Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Nepal (Ratification: 1997)

Article 8 of the Convention. Artistic performances. The Committee previously noted that section 6 of the Child Labour Act of 2000 stipulates that “an educational institution or any other lawfully established institution for the protection of the rights and interests of children, unlike any other establishment, does not require to obtain approval from the labour office for engaging children in activities or cultural programmes organized in the larger interests of children”. It noted the Government’s indication that such performances are of a short duration and are carried out by agencies which are sensitive to the rights of children. It further noted the Government’s indication that no effort had been made to issue permits on a case-by-case basis and to regulate working hours and conditions, but that this would be discussed with workers’ and employers’ organizations in future.

The Committee once again notes an absence of information on this point in the Government’s report. In this regard, the Committee recalls that Article 8 of the Convention allows exceptions to the specified minimum age of admission to employment or work for such purposes as participation in artistic performances only by permits granted by the competent authority in individual cases. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on whether, in practice, children under the age of 14 participate in artistic performances. If so, the Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that children under 14 years of age who participate in artistic performances do so only on the basis of individual permits granted by the competent authority, which limit the number of hours of, and prescribe the conditions for, such authorized work, in conformity with Article 8 of the Convention.