2007 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor - Tanzania

Incidence and Nature of Child Labor

In Tanzania, child work is particularly prevalent in rural areas.³²⁵² Children work on clove, coffee, sisal, sugar cane, tea, and tobacco farms as well as in the production of corn, green algae, pyrethrum, rubber, and wheat.³²⁵³

Children also work in underground mines, such as Tanzanite mines, and engage in gemstone brokering.³²⁵⁴ Children known as "snake boys" crawl through narrow tunnels in unregulated gemstone mines to help position mining equipment and explosives.³²⁵⁵ In the informal sector, children engage in scavenging, fishing, fish processing, and quarrying.³²⁵⁶ Other children work as barmaids, street vendors, cart pushers, and auto mechanics.³²⁵⁷ Children also work as domestic servants in third-party homes, and some fall prey to exploitation into prostitution when fleeing abusive employers.³²⁵⁸

The United Republic of Tanzania comprises a union between mainland Tanzania and the neighboring island of Zanzibar.³²⁵⁹ On the island of Zanzibar, children work in fishing, markets, and hotels.³²⁶⁰ Zanzibari children also work in the tourism industry, petty trading, clove picking, domestic service, and are involved in commercial sexual exploitation near tourist locations.³²⁶¹ Commercial sexual exploitation of children is a growing problem in Tanzania as well.³²⁶²

In Tanzania, children are trafficked internally; boys are trafficked for exploitive labor in agriculture, mines, and the informal sector, and girls are trafficked from rural to urban areas for forced domestic service and commercial sexual exploitation.³²⁶³ A limited number of Tanzanian girls are reportedly trafficked for forced labor in domestic service to Oman, South Africa, Saudi Arabia, Sweden, the United Kingdom, and possibly to other countries in Europe or the Middle East.³²⁶⁴

Child Labor Laws and Enforcement

Tanzanian laws prohibit the employment of children under the age of 14 years in mainland Tanzania, except for light work that is not likely to harm the child's health and development and that does not prejudice the child's attendance at school. The laws also prohibit children under the age of 18 years from being employed in mines, factories, ships, or other worksites that the Minister of Labor deems to be hazardous.³²⁶⁵

Zanzibar is governed by its own labor laws.³²⁶⁶ In Zanzibar, the minimum age for employment is 18 years, with some exceptions; children over 10 years in rural areas are permitted to perform light work, including some agricultural activities and domestic work.³²⁶⁷ Zanzibari law provides for the following two categories of child labor offenses: (a) ordinary practices for child labor, and (b) worst forms of child labor. The penalty for category (a) offenses is a fine or imprisonment for up to 6 months; for category (b) offenses, penalties include a fine, imprisonment for a minimum of 1 year, or both.³²⁶⁸

Mainland law provides for the protection of children from exploitation in the workplace, and prohibits forced or compulsory labor.³²⁶⁹ The labor laws establish a criminal punishment for anyone using illegal child labor or forced labor. Violators can be penalized by a fine, 1 year of imprisonment, or both.³²⁷⁰ Tanzanian law also prohibits the military recruitment of children under 18 years.³²⁷¹ The law also prohibits the procuring of a child less than 18 years for indecent exhibition or for sexual intercourse, either inside or outside the country.³²⁷² Tanzanian law prohibits trafficking in children without parental or guardian consent.³²⁷³ On the mainland, traffickers can be prosecuted under existing statutes that criminalize the sale of people, forced labor, child labor, and various sexual offenses. In Zanzibar, traffickers can be prosecuted under existing laws that criminalize kidnapping, abduction, and slavery.³²⁷⁴

In 2007, efforts to enforce labor laws by the Government improved, according to USDOS, citing an increase in the number of labor inspectors and an awareness-raising campaign directed towards formal sector employers. At the community level, child labor committees identify and monitor children who engaged in exploitive child labor.³²⁷⁵

Zanzibar has its own Ministry of Labor, which is responsible for enforcing the island's child labor laws.³²⁷⁶

The Inter-Ministerial Committee to Combat Human Trafficking serves as the coordinating mechanism for both mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar Government ministries, NGOs, international organizations, and civil society partners.³²⁷⁷ In 2007, the Ministry of Public Safety and Security transitioned the established anti-trafficking Criminal Investigation Department to the Transnational Organized Crime Unit and received a formal budget from the Tanzanian Parliament.³²⁷⁸

Current Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor

Tanzania's National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP) 2005-2010 includes specific references to the elimination of the worst forms of child labor. The NSGRP commits the Government to reducing the percentage of children engaged in child labor to less than 10 percent by 2010, by providing former child laborers with a range of educational alternatives. It also aims to increase the rates of primary school enrollment, attendance, and completion for child laborers, as well as orphans and other vulnerable children.³²⁷⁹

