This report examines the nature and scope of child labor in Mexico, with

Transcription

1 Mexico Background Country Report Submitted for review under the U.S. Department of Labor Project IN THE BEST INTEREST OF CHILDREN: PROMOTING SOLUTIONS TO THE CHILD LABOR PROBLEM IN MEXICO By: L. Diane Mull International Initiative to End Child Labor (IIECL) September 2000 I. Introduction This report examines the nature and scope of child labor in Mexico, with particular emphasis on child labor in agriculture. Despite recent efforts in Mexico to achieve economic prosperity, for example through liberalization of its trade regime, significant increases in spending on education, and implementation of other educational and social reforms, the problem of child labor pervades. This is particularly true in the rural areas and among indigenous population groups. Factors contributing to the problem of child labor involve a wide range of economic, social, political and cultural phenomena. An essential factor in Mexico's inability to eradicate child labor in the agricultural or rural sector is that the main economic activities are concentrated in a few industrial sectors and privileged geographical urban areas, to the detriment of rural communities. Deep-seated and extreme inequalities tend to generate structures and institutions which are inaccessible to large population groups, usually because the people lack skills or live in neglected geographical areas. As a consequence, vast sectors of the 1

2 population do not meet such basic needs as food and health care. 1 (See Appendix A. Excerpt: Sara Gorton, Poverty and Social Exclusion in Mexico.) To address this factor, the Government of Mexico has within the last several years implemented programs and services of education, health and food directed toward 36 of 91 regions having a higher index of marginalization that required priority attention. The development measures directed toward those regions included programs designed to eradicate extreme poverty and social exclusion and promote employment opportunities. The elimination of poverty, as well as improving the access and quality of education, is critical to the elimination of child labor. However, some trade regimes employment programs whose purpose was to help stimulate employment and eliminate child labor actually may have contributed to an increase of child labor in agriculture in Mexico. The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the current child labor situation in Mexico, including the major causes of child labor and key initiatives combating this significant problem. The information in this report is based in part on field research in Mexico that included numerous interviews with representatives from government agencies, labor unions, the ILO, UNICEF and local NGOs, as well as university researchers, farmworkers and the child workers, themselves. II. Background Over 40 percent of Mexico s 95 million population is under the age of While no official statistics are collected on the number of working children, the government s Secretariat of Labor and Social Forecasting estimates that 800,000 children under 14 years of age work in different sections of the economy. 1 Gordon, Sara, Poverty and Social Exclusion in Mexico, Instituto de Investigaciones Sociales, UNAM, México, Labour Institutions and Development Programme, U.S. Department of State, Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Background Notes: Mexico, August

3 Estimates of the number of child laborers in Mexico vary widely rangeing from the government s low of 400,000 to UNICEF s two to four million. 3 According to ILO Statistics contained within their 1999 Yearbook of Labour Statistics, 1,263,478 children between the ages of are economically active. ILO reported 18 percent of children between 12 to 14 years of age work, often for parents and relatives. 4 Some five million children and teenagers in Mexico work for $5 to $8 dollars a day with 8 out of every 10 beginning work before they are 14 years of age. 5 Based on the 1990 census, the Secretariat of Public Education projected that over 2.5 million children between the ages of six and fourteen do not attend school. The Director of the National Education Council reported in August 1998 that school-aged children were not in school because their poverty obligated them to work. 6 Among the population living in conditions of poverty, boys and girls comprised the majority. Out of every one hundred Mexicans, approximately twenty-eight were poor, and out of every one hundred children aged under ten, forty were living in poverty. 7 Generally, most agree that the majority of child labor occurs in the informal sectors with 64% of working children being found in farming, fishing and the service sectors. 8 The problem of child labor in certain sectors is spectulated to be on the increase. This includes child labor in agriculture, along with children working in the streets of urban centers, particularly in the federal district of Mexico City. 9 Each of these key sectors and others are discussed in more detail below. 3 Bachman, S.L., Young Workers in Mexico s Economy U.S. News and World Report, September 1, 1997, pp U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Report, Over 5 Million Child Laborers in Mexico, Xinhua: Comtex, 14 September 2000, citing National System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF), Prevention, Attention, Discouragement and Eradication of Childhood Labor. 6 U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Report, Mr. Eleazar Ruiz y Avila, the Director-General for Human Rights of the Mexican Secretariat of External Relations, Statement before the United Nation s Committee on the Rights of the Child, Second Periodic Report, September, Ibid. 9 Interviews with representatives from UNICEF, COMEXANI, UNT-CIOAC, and FAI Save the Children. 3

