In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 27.5 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Togo were working.¹⁷⁸⁷ Child labor is found primarily in the informal sector, particularly in farming, petty trading, and artisan workshops where there is little legal protection for children.¹⁷⁸⁸

Many children, especially girls, work as domestic servants.¹⁷⁸⁹ In 1994, a joint study by WAO Afrique and Anti Slavery International indicated that 65 percent of child domestics were under the age of 15.¹⁷⁹⁰ Children between 6 and 18 years of age were also reported to work as domestic servants on military barracks.¹⁷⁹¹

Bonded labor is reported to exist in remote parts of Togo. As part of a traditional practice known as Trokosi , young girls become slaves to religious shrines for offenses allegedly committed by a member of the girl’s family.¹⁷⁹²

Children as young as 5 or 6 years old are either trafficked from or through Togo.¹⁷⁹³ Children from Togo are trafficked to other countries in Africa, especially Gabon, and overseas to the Middle East, Asia, and Europe.¹⁷⁹⁴ Trafficked children from Togo are found working in commercial agriculture as domestic servants, market traders, child beggars, and prostitutes.¹⁷⁹⁵ These children usually leave home with the consent of their parents in hope of better prospects for their future. Some girls leave home to find employment in order to earn income for their dowry.¹⁷⁹⁶

In 1998, the primary gross attendance rate was 116.1 percent, and the primary net attendance rate was 69.5 percent. Boys (74.1 percent) attended school at a higher rate than girls (64.6 percent).¹⁷⁹⁷ In 1996, the gross primary enrollment rate was 119.6 percent, and the net primary enrollment 81.6 percent.¹⁷⁹⁸ In 1994, 71 percent of children reached grade five. Figures disaggregated by gender indicate that 79 percent of boys and 60 percent of girls reached grade five in 1994.¹⁷⁹⁹

In recent years, decreasing federal allocations for education have led to teacher shortages, and a growing deterioration of educational infrastructure in rural areas.¹⁸⁰⁰ Private schools, run by Christian and Islamic organizations and private individuals, are highly active in Togo, educating approximately one-half the student population.¹⁸⁰¹

The Labor Code prohibits the employment of children under the age of 14 in any enterprise and the employment of anyone under the age of 18 in some types of industrial and technical employment. Inspectors from the Ministry of Labor enforce these age requirements but only in the formal sector in urban areas.¹⁸⁰²

The Penal Code (Article 78) prohibits the corruption, abduction or transfer of children against the will of those exercising parental authority.¹⁸⁰³ This article does not cover cases that are consensual and do not involve abduction of a child against the will of the parental authority. The government has prosecuted 50 cases against traffickers resulting in 31 convictions.¹⁸⁰⁴ Articles 91 and 94 of Togo’s Penal Code prohibits soliciting and procuring of minors for sex.¹⁸⁰⁵

The Government of Togo ratified ILO Convention No. 138 on the Minimum Age for Employment on March 16, 1984, and ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on September 19, 2000.¹⁸⁰⁶

In 2000, ministers and experts representing over 20 West and Central African countries, including Togo, drafted a “Common Platform for Action” against child trafficking at a conference organized in Gabon by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). The ILO, the Government of Gabon, and the Government of Togo signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ILO-IPEC to fight child labor, particularly trafficking.¹⁸⁰⁷ The participating countries in the anti-trafficking efforts are building regional cooperation and local capacity to combat child trafficking and rehabilitate trafficked children.¹⁸⁰⁸

The first phase of the ILO-IPEC regional project to combat child trafficking in Central and West Africa started in 1999, with funding from the U.S. Department of Labor. As a participant country in this project, Togo has formulated a national plan of action against trafficking in children, gathering statistics and information on the incidence of child trafficking and building institutional capacity and community awareness in order to combat trafficking.¹⁸⁰⁹ Legislation has been passed according to which consulates based in Togo have stopped issuing visas to minors without first consulting a social worker.¹⁸¹⁰ In 2001, the Government of Togo agreed to participate in the second phase of the project, when direct interventions on child trafficking will be launched. Child labor and child trafficking has also been the subject of an extensive information campaign by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and other international organizations in the regions most affected.¹⁸¹¹