In 2007, the Government trained over two-thirds of immigration officers and many Zanzibar officials to identify, investigate, and prosecute trafficking cases.³²⁸⁰ The Ministry of Health and Social Welfare developed a manual and trained 300 health workers who interact with trafficking victims.³²⁸¹ The Government also took actions to address child labor, such as ensuring children's attendance in school, penalizing parents who failed to enroll their children, and educating formal sector employers on child labor issues. The Ministry of Labor continued its awareness-raising efforts by holding child labor seminars throughout the country.³²⁸² The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training increased the number of community learning facilities by 11, to 310 centers, which the Government took over in 2006 from a previous USDOL-funded project.³²⁸³ The Government of Tanzania is participating in a USDOL-funded, USD 5.09 million child labor Education Initiative project implemented by Winrock International. This 4-year project aims to withdraw 5,145 children and prevent 5,270 children from exploitive child labor in agriculture through the provision of educational services.³²⁸⁴ ILO-IPEC continued to work with the Government to implement its Timebound Program, in which a USD 4.87 million, 4-year second phase of the Timebound Program was funded by USDOL to continue efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor in commercial agriculture, domestic service, mining, fishing, and prostitution in mainland Tanzania by 2010. The second phase is targeting 10,250 and 11,750 children for withdrawal and prevention, respectively, which includes activities to combat child labor on Zanzibar.³²⁸⁵ The Ministry of Education and Vocational Training operates learning centers established by a prior USDOL-funded Education Development Center project, which includes broadcasting the radio-based curriculum that served as the core of the project's efforts, as well as subsidizing awareness-raising and enrollment programs from the USDOL-funded Timebound Program Phase I project.³²⁸⁶

The Government also collaborated with ILO-IPEC on the implementation of several other child labor and education projects, including a USD 1.15 million regional project to provide skills and apprenticeship training to urban youth, funded by Canada; a USD 428,040 project to combat child labor and youth employment, funded by Sweden; a USD 1.32 million phase two project to combat child labor in tobacco farming in the Urambo district, funded by the Foundation for the Elimination of Child Labor in the Tobacco Industry; and a USD 1.79 million inter-regional project addressing child labor through education and training activities, funded by Norway.³²⁸⁷

3251 For statistical data not cited here, see the Data Sources and Definitions section. For data on ratifications and ILO-IPEC membership, see the Executive Summary. For minimum age for admission to work, age to which education is compulsory, and free public education, see Government of Tanzania, Employment and Labour Relations Act, 2004, (December 2006); available from http://www.parliament.go.tz/Polis/PAMS/Docs/6-2004.pdf. See also U.S. Department of State, "Tanzania," in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2007 Washington, DC, March 11, 2008, section 5, 6d; available from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2007/102128.htm.

3252 ILO-IPEC, Support for the Time-Bound Programme on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Tanzania – Phase II, project document, Geneva, September 2005, 3.

3253 U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, December 19, 2007, para 3. See also ILO-IPEC, Global Evaluation of the Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC), October 2003, 83; available from http://www-ilo-mirror.cornell.edu/public/english/standards/ipec/publ/download/2004_eval_global_simpoc.pdf. See also Integrated Regional Information Networks, "Tanzania: Thousands missing school to work, official says", June 26, 2006 [cited March 28, 2008]; available from http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=59443.

3254 ILO-IPEC, Girls in mining: Research finding from Ghana, Niger, Peru and the United Republic of Tanzania, 2007; available from http://www.ilo.org/dyn/gender/docs/RES/539/F181278003/Girls%20in%20Mining.pdf . See also Integrated Regional Information Networks (Film & TV), "Tanzania: Gem slaves: Tanzanite's child labour", September 6, 2006 [cited November 30, 2007]; available from http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=61004.

3255 J.A. Mwami, A.J. Sanga, and J. Nyoni, Tanzania: Children Labour in Mining: A Rapid Assessment, ILO-IPEC, Geneva, January 2002; available from http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Regionsandcountries/Africa/lang – en/index.htm.

3256 C. Kadonya, M. Madihi, and S. Mtwana, Tanzania: Child Labour in the Informal Sector: A Rapid Assessment, ILO-IPEC, Geneva, January 2002, 6; available from http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Regionsandcountries/Africa/lang – en/index.htm.

3257 ILO-IPEC, Baseline Study and Attitude Survey on Child Labour and Its Worst Forms – Tanzania, Dar es Salaam, June 2003, 9-10, 28, 33. See also U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: Tanzania," section 6d.