4 Agriculture Mull, Dianne L. Because of the seasonal nature of agricultural work and the existence of a significant migratory agricultural workforce, estimates of the number of agricultural workers range from 2.3 million up to 5 million, with roughly 14 percent being migrant. 10 A survey of 12 states in Mexico indicate that children in the age group of 7 to 14 years of age make up 30 percent of day laborers in the agricultural sector. 11 Commercial agricultural production with exports to the United States is believed to contain the highest estimates of child laborers. 28% of child laborers work in northern Mexico, where they are engaged in agricultural work. 12 Maria Teresa Guerra Ochoa, a lawyer and human rights activist, believes a quarter of the workers are under 14, and 37 percent are in the limited-work category of 14 to 16 year olds. In Mexico, the problem of child labor is particularly pronounced among migrant farming families. 13 As in the United States, migrant farm workers travel as a family unit and work together in the fields and/or packing houses. Data generated by Programa Nacional de Jornaleros Agrícolas (National Program for Agricultural Day Workers), part of the Secretaríat de Desarrollo Social (Ministry of Social Development SEDESOL), indicates that the migrant agricultural worker population is composed of 52% male and 48% female with an estimated 30 percent of indigenous origin primarily Mixtecs, Zapotecs, Triquis, Tlapanecos, 10 Sánchez Muñohierro, Lourdes, presentation entitled, Mejora del nivel de vida del menor: Los niños y jóvenes trabajadores en América del Norte, Tri-lateral Conference on Migrant Workers, February 24-25, 1997, San Diego, California. 11 U.S. Department of Labor, Sweat and Toil of Children: Efforts to Eliminate Child Labor, 1998, as cited in Estudio de niños y adolescentes trabajadores a nivel nacional 1998, Ministerio de Trabajo y Promoción Social, Over 5 Million Child Laborers in Mexico, Xinhua: Comtex, 14 September 2000, citing National System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF), Prevention, Attention, Discouragement and Eradication of Childhood Labor. 13 U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Report,

5 Nahuas and Purépechas of whom 28 percent speak an indigenous language. 14 Half of those who speak an indigenous language do not speak Spanish. 15 Like the United States, Mexico experiences varied migration patterns that are generally characterized as four migrant streams. The Pacific stream are workers from the states of Oaxaca, Guerrero and Michoacán who travel to the states of Sinaloa, Sonora, Baja California Norte and Baja California Sur. The Gulf stream is made up of workers who migrate to the states of Tabasco, Veracruz and Tamaulipas from the states of Oaxaca, Hildalgo, Veracruz and Puebla. The receiving or upstream states in the Central route are San Luis Potosí, Guanajuato, Zacatecas and Chihuahua, Puebla and Morelos. The Southeastern or Yucatán Pennisula route includes the states of Chiapas, Yucatán and Tabasco. The states receiving the largest number of migrant agricultural workers are Sinaloa, Sonora, Baja California Norte and Baja California Sur. These states are known for the presence of agribusinesses that are generally referred to as the northern export plantations. 16 While most agricultural workers migrate from within Mexico, the state of Chiapas draws temporary international migrant agricultural workers from Guatemala, mainly from Quetzaltenango, Huehuetenango and El Carmen. These agricultural working families have a long tradition of migrating to Mexico, where they work for approximately six months in coffee, banana and sugar cane production, and are characterized by their extreme poverty and dependence on the land. 17 The Mexican states with the highest concentration of agricultural workers and child laborers in agriculture are Sinaloa, Sonora, Baja California Norte, Baja California Sur, Durango, Jalisco, Tamaulipas, Puebla, Morelos, Veracruz, Chihuahua, Michoacán, Nayarit and San Luis Potosí. Oaxaca and Guerrero serve 14 Arroyo Sepúlveda, Ramiro, published in the minutes from the Foro Sobre Jornaleros Agrícola Migrantes, La Paz, Baja California, May 1997, pgs Lourdes Sánchez Muholierro La Familia Jornalera: Seno del niño en situación especialmente dificil, UNICEF, El Trabajo Infantil en México, pg Interview with José Luis Hernández, Director, UNT-CIOAC, August 7, Commission for Labor Cooperation, Legal Background Paper: Protection of Migrant Agricultural Workers in Canada, Mexico and the United States, Tri-national Cooperative Activity on Migrant Agricultural Work, Los Angeles, California, February 7-9,

