1. Child Labor in Brazil

In 1999, UNICEF estimated that 11 percent of children between the ages of 5 and 15 in Brazil were working.²⁷⁸ Girls accounted for about one-third of these working children, and boys for about two-thirds.²⁷⁹ More children work in northeastern Brazil than in any other region.²⁸⁰ Working children are particularly common in rural areas. In 1999, an estimated 57.5 percent of working boys and 52 percent of working girls between the ages of 5 and 15 lived in rural regions.²⁸¹

The incidence of working children in Brazil declined throughout the 1990s.²⁸² Official Brazilian sources show that the number of working children between the ages of 5 and 9 fell from 3.2 percent (519,000) of children in this age group in 1995 to 2.4 percent (375,000) of children in 1999.²⁸³ Data from the International Labor Organization (ILO) indicate that labor force participation among 10 to 14-year-olds also diminished throughout the 1990s. Whereas in 1990 almost 18 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 were economically active, by 1998 that rate had decreased to approximately 15 percent.²⁸⁴

Comparison over time of children’s labor force participation for Brazil during the 1990s is complicated by a recent change in the country’s child labor law. In 1998, the government raised the legal minimum age for work from 14 to 16.²⁸⁵ As a result of this change, approximately 1.8 million children in the 14- and 15-year age groups who previously could be employed legally under the law were now considered to be working illegally.²⁸⁶

In 1999, approximately 80 percent of working children between the ages of 5 and 9 were involved in agricultural activities.²⁸⁷ Children work on orange, sugar cane, and sisal plantations.²⁸⁸ The Public Ministry of Labor (PGM) reports that most child and adolescent laborers are not paid for their work.²⁸⁹ Of those minors that are paid, 90 percent receive less than the national minimum wage.²⁹⁰

Working children are also found in the shoe, logging, mining and charcoal industries and in other traditional sectors of the Brazilian economy.²⁹¹ It is estimated that there are 800,000 girls between the ages of 10 and 17 working as domestic servants.²⁹² In 1999, the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimated that 50,000 children nationwide were scavenging in garbage dumps.²⁹³

Sexual exploitation of children occurs throughout the country. The Information Network for Violence, Exploitation and Sexual Abuse of Children and Adolescents (CECRIA) released a 1999 study²⁹⁴ stating that in the northern Amazonian region, sexually exploited children commonly work in brothels that cater to mining settlements. The report also found that in larger cities, many girls who have suffered sexual abuse at home turn to the streets and prostitute themselves to survive. Along the northeast coast, sexual tourism is prevalent and involves networks of travel agents, hotel workers and taxi drivers.²⁹⁵ In river port cities, the commercial sexual exploitation of children is largely based on demand from ships’ crews.²⁹⁶

Trafficking of children for the purpose of prostitution continues to be a problem in Brazil.²⁹⁷ CECRIA reports that Brazil’s sexual tourism industry actively recruits children and traffics them outside of the country. Trafficking has developed in part to meet the demands of foreigners, but the local population also sustains it.²⁹⁸

Basic and intermediate education (grades 1–8) is free and compulsory for children 7 years of age and older. The Brazilian Constitution directs the government to make education available to all children and adolescents, including those who were not able to attend school with their appropriate cohort age group.²⁹⁹

In 2000, the annual school census indicated that Brazil had achieved an educational coverage capacity which guaranteed school access to all children between the ages of 7 and 14, and to most of the 15–17-year age group.³⁰⁰ Primary school net enrollment rates increased more than 10 points, from 86.8 percent in 1990 to 97.1 percent in 1997.³⁰¹ In 1990, the primary school net enrollment rate for females was 84 percent, and increased to 94.3 percent in 1997.³⁰² Similarly, the primary school net enrollment rate for boys in 1990 was 89.6, which increased to 99.9 in 1997.³⁰³ Brazil has already surpassed its Education for All target of 95 percent net primary school enrollment by 2003.³⁰⁴

