586.

⁴⁵⁴ Unclassified telegram 002193.

⁴⁵⁵ Ibid. at Sections 6c-d.

⁴⁵⁶ Ibid. at Section 6d.

⁴⁵⁷ Ibid.

⁴⁵⁸ Unclassified telegram 002193.

⁴⁵⁹ Interview with Victor Morales, Minister of Labor and Social Security, by U.S. Department of Labor official, August 11, 2000.

⁴⁶⁰ Ibid.

⁴⁶¹ Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica at Section 5.

⁴⁶² Ibid.

⁴⁶³ U.S. Embassy-San José, unclassified telegram no. 001977, August 8, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram no. 001977].

⁴⁶⁴ Ibid.

⁴⁶⁵ Ibid.

⁴⁶⁶ On August 17, 1999, a statute to strengthen this prohibition went into effect. See Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica at 6f. The Government of Costa Rica has taken some steps to enforce these laws by raiding a number of brothels and arresting some clients; see Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica at Section 5.

⁴⁶⁷ Unclassified telegram 001977.

⁴⁶⁸ For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see Appendix C.

⁴⁶⁹ Unclassified telegram 001586.

⁴⁷⁰ Ibid.

⁴⁷¹ Ibid.

⁴⁷² Ibid.

⁴⁷³ Members of the National Coordinating Committee for the Eradication of Child Labor include the ministers or deputy ministers of Labor and Social Security, Education, and Health, as well as representatives from PANI, the National Vocational Training Institute, and the National Insurance Institute. See unclassified telegram, 8/20/98.

⁴⁷⁴ International Labor Organization, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC), regional office located in San Jose, Costa Rica.

⁴⁷⁵ ILO-IPEC, Contribution to the Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Adolescents in San José, progress report (Geneva, March 2001) [hereinafter Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children ].

⁴⁷⁶ ILO-IPEC, Preparation and Design of IPEC Project Documents: USDOL Budget FY 2001, project document, (Geneva, January 2001) [hereinafter Preparation and Design of IPEC Project Documents ]. See also Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children .

⁴⁷⁷ IPEC Progress Report for Prevention and Progressive Elimination of Child Labour in the Coffee Industry in Costa Rica (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, March 2001).

⁴⁷⁸ Since August 1999, the program has helped place 200 child laborers between the ages of 5 and 15 back into elementary and secondary school programs; see unclassified telegram, 6/23/00.

⁴⁷⁹ The project has benefited 430 children from 80 families since September 1999; s ee 6/23/00.

⁴⁸⁰ Preparation and Design of IPEC Project Documents .

⁴⁸¹ Unclassified telegram 002193.

⁴⁸² Unclassified telegram 001586.

⁴⁸³ “Agenda nacional para la ninez y la adolescencia, 2000-2010: Compromisos y temas prioritarios,” Costa Rica, September 2000, 19 [hereinafter “Agenda national”].

⁴⁸⁴ Ibid. at 21.

⁴⁸⁵ To date, the Casa Alianza has investigated and helped prosecute sex tourists and other adults from Germany, Switzerland, the United States, Chile, Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras, Costa Rica, and Sweden who sexually abused children in Central America. See “U.N. Deeply Concerned” over High Levels of Child Sexual Tourism in Costa Rica,” April 16, 1999 (http:www.globalmarch.org/cl-around-the-world/un-concerned-over-sex-tourism.html).

⁴⁸⁶ Unclassified telegram 002193.

⁴⁸⁷ Ibid.

⁴⁸⁸ Unclassified telegram 000515.

⁴⁸⁹ Ibid.

⁴⁹⁰ IPEC Progress Report: Child Labour Survey and Development of Database on Child Labour in Costa Rica (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, June 2001).

⁴⁹¹ Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica at Section 5.

⁴⁹² “Costa Rica: National Plan Sets Goals.”

⁴⁹³ “Agenda national” at 21.

⁴⁹⁴ Unclassified telegram 001586.

⁴⁹⁵ Unclassified telegram 002193.

⁴⁹⁶ The World Bank Group, Countries: Costa Rica [online] (www.worldbank.org/html/extdr/offrep/lac/cr2.htm).

⁴⁹⁷ World Development Indicators 2000 .

⁴⁹⁸ 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, Costa Rica (Paris, 2000).

⁴⁹⁹ Country Reports 1999—Costa Rica at Section 5.

⁵⁰⁰ 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.