Worst Forms of Child Labour Report 2005
Bolivia

MEET A CHILD
Juan, age 12, lives on the streets of La Paz. He sells Bolivian nuts and coke by the day. He is not afraid of the street but he is afraid of the police who keep hitting children from time to time. He and his friends sleep by the river "El Rio", the second dirtiest river in the world. They sleep there because police don't search there and the river keeps them warm.
TOTAL POPULATION              8,766,000
CHILD POPULATION               3,418,740

Population Reference Bureau -2004

   

TOTAL CHILD LABOUR

As per UNICEF, 21% of children aged 5-14 were involved in child labour

 

State of World's Children 2004.
   

ECONOMICALLY ACTIVE POPULATION

For the year 2010, there are estimated to be 4,410,000 economically active people. 62,000 children aged 10-14 or 5.3% of children in this age group are estimated to be economically active.

 

ILO, Bureau of Statistics, Economically Active Population
   
GENDER RATIO

1020 females for 1000 males

 

CIA, factbook-2005 (Fig is an estimate for 2005)
   

CHILDREN OUT OF SCHOOL

In 2001, 76,200 children in the primary school age group of 6-11 were out of school

 

UNESCO's EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005
   

PROGRESS ON PRIMARY EDUCATION MDG

With an EDI of 0.882, the country's progress towards achieving education for all is medium

 

UNESCO's EFA Global Monitoring Report 2005
   

CHILD SLAVERY

Bolivian workers have been trafficked to sweatshops in Argentina and Brazil, and to Chile for involuntary servitude.

 

US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 2005
Forced prostitution, sexual abuse, and commercial sexual exploitation are reported to be common among Bolivia’s street children. In a recent study, UNICEF concluded that the incidence of Commercial Sexual Exploitation has substantially increased over the last years, due to the socioeconomic crisis facing the country. ECPAT CSEC Database,
http://www.ecpat.net/eng/
Ecpat_inter/projects/monitoring/
online_database/index.asp
There were reports of children trafficked for forced labor to neighboring countries. US Dept. of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices- 2004, February 2005
   
CHILD TRAFFICKING

Bolivia is a source and transit country for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and sexual exploitation to neighboring South American countries, through Spain to Western Europe, and to Japan and the United States.

 

US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 2005
   

CHILD PROSTITUTION & PRONOGRAPHY

Children are trafficked internally for sexual exploitation, and forced mining and agricultural labor.

US Dept. of State, Trafficking in Persons Report 2005
   
CHILDREN USED IN CRIME

Narcotics traffickers used children to transport drugs.

 
   
CHILD SOLDIERS

The government acknowledged that 14 year olds may have been forcibly conscripted during organized sweeps. And Sixteen-year-old students doing voluntary premilitary service were considered members of the armed forces.

 

CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers, 2004
Under the Law on National Defence Service, a voluntary premilitary service (servicio premilitar) coexists alongside compulsory military service.8 Boys and girls aged between 15 and 19 years of age, who have completed three years of secondary schooling, may volunteer for training in combat, national defence, and disaster and emergency relief operation. CSUCS, Global Report on Child Soldiers, 2004
   

CHILD LABOUR IN UNORGANISED SECTOR

Urban children sold goods, shined shoes, and assisted transport operators and rural children often worked with parents from an early age, generally in subsistence agriculture.

 

US Dept. of State, Country Reports on Human Rights Practices- 2004, February 2005
Back to Country Page