Primary school gross enrollment rates also increased during the 1990s. In 1990, the rate was 106.3 percent and increased to 124.6 percent in 1997.³⁰⁵ Between 1990 and 1995, 71 percent of primary school entrants reached grade five.³⁰⁶ While enrollment statistics indicate an upward trend, fewer children are actually attending school. In 1996, the gross primary attendance rate was 68.2 percent, and the net primary attendance rate was 58.3 percent.³⁰⁷

Regional differences regarding access and quality are dramatic but somewhat less so since government efforts to expand the education system during the 1990s has been greater throughout the north and northeast than the national average.³⁰⁸

The Brazilian Constitution and the 1990 Statute on Children and Adolescents (ECA) provide the legal framework that defines and implements children’s rights policy in Brazil.³⁰⁹ The Constitution specifies 16 years as the legal minimum working age and 14 years as the legal minimum apprenticeship age.³¹⁰ Children or adolescents under the age of 18 are prohibited from participating in night work and activities that risk their psychological, social, or moral development.³¹¹

The ECA defines and protects the rights of minors and establishes a structure for the implementation of such rights.³¹² The Ministry of Labor and Employment (MLE) is the government agency responsible for training inspectors to determine work site violations according to the definitions of the ECA.³¹³ The inspection of child labor policy is directed by a special core group, which specifically focuses on the elimination of child labor. This group is present in each of Brazil’s 27 states and is responsible for developing plans of action and providing data to inform inspection activities.³¹⁴ In practice, most inspections are reactive rather than proactive, and occur in response to allegations and tips brought to regional offices of the MLE by workers, teachers, unions, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and the media.³¹⁵

Employers that violate Brazil’s child labor laws are subject to fines of approximately US$223, although repeat offenders may be subject to fines equal to twice this amount. Initial levying of fines, however, generally occurs only after several violations.³¹⁶

Article 227 of the Brazilian Constitution states that anyone who abuses, commits violent acts against, or sexually exploits a child or adolescent will be severely punished.³¹⁷ According to Articles 240 to 241 of the ECA, it is considered a crime to photograph or produce pornographic material involving children or adolescents. Punishments include incarceration between 1 and 4 years and a fine.³¹⁸

The Brazilian Penal Code includes sanctions against any person who lures workers with the motive to transport them to another state or national territory. Violators can be fined and incarcerated from between one and three years. The punishment increases if the victim is less than 18 years of age.³¹⁹

Brazil ratified International Labor Organization (ILO) Convention No. 138 on Minimum Age for Employment on June 28, 2001,³²⁰ and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on February 2, 2000.³²¹ A number of activities considered to be among the most hazardous by the federal Ministry of Welfare and Social Assistance (MPAS) are the following: in rural areas, the harvesting of sisal, sugar cane, cotton, tobacco and citrus; the production of wood, brick, charcoal, ceramics and flour; working in salt and other mines; weaving; and fishing. Some urban sector activities include drug trafficking, trash picking, shoe shining, and commerce.³²²

Government efforts to raise awareness and develop programs to combat and prevent child labor are widespread in Brazil. The Ministry of Labor and Employment (MLE) has established a system of specialized child labor training for labor inspectors and incentives to encourage enforcement of child labor laws. The design of a more proactive approach involves strengthening links with unions, NGOs and businesses; sharing information; and developing more effective policies.³²³ Efforts to reduce child labor in the MLE are led by Special Groups to Combat Child Labor, which are present in every Brazilian state. These groups collect data on child labor and help to promote labor inspection in activities with high rates of child labor.³²⁴

On March 15, 2000, the MLE established a Tripartite Commission with the goal of defining Brazil’s worst forms of child labor.³²⁵ The commission produced a list of 82 activities to be considered “worst forms” by the Brazilian Government. The list includes such activities as harvesting citrus fruits, driving tractors, civil construction, garbage picking, cutting sugar cane, selling alcohol, and working in bars and brothels. The list produced by the Tripartite Commission led to an additional 27 activities being banned for workers between 16 and 18 years old.³²⁶

