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

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

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to indicate the manner in which effect is given in practice to sections 256 and 257 of the Penal Code and sections 593 to 604 of the Code of Criminal Procedure, which prohibit and punish the use, procuring or offering of a minor under 21 years of age for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it will provide the requested information as soon as it is available. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that specific information on the application in practice of sections 256 and 257 of the Penal Code and sections 593 to 604 of the Code of Penal Procedure are available and to provide statistics on the number and nature of the violations reported, investigations, prosecutions and convictions.

Article 6. Programmes of action. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the ILO/UNICEF interagency project to improve the conditions of children at risk in Senegal is currently being implemented. According to the Government, the project is implemented through the development of strategies focusing on direct and indirect programmes of action. The direct action is intended to provide services which directly benefit child victims, such as the purchase of school equipment, placement in training structures to obtain qualifications and school enrolment. The indirect action is undertaken at the local level by local authorities and first-level communities through awareness raising, information and training on Conventions Nos 138 and 182 on child labour. In this respect, the Committee notes with interest that, according to the information available from ILO–IPEC, 4,147 children have up to now been removed or protected from the worst forms of child labour. Of these, prevention for 3,309 children at risk (1,499 girls and 1,810 boys) was based on educational measures and 838 children (432 girls and 406 boys) were removed from the worst forms of child labour and placed in formal education, or provided with education or vocational training.

The Committee also notes that an ILO–IPEC project to prevent and eliminate child labour in West African countries is also being implemented. As part of this project, a national framework plan to combat child labour was validated in November 2011 in Dakar with a view to giving overall coherence to the activities undertaken to combat child labour effectively. Based on this document, the Government is seeking to establish a solid basis through the implementation of a series of actions and interventions, with priority being given to the prevention and elimination of the worst forms of child labour by 2015. This objective is to be attained through action in the following areas: legislation, occupational safety and health, education, apprenticeship and vocational training, economic development and employment, improvement of the knowledge base, and communication and social mobilization. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to prevent children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour and to remove them from such worst forms of labour in the context of the ILO/UNICEF interagency project, and requests it to provide information on the results achieved. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the national framework plan to combat child labour and on the results achieved with a view to eliminating the worst forms of child labour in Senegal.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee noted previously the Government’s indication that it had drawn up a sectoral policy in the context of access to free basic education through the Ten Year Education and Training Programme (PDEF). The Programme led to an improvement in the net school enrolment rate. The Committee also observed that the net enrolment rate in primary school had increased slightly, according to the 2008 statistics of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics, which show that 74 per cent of girls and 78 per cent of boys were actually attending primary school in 2008. However, it observed that 25 per cent of children of primary school age (6–12 years) were still not at school.

The Committee also noted previously the information contained in the report “Understanding children’s work and youth employment in Senegal”, an ILO–IPEC, UNICEF and World Bank report of February 2010, which examines the negative relationship between child labour and school enrolment. It noted in particular that in the 7–14 age group, over one child in four drops out of school owing to premature entry into the labour market, which is the primary cause of school drop-outs. Accordingly, the enrolment rate among economically active children was 36 per cent, compared with 53 per cent among children who do not work. This situation is more common in urban than in rural areas.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the net school enrolment rate at the national level increased to 93 per cent in 2011 and the rate of completion of primary school rose from 59 per cent in 2010 to 65.7 per cent in 2011. The Government adds that the parity index for school attendance is 1.17, which means that there are 117 girls for 100 boys. Furthermore, the implementation of the PDEF continues to achieve results, particularly through an improvement in the diversification of education. For example, the PDEF resulted in the establishment of first-level community schools, which offer an alternative model, intended for children aged between 9 and 13 years who have dropped out of school very early. The Government adds that a guide on remedial education was prepared in 2010 for teachers and that it strengthens the response by schools to the worst forms of child labour. While welcoming the measures taken by the Government, and considering that education contributes to preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee once again encourages the Government to intensify its efforts to improve the functioning of the educational system through measures that are aimed in particular at increasing school attendance rates, improving access to education in rural areas and reducing school drop-out rates, particularly in rural areas. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the results achieved in this respect.

Clause (b). Direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour. Children on traditional gold washing sites. The Committee notes that, as part of the ILO–IPEC project for the prevention and elimination of child labour in West African countries, a cartographic study of children involved in traditional gold washing was undertaken in the Kédougou region in 2011. According to the study, artisanal gold and iron mines are present in the regions of Dakar, Thiès, Matam and, in a very concentrated manner, Kédougou, where at least three multinational enterprises are present, as well as several small and medium-sized enterprises. The study indicates that mining is generally undertaken by all family members, including women and children, and it would appear that the nature of the work performed by the children concerned exposes them to dangers which mean that such work is classified as being included in the worst forms of child labour. According to the findings of the study, 1,576 children were detected working in gold washing sites in the 16 villages where it was possible to visit, out of the 38 identified in the Kédougou region. Moreover, according to the study, the total number of children engaged in gold washing in the whole region of Kédougou is likely to be around 4,000, based on an extrapolation of the average estimated percentage of children working in gold washing sites (98.5 per cent) in all the villages surveyed. One of the study’s recommendations is, therefore, that the ILO–IPEC project for the prevention and elimination of child labour in West African countries should intervene, on an urgent basis, in managing the problem of children engaged in traditional gold washing in the Kédougou region. The Committee, therefore, requests the Government to take effective and time-bound measures for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour in traditional gold washing sites and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration, in the context of the ILO–IPEC project for the prevention and elimination of child labour in West African countries. It requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Child victims/orphans of HIV/AIDS. The Committee noted previously the formulation of a Strategic Plan to Combat AIDS (PSLS) 2007–11, the objectives of which include improving the quality of life of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs). It also noted the information provided by the Government in its national report of March 2010, submitted in the context of the follow-up to the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS, according to which substantial support was provided for the schooling and vocational training of OVCs, including the provision of scholarships. However, despite the measures taken to provide care for OVCs, the Committee noted that, according to the report on Senegal of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS of September 2008, the number of HIV/AIDS orphans aged between 0–17 years was estimated at 8,400 in 2007, which is more than double the number estimated in 2001.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the provision of care for OVCs in the framework of the PSLS has led to certain results being achieved: 6,850 infected and/or affected children have received a package of services; 5,077 OVCs have received scholarships; and 29 associations which are active in guiding and supporting OVCs have received technical support. The Government adds that a new multi-sectoral Strategic Plan to combat HIV/AIDS, 2011–15 has been adopted, in the context of which OVCs are among the priority targets for whom care measures have to be improved. The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to ensure that children who are orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS are not engaged in the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures adopted and the results achieved in the context of the Strategic Plan to combat AIDS, 2011–15.

Clause (e). Special situation of girls. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the results obtained through the various support projects for the education of girls. The Committee noted that, according to the joint ILO–IPEC, UNICEF and World Bank report, the educational disparities between girls and boys were tending to decrease following the Government’s awareness-raising policy. Nevertheless, the Committee noted that the primary school drop-out rate was higher among girls from rural areas and that on the whole girls leave school earlier than boys.

The Committee notes with interest the Government’s indication that, in the context of the implementation of the PDEF, the parity index for girls and boys rose from 0.99 to 1.15 between 2000 and 2011. The Government adds that, since 2006, parity has been achieved and that trend has reversed and has favoured girls since 2007. According to the Government, this change is due to the implementation of significant policy measures for the enrolment and school attendance of girls.