6 largely as the homebase or supply states for workers for the northern export plantations and serve as a work destination for temporary international migrant agricultural workers. 18 Sinaloa accounts for up to 55 percent of the national production of vegetables in Mexico and a significant supplier of vegetables to the United States. Production and harvest cycles run between September and April. Workers in the Sinaloa area will be found sowing, planting, harvesting, weeding, irrigating, fumigating and packing crops like tomatoes, chile peppers, cucumbers, eggplant and zucchini. The Baja California Norte workers engage in the production of alfalfa, cotton, asparagus and chives in the Mexicali Valley. The San Quintín valley hosts most of the migrants in the Baja. Baja California Sur agricultural workers help in the production of tomatoes, chiles, cucumbers, strawberries, watermelon and other similar crops for a period of six to eight months. Sonora s seasonal agricultural workers engage in the production of fruits, such as grapes, oranges, mangoes and watermelon; vegetables, such as tomato and chiles; cotton and various grains. 19 Children who work in agriculture are subject to numerous occupational hazards such as exposure to dangerous machinery, exposure to biological and chemical agents, having to work in conditions which are conducive to exhaustion and heat stress, and incurring musculo-skeletal injuries from excessive bending and stooping, lifting and carrying heavy weight. Additionally, these children are exposed to risks of accidents, injuries or death due to the unsafe manner in which they are transported to the fields to work, including having to ride in the back of crowded pick-up trucks and overcrowded buses. 20 Children can be found working in and around pesticides, fertilizers or herbicides, some of which are highly toxic and potentially carcinogenic with no 18 Interview with José Luis Hernández, Director, UNT-CIOAC, August 7, Commission for Labor Cooperation, Legal Background Paper: Protection of Migrant Agricultural Workers in Canada, Mexico and the United States, Tri-national Cooperative Activity on Migrant Agricultural Work, Los Angeles, California, February 7-9, Mull, L. Diane, Photos and observations during field site visits near Dolores, Hidalgo (August 2000) and Los Alamos (April 2000), Mexico. 6

7 protective equipment or training on how to reduce their risk of exposure and protect themselves. Pesticide exposure poses a considerably higher risk to children than adults and has been linked to an increased risk of cancer, neuropathy, neuro-behavioral effects and immune system abnormalities. As of 1991, there was a total of 19 pesticides registered in Mexico that have no established tolerance level in the United States. 21 These pesticides are banned in the United States due to their risks of occupational, dietary, residental and/or bystander exposure to humans. Within the United States, agricutural workers are covered under a Worker Protection Standard administered by the Environmental Protection Agency. Mexico has no similar provision and does not require agricultural businesses to provide protective equipment, a delayed re-entry interval following spraying, or access to decontamination facilities in the event of an accidental spraying. Additionally, children have a lower heat tolerance than adults and are therefore more subject to heat stress. 22 Methods of transporting workers are not regulated or enforced, increasing the children s risk to accidents, injuries or death due to vehicle accidents, such as rollovers and head-on collisions. Street Children The National System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF) conducted a study of 108 cities in Mexico and found that more than 114,000 children worked in the streets, markets, tourist centers and other areas of Mexico s cities, with approximately 60 percent working in the 20 largest. Seventy percent were boys and 30 percent were girls. 23 A majority of these children lived at home but 21 Congress of the United States, Office of Technology Assessment, US-Mexico Trade: Pulling Together or Pulling Apart?, ITE-545, Washington, DC, October International Labor Organization, Report VI (1) Child Labour: Targeting the Intolerable, ILO Office Geneva, U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Report,

8 worked on the streets. Approximately 700 to 800 of these children are believed to be runaways who live on the streets due to violence or abuse at home. 24 Child rights advocates suggest that the number of street children, given population growth, is closer to 250,000 with 14,322 in the federal district in Mexico City alone. 25 Children ages 7 to 18 years can often be found in Mexico City s central market working as cart-pushers, kitchen help, and vendors. 26 While conducting this survey, I observed a number of children on a couple of evenings, ranging in ages from 4 to 12, doing acrobatic stunts, hand stands and cartwheels back and forth across the street, for the amusement of occupants of cars that were stopped at busy intersections, sometimes at intersections of six and eight lane thoroughfares. Once the children had performed, they would roam among the cars begging for money until the traffic light changed and they would run to the center curb of the street waiting for the next red light. The DIF study revealed that 20 percent of the children survive by begging, 24 percent by selling goods, and others by doing subcontracting work. 27 The results also showed that most of the children were not living on the streets but actually residing in homes with their families. Knowing that these children were not abandoned or homeless would require a different approach to addressing the needs of these children and their families. Child rights advocates speculate that these children are often viewed as economic objects or agents for the family, and are therefore encouraged to work to enhance the family income. Child Prostitution / Sex Trafficking of Children Mexico has a growing reputation for becoming the child sex capitol of the world. Child prostitution and the trafficking of children in sex trades is of considerable 24 Interview with Carlos??, UNICEF, August 7, Interview with Jorge Valencia Bautista, COMEXANI, August 8, U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Report, Over 5 Million Child Laborers in Mexico, Xinhua: Comtex, 14 September 2000, citing National System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF), Prevention, Attention, Discouragement and Eradication of Childhood Labor. 8