The ECA calls for the creation of councils in defense of the rights of children and adolescents on the federal, state, and municipal levels. Councils are comprised of both governmental and nongovernmental organizations and have contributed to raising the awareness and participation of civil society in reducing child labor.³²⁷ Implementation of these councils has been uneven, however, and many municipalities have not instituted councils due to payroll cost considerations and a failure to prioritize the creation of such councils.³²⁸

MPAS launched Programa Sentinela to create centers and networks to assist children and adolescents who are victims of sexual abuse and exploitation. The centers serve as clearinghouses for allegations; offer psychological, social and legal counseling; and attempt to create safer environments for victims. Sentinela currently has 40 centers and aims to have 200 by the end of 2001. Centers work with a network of NGOs and public officials to guarantee the rights of victims of abuse and of children working as prostitutes.³²⁹

The federal government administers more than 33 programs under five separate ministries aimed at combating child labor. To avoid duplication of efforts, the National Council for the Rights of Children and Adolescents approved a comprehensive plan incorporating data requirements, legal aspects, program coordination, education, inspection, and income generation.³³⁰

A new Parliamentary Investigative Commission on Sexual Tourism began functioning in September of 2001 under the direction of the city of Fortaleza’s Municipal Chamber.³³¹

The U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL) has contributed to a 3-year International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) regional project to combat the child domestic worker problem in Brazil, Colombia, Paraguay and Peru. USDOL has also supported a 3-year IPEC project to address the commercial sexual exploitation of minors in the border towns of Foz de Iguacu, Brazil and of Ciudad del Este, Paraguay.³³² In 1999, USDOL provided funds to ILO-IPEC to begin a statistical survey of child labor through the Statistical Information and Monitoring Program on Child Labor (SIMPOC). The survey will be implemented by the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE) in October 2001 as part of Brazil’s National Household Survey and will reach approximately 120,000 households.³³³

Currently, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is funding a project that addresses child labor in the states of Recife, Fortaleza and Salvador. It targets children working in child prostitution and domestic service as well as garbage picking and street vending, and it aims to support and strengthen basic education; remove children from abusive labor; and develop scholarships and alternative income-generation opportunities for needy families.³³⁴

Labeling systems are also being used to combat child labor in Brazil. The Toy Manufacturers’ Foundation for Children’s Rights (ABRINQ) has developed a child-friendly seal to provide incentives for firms to support child-friendly policies. The seal is granted to companies that make the commitment to undertake activities that benefit children and not to employ minors. The program includes nearly 25 out of Brazil’s largest 100 companies.³³⁵ The Pro-Child Institute also uses social labeling in the municipalities of Birigui, Franca to indicate that footwear producers have signed agreements with suppliers requiring that they do not employ children.³³⁶ Members pay a small fee to use the label, and the program has a monitoring component that, with the help of local students, assesses local factory practices.³³⁷

The federal government has formed various commissions to address issues related to child labor in Brazil. Among these is the Executive Group to Combat Forced Labor (GERTRAF), the National Forum for the Eradication of Child Labor and the Protection of the Adolescent Worker, and the National Office of Coordination for Combating the Exploitation of Child and Adolescent Labor. State governments have also formed local commissions, such as the State of Rio de Janeiro’s Commission on the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labor.³³⁸

In the early 1990s, the Brazilian educational community embarked on the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)’s Education for All (EFA) initiative. The project identified and targeted major shortcomings in Brazil’s educational system, including the age/grade gap,³³⁹ regional differences, and deficient teacher training.³⁴⁰ The National Education Guidelines and Framework Law of 1996 and Constitutional Amendment 14 provided for the legal reorganization of the Brazil’s educational system.³⁴¹

During the past five years, the Brazilian Government has been working to improve the quality of education by raising the average wage paid to teachers by 13 percent and up to 50 percent for teachers who work in the municipal school system in the country’s Northeast region.³⁴² Teacher training is also being addressed, and over the past few years more than 225,000 teachers have received at least the minimum training required for teaching.³⁴³

