2006 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor - The Republic of Montenegro

Selected Statistics and Indicators on Child Labor
Percent of children 5-14 estimated as working:Unavailable
Minimum age for admission to work:152842
Age to which education is compulsory:152843
Free public education:Yes2844*
Gross primary enrollment rate:Unavailable
Net primary enrollment rate:Unavailable
Percent of children 5-14 attending school:Unavailable
Percent of primary school entrants likely to reach grade 5:Unavailable
Ratified Convention 138:No2845
Ratified Convention 182:No2846
ILO-IPEC participating country:No2847
* Must pay for school supplies and related items.2848

Incidence and Nature of Child Labor

Children in the Republic of Montenegro can be found working on family farms. Roma children also work in the informal sector, selling small items or washing car windows.2849

Children are involved in prostitution. An estimated 15-25 percent of children in prostitution are trafficking victims.2850 Internal trafficking is reportedly on the rise.2851 Roma children are often forced to beg or to perform manual labor by their families, and are trafficked abroad for forced begging and theft rings.2852 Montenegro is also a transit country for trafficked children.2853

Child Labor Laws and Enforcement

The minimum age of employment is 15 years.2854 Children under 18 years are not permitted to work in jobs that involve particularly difficult physical work, overtime and night work, underground or underwater work, or in jobs that "may have a harmful effect on or involve increased risk for their health and lives."2855 The law provides for monetary penalties for violation of these provisions.2856

Forced labor is prohibited.2857 Montenegro abolished conscription into the military on August 30, 2006.2858 The minimum age to volunteer for the Montenegro military is 18 years.2859 The Labor Inspectorate of the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare is responsible for the enforcement of labor laws, including those protecting children from exploitation in the workplace. The Ministry has 40 inspectors covering labor issues. No evidence of child labor violations were discovered through labor investigations through November 2006.2860 The government's enforcement efforts were generally effective according to the U.S. Department of State.2861

Trafficking in persons is prohibited in Montenegro, with a maximum prison penalty of 10 years.2862 In 2006, there were eight trafficking convictions with prison sentences ranging from 2.5 to 3 years.2863 Police, prosecutors, judges and other officials were trained specifically on trafficking. However, according to the U.S. Department of State there have been reports of corruption among some police and customs officials complicit in trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. The government has not taken action against such officials.2864

Current Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor

The Government of Montenegro continued to sponsor public awareness campaigns on trafficking in 20062865 and assumed funding for a trafficking shelter in January 2006.2866


2842 U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, November 30, 2006.

2843 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Montenegro, CCNM/DEELSA/ED(2001)9, September 10, 2001, 6; available from http://www.olis.oecd.org/OLIS/2001DOC.NSF/43bb6130e5e86e5fc12569fa005d0… 00518441/$FILE/JT00112297.PDF.

2844 U.S. Department of State, "Montenegro," in Country Reports on Human Rights Practices – 2006, Washington, DC, March 6, 2007, Section 5; available from http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2006. See also Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Montenegro.

2845 ILO, Ratifications by Country, accessed April 12, 2007; available from http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/newratframeE.htm.

2846 Ibid.

2847 ILO, IPEC Action Against Child Labour: Highlights 2006 Geneva, February 2007; available from http://www.ilo.org/iloroot/public/english/standards/ipec/doc-view.cfm?i….

2848 U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, November 30, 2006.

2849 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Montenegro," Section 6d.

2850 Ibid., Section 5.

2851 Barbara Limanowska, Trafficking in Human Beings in South Eastern Europe 2004 – Focus on Prevention in: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, The Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Moldova, Romania, Serbia and Montenegro, the UN Administered Province of Kosovo UNDP, New York, March 2005, 63, 119; available from http://www.unicef.org/ceecis/Trafficking.Report.2005.pdf. See also U.S. Department of State, "Serbia and Montenegro (Tier 2 Watch List)," in Trafficking in Persons Report – 2006, Washington, DC, June 5, 2006; available from http://www.state.gov/g/tip/rls/tiprpt/2006/65987.htm. See also U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, November 30, 2006.

2852 U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, November 30, 2006. See also U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2006: Serbia and Montenegro." See also Limanowska, Trafficking in Human Beings in South Eastern Europe 2004, 64.

2853 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Montenegro," Section 5.

2854 U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, November 30, 2006.

2855 ILO, Report of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations: Individual Direct Request concerning Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) Serbia and Montenegro (ratification: 2000) Submitted: 2006 092006SCG138, Geneva, 2006; available from http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/newcountryframeE.htm.

2856 Ibid.

2857 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Montenegro," Section 6c.

2858 U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, E-mail communication to USDOL official, August 02, 2007.

2859 U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, E-mail communication to USDOL official, August 07, 2007.

2860 U.S. Embassy – Podgorica, reporting, November 30, 2006.

2861 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Montenegro," Section 6d.

2862 Ibid., Section 5.

2863 Ibid.

2864 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2006: Serbia and Montenegro."

2865 U.S. Department of State, "Country Reports – 2006: Montenegro," Section 5.

2866 U.S. Department of State, "Trafficking in Persons Report – 2006: Serbia and Montenegro."

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