9 concern but little data exists to determine the real magnitude of the problem. A report by the Center for Research and Advanced Study in social Anthropology counted 5,000 minors, 90 percent of them female, working as prostitutes or subjects of pornography. 28 A study conducted in 1997 by La Merced in Mexico City found that out of 5,000 women that were prostitutes, 20 to 25 percent were minors. 29 This problem is considered to be largely found in the tourist zones of the major cities in Mexico. Nearly 100 children and teenagers a month fall into the hands of the child prostitution networks, mafias or organized crime syndicates. 30 Girls 16 and 17 years old from Central America are being trafficked to Chiapas, Mexico for prostitution in the brothels along the border with Guatamala. 31 Honduran girls, 13 and 14 year olds, were trafficked by organized crime groups in Central America from the cities of Tegucigalpa, San Pedro Sula and El Progreso under false pretenses, such as job offerings and scholarships and sold to brothels in Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico. 32 Between August 1996 and February 1998, at least 20 young Mexican women and minors were trafficked into Florida and South Carolina in the United States under the illusion of jobs, but were forced into prostitution. 33 The United Nations lists Mexico as the number one center for the supply of young children to North America. Most of the children over 12 years of age end up as prostitutes.the majority are sent to international paedophile organizations. Mexico is one of the favored destinations of pedophile sex tourists from Europe and the United States U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Report, Interview with Jorge Valencia Bautista, COMEXANI, August 8, Azaola, Elena, and Cevallos, Diego, CATW Fact Book, Sterile at Age 12, AIDS at 14, IPS, February 10, CATW Fact Book, Women and Low Intensity Warfare:, SIPAZ Report, January CATW Fact Book, More Honduran Girls Prostituted, Reuters, citing INTERPOL, February 28, Global March, Worst Forms of Child Labor, Mexico Report, citing ECPAT International. 34 Hall, Allen, CATW Fact Book, The Scotsman, August 25,

10 Domestic Work Mull, Dianne L. Among the groups subject to violence and sexual abuse, child domestic workers are at great risk. However, no reliable estimates of the number of children in domestic service in Mexico are available, although it is generally thought to be significant. There have been some isolated cases of organized trafficking of persons for the purpose of domestic servitude. 35 Key Causes of Child Labor Poverty Poverty continues to be the leading stimulus of child labor in Mexico despite some of the economic stimulus resulting from the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). According to Government officials, one of Mexico s priority policies is the fight against poverty and the promotion of opportunities that would be to the advantage of all Mexicans. The country s social policies are based on the reduction of the disparities between regions in order to establish a more harmonious social balance, To that end, the Government has taken measures in developing social orientations to enhance the regions which have been suffering from lack of development opportunities. 36 Aiming at the well-being, development and survival of children, the Government s National Action Program for Children is a cornerstone of Mexico s social policy. The program seeks to ensure that both children and women of childbearing age will enjoy better expectations and welfare conditions. In some sectors, considerable progress has been achieved. Mexico has done exemplary work for its children in fulfillment of the commitments undertaken at the World Summit for Children. Indeed, Mexico has been able to reach the important 35 U.S. Department of State, Human Rights Report, González Felix, Miguel Angel, Chief Legal Advisor at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Statement before the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, United Nations Press Release, November 25,

11 targets of their first national action program ahead of schedule, particularly in areas and regions where geographic and cultural conditions rendered the comprehensive development of communities most difficult. 37 The most important of the overall goals established by the World Summit on Children the reduction in the mortality rate of children under the age of five has been achieved to a significant degree in almost every state in the country. 38 Although there have been some successes, the magnitude of Mexico s economic, social and cultural shortcomings will require a myriad of different measures for the poorer social groups if the cycle of poverty is to be broken, a fact that Government officials acknowledge. 39 Mexico s economy has been on a roller coaster ride over the past five years. In 1995, there was a significant decline in the economic growth rate and in the absorption of manpower. The Gross National Product fell by almost 7 percent, something that had not happened for nearly 50 years. The currency was devaluated by 44 percent in the course of 1995, and inflation escalated to a rate of about 52 percent for 1995 as a whole. With the recovery of oil prices and the reduction in inflation to 12 per cent in 1999, more funds could be released to cover social expenditures. The social expenditure in the Mexican budget was raised to 60 percent in 1999, thus reflecting the growing awareness on the part of the Government for the need to strengthen infrastructures of health, education and housing. 40 With the increase in social expenditure, some special attention has been given to programs and services regarding education, health and food. The Government identified 91 regions as having a higher index of marginalization needing priority attention, among which 36 were targeted for immediate 37 United Nations Press Release, Committee on Rights of Child Begin Review of Report of Mexico, September 27, Avial, Eleazar Ruiz Y, Director-General of Human Rights at the Secretariat for External Relations of Mexico, Committee on Rights of Child Begins Review of Report of Mexico, United Nations, Press Release, September 27, Gonzalez Felix, Miguel Angel, Chief Legal Advisor at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Statement before the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, United Nations Press Release, November 25, Ibid. 11