The approval of Amendment 14 to the Constitution in 1996 created Brazil’s Fund for the Maintenance and Development of Basic Education and Teacher’s Valorization (FUNDEF) which began implementation in 1998.³⁴⁴ The objective of FUNDEF is to correct distortions between the number of students and expenditures per student, guaranteeing a minimum investment per student and reducing regional differences.³⁴⁵ Amendment 14 requires that, of the 25 percent of state and municipal fiscal revenues earmarked for education purposes, 60 percent will go specifically toward primary education. Accordingly, 15 percent of state and municipal tax revenues are required to be sent to the FUNDEF for this purpose. Sixty percent of FUNDEF expenditures must go toward teacher salaries.³⁴⁶

The centerpiece of the government’s strategy for reducing the worst forms of child labor is its Program for the Eradication of Child Labor (PETI). PETI removes children under 15 years from hazardous work activities and promotes education as a long-term solution. The program provides cash stipends to low-income families (usually to mothers) in exchange for making sure their children remain in school and refrain from working. Since public schooling in Brazil typically occurs for four hours a day, PETI also provides extracurricular activities for participating children to ensure that they are not tempted to re-enter the work force.³⁴⁷

PETI is a joint effort by the three levels of government. Overall, MPAS provides guidelines and most of the funding, but state and municipal governments are charged with implementing the bulk of the program locally. PETI has grown from a pilot project in a few municipalities in two states in 1996 to more than 160 municipalities in 13 states by the end of 1999.³⁴⁸ The number of children in the program has also risen from 3,710 in 1996 to over 600,000 by the end of 2001.³⁴⁹ PETI’s budget, meanwhile, has grown from US$517,500 in 1996 to US$45,880,000 in 1999. The government plans to increase PETI’s range in coming years, eventually more than doubling the number of children reached, to 866,000 by the end of 2002.³⁵⁰

Bolsa Escola is the Ministry of Education’s (MEC) preventive counterpart to the PETI program that aims to prevent child labor by improving access to education.³⁵¹ Bolsa Escola provides mothers with a card similar to an automated teller machine banking card that contains a fixed sum of $6 per month per child (aged 6 to 15) for a maximum of 3 children. In return, the mothers agree to ensure that their children maintain at least an 85 percent attendance rate in school.³⁵² The MEC is responsible for overall coordination of the program, but the local municipalities are charged with its daily management and maintenance.³⁵³ By the end of 2001, the program was already providing stipends to the families of nine million children.³⁵⁴

To address problems of overcrowding that result from high repetition rates and late entries of children into school, the Government of Brazil initiated a Program for Accelerated Learning in 1998. This program designs special classes to advance children quickly through earlier grades so that they can become enrolled in the classes that are appropriate for their age. In 1998, the program enrolled 1.2 million students in the classes.³⁵⁵

Another important national program, Merenda Escolar, seeks to promote children’s access to schooling through a school lunch program. By the end of 1999, the federal government had provided approximately US$2.25 billion to support this program. In 1999, administration of the program was passed to the municipalities, granting autonomy to communities and schools to create the lunch menu.³⁵⁶

In compliance with a constitutional provision, Congress approved a National Education Plan which raised the portion of the gross domestic product (GDP) of the budget earmarked for education from 5 to 7 percent, combining resources coming from the government at the municipal, state and national levels.³⁵⁷ Per student, Brazil still spends less than US$350 annually.³⁵⁸

UNICEF has worked with local NGOs to develop awareness-raising campaigns to educate parents and help them to understand why education is important for their children’s future.³⁵⁹

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.³⁶⁰

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.

²⁷⁸ According to the survey, 3.8 million children were working. Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica, Pesquisa Nacional por Amostra de Domicilios, PNAD – 1999, as cited in UNICEF, Brasil, Indicadores sobre criancas e adolescents: Brasil 1990-1999, UNICEF/IBGE 2001 Fundo das Nacoes Unidas para a Infancia – UNICEF, Tabelas 9 and 153, p.38, 220. Statistics for Brazil generally employ the term “minors” to refer to anyone below age 12 and the term “adolescents” to refer to anyone between ages 12 and 18. See Estatuto de Crianca e Adolescente, Livro I, Parte Geral, Titulo I: Das Disposicoes Preliminares, at http://www.ibge.gov.br/ibgeteen/ estatuto/estatuto.html.