Since signing the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Togo has amended child-related legislation at the federal and state level and established a National Committee for the Protection and Promotion of Children that is working to coordinate ministry level and civil society initiatives on child welfare.¹⁸¹²

WAO Afrique, a regional NGO, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Togo in 1990 to work to protect the rights of the child in Togo, as stipulated in the Convention for the Rights of the Child. WAO-Afrique aims include the strengthening of local NGO capacity, conducted research and promoting legislation to support the rights of children, and working to rehabilitate trafficked children and child laborers in the country. WAO and other NGO groups, such as Youth in Action and Development, have also supported interventions aimed at child domestic servants and street children.

The Togolese Constitution (Article 35) establishes that education is compulsory for six years.¹⁸¹³ As part of Togo’s involvement in Education for All, the government aims to make education accessible throughout the country, democratize education by involving communities in the planning and management of schools, and integrate vocational and non-formal education into the curriculum.¹⁸¹⁴

In 1992, the Government of Togo’s Council of Ministers adopted a national plan on education which prioritized improving basic education for all children; however, the increase in enrollment caused by the first national plan led to an increasing number of untrained teachers, inadequate facilities at primary schools to absorb increased enrollment, and other constraints created a deterioration in the quality of education. In 1995, the Government of Togo launched another national plan for education which focused on the fundamental needs of an education system: qualified teachers and administrative staff, improving systems of attracting and retaining children in schools, and adapting education to the socio-economic conditions in the country. In 1998, the Council of Ministers adopted this plan, and there are currently a wide range of public and private institutions involved in implementing the second education plan.¹⁸¹⁵

Current issues that the government faces are low girls’ enrollment, low retention rates, deteriorating rural schools, teacher shortages, and other general concerns about the educational infrastructure. The Government of Togo has sought to raise low net enrollment among girls and children in rural areas. The Government of Togo set a goal to raise the enrollment of girls to 80 percent by the year 2000, but it remains unclear whether this goal was attained.¹⁸¹⁶ UNICEF has been working with the government to discern the reasons for low enrollment among girls, and the government has been implementing programs to boost girls’ education.¹⁸¹⁷

The government is also working with the World Bank as part of the Educational Support and Management Program to improve rural schools and defray some of the costs of education to poor parents.¹⁸¹⁸ The World Bank supported the construction and repair of classrooms, as well as the provision of textbooks in primary schools. Charitable organizations and businesses have also provided assistance with the acquisition of school supplies.¹⁸¹⁹ The government is also making efforts to recruit assistant teachers and reduce repeat and dropout rates. Such action is in accordance with Article 35 of the Togolese Constitution, which states that education is compulsory, and the State is progressively ensuring that education is free.¹⁸²⁰

In 1996, government spending on public education was 4.5 percent of the government’s gross national product (GNP). In 1999, public spending on primary education was only 1 percent of the country’s GNP. Over 80 percent of public expenditure on education is provided for by federal funds.¹⁸²¹

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.¹⁸²²

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.

¹⁷⁸⁷ World Development Indicators 2000.

¹⁷⁸⁸ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1999 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000), 5 [hereinafter Country Reports 1999—Togo ].

¹⁷⁸⁹ Statement by Cleophas Mally, director, WAO-Afrique, in regard to a joint study by Anti-Slavery International and WAO-Afrique on child domestic workers in Togo to the Working Group on Contemporary Forms of Slavery, U.N. High Commission on Human Rights, October, 1997 [hereinafter statement by Cleophas Mally].

¹⁷⁹⁰ Ibid.

¹⁷⁹¹ Declaration de la délégation togolaise et de la W.A.O. Afrique (ONG préésente au Togo) sur le rapport de la “Coalition pour mettre fin à l’utilisation d’enfants soldats,” l’utilisation d’enfants soldats en Afrique, Maputo, April 1999,19-22, as cited in Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, “Africa Report: Togo,” London, March 1999.

¹⁷⁹² Jesse Sage, American Anti-Slavery Group, e-mail to GMIS, November 6, 2000, as cited in The Global March Against Child Labor , “The Worst Forms of Child Labour: Country-Wise Data, October 2000, Togo.”

