2006 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor - Angola
| Publisher | United States Department of Labor |
| Author | Bureau of International Labor Affairs |
| Publication Date | 31 August 2007 |
| Cite as | United States Department of Labor, 2006 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor - Angola, 31 August 2007, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/48d7491f2b.html [accessed 30 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
| Selected Statistics and Indicators on Child Labor | |
|---|---|
| Percent of children 5-14 estimated as working in 2001: | 25.7%132 |
| Minimum age for admission to work: | 14133 |
| Age to which education is compulsory: | Through grade 6134 |
| Free public education: | Yes135* |
| Gross primary enrollment rate in 1999: | 64%136 |
| Net primary enrollment rate in 1998: | 61.0%137 |
| Percent of children 5-14 attending school in 2001: | 65.4%138 |
| Percent of primary school entrants likely to reach grade 5: | Unavailable |
| Ratified Convention 138: | 6/13/2001139 |
| Ratified Convention 182: | 6/13/2001140 |
| ILO-IPEC participating country: | Yes, associated141 |
| * Must pay for school supplies and related items. | |
Incidence and Nature of Child Labor
In 2001, approximately 25.6 percent boys and 25.9 percent of girls ages 5 to 14 were working in Angola.142 Children often work on family farms in subsistence agriculture.143 Some children in rural areas also work in diamond mining.144
The combination of poverty and years of war has led to an influx of orphaned and abandoned children working in urban areas.145 Children in urban areas often work as domestic servants and street vendors in the informal sector. Governmental and UNICEF estimates for the number of street children in Luanda vary between 1,500 and 10,000.146 Street children are also common in the Benguela and Huambo provinces.147 Some of the street children were displaced or separated from their families and communities during the civil war, and live on the streets.148 However, the majority of the street children only work on the streets, returning to their family homes at night or on weekends.149 Children on the streets work by shining shoes, washing cars, carrying water, and begging.150 Many are exploited in prostitution and are at high risk of sexual and other forms of violence and trafficking.151 There have been reports of Angolan children crossing the border into Namibia to engage in prostitution with truck drivers.152
Angola is a country of origin for children trafficked to Namibia and South Africa for domestic service and sexual exploitation, as well as for selling goods and illegal money changing.153 Internally, children are trafficked primarily for forced labor (commercial agriculture, portering and street vending) and sexual exploitation including forced prostitution.154 Economically vulnerable children are the most susceptible to trafficking.155 Children are also trafficked for use as couriers for cross-border trade between Namibia and Angola.156
Child Labor Laws and Enforcement
By law, the minimum age for employment in Angola is 14 years,157 and the legal minimum age for apprenticeship is 14 years.158 Children between 14 and 18 are not permitted to work at night, under dangerous conditions, or in activities requiring great physical effort. Children under 16 years are restricted from working in factories.159
Angolan laws prohibit forced or bonded child labor.160 The minimum age for voluntary recruitment of men for military service is 18 years and 20 years for women.161 Trafficking in persons is not specifically prohibited in Angola, but laws prohibit kidnapping, forced labor or bonded servitude, prostitution, illegal entry into the country,162 and pornography.163 Under Angolan law, sexual relations with a child under 12 years is defined as rape. Rape is illegal, and punishable by up to 8 years' imprisonment. Sexual relations with a child between 12 and 15 years may be defined as sexual abuse, and can result in up to 8 years of imprisonment.164 Prostitution is illegal in Angola but the law is not consistently enforced.165 In 2006, Immigration Services began enforcing a law that requires unaccompanied minors to present documentation for international travel.166
The National Institute for the Child (INAC) is responsible for the day-to-day management of children's affairs.167 The Inspector General of the Ministry of Public Administration, Employment, and Social Security (MAPESS) has the ultimate authority to enforce labor laws, and the Ministry of Family and Women's Affairs plays a major role in the investigation of child labor complaints.168 MAPESS maintains employment centers that screen out prospective employees who are under 14 years.169 In the first half of 2006, MAPESS conducted 2,038 workplace inspections and discovered 22 minors employed by formal sector companies.170 The Government of Angola does not have the capacity to regulate labor in the informal sector, where most children work.171 The U.S. Department of State reports that in practice, neither MAPESS nor the Ministry of Family and Women's Affairs provide adequate protection for children.172
Current Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor
The Government's Special Task Force (comprised of representatives from the Ministry of Social Assistance and Reintegration, the National Institute for Children, and the Ministry of Women and Family) continues to implement a plan to address the needs of street children.173 The Ministry of Health provided funds to combat child prostitution through nurses aiding in raising children's awareness about HIV/AIDS.174
In July 2006, the Government of the Republic of Angola was one of 24 West and Central African countries to adopt the Multilateral Cooperative Agreement to Combat Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, in West and Central Africa and the Joint Plan of Action against Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children in the West and Central African Regions.175 As part of the Multilateral Cooperative Agreement, the governments agreed to put into place a child trafficking monitoring system; to ensure that birth certificates and travel identity documents cannot easily be falsified or altered; to provide assistance to each other in the investigation, arrest and prosecution of trafficking offenders; to protect, rehabilitate, and reintegrate trafficking victims; and to improve educational systems, vocational training and apprenticeships.176
Anti-trafficking programs supported by the government include training for border post directors, basic assistance and reintegration services for trafficking victims (including literacy and skills training for children), and research on the extent of and the government's response to trafficking in the provinces of Kuando Kubongo, Luanda Norte, Luanda Sul, and Cabinda.177 The INAC has used newspaper ads, radio public service announcements and government interviews to raise awareness on the commercial sexual exploitation of children. The campaign has reached more than half of the country's population.178
A World Bank program that ended in December 2006 supported the Angola Emergency Demobilization and Reintegration Project, which aimed to meet the special needs of female, disabled and underage ex-combatants in establishing sustainable livelihoods.179 UNICEF's 2006 humanitarian program in Angola includes the continuation of family reunification activities for war-affected children.180
132 UCW analysis of ILO SIMPOC, UNICEF MICS, and World Bank surveys, Child Economic Activity and School Attendance Rates, March 1, 2007.