²⁷⁹ Ministry of Labor and Employment tabulations derived from data collected through the National Statistics Agency, 1999, Household Survey, Ministerio do Trabalho e Emprego, Quantitativo dos ocupados na semana de referencia, PNAD, 1999, September 26, 2001.

²⁸⁰ Ibid.

²⁸¹ Ibid.

²⁸² Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica; cited September 28, 2001 (www.ibge.gov.br/ibge/estatistica/ populacao/trabalhoerendimento/pnad99/coment99.shtm).

²⁸³ Ibid.

²⁸⁴ World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World Development Indicators 2000 ].

²⁸⁵ U.S. Embassy-Brazil, unclassified telegram no. 001439, September 18, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram no. 001439].

²⁸⁶ Simon Schwartzmann, “Trabalho infantil no Brasil” (ILO, 2001), 51.

²⁸⁷ Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatistica (www.ibge.gov.br/ibge/estatistica/populacao/trabalhoerendimento/ pnad99/coment99.shtm).

²⁸⁸ Brazil-Brasil, “Toil for Tots: Low Wages and Unemployment Are Mainstream Concerns in Brazilian Society, but Their Most Painful Sign Is the Exploitation of Child Labor,” Coming to Grips with Child Work: Brazilian Children, July 1998, as cited September 26, 2001 (www.brazil-brasil.com/p24jul98.htm). See also unclassified telegram no. 001439.

²⁸⁹ The Public Ministry of Labor is an independent government agency created by the 1988 Constitution charged with promoting the enforcement of labor laws. Xisto Tiago de Medeiros Neto, O Procurador-Geral do Trabalho, Diario de Natal , Opiniao, A crueldade do trabalho infantile, October 21, 2000 (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/noticias/ noticia17.html).

²⁹⁰ Ibid.

²⁹¹ International Confederation of Trade Unions (ICFTU) website, Internationally Recognised Core Labor Standards in Brazil, Report for the WTO General Council Review of Trade Policies of Brazil (Geneva, October 25 and 27, 2000, October 27, 2000, Brussels) (www.icftu.org/ displaydocument.asp?Index=991211582&Language=EN&Printout+Yes).

²⁹² Haim Grunspun, O Trabalho das Crianças e dos Adolescentes, Editora LTR (São Paulo, Brazil), 2000, 44.

²⁹³ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C., U.S. Department of State, 1999) (www.state.gov/www/global/human_rights/1999_htp_report/), Section 5 [hereinafter Country Reports 1999— Brazil ].

²⁹⁴ The CECRIA study related patterns of sexual exploitation of minors to Brazil’s varied regional economic and social structures. CECRIA website, A exploracao comercial sexual de meninos, meninas e adolescentes na America Latina e Caribe ( Relatorio Final—Brasil ), second edition. Brasilia, Brasil, 1999, Section 1.4 (www.cecria.org.br) [hereinafter CECRIA website].

²⁹⁵ CECRIA. A Exploração Comercial Sexual de Meninos, Meninas e Adolescentes Na America Latina e Caribe. (Relatorio Final – Brasil), Fourth Edition (Brasilia, Brasil), 2001, 39 [hereinafter CERCIA].

²⁹⁶ Ibid.

²⁹⁷ Country Reports 1999—Brazil at 28.

²⁹⁸ CERCIA , 39.

²⁹⁹ Education Law. Decree No. 3,772. March 14, 2001. Seção II, Dos Orgãos Específicos singulars, Artigo 8. Also see Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente. Titulo II, Capitulo IV – Do Direito à Educação, À cultura, Ao Esporte E al Lazer. Artigos 53 - 54.

³⁰⁰ United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Education for All (EFA) 2000 [online], Country Report, Brazil (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/brazil/contents.html) [hereinafter EFA 2000].

³⁰¹ World Development Indicators 2000, “Table 5: “Primary School Net Enrollment Rate by Country: 1989 to 1997.”

³⁰² Ibid. at Table 6: “Primary School Net Enrollment Rate by Country and Sex: 1989 to 1997.”

³⁰³ Ibid.

