V. Response by Other Actors

Non-Governmental Organizations

A national network of 34 organizations, known as the Collectif pour l’Eradication du Travail des “Petites Bonnes,” (Collective for the Eradication of Child Domestic Labor) coordinates advocacy and other efforts to prevent child domestic labor in Morocco, to remove girls from abusive or exploitative domestic labor, and to provide them with assistance. Members of the collective, both individually and as a network, have helped raise public awareness regarding child domestic labor in the country and play a primary role in assisting child domestic workers who have experienced abuse. In practice, the most active programs to remove girls from domestic labor are run by NGOs, not by the government. Although these NGOs receive some government support, they told Human Rights Watch that it is not sufficient to meet their needs.

INSAF serves as secretariat of the collective and has five staff dedicated to its program on child domestic labor. It advocates for laws and policies to protect children from domestic work, raises awareness about the hazards of child domestic work with local communities and the media, and has provided direct support to girls by helping remove them from domestic work and return to school.

In sending areas where families have commonly sent their daughters to enter domestic work, INSAF staff work with local school administrators to identify girls who are of school age but not attending school. If INSAF determines that girls are working as domestic workers, they approach the families to discuss the possible hazards of such employment. If the parents agree to bring the daughter home and enroll her in school, INSAF will sign an agreement with the family to pay a monthly stipend, conditioned on the girl’s continued school attendance. INSAF staff conduct monthly follow-up visits with the girls and their families. Since the program began, INSAF has provided direct support to 172 former child domestic workers; 147 were receiving assistance in mid-2012.[157]

Association Bayti also, as part of its program on street children, assists former child domestic workers. The organization was established in 1995 and runs community programs for 200-300 street children in Casablanca and a shelter that hosts approximately 20 children. In the late 1990’s, it estimated that approximately 45 percent of street children in Casablanca were girls, and that of those girls, approximately 15 to 20 percent were former child domestic workers who had fled abuse.[158]  In 2000, Bayti began working actively to assist child domestic workers, in collaboration with UNICEF.

Bayti staff learn of cases of child domestic workers by knocking on doors in residential neighborhoods; from reports by concerned individuals, such as neighbors; and referrals from the general prosecutor. It educates employers regarding relevant laws and programs offered by Bayti, and encourages them to send child domestic workers to the Bayti office to participate in literacy and other programs. Staff also interview girls who come to the office to identify cases of violence or exploitation. The organization then works to reintegrate the girl with her family, or if returning her to her family is not possible or in her best interest, will host her at the Bayti shelter. It also refers cases of abuse to the general prosecutor’s office for possible criminal prosecution.

Bayti staff report that the phenomenon of child domestic labor is much better known than in previous years, but that individuals are still afraid to report cases of abuse against child domestic workers. The organization worked on twelve child domestic worker cases during the eight months between September 2011 and April 2012, the director told us.[159]

International Organizations: The ILO and UNICEF

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has been active in Morocco since 1996 and in recent years, has prioritized child domestic labor. According to ILO staff, it has conducted trainings for labor inspectors and for other government officials in child labor generally, and child domestic labor in particular. It has worked with the government to identify hazardous child labor that should be prohibited and to develop the draft domestic worker law. It has also supported programs on the ground to remove children from domestic labor and collaborated with other UN agencies and government ministries to include child domestic labor in a multi-sectoral program to fight gender violence.[160]

The ILO’s activities on child domestic work in Morocco have been cut back, however, as donor allocations to the program have dropped drastically. In 2008, ILO-IPEC expenditures in Morocco were US$1,054,000, with contributions from the United States ($851,000), Belgium ($165,000), France ($15,000), and the UN Multi-Donor Trust Fund ($23,000). [161] In 2009, total IPEC allocations for Morocco dropped to $227,000, [162] and by 2011, total allocations were only $104,000, with the UN Multi-Donor Trust Fund the only remaining donor. [163]

The cuts in the ILO program and budget in Morocco reflect overall cuts in ILO-IPEC’s budget, due to the international financial crisis, and significant reductions in funding from the United States, IPEC’s largest donor.  According to the ILO program officer, the reduction in donor funding also may reflect a perception that Morocco has made progress in reducing child labor and is less in need of continued support.[164] 

Between 2002 and 2006, UNICEF supported pilot projects in Morocco designed to eliminate child labor, including awareness-raising and programs to support non-formal education and income-generating activities for families as an alternative to child labor. In recent years, UNICEF has focused on child protection more generally, including support for legislative reforms and building the capacity of national actors. UNICEF staff in Morocco said the organization has been assisting the Ministry of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development in reviewing its national action plan for children, and strengthening child protection initiatives for the second phase of the plan, to be implemented from 2012 to 2015. [165]