Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Egypt (Ratification: 1999)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy on the effective abolition of child labour. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that awareness campaigns were conducted in undertakings, and workshops in particular, on the prohibition of engaging children under the legal age for admission to employment. The Government also indicates that programmes are broadcast on several radio stations for the purpose of raising awareness on the issue of child labour. In this regard, an agreement was reached between the Government and the radio of southern Sinai to broadcast a five‑minute daily programme on child labour. The Committee further notes the Government’s information that a Protocol was prepared between the Department of Manpower and Migration in Alexandria and the Network on the Elimination of Child Labour, which includes ten non-governmental organizations working in this field and some executive bodies in the governorate of Alexandria, so as to prepare and implement a plan for the coordination of such bodies to eliminate the employment of children who have not reached the legal age of admission to employment or work. Finally, the Committee notes that, according to information made available by UNICEF, the Government has drafted a national strategy to combat child labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in the adoption of the draft national strategy to combat child labour and to provide a copy of it as soon as it is adopted. It also requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved through the implementation of these measures on the prevention and elimination of child labour.

Article 2, paragraph 1. Minimum age for admission to employment or work. The Committee had previously noted that Labour Code No. 12 of 2003 (Labour Code) in section 99 of Chapter 3, Part VI, provides that the employment of female or male children shall be prohibited until they complete their basic education, or have reached the age of 14, whichever is higher. The Committee notes the Government’s information that Child Law Act No. 12 of 1996 (Child Law), which provided for the prohibition of the employment or work for children under 14 years of age, was amended to prohibit the employment of children under the age of 15. However, the Committee observes that both Law No. 126 of 2008 on Amending Provisions of the Child Law, Penal Code and Civil Status, as well as the text of the Child Law dated October 2008, provide that children shall not be employed for work before attaining “fourteen complete calendar years of age”, which is the age that was specified by the Government at the time of ratification.

Part III of the report form. Labour inspection. The Committee had previously noted that, in its concluding observations, the Committee on the Rights of the Child noted that 80 per cent of child labour is reportedly concentrated in the agricultural sector and that “many of these children work long hours in dusty environments, without masks or respirators, receiving little or no training on safety precautions for work with toxic pesticides and herbicides” (CRC/C/15/Add.145, paragraph 49, of 21 February 2000). The Committee had requested the Government to indicate in what manner it is ensured that children who work in pure cultivation work in the agricultural sector, which is one of the categories of work excluded by the Government at the time of ratification, are protected from carrying out work which is likely to jeopardize their health, safety or morals.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that, this year, inspections were carried out in 41,618 undertakings that employ children, during which the number of children reached was 39,251. As a result, 9,083 undertakings were given warnings to remedy violations with regard to child labour, and 548 minutes were prepared for the violations detected. The Committee also notes that, according to a 2007 report on findings on the worst forms of child labour in Egypt, available on the High Commissioner for Refugees web site (www.unhcr.org), a separate unit within the Ministry of Manpower and Migration (MOMM) is responsible for child labour investigations in the agricultural sector. In this regard, it notes the Government’s information, in its report under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), that inspections are conducted on commercial plantations with a large agricultural production and child labour inspectors endeavour to enforce the legislation regarding children working in agriculture. As a result, the MOMM reported that its 2,000 labour inspectors issued 72,000 citation violations between 2006 and the first nine months of 2007. While observing the number of inspections that were carried out concerning children working in the agricultural sector, the Committee notes that no information is contained in the inspection reports, communicated to the Office along with the Government’s report under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81), with regard to such children. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide information on the violations, including violations of the prohibition of hazardous work, detected by labour inspectors with regard to children working in the agricultural sector.

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee had previously noted that, according to the report of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions, now the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), for the World Trade Organization General Council on the trade policies of Egypt of 26 and 28 July 2005, entitled “Internationally recognized core labour standards in Egypt”, 6 per cent of children aged 5–14 are involved in labour activities, 78 per cent of whom are in the agricultural sector. In the rural sector, children are employed in commercial as well as subsistence agriculture. Moreover, children often work in repair and craft shops, in heavier industries such as brick making and textiles, and as workers in leather and carpet-making factories. The ITUC adds that, even if the fines that child offenders have to pay in child labour cases were increased, there is still clear evidence of employers who abuse, overwork and many times endanger many child workers. The ITUC concludes that child labour is employed extensively in Egypt, in both the rural and the urban sectors and, despite recent legislative improvements combined with some governmental programmes to tackle this issue, it remains a serious case for concern and further improvements are needed both in law and in practice. The Committee further notes that, according to the 2007 report on findings on the worst forms of child labour in Egypt on the High Commissioner for Refugees web site (www.unhcr.org), children work in a number of other hazardous sectors, including fishing, glassworks, blacksmithing, working metal and copper, construction, carpentry, mining and quarrying. Once again expressing serious concern at the situation of children working in Egypt, the Committee urges the Government to redouble its efforts to combat child labour. It also requests the Government to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice, including statistical data on the employment of children and young persons, extracts of inspection reports, as well as the number and nature of contraventions reported and penalties imposed.