On December 16-20, 2003, U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao traveled to the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Benin, and Ghana to highlight efforts to combat the worst forms of child labor and to promote workplace initiatives to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS.

Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC)

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao listening to a former child solider describing his experiences at the Belgian Red Cross Center in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo. (DOL Photo)

In the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), Secretary Chao met with President Joseph Kabila, in addition to American and DRC government officials and representatives of non-governmental organizations and private organizations involved in rehabilitating child soldiers. The Secretary also launched a $7 million Labor Department program to rescue and rehabilitate child soldiers. The program will be administered under the auspices of the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC) and is part of a $13 million global initiative announced by the Department in May 2003 to combat the use of child soldiers. In addition, Secretary Chao visited a Belgian Red Cross center that assists demobilized child soldiers and helps to reintegrate them into civil society.

"While we can't give child soldiers their childhood back, we can help them to rebuild their lives," said Secretary Chao. "This work is so important for bringing hope and opportunity to so many children who have been so abused."

For more information about the Department of Labor’s global child soldier initiative and the Children in the Crossfire Conference, hosted by the Department of Labor, click here.

Benin

U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao visiting the Carrefour d’Ecoute et d’Orientation (CEO) Reception Center for Trafficked Children in Cotonou, Benin, to announce Department of Labor educational programs to rehabilitate trafficked children. (DOL Photo)

In Benin, Secretary Chao focused on the issue of child trafficking. After meeting with the Minister of Family, Social Protection and Solidarity, Massiyatou Latoundji Lauriano, the Secretary visited several rehabilitation centers for victims of trafficking and launched a $2 million Department of Labor program to improve access to quality, basic education for children who have been trafficked. The program will be implemented by Catholic Relief Services and partner organizations Terres des Hommes and World Education.

"The victims of sex trade see little of life before they see the very worst of life -- an underground of brutality and lonely fear,’ and he has urged all governments to end this evil," said Secretary Chao. "The world community must come together to stop the tragedy of child trafficking. Children are the future of any country and they must be nurtured and protected."

Ghana

Secretary Elaine L. Chao and U.S. Ambassador Mary Carlin Yates met with children who have been the victims of child trafficking at the Kokrobite primary school outside Accra, Ghana.

Secretary Chao then traveled to Ghana where she helped launch an HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Project, which is part of a $9.5 million DOL grant for the prevention of HIV/AIDS at the workplace.

"President George W. Bush has demonstrated his commitment to fight the pandemic of HIV/AIDS by devoting an unprecedented amount of resources totaling $15 billion," said Secretary Chao. "Africa is one of the worst hit areas of the pandemic and I am in Ghana to announce a tranche of this grant to launch the HIV/AIDS Workplace Education Project. Working together, I know we can help educate workers at the workplace to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS."

In Ghana, the Secretary also met with over 50 children who have been the victims of child trafficking at the Kokrobite primary school. The school receives financial support from the Department of Labor, through a regional ILO-IPEC program to combat child trafficking for exploitative employment.