³⁰⁴ EFA 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/brazil/contents.html).

³⁰⁵ World Development Indicators 2000 at Table 3: “Primary School Gross Enrollment Rate by Country: 1989 to 1998.”

³⁰⁶ United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), The State of the World’s Children 2000 (www.unicef.org/sowc00/ stat6.htm).

³⁰⁷ USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

³⁰⁸ EFA 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/brazil/rapport_1.html).

³⁰⁹ O Ministerio Publico do Trabalho na Erradicacao do Trabalho Infantil e na Protecao do Trabalho do Adolescente (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/trabinfantil/atuacao.html).

³¹⁰ These standards were raised from 14 and 12, respectively, after a 1998 amendment. Unclassified telegram, 9/18/ 00. Because mandatory schooling ends at age 14 and the minimum legal age for work is 16, the government, businesses, and civil society are attempting to address this difference by promoting more apprenticeships for 14- and 15-year-olds. The Toy Manufacturers’ Foundation for Children’s Rights (ABRINQ) Foundation website, Nova lei deve ampliar oportunidades para a formacao profissional do adolescente (www.fundabrinq.org.br/peac/lei/ texto%20FADC.htm).

³¹¹ Ministerio Publico do Trabalho, Procuradoria Geral do Trabalho, O Ministerio Publico do Trabalho na Erradicacao do Trabalho Infantil e na Protecao do Trabalho do Adolescente (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/trabinfantil/ index.html).

³¹² Estatuto da Crianca e do Adolescente, Lei No. 8.069, de 13 de Julho de 1990 (www.pgt. mpt.gov.br/cnti/ legislacao%20-%20ECA.html) [hereinafter Estatuto da Crianca e do Adolescente].

³¹³ Unclassified telegram 001439.

³¹⁴ Ibid.

³¹⁵ Ibid.

³¹⁶ Ibid. In the state of Alagoas, the State Forum for the Eradication of Child Labor reports that low fines and poor fine collection contribute to a sense of impunity among many violators of child labor laws. Mark Mittelhauser, Labor attaché at U.S. Consulate, Sao Paolo, Brazil, e-mail to Sharon Heller, international analyst, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, International Child Labor Program, U.S. Department of Labor, October 10, 2001.

³¹⁷ Banco de Dados Politicos das Americas, Constitution of the Federative Republic of Brazil (www.georgetown.edu/pdba/constitutions/Brazil/Brazil99.html).

³¹⁸ Estatuto da Criança e do Adolescente. Titulo VII, Dos Crimes e Das Infraçes administrativas, Capítulo I, Seção I, Artigos 240-241 (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/cnti/legislacao%20-%20ECA.html).

³¹⁹ O Ministerio Publico do Trabalho na Erradicacao do Trabalho Forcado (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/trabescravo/ atuacao.html).

³²⁰ For a full list of countries that have ratified ILO Convention No. 182, see International Labor Organization, International Labor Standards and Human Rights Department, ILOLEX online (http://ilolex.ilo.ch:1567/scripts/ ratifce.pl?C138).

³²¹ Ibid. (http://ilolex.ilo.ch:1567/scripts/ratifce.pl?C182).

³²² Unclassified telegram 001439.

³²³ Ibid.

³²⁴ Ibid.

³²⁵ Ibid.

³²⁶ Mark Mittelhauser, Labor attaché at U.S. Consulate, Sao Paolo, Brazil, e-mail to Sharon Heller, international analyst, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, International Child Labor Program, U.S. Department of Labor, February 5, 2001 [hereinafter Mittelhauser e-mail, 2/5/01].

³²⁷ Estatuto da Crianca e do Adolescente. See also unclassified telegram 001439.

³²⁸ Mark Mittelhauser, Labor attaché at U.S. Consulate, Sao Paolo, Brazil, e-mail to U.S. Department of Labor official, March 05, 2001.

³²⁹ Ibid.

³³⁰ The various programs of the federal government to eradicate child labor are listed in the Government of Brazil’s multiyear plan (PPA). See unclassified telegram 001439.

³³¹ O Povo- CE. P.18.

