Introduction to the Child Labour Conventions International Labour Standards Department

Child labour and the ILO Two fundamental child labour Conventions: Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) Complementary approach to the same objective: the elimination of child labour and its worst forms.

Consolidates and revises earlier sectoral minimum age instruments Convention No. 138 Adopted in 1973 Consolidates and revises earlier sectoral minimum age instruments Ratified by xxx countries

Minimum ages for admission to employment or work Convention No. 138 establishes various minimum ages, depending on the types of the employment or work performed: General minimum age - mandatory Higher minimum age for hazardous work - mandatory Flexibility clauses - optional

General minimum age Article 2, paragraph 1 Each Member State which ratifies Convention No. 138 shall specify, a general minimum age for admission to employment or work within its territory and on means of transport registered in its territory. Not less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and, in no case, not less than 15 years

Hazardous work Article 3 Any type of employment or work which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to jeopardise the health, safety or morals of young persons. The minimum age for admission shall not be less than 18 years. These types of hazardous work shall be determined by the competent authority, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned Examples of types of hazardous work, determined by Governments in consultation with social partners and noted by the CEACR, include the following: formal and informal mining; night work; work involving long hours; work involving the transportation of heavy loads; work with dangerous substances or chemicals; work with dangerous or heavy machinery; work in bars, escort agencies, night clubs or workplaces where alcoholic beverages are consumed or sold.

Convention No. 138: a flexible instrument Apprenticeships and vocational training Light work Artistic performances Exclusion clauses: Articles 4 and 5 of the Convention

Adopted in 1999 by the ILC unanimously Ratified by 176 countries Convention No. 182 Adopted in 1999 by the ILC unanimously Ratified by 176 countries Recommendation No. 190 concerning the prohibition and immediate action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour (1999)

Convention No. 182 Each Member State which ratifies the Convention shall take IMMEDIATE and EFFECTIVE measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of URGENCY (Article 1) For the purposes of the Convention, the term child shall apply to : all persons – boys and girls - under the age of 18 (independent of the country’s level of development) (Article 2).

Convention No. 182 Article 3 of the Convention defines the worst forms of child labour: (a) All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as: ► the sale and trafficking of children, ► debt bondage and serfdom and ► forced or compulsory labour, ► including forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; Trafficking: The CEACR has noted that trafficking for the purpose of both labour and sexual exploitation is prohibited under this Article. A country can be a country of origin of trafficked children, a country of destination, or a transit country (or all 3).

Worst forms of child labour (b) the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances; Often national legislation prohibits the procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, but not the use of a child for commercial sexual exploitation. Many Governments provide information in their reports on sexual abuse and exploitation, which is not covered by the Convention. Only commercial sexual exploitation is within the scope of the Convention. In some countries, child victims of commercial sexual exploitation are treated as offenders, and the CEACR has often noted that child prostitutes should be treated as victims and not as offenders. Possession of child pornography does not amount to the use, procuring or offering of a child under this Article.

Worst forms of child labour (c) the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in the relevant international treaties; This article includes use of a child for begging. The CEACR has distinguished 3 forms of begging, because some African countries (especially in Western Africa) insist that this is a cultural practice. Therefore, the CEACR has distinguished: Conventional begging: the form practised by indigent people. Educational begging: the form practised in Niger in accordance with the Muslim religion as a means of learning humility, for the person practising it, and compassion, for the alms-giver. Begging that uses children for purely economic ends: the form which uses children as a source of labour (despite its cultural and religious roots, this form of begging uses children for purely economic ends.

Worst forms of child labour (d) work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children – hazardous work.

Legislative measures are complemented by: Convention No. 182: a holistic approach to eliminating the worst forms of child labour Legislative measures are complemented by: National programmes of action (Article 6 of the Convention); Time-bound measures (Article 7(2) of the Convention); International cooperation (Article 8 of the Convention).

Application and enforcement of the child labour Conventions Monitoring mechanisms: Law enforcement agencies The labour inspectorate Border and immigration officials Child protection agencies