AFRICA - House Foreign Affairs Committee Democrats

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conditions, including the lack of sanitation facilities. They returned to work after
the management agreed to address their concerns.
On August 9, casual laborers, mostly cane cutters, went on strike at a sugar plantation
in Masindi District at Kinyara to protest high taxes withheld by the company
and the failure of the Masindi District Administration to produce tax receipts. The
strike lasted 1 week and resulted in the death of one worker, who was shot when
police fired into the crowd to stop strikers from setting sugar cane fields on fire.
On August 15, the Government ended the strike and agreed to resolve the grievance.
There were no developments in the 2000 case of Sam Lyomoki, General Secretary
of the Uganda Medical Union, or the 2000 case in which 21 workers were dismissed
at the Nytil Picfare textile factory.
There were no export processing zones (EPZs); however, the Ministry of Finance
and the Uganda Investment Authority prepared legal documentation for Parliament
to create such zones.
c. Prohibition of Forced or Bonded Labor.—The law prohibits forced or bonded
labor, including by children; however, a lack of resources prevented the Government
from enforcing this prohibition effectively in practice. There was strong evidence
that prison officials hired out prisoners to work on private farms and construction
sites, where often they were overworked. Throughout the country, prison officials
routinely supplemented their meager wages with crops grown by prisoners on the
prison grounds (see Section 1.c.). Male prisoners performed arduous physical labor
while female prisoners produced marketable handicrafts such as woven basketry.
Juvenile prisoners performed manual labor, often 12 hours per day. Compensation,
when paid, generally was very low; however, the law requires that pretrial detainees
receive back pay for all work that they performed once they are released.
There were reports that the UPDF used children to help find LRA landmines,
camps, and arms caches (see Section 1.d.).
The LRA often forced abducted children into virtual slavery as guards, laborers,
soldiers, and sex slaves (see Section 1.b.).
d. Status of Child Labor Practices and Minimum Age for Employment.—The law
prohibits employers from hiring workers below the age of 18; however, child labor
was common, especially in the informal sector. The Ministry of Gender, Labor, and
Social Development enforced the law on child labor; however, financial constraints
limited its enforcement. Demographics contributed to the problem of child labor; half
of the population was under 15 years of age. Many children left school and went
into agricultural or domestic work in order to help meet expenses or perform the
work of absent or infirm parents, a situation common throughout the country (see
Section 5). The problem was acute particularly among the large orphan population.
In urban areas, children sold small items on the streets, were involved in the commercial
sex industry (particularly in border towns and in Kampala), or begged for
money. Adults did most tea harvesting; however, some children were employed in
this sector as well.
It was estimated that 60 percent of all land-based trade in the country was informal.
Smuggling was one of the larger informal industries and employed large numbers
of child laborers at the borders with Kenya and Tanzania. Children walked
back and forth across the unguarded borders, transporting small amounts of fuel,
sugar, coffee, or other commodities.
The Government made efforts to decrease the incidence of child labor during the
year. On August 13, the Government signed an agreement with the ILO to continue
the 1998 International Program for the Elimination of Child Labor (IPEC). Under
the program, approximately 2,600 children were identified and withdrawn from hazardous
work and were provided with alternatives, such as returning to school or
taking vocational training. Government officials acknowledged that for the IPEC to
be implemented, continued judicial and law enforcement reforms were needed and
held several awareness-training workshops for officials charged with enforcing child
labor laws during the year. In September there was a nationwide program to educate
the public regarding child labor practices. Several human rights NGOs also
continued programs during the year aimed at removing children from hazardous
work.
In 2001 the Government ratified ILO Convention 182 on the Worst Forms of Child
Labor and incorporated its provisions into the draft Employment Bill 2000 to comply
with international standards; however, the law was not passed by year’s end.
The law prohibits forced and bonded labor by children; however, a lack of resources
prevented the Government from enforcing this prohibition effectively (see
Section 6.c.).
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