133 ILO, Ratifications by Country, accessed October 20, 2006; available from http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/cgi-lex/ratifce.pl?Angola.
134 U.S. Department of State, "Angola," in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices-2006, Washington, DC, March 6, 2007, Section 5; available from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006/78718.htm.
135 Ibid.
136 UNESCO Institute for Statistics, Gross Enrolment Ratio. Primary. Total, accessed December 20, 2006; available from http://stats.uis.unesco.org/.
137 Ibid.
138 UCW analysis of ILO SIMPOC, UNICEF MICS, and World Bank surveys, Child Economic Activity and School Attendance Rates.
139 ILO, Ratifications by Country.
140 Ibid.
141 ILO-IPEC, IPEC Action Against Child Labour; Highlights 2006, Geneva, October 2006; available from http://www.ilo.org/iloroot/docstore/ipec/prod/eng/20061019_Implementationreport_eng_Web.pdf.
142 UCW analysis of ILO SIMPOC, UNICEF MICS, and World Bank surveys, Child Economic Activity and School Attendance Rates.
143 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, December 18, 2006. See also U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 6d. See also U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, September 16, 2005.
144 Rafael Marques, "Beyond 'Conflict Diamonds': A New Report on Human Rights and Angolan Diamonds" (March 24, 2005).
145 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, September 16, 2005.
146 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, August 23, 2004. See also U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 5, 6d.
147 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, conference call to USDOL official, March 9, 2005.
148 Ibid. See also U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, August 23, 2004.
149 United Nations, Humanitarian Situation in Angola: Monthly Analysis, October-November 2004, 2004; available from http://www.reliefweb.int/rw/rwb.nsf/0/cc3855c3fc3ff171c1256f70003834fa?OpenDocument. See also U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 5.
150 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, December 18, 2006. See also U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 5.
151 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 5. See also Governo de Unidade e Reconciliação Nacional República de Angola, Relatório de Seguimento das Metas da Cimeira Mundial pela Infância, December 2000, 13; available from http://www.unicef.org/specialsession/how_country/edr_angola_pt.PDF.
152 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 5.
153 Ibid. See also U.S. Department of State, "Angola (Tier 2)," in Trafficking in Persons Report – 2006, Washington, DC, June 5, 2006; available from http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2006/65988.htm.
154 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2006: Angola."
155 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 5. See also U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, March 2, 2007.
156 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, March 2, 2007.
157 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 6d. See also U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, July 15, 2000 158 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, December 18, 2006.
159 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 6d. See also U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, July 15, 2000.
160 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2006: Angola." See U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 6c.
161 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, "Angola," in Child Soldiers Global Report 2004, London, 2004; available from http://www.child-soldiers.org/document_get.php?id=757.
162 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2006: Angola." See also U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, October 15, 2002.
163 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, October 15, 2002
164 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 5.
165 Ibid.
166 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2006: Angola." See also U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 5. See also U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, March 2, 2007.
167 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 5.
168 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, October 15, 2002 , U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, September 16, 2005.
169 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, September 16, 2005.
170 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, December 18, 2006.
171 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, September 16, 2005.
172 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Angola," Section 6d.
173 United Nations, Humanitarian Situation in Angola: Oct.-Nov. 2004. See also U.S. Embassy – Luanda official, E-mail communication to USDOL official, April 10, 2007.
174 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, March 2, 2007.
175 ILO-IPEC, Combating theTrafficking of Children for Labour Exploitation in West and Central Africa (LUTRENA), technical progress report, Washington, DC, September 1, 2006, 10-11.
176 ECOWAS and ECASS, Multilateral Cooperation Agreement to Combat Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, in West and Central Africa, Abuja, July 7, 2006. See also Emmanuel Goujon, "African States Sign Up to Fight Human Trafficking," Agence France-Presse, July 7, 2006. See also U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, March 2, 2007.
177 U.S. Embassy – Luanda, reporting, March 2, 2006.
178 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2006: Angola."
179 The World Bank, Angola-Emergency Demobilization and Reintegration Project, PID11534, February 27, 2003; available from http://www-wds.worldbank.org/external/default/WDSContentServer/WDSP/IB/2003/01/11/000094946_0301090403297/R endered/PDF/multi0page.pdf. See also The World Bank, Projects and Operations: Emergency Demobilization and Reintegration Project, accessed October 16, 2006 2006; available from http://web.worldbank.org/external/projects/main?pagePK=104231&piPK=73230&theSitePK=40941&menuPK= 228424&Projectid=P078288.
180 UNICEF, Angola-Humanitarian action, [online] 2006 [cited October 12, 2006]; available from http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/angola_31231.html?q=printme.
