Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

Medical Examination of Young Persons (Non-Industrial Occupations) Convention, 1946 (No. 78) - Cameroon (Ratification: 1970)

The Committee takes note of the communication of 9 September 2011 from the General Union of Workers of Cameroon (UGTC) and the Government’s report.

In its previous comments the Committee noted with regret that despite repeated promptings the Government had still not taken legislative measures to give effect to the provisions of the Convention, and expressed the firm hope that the Government would take such measures. Noting once again that the Government provides no new information in its report, the Committee can but reiterate its hope that the Government will take measures at an early date to give effect to the Convention.

Article 1 of the Convention. Scope of application. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that there were no provisions in the national legislation allowing the Convention to be applied to children and young persons working on their own account, employees and apprentices being covered by the provisions of Order No. 17 of 27 May 1969 and the Labour Code. It also noted that the Government had indicated once again that medical examinations for young persons were to be extended, inter alia, to young persons engaged in own-account activities in the informal economy and that some municipalities had done this for a category of workers. The Committee further noted comments from the UGTC to the effect that although provision was made for systematic inspections in the formal sector, no measures had been taken for young persons in the informal economy despite the efforts undertaken for young people in the context of combating HIV/AIDS. The Government said in this connection that it was very difficult to get young persons in the informal economy to undergo a medical examination for fitness for employment insofar as it was unable to exercise any control over employers in the informal sector. The Committee nonetheless noted the information sent by the Government to the effect that some young persons in the informal economy do undergo medical examinations for example unregistered street vendors operating in the sales areas made available by the public services. The Committee expressed the hope that the Government would take the necessary steps, with assistance from the ILO, to ensure the application of the Convention.

The Committee notes that in its report submitted under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), the Government provides some statistics from the National Report on Child Labour in Cameroon produced by the National Statistics Institute in cooperation with ILO–IPEC and published in December 2008. The results of this survey show that in 2007, 41 per cent of children aged from 5 to 17 years (2,441,181 children) work in Cameroon. Of these economically active 5 to 17 year-olds, 85.2 per cent are used in agriculture, fisheries, forestry and crop picking, and 4.4 per cent are affected by hazardous work. Furthermore, 79.3 per cent of the children are engaged in unpaid work as family workers. Noting once again that the provisions of the national legislation on medical examination for fitness for employment are applied only to young workers in the formal sector and reminding the Government once again that children employed on their own account are automatically covered by the Convention (Article 1(1)), the Committee once again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the Convention is applied in law and in practice to all young workers covered by the Convention, including those working in the informal sector. In view of the significant number of children who work in the informal economy, some of them on their own account, the Committee can only express once again the firm hope that, in its next report, the Government will give an account of progress made in this regard.