3258 U.S. Department of State, "Tanzania (Tier 2)," in Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007, Washington, DC, June 12, 2007; available from http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2007/82807.htm. See also ILO-IPEC, Baseline Study and Attitude Survey on Child Labour and Its Worst Forms – Tanzania, 37. See also Daniel Dickinson, "Tanzania 'Housegirls' Face Sexual Abuse", BBC News, [online], May 10, 2003; available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/3015223.stm. See also Bill Rau, Combating Child Labour and HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa, ILO-IPEC, July 2002; available from http://www.ilo.org/ipec/Regionsandcountries/Africa/lang – en/index.htm.

3259 ILO-IPEC, Support for the Time-Bound Programme on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Tanzania – Phase II, project document, 1.

3260 U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, December 26, 2006. See also ILO-IPEC, Support for the Time-Bound Programme on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Tanzania – Phase II, project document, 3.

3261 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: Tanzania," section 6d. See also ILO-IPEC, Support for the Time-Bound Programme on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Tanzania – Phase II, project document, 3.

3262 ILO Committee of Experts, Individual Direct Request concerning Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) United Republic of Tanzania (ratification:1998), [online] 2007 [cited December 11, 2007]; available from http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/newcountryframeE.htm. See also UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Consideration of Reports Submitted by States Parties Under Article 44 of the Convention, Concluding Observations: United Republic of Tanzania, CRC/C/TZA/CO/2, June 21, 2006; available from http://tb.ohchr.org/default.aspx?country=tz. See also Integrated Regional Information Networks, "Tanzania: Focus on child labour", August 13, 2003 [cited December 10, 2007]; available from http://www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=45464.

3263 U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, February 28, 2007, para 2a. See also U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007: Tanzania." See also ILO-IPEC, Baseline Study and Attitude Survey on Child Labour and Its Worst Forms – Tanzania, 24.

3264 U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, February 28, 2007, para 2a. See also U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam official, E-mail communication to USDOL official, August 13, 2006. See also U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007: Tanzania." See also U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: Tanzania," section 5. See also UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, A Gap in their Hearts: the experience of separated Somali children, 2003, 25; available from http://www.irinnews.org/pdf/in-depth/Gap-In-Their-Hearts-English.pdf.

3265 Government of Tanzania, Employment and Labour Relations Act, article 5.

3266 U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, December 26, 2006, para 10.

3267 U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, February 28, 2007, para 10. See also Right to Education – At What Age?, United Republic of Tanzania, accessed November 28, 2007; available from http://www.right-to-education.org/content/age/tanz.html.

3268 U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, December 26, 2006, para 10.

3269 Government of Tanzania, The Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania, (1977); available from http://www.tanzania.go.tz/constitutionf.html . See also Government of Tanzania, Employment and Labour Relations Act, article 91.

3270 Government of Tanzania, Employment and Labour Relations Act, article 102.

3271 Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers, "Tanzania," in Child Soldiers Global Report 2004, London, 2004; available from http://www.child-soldiers.org/regions/country?id=210.

3272 Government of Tanzania, Sexual Offences Special Provisions Act, (July 1998); available from http://www.unhcr.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/refworld/rwmain?page=country&skip=0&coi=TZA&x=15&y=16.

3273 ILO Committee of Experts, Individual Direct Request concerning Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) United Republic of Tanzania (ratification: 2001), [online] 2007 [cited December 11, 2007]; available from http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/newcountryframeE.htm.

3274 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007: Tanzania." See also U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, March 5, 2008, paras 16, 17.

3275 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: Tanzania," section 6d.

3276 U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, December 26, 2006, para 10.

3277 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007: Tanzania."

3278 Ibid. See also U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, February 28, 2007, paras 10, 15. See also U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, March 5, 2008, para 11.

3279 The United Republic of Tanzania, National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP), Dar es Salaam, June 2005; available from http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTPRS1/Resources/TanzaniaPRSP(June-2005).pdf. See also ILO-IPEC, Support for the Time-Bound Programme on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, technical progress report, September 2005.

3280 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2007: Tanzania."

3281 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2007: Tanzania," section 5.

3282 Ibid., section 6d.

3283 U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, March 5, 2008, para 54.

3284 Winrock International, Teaching Education Alternatives for Children (TEACH), project document, September 2006, 1, 7, 27.

3285 ILO-IPEC, Support for the Time-Bound Programme on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Tanzania – Phase II, project document.

3286 U.S. Embassy – Dar es Salaam, reporting, February 28, 2007, para 12. See also Education Development Center, Supporting the Education Component of the Timebound Program on Eliminating Child Labor in Tanzania, Final Progress Report, Washington, DC, 2006. See also UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Consideration of Reports of States Parties, Second Periodic Report: United Republic of Tanzania, CRC/C/SR.1136, May 31, 2006, 7; available from http://tb.ohchr.org/default.aspx?country=tz.

3287 ILO-IPEC official, E-mail communication to USDOL official, December 12, 2007.