¹⁷⁹³ Trafficking in Persons Report : Country Narratives, Tier 2 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2001) [hereinafter Trafficking in Persons Report ]; see also statement by Cleophas Mally.

¹⁷⁹⁴ Country Reports 1999—Togo at Section 6f. In one month, January 1998, 199 trafficked children along the border between Togo and Benin were repatriated and returned to their families. “Child Peddling Serious Problem in Togo and Benin,” Africa News Service, March 23, 1998 (www.captive.org/Information/WorldBeat/Africa/ articlesafrica1.htm).

¹⁷⁹⁵ Statement by Cleophas Mally.

¹⁷⁹⁶ United Nations “Summary Record of the 422nd Meeting: Togo,” U.N. Document No. CRC/C/SR.422 (Geneva: U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, February 3, 1998) [hereinafter “Summary Record of the 422nd Meeting”].

¹⁷⁹⁷ USAID, GED 2000: Global Education Database [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000.

¹⁷⁹⁸ World Development Indicators 2000 . Gross primary school enrollment rates in Togo have exceeded 100 percent in Togo since the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s. See also Preliminary Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right to education, Ms. Katatina Tomasevski, submitted in accordance with Commission on Human Rights resolution 1998/33, U.N. Document No. E/CN.4/Sub.2/1998/12 (Geneva: Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights, 1999), Table 16 [hereinafter Preliminary Report of the Special Rapporteur]; see also World Development Indicators 2000 .

¹⁷⁹⁹ World Development Indicators 2000 .

¹⁸⁰⁰ Koffi-Tessio and M. Egnonto, “Human Resource Development for Poverty Reduction and Household Food Security: Situation of Education and Training in Togo” (Lome, Togo: University of Lome, Advanced School of Agronomy, 2000) [hereinafter “Human Resource Development for Poverty Reduction”].

¹⁸⁰¹ El Barometer , “The Worst Forms of Child Labour: Country-Wise Data, October 2000, Togo,” as cited in The Global March Against Child Labor (www.globalmarch.org/cl-around-the-world/index.html), September 29, 2000.

¹⁸⁰² Country Reports—Togo at Section 6d.

¹⁸⁰³ United Nations “Summary Record of the 420th Meeting: Togo,” U.N. Document No. CRC/C/SR.422 (Geneva: U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child, February 2, 1998) [hereinafter “Summary Record of the 420th Meeting”].

¹⁸⁰⁴ Trafficking in Persons Report.

¹⁸⁰⁵ In addition, according to article 87 of the Penal Code, all perpetrators or accomplices of rape whose victims were minors between 14 and 18 years of age are subject to a 5- to 10-year prison sentence; for victims under 14 they are subject to a 20-year sentence; see “Summary Record of the 420th Meeting.”

¹⁸⁰⁶ For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see Appendix C.

¹⁸⁰⁷ Child Labour News Service, “Africa Moves to Check Child Trafficking” (http://globalmarch.org/clns/clns- march1.html ), March 1, 2000.

¹⁸⁰⁸ “Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labour Exploitation in West and Central Africa (Phase II): Executive Summary” (Geneva: ILO-IPEC, 1999).

¹⁸⁰⁹ Ibid.

¹⁸¹⁰ “Summary Record of the 420th Meeting.”

¹⁸¹¹ Ibid.

¹⁸¹² Ibid.

¹⁸¹³ 1727 Preliminary report of the Special Rapporteur; see also World Development Indicators 2000 .

¹⁸¹⁴ United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Institute for Statistics, Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment, Country Report, Togo (Paris, 2000).

¹⁸¹⁵ Ibid.

¹⁸¹⁶ “Summary Record of the 420th Meeting.”

¹⁸¹⁷ Ibid.

¹⁸¹⁸ Ibid.

¹⁸¹⁹ “Summary Record of the 422nd Meeting.”

¹⁸²⁰ “Summary Record of the 422nd Meeting.”

¹⁸²¹ “Human Resource Development for Poverty Reduction.”

¹⁸²² 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.