Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2007, published 97th ILC session (2008)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Niger (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes the Government’s report. It also notes that a Children’s Code is in the process of being adopted. It requests the Government to supply information on the progress made and to send a copy of the Code, once it has been adopted.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery and practices similar to slavery. Use of children in armed conflict. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee requests the Government once again to supply a copy of Ordinance No. 96-033 of 19 June 1996.

Clause (d). Self-employed workers. Hazardous work. The Committee previously observed that section 99 of the Labour Code states that the Code does not apply to work performed by children outside an enterprise, including work done by children on their own account. It noted the Government’s statement that this matter came within the competence of a number of ministries, especially the Ministry of Child Protection, the Ministry of the Interior and the Ministry of Justice, and that formal consultation between these ministries appears necessary to extend the protection afforded to children to those performing an economic activity outside an enterprise. Noting the lack of information in the Government’s report, the Committee expresses the hope once again that the Government will take the necessary steps to ensure that discussions on this matter are held between these ministries and requests it to supply information on the measures taken or envisaged to ensure the protection of children performing an economic activity outside an enterprise, including self-employed children, against hazardous work, in conformity with Article 3(d) of the Convention.

Article 6. Programmes of action. The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government to the effect that a national action plan to combat child labour and an action plan to combat the sexual exploitation of children have been drawn up. The Committee requests the Government to supply a copy of both these action plans and to provide information on the programmes of action established in the context of the implementation of these plans aimed at the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Street children. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Government, in its written replies to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/Q/NIG/1, page 13), stated that, according to a study conducted in 1994 in the regions of Dosso, Tahoua, Maradi and Zinder, 673 children, including 157 girls, were living on the streets in these localities, and a 1993 study revealed that more than 600 children were living on the streets in the urban community of Niamey. The Government also stated that in 2000 these figures had almost quadrupled, on account of the extreme poverty faced by the population, and only a few street children from the urban communities of Niamey, Maradi, Zinder and Konni were receiving assistance with rehabilitation from NGOs and associations, some of which are supported by the State. The Committee notes with interest that a National Committee for Combating the Phenomenon of Street Children has been established within the Ministry for the Promotion of Women and Child Protection by Order No. 09/MPF/PE of 30 April 2007. It notes that the National Committee is a forum for debate and action for combating the phenomenon of street children. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the measures taken by the National Committee to remove children under the age of 18 years from the streets and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved.