The following comes from the 2000 US State Department report on human rights conditions in the Ivory Coast. To read the whole report, click here (PDF 100kb) or visit the State Department website.

US Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor
February 23, 2001

c. Prohibition of Forced or Compulsory Labor

Forced labor is prohibited by law; however, the International Labor Organization's Committee of Experts in its 1996 annual report questioned a decree that places certain categories of prisoners at the disposal of private enterprises for work assignments without their apparent consent. Legislation exists allowing inmates to work outside of prison walls; however, because of a lack of funds to hire warden guards to supervise the inmates, the law often is not invoked. In April the NGO Doctors without Borders funded a project in which inmates where hired to improve the sanitation system in their prison. Although it did not finance the project, the Government did permit the prisoners to receive a salary for their work.

The law prohibits forced and bonded child labor; however, the Government did not acknowledge the problem until recently and does not enforce this prohibition effectively (see Section 6.d.). Children regularly are trafficked into the country from neighboring countries and sold into forced labor (see Section 6.f.).

d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment

In most instances, the legal minimum working age is 14; however, the Ministry of Employment and Civil Service enforces this provision effectively only in the civil service and in large multinational companies. Labor law limits the hours of young workers, defined as those under the age of 18. However, children often work on family farms, and some children routinely act as vendors, shoe shiners, errand boys, car watchers, and washers of car windows in the informal sector in cities. There are reliable reports of some use of children in "sweatshop" conditions in small workshops. Children also work in family-operated artisanal gold and diamond mines. Primary education is mandatory but far from universally enforced, particularly in rural areas (see Section 5). Since 1998 the Government has tried to develop special technical and vocational programs for those expelled from school at an early age. Some technical and vocational programs began operations in March and April; at year's end, it was not clear if they would be successful.

Although the Government prohibits forced and bonded child labor, it does not enforce this prohibition effectively. Children regularly are trafficked into the country from neighboring countries and sold into forced labor. There was widespread abuse of foreign children for forced labor on agricultural plantations (see Section 6.f.). e. Acceptable Conditions of Work

The Government administratively determines monthly minimum wage rates, which last were adjusted in 1996. President Gbagbo promised an overall pay raise, as did General Guei; however, no such raises had been granted by year's end. A slightly higher minimum wage rate applies for construction workers. The Government enforces the minimum wage rates only for salaried workers employed by the Government or registered with the social security office. Minimum wages vary according to occupation, with the lowest set at approximately $52 (36,607 FCFA) per month for the industrial sector, which is insufficient to provide a decent standard of living for a worker and family. The majority of the labor force works in agriculture or in the informal sector where the minimum wage does not apply. According to a Labor Ministry survey, workers in the agricultural and fishing sector receive an average of $1040 (726,453 FCFA) a year.

Through the Ministry of Employment and the Civil Service, the Government enforces a comprehensive Labor Code that governs the terms and conditions of service for wage earners and salaried workers and provides for occupational safety and health standards. Those employed in the formal sector generally are protected against unjust compensation, excessive hours, and arbitrary discharge from employment. The standard legal workweek is 40 hours. The law requires overtime payment on a graduated scale for additional hours. The Labor Code provides for at least one 24-hour rest period per week.

Government labor inspectors can order employers to improve substandard conditions, and a labor court can levy fines if the employer fails to comply with the Labor Code. However, in the large informal sector of the economy involving both urban and rural workers, the Government's occupational health and safety regulations are enforced erratically, if at all. The practice of labor inspectors accepting bribes is a growing problem, and observers believe that it is widespread. Workers in the formal sector have the right under the Labor Code to remove themselves from dangerous work situations without jeopardy to continued employment by utilizing the Ministry of Labor's inspection system to document dangerous working conditions. However, workers in the informal sector ordinarily cannot remove themselves from such labor without risking the loss of their employment.

Labor federations such as Dignite are working to provide some relief to workers when companies fail to meet minimum salary requirements. For example, the sanitary services company ASH continues to pay wages as low as $15.50 (12,000 FCFA) a month to female employees who work sweeping the streets of Abidjan. According to Dignite, labor inspectors continue to ignore this clear violation of the law. The shipbuilding company Carena discriminates between European engineers who are paid $11,400 (8 million FCFA) a month, compared with their African colleagues who receive $114 (80,000 FCFA) a month. Government labor and employment authorities have not responded to these problems.

f. Trafficking in Persons

The law does not prohibit trafficking in persons, and there were credible reports that it occurs. Since the mid 1990's, media reports have exposed the widespread practice of importing and indenturing Malian boys for field work on Ivoirian plantations under abusive conditions. For example, children recruited by Malians in the border town of Sikasso are promised easy and lucrative jobs in Cote d'Ivoire, transported across the border, and then sold to other Malians who disperse them throughout the plantations of the central region. These children are forced to work under grueling conditions in the fields and locked at night in crowded sheds, with their clothing confiscated. The Governments of Mali and Cote d'Ivoire confirmed these reports in a joint February press conference with UNICEF. The Government of Mali and UNICEF took steps to halt this trafficking and repatriate the children in Mali; more than 270 Malian children were returned to their families during the year. The extent of this practice is difficult to estimate because many Malian adults also worked on Ivoirian plantations in the same area under difficult conditions.

On February 18, Ivoirian authorities working with the Malian Consul in Bouake repatriated 19 Malian men and children who were working as forced labor on a plantation in the western region of Bangolo. The youngest was 13 years-of-age, although 14 of them were under the age of 20. The police filed criminal charges against the farm owner and the traffickers in February, but at year's end, their trial had not begun.

In August the Governments of Cote d'Ivoire and Mali signed the Bouake agreement, which recognized the need to be more active in repatriating Malian children from Cote d'Ivoire. It is estimated that some 15,000 Malian children work on Ivoirian cocoa and coffee plantations. Many are under 12 years-of-age, sold into indentured servitude for $140 (100,000 FCFA), and work 12-hour days for $135 to $189 (95,000 to 125,000 FCFA) per year. In September authorities intercepted 26 young Malian children and 13 suspected traffickers led by Somboro Moussa on their way to Bouake; the children were repatriated in mid-September. During the year, more than 270 Malian children have been repatriated from Cote d'Ivoire; however, despite the Bouake accord, child trafficking remained a problem. In November the Minister of Employment announced that it plans to continue working with Malian authorities to repatriate child laborers.

Children also are trafficked into the country from countries other than Mali. During the year, there were reports of children, some as young as 6 years-of-age, coming from Benin to work as agricultural laborers and maids. Burkina Faso, Ghana, and Togo are other sources of child labor. The Government discussed a labor agreement with the Government of Togo but had not signed an accord by year's end.