Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor
In 1992, the Government of Kenya became one of the first six members of ILO-IPEC.[2375] The government is working with ILO-IPEC and other development partners to build the capacity of the Ministry of Labor and Human Resource Development to enforce child labor inspection, and with the Department of Children's Services in the Ministry of Home Affairs to raise awareness on child labor.[2376] In September 2001, the Ministry of Labor and Human Resource Development established a Child Labor Division within the ministry.[2377] The Government of Kenya’s National Development Plan 2002-2008 recognizes child labor as a problem and calls for an evaluation of the impact of child labor on the individual and the nation, as well as its implications on the quality of the future labor force.[2378]
By 2003, 73 ILO-IPEC programs on child labor had been launched targeting the agriculture, construction, cross-border trade, domestic service, fishing, hotel and tourism, and quarrying and mining sectors.[2379] Kenya is also participating in an ILO-IPEC regional program funded by USDOL to withdraw, rehabilitate, and prevent children from engaging in hazardous work in the commercial agriculture sector in East Africa.[2380] The government is taking part in another USDOL ILO-IPEC regional project aimed at building the foundations for eliminating the worst forms of child labor in Anglophone Africa.[2381] In September 2001, the Government of Kenya and ILO-IPEC released the results of the Child Labor Module of the Integrated Labor Force Survey, which collected national data on the incidence of child labor in Kenya from 1998 to 1999.[2382]
The Government of Kenya has also received support from UNICEF to raise the enrollment and primary completion rates for girls, and to help formulate policy on issues affecting children. [2383] In 2001, USAID allocated money for a “Displaced Children and Orphans Fund” to support programs that would allow children from HIV/AIDS-affected families, including orphans, to benefit from home-based care and other programs.[2384] In 2002, USAID helped provide scholarships to secondary school girls from poor families, provided internet access to primary and secondary schools, and assisted 22 educational institutions.[2385]
In December 2002, the newly elected government promised to eliminate tuition fees for primary education and reform the educational system.[2386] In January 2003, the Government of Kenya implemented Universal Free Primary Education.[2387] As a result, the number of children in primary school significantly increased in 2003, but not without placing a strain on schools.[2388] To aid in the provision of primary education to all children by 2015, the World Bank will provide USD 50 million to this effort.[2389]The World Bank has also been supporting an early childhood development project, which has as a part of its objectives to increase enrollment and reduce dropout and repetition rates in lower primary school.[2390]
Prior to the implementation of Universal Free Primary Education, a “cost sharing” education system in which students paid both tuition and other associated schooling costs, which could total up to 65 percent of the recurrent costs of schools, had been in place in Kenya.[2391] Increased costs of schooling reduced access to education for many poor children, and led to a steady increase in the number of dropouts in Kenya.[2392]
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
In 1998/99, the Kenyan Central Bureau of Statistics estimated that 17.4 percent of all children ages 5 to 17 years were working in Kenya.[2393] According to the survey, children made up 14.4 percent of the total workforce in Kenya.[2394] More children living in rural areas (19.7 percent) worked compared to children living in urban areas (9.0 percent).[2395] The commercial or subsistence agriculture and fishing sectors employ the largest number of working children (57.6 percent), followed by the domesticservice sector (17.9 percent).[2396] Children also work in construction, wholesale and retail trade, mining, and manufacturing.[2397] Children employed in the hotel industry are often drawn into commercial sexwork.[2398] Street children are often engaged in odd jobs in the informal sector, prostitution, or various illegal activities often under the control of organized criminal groups.[2399] Cases of forced labor, in which children are loaned out to creditors to pay off family debt, have also been documented, primarily in rural areas.[2400] There are reports of internal trafficking of children, for the purpose of commercial sexual exploitation and forced labor. Children are also reportedly trafficked to Uganda for labor purposes.[2401]
Education is compulsory for eight years, for children ages 6 to 14.[2402] In 2000, the gross primary enrollment rate was 94.0 percent, and the net primary enrollment rate was 68.5 percent.[2403] In 1998, 71.2 percent of children persisted to grade five.[2404] Of students enrolled in primary school in 1991, 47.2 percent completed the eighth grade in 1998. Of children who completed primary school, 44 percent transitioned to secondary school.[2405] Progress is being made in improving school completion rates for girls, and the completion rate among girls has been reported higher than boys. [2406] However, there is still a gender bias in access to education.[2407]As the government looks to expand primary education, it faces some challenges, including high numbers of overage students, lack of teachers in some areas, learning material shortages, large classroom sizes, lack of classrooms, and inadequate facilities.[2408] In 2001, 42 percent of teachers were reported as being untrained.[2409] Furthermore, a teachers’ strike from September to October 2002 led to disruptions in the provision of schooling.[2410]
Child Labor Laws and Enforcement
The Children’s Act of 2001 prohibits all forms of child labor that would prevent children under the age of 16 from going to school or that is exploitative and hazardous. [2411] The Children's Act also prohibits child sexual exploitation.[2412] The Constitution prohibits slavery, servitude, and forced labor.[2413] The enforcement of child labor regulations involves multiple government agencies and institutions. At the ministerial level, the Ministry of Labor and Human Resource Development enforces child labor legislation.[2414] The Department of Children's Services (Office of the Vice President and the Ministry of Home Affairs) is responsible for the administration of all laws regarding children, particularly awareness raising regarding children's rights and the management of rehabilitation institutions. [2415] There are more than 80 Directorate of Occupational Health and Safety Services inspectors and 140 Ministry of Labor officers who have been trained to detect and report child labor.[2416] However, the number of inspectors is reported to be insufficient, and fines are not high enough to effectively deter employers from utilizing children under the minimum age.[2417] There are no laws in Kenya prohibiting trafficking.[2418]
The Government of Kenya ratified ILO Convention 138 on April 9, 1979 and ILO Convention 182 on May 7, 2001.[2419]
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