Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Egypt (Ratification: 2002)

Article 6 of the Convention. Programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. 1. National Plan of Action against Human Trafficking 2011–13. The Committee notes that the Government adopted and implemented the National Plan of Action against Human Trafficking 2011–13 (NAP-HT) with the aim to prevent human trafficking, protect and assist the victims of trafficking, ensure effective penalties for traffickers, and promote and facilitate national and international cooperation in order to meet these objectives. The Committee notes from the NAP-HT evaluation report that within the framework of this action plan: the provision of microcredit and microfinance lending programmes and grants for the most vulnerable were implemented; several training programmes and workshops were implemented for more than 260 social workers and specialists dealing with homeless and street children; more than 465 human trafficking awareness-raising seminars, including 30 seminars on “seasonal marriages” were held in the selected towns and villages where harmful cultural practices and child labour are prevalent; a manual on human trafficking was published for law enforcement bodies, teachers and social workers; and a national referral mechanism to monitor the activities for combating human trafficking was established. The Committee notes from the NAP-HT evaluation report that the National Coordinating Committee plans to continue its anti-trafficking activities within the framework of the second NAP-HT (2013–15) with special focus on trafficking in street children and homeless children. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures taken within the framework of the second NAP-HT and on the results achieved in terms of the number of children prevented or withdrawn from trafficking and who subsequently benefited from rehabilitation and social integration.

2. National Action Plan to Combat the Worst forms of Child Labour. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Labour and Manpower promulgated Ministerial Order No. 237 of 2014 for the establishment of a tripartite steering committee to formulate a national action plan to combat the worst forms of child labour. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the elaboration and adoption of the National Action Plan to combat the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the specific initiatives implemented within the context of this national action plan and its impact in terms of eliminating the worst forms of child labour.

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. The Committee previously noted the results achieved through the educational project to combat the worst forms of child labour through the rehabilitation and reintegration of working children into informal and formal education.

The Committee notes from the UNICEF statistics that the net enrolment rate in primary education for the school year 2012–13 was 93.3 per cent while the proportion of pupils completing the last grade in primary education was 82 per cent (78.7 per cent boys and 84 per cent girls). According to this report, most of the children between the ages of six to 17 years who never enrolled or who have dropped out come from poor families, live in remote rural communities or are working children. The Committee also notes that according to the findings of the 2010 National Child Labour Survey, there is a 27 per cent decline in the net enrolment rate for both boys and girls who are engaged in child labour. Considering that education contributes to preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to intensify its efforts to improve the functioning of the education system through measures aimed at increasing the school attendance rates and decreasing the drop-out rates at the primary and secondary level, particularly of children from rural communities. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged in this regard as well as on the results achieved.

Clause (e). Special situation of girls. Noting the information from the UNESCO report entitled “Global Monitoring Report – Education for All” of 2010 that 96 per cent of out-of-school children between the ages of six and 11 are female, the Committee urged the Government to strengthen its efforts to achieve gender parity with regard to education, so as to ensure equal protection for girls from the worst forms of child labour.

The Committee notes from the National Assessment Report on Education For All, prepared by the National Center for Educational Research and the Ministry of Education in June 2014 that within the girls’ education initiative programme of 2000–12, a total of 3,299 one-room schools for girls were established. These schools provide life skills training, in addition to the school curriculum. Moreover, 1,167 girl-friendly schools, which are completely free of cost for girls, were established and 339 community schools, which allocated 70 per cent of the places to female students, were established in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and UNICEF. The Committee notes, however, from the National Assessment Report that the total ratio of girls’ access to primary schools remained low at 48.26 per cent in 2012–13. In this regard, the Committee also notes that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations of 2011, expressed its concern at the significant gender, income and rural–urban gaps with respect to children who never enrolled in schools, 82 per cent of whom are girls (CRC/C/EGY/CO/3-4, paragraph 74(c). The Committee, therefore, urges the Government to strengthen its efforts through the girls’ education initiative programme, to achieve gender parity with regard to education, so as to ensure equal protection for girls from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.