Selected Child Labor Measures Adopted by Governments
| Ratified Convention 138 09/23/1996 |
X |
| Ratified Convention 182 7/24/2002 |
X |
| ILO-IPEC Associated Member |
X |
| National Plan for Children |
|
| National Child Labor Action Plan |
|
| Sector Action Plan (Trafficking) |
X |
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
UNICEF estimated that 28.8 percent of children ages 5 to 14 years in Georgia were working in 1999.[1681] The majority of working children work in family businesses, and in agriculture in rural areas.[1682] There are reports of significant numbers of children, some as young as 5 years old, engaged in begging or working on the streets. Children as young as 9 years old are found working in markets, sometimes at night, and involved in carrying or loading wares. Children also work in cafes, bistros, gas stations, and for street photographers.[1683] According to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, police violence against street children is a problem.[1684] In general, there is a lack of social safety services for children living on the street, with disabilities or from dysfunctional households.[1685]
Incidents of the commercial sexual exploitation of children, particularly for prostitution and pornography, are reported, especially among girls.[1686] In 2003, the statistical bureau of the Supreme Court reported 24 registered cases of the use of children in the drug trade and trafficking.[1687] Trafficking of children occurs, and thousands of children living in the streets and in orphanages are vulnerable to trafficking.[1688] Some families experiencing economic hardship have separated, which has increased the number of children living on the street.[1689]
Education is mandatory and free for citizens[1690] from the age of 6 or 7 until 16 or 17 years.[1691] In 2001, the gross primary enrollment rate was 92.0 percent and the net primary enrollment rate was 90.7 percent.[1692] In 2000, the net primary school attendance rate for children ages 6 to 15 years in Georgia was 96 percent.[1693] Gross and net enrollment ratios are based on the number of students formally registered in primary school and therefore do not necessarily reflect actual school attendance. The number of children leaving school to get married is reportedly increasing. Girls are removed from school at the age of 13 or upon betrothal in some minority communities.[1694] Although education is free, students are required to purchase their own textbooks,[1695] and many parents have difficulty affording the costs of related expenses, such as school supplies. Moreover, parents are sometimes forced to pay tuition or teacher’s salaries, which prevent some children from attending school.[1696]
Child Labor Laws and Enforcement
Article 167[1697] of the Labor Code sets the minimum age for employment in Georgia at 16 years. However, children who are 15 years old may work in jobs that are not dangerous to their health or development, in some jobs in the performing arts, or with special permission from the local trade union.[1698] In exceptional cases, children age 14 are permitted to work on a part time basis as long as permission is granted by their parents and the employment does not conflict with their schooling process. In general, children under 18 years of age may not be hired for unhealthy or underground work, and children ages 16 to 18 years have reduced working hours. The Labor Code prohibits forced labor, including that of minors.[1699] The Office of Labor Inspections in the Ministry of Health, Social Service and Labor and the Juvenile Delinquency Department in the Ministry of Interior are tasked with enforcing these laws.[1700] The actual enforcement of these laws in Georgia is questionable due to a general lack of resources.[1701]
Article 171 of the Penal Code includes penalties of imprisonment for up to two years for encouraging minors to engage in prostitution. Article 172 provides for penalties for trafficking of minors, particularly for the purpose of prostitution.[1702] Offenses for involving children in pornography are punishable by a prison sentence of up to three years, while penalties for trafficking of minors include imprisonment for 5 to 15 years.[1703] Articles 171 and 172 of the Penal Code limit prosecution of cases and fail to include many forms of exploitive child labor, including work in agriculture, factories, and forced begging.[1704] Local branches of the Ministry of Internal Affairs are charged with handling crimes against minors, including sexual exploitation of children.[1705]
Current Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor
The Government of Georgia, with the help of international organizations, generated brochures and posters that provide information on Convention 182 for public distribution. Representatives from the Ministry of Labor deliver lectures to public groups on child labor issues.[1706] The Ministry of Internal Affairs sponsors a Center for the Rehabilitation of Minors, which regularly provides medical and psychosocial assistance to child and adolescent victims of prostitution before returning them to their guardians.[1707]
The Anti-TIP Unit of the Illegal Detention and Trafficking Division of the Organized Crime in the Ministry of Interior acquired a new office in 2004.[1708] The anti-TIP unit is allocated sufficient resources for its operations and has successfully investigated and made arrests in several trafficking cases. The Government provides protection and assistance to victims discovered in the course of police raids or investigations by referring the victims to government agencies and NGOs.[1709] The Government of Georgia is a member of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and cooperates with other members to combat organized crime, including criminal activities concerning trafficking in human beings and sexual exploitation of women and children.[1710]
The Government of Georgia is receiving funding from the World Bank for the first phase of a 12-year, USD 25.9 million program that will develop a national curriculum for primary and secondary education, train teachers and principals, and provide basic learning materials through 2005.[1711] The government provides evening classes for out of school youth.[1712] The government also offers education grants and tutoring, including the option of enrolling in military school, to some children who leave the orphanages.[1713]
In August 2004, UNICEF provided school supplies to internally displaced children from South Ossetia in various parts of Georgia. It will work with UNHCR and WFP to continue to assess the needs of the refugees and is planning to provide them with vitamin supplements.[1714] USAID is currently sponsoring several programs targeting local, Abkhaz and internally displaced youth. These programs provide psycho-social assistance, educational activities, and alternative methods of conflict resolution.[1715]
|
