Application of Legislation on Childhood and Adolescence

Three officers from the Bureau for the Attention and Eradication of Child Labor and Protection of the Adolescent Worker (OATIA) of the Ministry of Labor and Social Security of Costa Rica visited Uruguay to learn about their strategies in child and adolescent labor. During this intensive week, the officers were able to obtain a wide and updated panorama of the different initiatives developed by the Government, the private sector and trade unions. Among these initiatives the following are highlighted: the functioning of the National Committee for Child Labor Eradication of Uruguay (CETI); the measures taken by the Ministry of Social Development regarding child labor; the development of an observatory on this matter together with the National Institute of Statistics (INE); the PROJOVEN Program to achieve labor inclusion of young people in a vulnerable situation; the PRONIÑO Program carried out by Movistar and Fundación Telefónica within the framework of Corporate Social Responsibility ; and the measures taken by the Inter-Trade union Forum (Plenario Intersindical de Trabajadores-PIT) and the National Convention of Workers (CNT).
 
Based on the main lessons learned in Uruguay, the officers suggested the following next steps: 1) Strengthening of the role of inspection and supervision of the OATIA regarding international non-governmental organizations that carry out state-funded projects or projects sponsored by international organizations; 2) Establishment of a cooperation agreement between the OATIA and the new program PROJOVEN of Costa Rica to articulate the support given to working adolescents that have participated in labor training programs; 3) Application and adoption to the Costa Rican context of the participants’ selection criteria (boleta de selección de participantes) of PROJOVEN of Uruguay, which contains specific indicators of vulnerability and enables an objective classification of potential participants; 4) To recommend the National Committee for Child Labor Eradication of Costa Rica to analyze the feasibility of including a medical report as a requirement of employers’ registration for minors; 5) To promote an association from the OATIA to the private sector with the aim of implementing projects that acknowledge childhood and adolescence, specifically child and adolescent labor, within a social responsibility framework.