³³² USDOL-IPEC internal project document, 2000.

³³³ U.S. Department of Labor, International Child Labor Program (USDOL-ICLP) internal document; Technical Cooperation Summaries 2000.

³³⁴ Brazil Child Labor/Education Strategy . Notes from Child Labor Coalition Meeting, n.d.

³³⁵ U.S. Embassy-Brazil, unclassified telegram no. 001905, December 21, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram 001905]. The ABRINQ Foundation reached new agreements with the Sao Paulo state sugar producers; with Abecitrus, the citrus export organization; with shoe manufacturers in the city of Franca; and with Volkswagen and General Motors.

³³⁶ This program will soon be implemented in the state of Rio Grande do Sul as well. See unclassified telegram 001905.

³³⁷ Ibid.

³³⁸ Ministerio Publico do Trabalho, Procuraduria Geral, Comissoes, August 8, 2001 (www.pgt.mpt.gov.br/ comissoes.html).

³³⁹ The age/grade gap, or the fact that students are often older than the corresponding cohort for each grade, is caused by late entry into the school system and grade repetition. See EFA 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/ countryreports/brazil/contents.html).

³⁴⁰ Ibid.

³⁴¹ Ibid.

³⁴² Ibid.

³⁴³ EFA 2000 (www2.unesco.org/wef/countryreports/brazil/rapport_1.html).

³⁴⁴ Ibid.

³⁴⁵ Ibid.

³⁴⁶ Ibid.

³⁴⁷ Unclassified telegram 001439.

³⁴⁸ Unclassified telegram 001439. One of the major protests the Ministry of Welfare and Social Assistance (MPAS) plan has provoked from local implementers and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) is that the program is only able to fund children up to the age of 14, which is short of the legal working age. The PETI and minimum income program has yet to incorporate these children into their plans.

³⁴⁹ Mittelhauser e-mail, 2/5/01. See also U.S. Embassy-Brazil, unclassified telegram no. 00370, April 2, 2002 [hereinafter unclassified telegram 00370].

³⁵⁰ Unclassified telegram 001439.

³⁵¹ This initiative was developed in a number of municipalities and was adopted in 2001 at the federal level as part of Project Dawn. Mark Mittelhauser, Labor attaché at U.S. Consulate, Sao Paolo, Brazil, telephone conversation with Sharon Heller, international analyst, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, International Child Labor Program, U.S. Department of Labor, October 9, 2001.

³⁵² Mark Mittelhauser, Labor attaché at U.S. Consulate, Sao Paolo, Brazil, e-mail to Sharon Heller, international analyst, Bureau of International Labor Affairs, International Child Labor Program, U.S. Department of Labor, October 9, 2001 [hereinafter Mittelhauser e-mail, 10/9/01].

³⁵³ Ibid. The ILO in Brazil reports that many municipal Bolsa Escola programs have successfully reduced poverty and increased school attendance, but no evaluation has yet been performed on the federal MEC Bolsa Escola program. Child Labor News Service (www.globalmarch.org/clns/clns-15-5-2001.htm), Brazilian Project Could Be Model for Africa .

³⁵⁴ Unclassified telegram 00370. Local experts have expressed concern, however, about the likely effectiveness of the program due to its rapid implementation, the low value of the stipend, and the lack of comprehensive oversight by the Ministry of Education; see Mittelhauser e-mail, 10/9/01.

³⁵⁵ Educacao Brasileira: Politicas e Resultados, Ministry of Education, Brasilia, Brazil, 1999.

³⁵⁶ Ibid.

³⁵⁷ IPS World News, “Education—Brazil: Government Promises to Wipe Out Illiteracy by 2010” (www.oneworld.org/ips2/jan01/00_27_004.html).

³⁵⁸ Aldo Rodriguez Villouta, “Mercosur Ministers to Formulate Social Agenda for Trade Bloc,” September 21, 2000, EFE News Service (Westlaw).

³⁵⁹ Patrice M. Jones, “Brazil Struggles with Child Labor,” Chicago Tribune , June 25, 2000.

³⁶⁰ 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/