12 attention with regard to extreme poverty. The developmental measures directed toward those regions included programs designed to eradicate extreme poverty and social exclusion. The aim of these programs is to generate and promote employment opportunities in general. One of the Government programs, the National Program on Education, Health and Food (PROGRESA), in 1997 covered around 400,000 families. The program addressed families in extreme poverty and provided material and direct financial resources to families to offset the lost wages of their children contingent upon their children attending school. During 1999, the program had assisted 2.3 million families residing in 48,000 localities. 41 Although this program was touted as the premiere poverty prevention program that would eliminate the need for children to work and encourage their participation in school, representatives from NGO, Union and community leaders expressed concern that the PROGRESA program had many problems and needed a major overhaul or even to be replaced. 42 The general concern is that the program is grossly under funded and that the small payment made to a family is not sufficient to alleviate the financial burdens that stimulate child labor. While some parts of the country received assistance under the program, other parts of the country with equal need were left out. One expressed concern that the Government used the program more for security purposes than to help prevent child labor. 43 Weakness in Labor Standard Protections and Lack of Enforcement There is an extensive array of Mexican laws and regulations that provide for the protection of children and workers. (See Appendix A.) In 1990, Mexico ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and filed their plan of action in 1993, although to this date, no known work has been completed on the plan. Also, in June 2000, the Senate of Mexico ratified the International Labor 41 Ibid. 42 Interviews with representatives from COMEXANI, UNT-CIOAC, and FAI Save the Children. 43 Ibid. 12

13 Organization s (ILO) Convention 182 on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor. Despite this, children in some sectors, such as agriculture and child prostitution, are still allowed to work and be exposed at young ages to hazardous conditions that places their health, safety and morals at risk. The key labor laws governing the work relations of private sector workers in Mexico are Article 123(A) of the federal Constitution, and the Federal Labor Law [Ley Federal de Trabajo (LFT)]. The rights contained in Article 123 directly govern relations between employers, workers and unions. Thus, for example, a worker could enforce directly against an employer his or her constitutional right to organize a union. Since the LFT covers each of the matters set out in Article 123, it is in practice the key point of reference in labor relations. However, as an example in practice, the major union representing agricultural workers contend that the law allows for unions but impedes the ability of the workers to form unions and the unions to operate independently and fully to represent the rights of its membership. 44 When examining the level of protections for agricultural workers compared to some in the civil and industrial sector, it appears to support the UNT-CIOAC position. According to UNT-CIOAC, 70 percent do not receive Mexico s minimum wage of 36 pesos a day and frequently work in excess of the eight hour day limit without overtime compensation. Additionally, 90 percent are not registered for Mexico s social security program and receive no vacations. 45 The laws that are currently legislated obviously are comprehensive and, in some cases, allow for greater protection of children than exists in the United States. However, in many sectors it is agreed that the laws are generally not enforced. 46 Through the National System for the Integral Development of the Family (DIF), according to government officials, the Mexican government is attempting to coordinate the activities of all Ministries and governmental agencies involved in 44 Interview with José Luis Hernández, Director, UNT-CIOAC, August 7, Ibid. 46 Interview with José Luis Hernández, UNT-CIOAC, August 7,

14 children s issues, as well as activities carried out by federal, state and municipal authorities. There are 32 State Procurators for the defense of the rights of the child and the family currently in operation, in addition to 784 Municipal Procurators, all of which are connected to agencies of the DIF. 47 For a country the size of Mexico with such a varied population, the number of Procurators clearly is not sufficient to cover the geographic area and make a significant impact with regard to enforcement. Likewise, in areas of concentration of indigenous populations, their increased representation as State and Municipal Procurators and State Labor Inspectors would enhance efforts of defending the rights of indigenous children and families. With respect to the implementation of international treaties in the Mexican courts, the Mexican government has undertaken to intensify the training of judges concerning the implementation of human rights. An inter-departmental committee was created in 1997 with the aim of reviewing recommendations and observations made by all international committees to which Mexico reports. However, this does not appear to involve participation and input from unions and NGOs. The reality of Mexico is that in many cases the Constitution is not followed. Labor inspectors who have the responsibility for spotting underage employees are over worked and underpaid, and the government allows favored companies and industries to get away with prohibited labor practices. 48 A significant investment in expanding the numbers of inspectors, improving their pay, eliminating favoritism of certain companies, and the active participation and involvement of civil society would help to improve the identification, reporting and enforcement of child labor in the various sectors in Mexico. 47 Avila, Ruiz y, Statement before the United Nations Committee on Rights of Child, Press Release, September 27, Bachman, Sarah, Young workers in Mexico s economy: NAFTA aims at curbing child labor, but it s rampant south of the border, U.S. News & World Report, September 1,

15 Marginalization Mull, Dianne L. Mexico is a country of enormous diversity in its land and its people. There are 68 indigenous groups that represent approximately 11 percent of the total population. The vast majority of Mexico s population identifies itself as mestizo, or of mixed European and indigenous heritage, and a small percentage as white or other. This racial and ethnic diversity contributes to the richness of the Mexican culture. In many regions, however, it more clearly reflects the inequalities and injustices prevalent among the indigenous population. Since the Spanish colonial period, indigenous groups have suffered from various forms of marginalization. Exploitation of the indigenous work force, confiscation of indigenous lands, and attempts to integrate indigenous groups into the larger society (well intentioned or otherwise), have resulted in a decrease of self-sustainability, erosion of culture, and loss of dignity. Insufficient and lack of sustained levels of government spending over the past 50 years have worsened conditions of extreme poverty, malnutrition, and a poor quality of education in indigenous communities, particularly in the southern states with the higher percentage of indigenous inhabitants. Even in states with higher levels of development, poverty in the indigenous areas is equal to that of the poorest communities of the South. The Tarahumara of Chihuahua live under the same extreme poverty as the Maya of Chiapas, while the general population of Chihuahua has a relatively low level of marginalization. 49 Trade and Other Bilateral Policies Child labor has increased in some areas of Mexico, such as in Sinaloa, the largest area with agricultural exports to the United States. Some blame the 1992 land reform that established ejides and restricted the size of land ownership. Others 49 Interview with Beatriz Bell, FAI Save the Children, San Miguel de Allende, Guanajuato, August 10,

