Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Gambia (Ratification: 2000)

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Article 2(3) of the Convention. Compulsory education. In response to the Committee’s previous request to indicate the legal provisions which provide for compulsory schooling, the Government indicates, in its report, that a provision setting an age of completion of compulsory schooling, aligned with the minimum age for admission to employment or work, will be introduced in the framework of the revision of the current Children’s Act, 2005. Considering that the Committee has been raising this issue since 2009, the Committee requests the Government to take measures to ensure that the revision of the Children’s Act will introduce compulsory schooling up to the minimum age for admission to employment or work of 14 years, in compliance with Article 2(3) of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in this respect.

Article 6. Vocational training and apprenticeship. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes with regret the Government’s indication that sections 78 and 79 of the Labour Bill, which regulate apprenticeships, remain silent regarding the minimum age for admission to apprenticeships. This means that the issue of the minimum age for admission to apprenticeships (currently 12 years of age in the informal economy by virtue of sections 50 and 51 of the Children’s Act, 2005, and no minimum age for apprenticeships in the formal economy under the Labour Act, 2007) remains unresolved. The Government indicates that the National Steering Committee on Child Labour has made recommendations to raise, and provide for, a minimum age for apprenticeships, and that the age of admission to apprenticeship will be considered in the Labour Bill in parallel with the review of the Children’s Act, with a view to aligning the provisions of the two laws. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that a minimum age for admission to apprenticeships of at least 14 years, in both the formal and the informal economy, is established by law, in conformity with the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

Article 7. Light work. In response to the Committee’s previous request to determine the types of activities, number of hours and the conditions in which light work may be undertaken by children as of the age of 12, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the minimum age for light work will be raised to 14 years under both the Labour Bill and the Children’s Bill, and that the types of activities, number of hours and conditions under which light work may be performed, will be integrated in these two bills. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the new provisions regulating the minimum age for light work and determining the types of light work activities, the number of hours and the conditions in which light work may be undertaken by children, are adopted in the near future. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

Article 9(1). Penalties and labour inspectorate. In response to the Committee’s previous observation that that the enforcement of the law remained a challenge in the country, and its request to strengthen the labour inspectorate to ensure the detection of cases of child labour, the Committee observes with concern that, according to the statistics communicated by the Government for the first quarter of 2022, the labour inspectorate conducted only seven inspections in the greater Banjul area and 28 inspections in the rest of the country, and that it did not conduct any inspections in the second quarter of 2022. In this regard, the Government indicates that the Inspectorate Unit of the Labour Department is severely understaffed and lacks material resources, including vehicles, and cannot therefore effectively carry out routine inspections. While the ILO has supported the training and continuous capacity-building of labour inspectors, the Government states that it requires more technical assistance. While taking note of the difficulties faced by the country in this regard, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to adapt and strengthen the labour inspection services and to ensure that labour inspectors have sufficient resources and adequate training on child labour issues in order to improve their capacity to detect cases of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard and on the results achieved. It also requests the Government to continue providing information on the number and nature of violations recorded by labour inspectors in the course of their work involving children working below the minimum age for admission to employment, including those who are working on their own account or in the informal economy, and on the number and nature of penalties imposed.

The Committee encourages the Government to take its comments into consideration during the ongoing review of the Labour Act, 2007, and of the Children’s Act, 2005, and while taking measures to improve the capacity of the labour inspectorate. The Committee reminds the Government that it may avail itself of ILO technical assistance in order to bring its legislation and practice into conformity with the Convention.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.