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Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Cabo Verde (RATIFICATION: 2001)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). Slavery or practices similar to slavery. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee previously noted that section 149 of the Penal Code makes it a criminal offence to procure, transport, accommodate or receive a child under 16 years of age for the purposes of prostitution in a foreign country. It urged the Government to take the necessary measures to bring its legislation into conformity with Article 3(a) of the Convention by ensuring that the sale and trafficking of children is prohibited for all persons under 18 years of age.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Penal Code has been revised in order to criminalize the offences relating to the sale and trafficking of children. According to the Government’s report, section 271A of the revised Penal Code states that any person who provides, transfers, entices, accepts, transports, harbours or receives another person, including a minor, for purposes of sexual or labour exploitation shall be punished with imprisonment for a term of four to ten years. The Committee requests the Government to indicate whether the term “minor” as used under section 271A of the Penal Code includes children and young persons under the age of 18 years. It also requests the Government to provide information on the application of section 271A, in practice, including, for example, statistics on the number and nature of offences reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions imposed with regard to the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the revised Penal Code.

Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances. The Committee previously noted that the Penal Code established penalties for encouraging or facilitating the prostitution of children under 16 years of age (section 148) and the use of a child under 14 years of age in pornographic performances (section 150). The Committee requested the Government to take the necessary measures to bring its legislation into conformity with Article 3(b) of the Convention in order to ensure that the use, procuring or offering of children for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances is prohibited for young persons under 18 years of age.

The Committee notes the absence of information in the Government’s report on this point. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to harmonize the provisions of the Penal Code with this Convention in order to ensure the prohibition on the use, procuring or offering of children under the age of 18 years for prostitution and for the production of pornography and pornographic performances.

Clause (d). Hazardous work. The Committee previously observed that by virtue of section 2 of the Labour Code, its provisions did not apply to children under 18 years of age who engage in hazardous work outside an employment relationship. It noted the Government’s information that this was a grey area which was not regulated by law and needed to be regulated. Noting the absence of information in the Government’s report in this regard, the Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that children under 18 years who do not work under an employment relationship benefit from the protection afforded by Article 3(d) of the Convention from being employed in work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is liable to harm their health, safety or morals. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

Article 4(1) and (2). Determination of hazardous types of work. With regard to the adoption of the list of hazardous types of work prohibited to children under 18 years of age, the Committee refers to its comments under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138). The Committee also draws the Government’s attention to Article 4(1) of this Convention, according to which the types of work referred to under Article 3(d) must be determined by national laws or regulations or by the competent authority, taking into consideration relevant international standards, in particular Paragraph 3 of Recommendation No. 190.

Article 6. Programmes of action. National Action Plan for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour, 2014 (PANPETI). The Committee notes from the Government’s report that PANPETI-2014 provides for a set of actions to eliminate child labour which are being implemented and which focuses on: (a) communication and awareness raising; (b) prevention, protection and rehabilitation; (c) capacity building for national institutions; (d) strengthening international cooperation; (e) legislative reforms; and (f) monitoring and inspection. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures taken within the framework of the PANPETI-2014 on eliminating the worst forms of child labour. It also requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that there exists a well-established framework to manage public education policies for the purpose of eliminating child labour in Cabo Verde. These include: (i) the national school meals programme which provides free daily meals to almost 90,000 children; (ii) the national school health programme which complements the health measures in schools with the aim of reducing the prevalence of diseases in the community at large and reduces risk behaviour; (iii) the “education for all” project aimed at supporting the education system by extending special educational services to improve attendance at school and strengthening the inclusion process of students with special needs; and (iv) the illiteracy and numeracy programme which seeks to improve the quality of education. Moreover, the Cabo Verdean Foundation for Social and Educational Action has initiated the distribution of school kits for primary- and secondary-school children as well as payment of school fees, school accommodation and transport. The Committee notes with interest that according to the UNESCO Institute of Statistics, the net enrolment rate for the primary level in 2013 was 98.1 per cent (96.8 per cent female and 99.3 per cent male) and for the secondary level it was 69.9 per cent (74.6 per cent female and 65.3 per cent male). The Committee requests the Government to continue taking measures to improve the functioning of the education system, in particular to increase the school enrolment, attendance and completion rates at the secondary level. It also requests the Government to provide updated statistical data disaggregated by sex on school attendance and drop-out rates.

Clause (d). Identifying children at special risk. Street children. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes that section 65(2) of the newly adopted Children and Young Persons Act of 2013 prohibits children and young persons under the age of 15 years from working on the streets whether on their own initiative or that of their parents, guardians or third parties. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that the Cabo Verdan Institute for Children and Young Persons (ICCA) has been implementing various programmes and projects in particular: (a) the project to support children at risk and their families which provides educational and vocational training programmes to children; (b) the “dial to report” project which provides a free helpline; (c) emergency child-assistance centres in Praia and Mindelo whose primary aim is to provide care and protection to neglected, abandoned and abused children (these centres dealt with a total of 1,781 emergency cases of children and adolescents in high-risk situations from 2013 to 2014); (d) the foster family programme which seeks to keep children in families (currently 70 foster families are participating in this programme); (e) the social services programme through which 2,699 children benefited from 2013 to the first half of 2014; and (f) the social protection and reintegration programme within which five social protection and reintegration centres were developed and are currently operating in full capacity. Moreover, the ICCA is also implementing the Nôs Kaza projects namely “Children off the streets and into schools”. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to remove children from the streets and provide for their rehabilitation and social integration, and to provide information on the number of children removed from the streets and given education and assistance pursuant to programmes implemented by the ICCA.