16 point to the depression following the 1995 peso devaluation. Still others target the North American Free Trade Agreement and other foreign alien labor recruitment practices in the United States. While land reform may have shifted ownership of land to a broader group of individuals in Mexican society, it did not provide these new found landowners with the skills and knowledge necessary to know how to effectively develop and use the land to its greatest potential. In fact, promises made by the government to provide individuals with tools were largely broken, so that the people were not only deprived of the tools they needed, but of trust in their government and in the reform that was intended to give them a chance at self-sufficiency. 50 In 1999, Mexican export capacity was high, ranking as the 11 th or 12 th exporting economy in the world. Clearly the significant increase in exports and the resulting economic stimulus to the Mexican economy is creating a huge benefit to some sectors but is not equally benefiting all. In particular, agriculture and fishing are sectors that are at a severe disadvantage, especially in the production of grains. Of the 4½ million grain producers, only 2 percent can compete. Before NAFTA, many grew corn for domestic consumption at an average of two tons per hectar. While the U.S. and Canadian producers average seven ton per hectar making their cost for production cheaper. In Mexico, production costs are three times higher, as the farmers do not have the technology, equipment or chemicals that are used in the United States and Canada. Machinery, pesticides, fertilizers, and fuel; all costs are higher the only cost that is lower is labor. 51 Among the union and community leaders, there is general agreement that NAFTA and the foreign labor recruitment practices from within the United States, may actually be resulting in an increase of incidents of child labor in Mexico. The lure of adult male workers to come to the United States for jobs in agriculture and in other higher paying service jobs and industries is significant and real. There exists an historial pattern of migration, a rite of passage, when a young 50 Interview with José Luis Hernández, UNT-CIOAC, August 7, Ibid. 16

17 man reaches the age of 14 and is allowed to travel el norte with the older male members of the family. 52 This leaves the females and younger males of the family to perform the agricultural work needed on farms in Mexico. 53 A similar historical pattern of migration occurs with workers traveling within Mexico, particularly to the northern export plantations in search of work. With indigenous populations, they migrate as family units or groups to find farm work in the abundant fields of the north. If work is unavailable, they travel further north. Within two months of the survey work in Mexico, during a site visit to Washington State, a group of 40 families from Oaxaca, Mexico were residing in a migrant camp and working the fields in Washington near the Canadian border. 54 Universal Access to Quality Education A series of measures have been undertaken by the Mexican Government to extend education to all age groups. The Mexican Government offers free primary and secondary education (9years) to all children. Elementary and secondary education is now compulsory and the minimum basic education requirements for teachers have been raised. Nine out of ten children between the age of 6 and 10 are actually attending primary schools; and 90 percent of adolescents are also attending higher education, thus resulting in an 84 percent rate of school attendance. 55 As part of the Government s educational goals, resources and decisionmaking have been transferred to the states under a system promoted and put into effect by the federal government. This decentralization of the education system has created concern that it may be difficult to ensure that the quality of 52 Interview with FAI Save the Children Staff and community members from Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico, August 11, Interview with Don Jime Peña, Chile Producer and Agricultural Employer near Dolores Hidalgo, Guanajuato, Mexico, August 11, Diane Mull and Lori Strauss, National Farmworker Environmental Education Program, AmeriCorps Site visit in Washington State, September González Félix, Miguel Angel, Chief Legal Advisor at the Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Mexico, Statement before the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, United Nations Press Release, November 25,

18 education is consistent among states and that all children have equal access to an education and educational resources. 56 For the general population, access to education among younger generations is more equitable for girls and boys than in previous generations. In 1995 among primary school age children, 91 percent of girls and 93 percent of boys attended school. Between the ages of 15 and 19, the difference is similar, at 41 percent of girls and 43 percent of boys. In rural and indigenous areas, however, the quality and accessibility are often lacking. 57 Federal regulation prohibits flexibility in the school calendar to adapt to agricultural needs, and the uniform national curriculum does not reflect the reality and needs of rural and indigenous children. The government provides free text books in 47 indigenous languages for the first four grades of primary school. In the school year, there were 40,000 trained bilingual teachers attending 930,000 indigenous children in grades first through sixth. Of the more than 1.4 million school age indigenous children, at least 470,000 remain without necessary services. In 1990, more than 40 percent of indigenous youth over 15 years could not read or write. This compares to only 10 percent illiteracy among the general population. Although improvements have been made in recent years, bilingual/bicultural education is still characterized as deficient, with poorly trained teachers, lack of adequate didactic materials, and competing educational philosophies. IV. Key Initiatives Against Child Labor Below are examples of some possible best practice models of programs being used in Mexico that targets the prevention of child labor. 56 Interview with UNICEF staff, August 7, FAI Save the Children, Institutional Curriculum Report, June

