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

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

Article 4(1) and (3) of the Convention. Determination and periodical examination of hazardous types of work. The Committee notes with interest that Agreement No. 241, published in the Official Gazette in August 2011, establishes a detailed list of the hazardous types of work that are prohibited for children and young persons under 18 years of age, which covers 29 different fields of activity.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. Labour inspection. The Committee previously noted that an ILO project for the modernization of labour inspection services is currently being implemented in the country and that one of the aspects of the project relates to child labour. It requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken as part of the project to improve the labour inspection system with regard to the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.

The Committee notes with interest the information provided by the Government according to which the General Directorate of Labour Inspection has increased the capacity of its staff with a view to attaining a total of 208 labour inspectors by 2010, compared with 21 in 2006. It also notes that the working hours of inspectors have been modified so that their working day begins at the time when the probability of detecting cases of child labour is the highest, particularly in the agricultural sector. It notes that, according to the information contained in the final ILO/IPEC report of March 2010 on the implementation of Phase II of the Time-bound Programme (TBP) (final ILO–IPEC report), an employee has been designated as a focal point in all the departmental and regional offices of the Ministry of Labour, and has been entrusted with coordinating activities in the field relating to child labour and reporting to the Child Labour Elimination Unit of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare. In addition, 2,857 specific inspections were carried out during the implementation of Phase II of the TBP (between October 2006 and December 2009) in sugar-cane and coffee plantations, the fireworks industry and the fishing sector.

Child labour monitoring and control system. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the new child labour monitoring and control software (SVYSTI) has been designed on the basis of the pilot child labour monitoring and control system created as part of the implementation of Phase II of the TBP. This system allows for the active participation of the community through local or community monitoring committees so that child labour monitoring at the community level is supported by a referral system creating links with the competent services and children removed from child labour. This system can also be used to follow the development of children removed from child labour so as to prevent them returning to their previous situation. The Committee also notes that the SVYSTI software is currently being redesigned to improve the utilization of the information compiled. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the establishment of the child labour monitoring and control system (SVYSTI) at the national level.

Article 6. Programmes of action. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes that, in collaboration with ILO–IPEC, the Government prepared a roadmap to free El Salvador from child labour and its worst forms. The roadmap constitutes a national strategic framework based on the achievement of the objectives set out in Decent work in the Americas: An agenda for the hemisphere, namely the elimination of the worst forms of child labour by 2015 and the eradication of child labour in all its forms by 2020. The strategic framework set out in the roadmap covers six dimensions: (i) combating poverty; (ii) health; (iii) education; (iv) comprehensive protection of rights and the legal and institutional framework; (v) awareness-raising and social mobilization; and (vi) knowledge generation and follow up. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted as part of the implementation of the roadmap with a view to the elimination of the worst forms of child labour by 2015.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and removing them from such labour. Implementation of the TBP. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the results achieved following the implementation of Phase II of the TBP. It notes that, according to the ILO–IPEC final report, 3,249 children were removed from child labour and enrolled in an educational programme supported by the project between October 2006 and December 2009. The great majority (80 per cent) completed the educational programme. Furthermore, 120 children entered the apprenticeship programme, which was completed by 95 per cent of them. With regard to prevention, some 9,555 children were prevented from working and enrolled in an educational programme supported by the project. Moreover, 746 families benefited from services to promote alternative income-generation opportunities. The Committee notes that the TBP ended in December 2009. Noting that Phase II of the TBP has been completed, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the time-bound measures adopted or envisaged, particularly as part of the implementation of the roadmap, to prevent children from becoming victims of the worst forms of child labour and for the provision of the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for their removal from the worst forms of child labour and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. In this respect, it requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved in terms of the number of children who in practice have been prevented from being engaged or removed from the worst forms of child labour and who have benefited from integration measures.

Article 8. International cooperation and assistance. Poverty reduction. In its previous comments, the Committee took due note of the information on the measures adopted in the context of the “Solidarity Network” programme relation for poverty reduction. It noted in particular that, between October 2005 and December 2007, a total of 48,659 families resident in 47 poor municipalities in the country benefited from the programme. It was also envisaged in 2008 that the programme would be implemented in 77 poor or extremely poor municipalities.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that the solidarity and opportunities network programme ended in 2009. It notes that a new cash transfer programme “Solidarity for Urban and Rural Communities” has been launched. The objectives of the programme include the integration of children into the school system and the provision of health care to them. The Committee also notes that combating poverty is one of the objectives of the roadmap to free El Salvador from child labour and its worst forms, prepared by the Government of El Salvador. According to the framework document determining the strategic context of the roadmap, 40 per cent of the population of El Salvador was poor in 2007, with 15.6 per cent living below the poverty line. In this respect, the Committee observes that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations of 17 February 2010 on the third and fourth periodic reports on El Salvador (CRC/C/SLV/CO/3-4, paragraph 66), noted with concern that, although poverty has been decreasing, six out of ten children still live in poverty and that disparities between urban and rural areas remain substantial. Considering that poverty reduction programmes contribute to breaking the cycle of poverty, which is essential for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, the Committee strongly encourages the Government to continue its efforts in this regard and requests it to provide information on the results achieved following the programme “Solidarity for Urban and Rural Communities”, as well as on the tangible measures adopted in the context of the roadmap to combat child poverty.