Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

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

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that a new “National Plan of Action for Children
2003–10 and beyond” (NPA) had been drafted in 2004. One of the six main components of the NPA is reducing child labour. The Committee requested the Government to provide more detailed information on the implementation of the NPA and on the results attained. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, based on the priority areas identified by the NPA, it has begun to plan an awareness-raising programme concerning the problems associated with child labour, aimed at governmental and non-governmental bodies, although this programme has not yet been fully implemented. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the implementation of the NPA, as well as results achieved in terms of the elimination of child labour.

Article 2, paragraph 1. Scope of application. The Committee had previously observed that the provisions of the Labour Proclamation No. 377/2003 (Labour Proclamation) do not cover work performed outside an employment relationship. The Committee notes the Government’s acknowledgement that the labour legislation does not cover children who work on their own account, and that measures will be taken. The Committee notes the information in National Labour Force Survey of 2004–05 (NFLS), produced by the Central Statistical Agency of Ethiopia (Ministry of Finance and Economic Development), that approximately 1.57 per cent of economically active children (approximately 139,404 children between the ages of 5 and 14) are self employed. The Committee recalls that the Convention applies to all branches of economic activity and that it covers all types of employment or work, whether under a labour relationship or contract of employment or not, and whether it is remunerated or not. It therefore again requests the Government to provide information in their next report on measures taken or envisaged to ensure the application of the Convention to all types of work, including work carried out by persons under 14 years of age who work on their own account.

Article 2, paragraph 3. Age of completion of compulsory schooling. The Committee notes the information in the Government’s National Report on the Development of Education submitted to the International Conference on Education in 2008, that the third five-year Education Sector Development Program was launched in 2005, with the goal of improving educational quality, relevance and efficiency and expanding access to education with special emphasis on primary education in rural areas and the promotion of education for girls, as a step to achieving universal primary education by 2015. The Committee further notes the data in the Government’s report submitted under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), that indicates that between 2001 and 2006, drop-out rates for primary school fell from 17.2 per cent to 12.4 per cent. The Committee also notes the information in this report that, over this period, there has been an increase in enrolment at the primary, secondary and higher education levels, as well as for technical and vocational education and training.

Nonetheless, the Committee notes that the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its 1 November 2006 concluding observations, expressed serious concern that primary education in Ethiopia is still not free nor compulsory, and that net enrolment is still very low. While the CRC welcomed the improved enrolment rate in primary school, the increased budgetary allocation for education, and the improved collection of statistics regarding school attendance, it nevertheless expressed concern at the large number of school drop-out s, the charging of fees in primary education, the overcrowding of schools, the limited provisions for vocational training, the low transition rate to secondary school, the insufficient number of trained teachers and available school facilities, the absence of budgetary allocations for pre-primary schools and the poor quality of education (CRC/C/ETH/CO/3, paragraph 63). In addition, the Committee notes the information in the UNESCO report on school attendance and enrolment issued in 2007, that the net primary school enrolment rate in 2006 was 68.2 per cent, and that the secondary net enrolment rate was 32.1 per cent. Finally, the Committee notes the information in the NLFS that 36.3 per cent of children between the ages of 5 and 14 engage only in economic activity and do not attend school. The Committee is seriously concerned by the large numbers of children who, in practice, do not attend school, and in view of the fact that compulsory schooling is one of the most effective means of combating child labour, it urges the Government to take the necessary measures to set the age of completion of compulsory schooling at 14 years in the near future. The Committee also requests the Government to redouble its efforts to improve the functioning of the education system, in particular by increasing school enrolment and attendance rates among children in rural areas and among children under 14 years of age, so as to prevent the engagement of these children in child labour. Lastly, it requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

Article 3. Hazardous Work. The Committee previously observed that the section 4(1) of the decree issued by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of 2 September 1997 concerning the prohibition of work for young workers, contained a list of types of hazardous work prohibited for young workers. The Committee also noted that, pursuant to section 4(2) of this decree, this prohibition did not apply to persons who carry out such activities in the course of professional education in vocational centres. The Committee further noted that the guidelines designed to facilitate the implementation of this decree are only available in Amharic. The Committee had asked the Government to specify what measures ensured that apprentices of 14 years of age and above do not engage in the hazardous work prohibited to young workers.

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report that pursuant to section 3(2)(b) of the Labour Proclamation, apprenticeships are covered by the Labour Proclamation. Section 89(4) of the Labour Proclamation prohibits young workers (which, pursuant to section 89(1), is defined as a person who has attained the age of 14 years, but is not over the age of 18 years) from engaging in work which endangers their life or health. However, the Committee notes that pursuant to section 89(5) of the Labour Proclamation, young workers following courses in vocational schools (that are approved and inspected by the competent authority) are expressly excluded from the prohibition in section 89(4). It therefore appears that workers between the ages of 14 and 18 are not prohibited from engaging in hazardous work while they are following courses in vocational schools which have been approved and inspected by the competent authority. The Committee recalls that, under the terms of Article 3(1) of the Convention, the minimum age of admission to hazardous work shall not be less than 18 years. The Committee further recalls that the exception outlined in Article 3(3) of the Convention provides that national laws or regulations may authorize hazardous work for young persons over the age of 16 following consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, provided that their health, safety and morals are fully protected and that they have received adequate specific instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that young persons under 16 years of age following courses in vocational schools will be not be authorized to carry out hazardous work that is prohibited for young workers. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that the health, safety and morals of young persons engaged in vocational training aged 16 and 17 are fully protected, and to specify whether the employers’ and workers’ organizations have been consulted on the matter. Lastly, the Committee once again requests the Government to supply a copy of the guidelines of the abovementioned decree concerning the prohibition of work for young workers once they have been translated into one of the official languages of the ILO.

Part V of the report form. Practical application of the Convention. The Committee notes the data in the Government’s report from the 2001 National Child Labour Survey and the 2006 analysis of this data. The Committee notes that this survey indicates that 15.5 million children (84.5 per cent of the child population) were engaged in economic activities, and 12.6 million of these children (81.2 per cent) were under the age of 15. The Committee also notes the information in the NLFS that 46.4 per cent of boys in rural areas, between the ages of 5 and 14, do not attend school, and are engaged only in economic activity. The Committee notes that the CRC, in its concluding observations of 1 November 2006, expressed deep concern at the prevalence of child labour among young children including those as young as 5 and that the Government had not taken comprehensive measures to prevent and combat this large-scale economic exploitation of children (CRC/C/ETH/CO/3, paragraph 71). The Committee must express its serious concern at the large percentage of children under the age of 14 who are engaged only in economic activity and do not attend school, particularly in rural areas. It therefore urges the Government to redouble its efforts to ensure that, in practice, children under the minimum age of 14 do not work. It strongly encourages the Government to take the necessary measures in the very near future to address this issue, including the allocation of additional resources to the child labour component of the NPA. The Committee asks the Government to provide detailed information on the implementation of measures taken in this regard.