19 Agricultural and Rural Communities In the agricultural sector, Fundación Mexicana de Apoyo Infantil AC or FAI Save the Children is working in three rural communities in Guanajuato, Mexico. Their model involves community organizing from the ground up. It also includes building a community loan (micro-credit) or cooperative program for economic stimulus and education related to environmental issues. The program includes active participation at all levels from the younger children (Brigades) to teens (Aunts) to adults (Promotoris). The children are offered the opportunity to participate in one of three areas of interests including: river protection and rehabilitation, guardians of nature, and nutrition. The program is designed to build child and youth networks and to teach basic concepts surrounding their rights as a child: their right to an education, and their right to safe play and their right to live in a clean environment. Within each targeted community, FAI is helping facilitate the formation of Field Worker (Promoter) Commissions. Representation on the Commissions includes adults and representatives from the youth and younger children groups within each respective community. Each community develops a plan and at a larger regional event, communities share their plans of actions with neighboring communities. These efforts are targeted at rebuilding dignity and rescuing the culture of the indigenous peoples. The Interamerican Development Bank, with UNICEF conducting the evaluation, is currently developing a program to prevent child labor in agriculture in the San Quintin Valley area of Baja California. Although the program has gotten off to a slow start, it does appear to have potential as a model program. The program would provide much needed day care services and small mobile schools that are regularly accessible to the migrant labor force. If successfully implemented, the control of the program will cede to local government. 19

20 Children s Participation and Voice Two significant efforts to bring children s voices to the national forefront in Mexico are, first, the children s elections sponsored by the Federal Elections Institute (IFE) the government body in charge of national elections and, second, the development of the Children s Political Agenda sponsored by Save the Children, Mexico and UNICEF. The IFE effort included children in the national elections by setting up a Children and Youth Consultation with 15,000 ballot boxes in various parts of the country. The IFE asked children and youth their opinions on education, health care and other issues. The results are due out by June The Children s Political Agenda efforts facilitated children from different parts of the country to participate in creating a needs agenda and expressing their opinions on issues that were most important to them. Like the Children and Youth Consultation of the IFE, the Political Agenda provided a forum through which the rights and needs of Mexican children can be expressed, including children from indigenous populations and in extreme poverty. Girl Workers UNICEF is working in Mexico for improvements in education. UNICEF's work in the crucial area of girls' education (literacy, communication, rights advocacy, etc.) is helping to achieve the goals of Education for All. The Media Education project helps primary students acquire critical thinking skills, including the ability to recognize and articulate inequalities, and marketing techniques that convey underlying messages. Save the Children-Mexico is working to end discrimination against girls. In Sonora, Save the Children is helping women in marginal communities form communal banks following a micro-lending scheme; Women learn basic business skills while improving the family income and participating in the local economy. 20

21 Several cooperatives have been formed where women produce crafts that are marketed and sold collectively. Portable Practical Educational Preparation based in Tucson, Arizona provided training and technical assistance for the development of the program. In Guanajuato, FAI provides gender and discrimination training to local government agencies, NGOs and community groups. They are using a very creative, low cost teaching tool of colorful novella scripts and role-playing. The Mothers as Educators program in Mexico City trains mothers of young children, including teen mothers, in early childhood development and education. The program also helps mothers from marginal communities learn skills for their own development, such as leadership, conflict resolution and empowerment. V. Recommendations for Alleviating Child Labor Below are suggested reforms, both long and short-term, that may help to alleviate child labor in Mexico based on various interviews with activists and community leaders involved in the child labor and worker movements in Mexico. However, these reforms must be placed in the context of broader socioeconomic issues such as institutional and political development, and poverty reduction. Institutional Reforms With the elections and the change in power of the ruling party, there is provided a unique opportunity for the development of a new framework and guidelines for developing policy, regulations, practices and programs that will work toward the elimination of child labor and the factors that contribute to its existence. This would include the opening of new dialogues between the EZLN and Vicente Fox toward resolving the disputes that have created civil unrest and cost the lives of numerous children and families. This would include in general a fuller implementation of Article 4 of the Mexican Constitution that recognizes, protects 21

