The First Lady, Mrs Dominique Ouattara, exchanged views with Mrs Thea Lee, Deputy undersecretary for International Affairs at the United States Department of Labor (USDOL) during a high-level meeting on the fight against child labor.

The First Lady, Mrs Dominique Ouattara, exchanged views with Mrs Thea Lee, Deputy undersecretary for International Affairs at the United States Department of Labor (USDOL), on Tuesday October 22, 2024 in Cocody, during a high-level meeting on the fight against child labor.

The meeting witnessed the participation of Mrs Mariatou Koné, Minister of National Education and Literacy, Mrs Nassénéba Touré, Minister of Women, Family and Children and Vice-Chair of the Inter-Ministerial Committee for the Fight against Child Trafficking, Exploitation and Labor (CIM), as well as representatives of the United Nations and leaders of the cocoa industry, to discuss the USDOL Report 2023 on the fight against child labor.

First Lady Dominique Ouattara recalled that since the inception of the CNS and the CIM, these bodies have carried out actions such as vast campaigns of communication and sensitization of the people throughout the country, the reinforcement of the capacities of the actors, the construction of classrooms with the aim of improving the access of children to education, stepping up efforts to protect victims, prosecute and punish offenders and deploy the Child Labor Monitoring System in Côte d’Ivoire (SOSTECI) to cover the entire country.  All these actions have enabled the country to be regularly ranked in the USDOL Report as one of the countries making significant progress. “All these actions have earned us a regular ranking, since 2013, in the USDOL Report, among the countries making progress in the fight against child labor,” Mrs Dominique Ouattara recalled.

However, the 2023 Report made important recommendations to Côte d’Ivoire in the areas of education, social protection, prevention and child protection, with a view to achieving the definitive eradication of child labor. On the subject of education, the First Lady was keen to point out that two factors should be taken into account to explain the lack of schools. These include the law on compulsory schooling for children aged 6 to 16 since 2015 and the large migratory flow the country has to deal with due to security crises in neighboring countries. “This has led to massive enrolment of pupils in schools throughout the country, leading to the construction of several schools to meet the growing demand,” explained Mrs Dominique Ouattara.

With regard to social protection and the problem of increasing the number of labor inspectors, the wife of the Head of State pointed out that the Minister of Employment and Social Protection was working to adress the situation by specially recruiting new agents. As for the increase in the number of criminal police brigades in charge of combating child labor and juvenile delinquency, the First Lady stressed that this issue has been taken into account by the creation of six (6) branches equipped with vehicles and intervention equipment across the country. “Of course, we will continue to advocate for an increase in the number of these brigades, in order to combat child trafficking and child labor more effectively in Côte d’Ivoire,” said Mrs Dominique Ouattara.

 First Lady’s leadership praised

Ms. Thea Lee, Deputy undersecretary for International Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor, thanked the First Lady for her leadership in the fight against child labor.                  Ms. Thea Lee dwelt on the need for Ghana and Côte d’Ivoire to improve their fight against child labor. She reassured both countries of USDOL’s support in the fight against this scourge.

The various sectors highlighted by the USDOL Report

Mrs. Mariatou Koné, Minister of Education and Literacy, Mrs. Nassénéba Touré, Minister of Women and Children, and Commissioner Zaka Luc, Head of anti-trafficking unit, presented the efforts of their respective departments.

Mrs Nassénéba Touré, Minister for Women, the Family and Children, presented the 2023-2025 strategic plan, which focuses on improving working conditions in the agricultural and informal trade sectors. The plan strengthens the powers of labor inspectors, enabling them to directly issue penalities to child traffickers.  

Mrs Mariatou Koné, Minister of National Education and Literacy, highlighted the efforts made in the education sector. Since 2011, the country has built 95,428 classrooms, almost doubling its capacity. In addition, more than 69,000 teachers have been recruited between 2021 and 2023, and specific programs have been set up to get children into school in rural areas, including those affected by cocoa production. She also addressed the challenges of free schooling and the importance of girls’ education, which has seen a significant jump in the enrolment rate from 74.4% in 2011 to 104.4% in 2024.

Mr. Zaka Luc, head of the anti-trafficking unit explained that these brigades, located in Soubré, San-Pedro, Bondoukou, Bouaké, Korhogo and Man, have been operational since 2020 under the leadership of the President of the CNS. They are fully resourced and carry out daily patrols in the areas where they are deployed. In 2022, these units rescued 2,115 victims and made 602 arrests, including 1,584 child victims of trafficking and 302 people arrested. In 2023, they rescued 3,057 victims of child abuse and arrested 1,957 people. In terms of child trafficking, 1,857 victims were rescued and 603 arrests were made. These initiatives have helped to reduce the exploitation of children, although vigilance is still required.

It should be noted that discussions on the new framework for action of the Annual Meeting of the Child Labor Coordination Group (CLCCG) took place after this exchange meeting.