22 and encourages indigenous populations, and, specifically, to examine reforms needed under Articles 4, 115, 18, 26, 53, 73 and 116. A reexamination of the NAFTA and other policies that are stimulating child labor should be conducted. Adequate resources are needed to fully implement a program of social reform and full educational development. A continued or enhanced commitment to funding education, health and housing are needed. Efforts to expand and enhance workforce development would help Mexico keep pace with its changing employment needs. Reconsideration of the practice of withdrawing United States Aid for International Development (USAID) funding to a country once NAFTA is implemented may need to be reconsidered. It may be advisable to consider a slower withdrawal of USAID funding for projects that target extreme poverty areas and indigenous populations that may not benefit from NAFTA for several years. Additionally, laws relating to the equality of women should be improved. The Government, working cooperatively with civil society, must work together effectively to further provide equal opportunities for girls in Mexican society. An environment where girls are encouraged to seek leadership roles and are encouraged to achieve leadership positions is needed. The perception of gender inferiority must be changed. Support for model programs that have worked effectively to reduce discrimination against women and foster the development of girls in society is needed. Companies can play a valuable role in helping to eliminate child labor and offer educational alternatives or work-study programs for older youth. Companies that contribute both materially and economically to improve existing rural schools, and, where needed, mobile schools that would allow movement to areas that present the most need are encouraged. 22

23 Educational Reforms Mull, Dianne L. Disparities in education could be reduced through improved teacher training and improved curriculums. Teachers of bilingual/bicultural education do not receive enough training to be able to take on the ambitious project of strengthening indigenous cultural identity while introducing the language and customs of the larger society. Most teachers of indigenous children give priority to teaching the Spanish language, thus, showing a tendency to not appreciate indigenous language and culture. Likewise, culturally appropriate didactic materials could be improved and made available to more schools. The expansion and use of informal education provided in the homes of indigenous families may help to improve access. Further emphasis on ensuring that indigenous girls receive formal education is encouraged. The steps taken to decentralize the education system may lead to improvements that help make education programs more responsive to the needs of local populations. Allowing flexibility in the school calendar and hourly schedule may help to address some of the accessibility problems experienced by indigenous populations and older youth who have dropped out of school. Flexible school schedules could also include weekends, with heavier class loads during non-agricultural seasons in rural areas. Youth basic education and skill training programs that target those who are illiterate and who are active in the labor force are encouraged. The use of informal basic education, in addition for formal basic education, is encouraged. In particular, education that includes a school-to-work model that would provide job training in addition to formal basic education for children after the age of 10. In order to avoid school desertion, the establishment of a scholarship program that is available for all the children that need them is encouraged. If sanctions and money penalties are imposed on employers who violate the law, these monies collected could be used to provide for the cost of scholarships. Also, 23

24 compensation to families whose children leave work to attend school is encouraged for all children throughout Mexico. Higher compensation could be provided for lower income families, with a higher level of compensation for girls who attend school. Reform that promotes the provision of breakfast and lunch at school is also encouraged. Legislative / Legal Reforms While the laws of the Mexican Constitution provide a wealth of coverage, without effective mechanisms to ensure compliance, the laws are ineffective. A review of best model practices in other countries that have been tried and tested is encouraged. A system that builds upon community involvement in compliance monitoring may be a more effective alternative to the civil and money penalty system with limited inspectors and risk of corruption and demonstrated favoritism. In the interim, there is a need for a larger number of better-paid labor inspectors. More active and stronger unions can help to improve the wages and working conditions under which workers labor. Likewise, where strong labor unions exist, there is less likelihood of finding child labor. Efforts that encourage the active and free participation of unions and NGOs working collaboratively with the Mexican Government are needed. Groups, such as COMEXANI, UNT-CIOAC and FAI Save the Children, can be instrumental in implementing an agenda of reform and improvements that bring about real change in reducing poverty, improving educational quality and eliminating child labor. Consideration should be made to increasing the protections for children who work in hazardous occupations, particularly in agriculture. The age for hazardous work should be increased from 16 to

25 Social Reforms Mull, Dianne L. Indigenous Populations Stronger and more meaningful measures to end discrimination against indigenous populations, especially children and women, must be undertaken by the Mexican government and its general population. The government should allow for negotiations with groups representing and working for indigenous rights. The government should look to interventions that could be initiated by the both national and international NGOs in order to find ways to end the conflicts in Chiapas and other states. Additionally, government institutions must do more to reverse the psychological effects of centuries of oppression by reinforcing the cultural dignity of indigenous peoples; improving and making available to schools culturally appropriate didactic materials. Gender Discrimination Although Mexican women have experienced enormous social progress over the last 20 years, there are still great barriers that exclude women and girls from full participation and equity. Access to education, certain types of employment, income, and social status remain below that of men and boys. For indigenous women and girls, this disparity is even more pronounced. Women in Mexican society have traditionally been assigned the role of homemaker. It was not viewed as necessary, or even desirable, that girls should receive formal education or participate in society outside of accepted familyrelated activities. Increased efforts to provide equal opportunities for girls and women in Mexican society need to be undertaken. The formation of the National Women s Commission, created in 1994, was a positive step toward promoting gender equality. However, more attention needs to be given to the specific needs of girls, particularly girl child laborers, by this Commission. The Commissions were 25