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

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Mozambique (Ratification: 2003)

Article 5 of the Convention and Part V of the report form. Monitoring mechanisms and application of the Convention in practice. 1. Trafficking. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that in 2011, the Government introduced training courses for police officers, customs, immigration officials and border police on how to recognize cases of trafficking and how to protect victims of trafficking. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that in 2011, 11 cases of trafficking in persons were prosecuted and seven convictions involving significant prison sentences were handed down. The Committee notes that according to the information from a report available on the website of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), the Criminal Investigation Branch (PIC) has a seven member unit devoted to anti-trafficking. Furthermore, the Government also maintains approximately 252 help desks where trafficking victims could file complaints and receive assistance. However, the report available on the UNHCR website further states that the Government lacks procedures to identify victims of child trafficking and that the Ministries of Justice and Interior, including the police have insufficient financial and human resources to improve their effectiveness in enforcing laws pertaining to trafficking in children. The Committee accordingly urges the Government to redouble its efforts, including through the allocation of additional resources, to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies to combat trafficking of persons under 18 years. It requests the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of perpetrators of the sale and trafficking of children are carried out. The Committee further requests the Government to continue to provide information on the practical application of the Trafficking in Persons Act 2008, including information on the number of infringements reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied in cases involving children under the age of 18 years.

2. Data collection and labour inspectorate. The Committee previously observed that there were no available statistics relating to children engaged in the worst forms of child labour in Mozambique. The Committee also noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 4 November 2009, expressed concern about the lack of reliable data on child labour and expressed concern that the labour inspectorate and police are faced with shortages of qualified staff, adequate funds and training to carry out their mandate with regard to child labour (CRC/C/MOZ/CO/2, paragraph 80). The Committee had further noted the information from ILO–IPEC that Mozambique was one of the countries participating in the project entitled “Supporting actions to meet the 2015 targets to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in Lusophone countries in Africa”, which commenced in 2010.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any information on this point. The Committee therefore once again urges the Government to strengthen its efforts, in collaboration with ILO–IPEC, to combat the worst forms of child labour in Mozambique. In this regard, it requests the Government to ensure that the relevant monitoring mechanisms, including the labour inspectorate and police, are allocated sufficient resources to carry out their mandate so as to address the worst forms of child labour effectively. Lastly, it requests the Government to take measures to ensure that sufficient up-to-date data on the worst forms of child labour are made available. To the extent possible, all information provided should be disaggregated by sex and age.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted the various measures taken by the Government to improve the education system, particularly with regard to school attendance rates and initiatives to improve girls’ education. It had noted the Government’s statement that through the National Action Plan for Children (NAPC), a school attendance rate of 81 per cent was achieved, and a transition rate (between primary level 1 and primary level 2) of 77.1 per cent was reached. The Committee further noted the information in the 2011 UNESCO Education for All Global Monitoring Report that, since 1999, the net enrolment rate in the first year of primary education rose from 18 per cent to 59 per cent, and that over this same period, the percentage of girls composing the primary school population rose from 43 per cent to 47 per cent.

The Committee notes the information from a report available on the UNHCR website that the Government of Mozambique had initiated the Strategic Plan for Education and Culture (2006–11) to ensure completion of free and compulsory primary education through higher primary grades (grade six and seven), to improve access to secondary education, increase access to education for female students, support the construction of new schools and encourage the training and recruitment of teachers. The Committee notes that according to the UNESCO-Mozambique statistics on education of 2011, the net enrolment rate at primary level was 92 per cent in 2010 (with 89 per cent of girls and 94 per cent of boys), while the net enrolment rate at secondary level was 17 per cent (15 per cent of girls and 17 per cent of boys). Considering that education contributes to preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee strongly encourages the Government to redouble its efforts to improve the functioning of the educational system, particularly by increasing the secondary school enrolment and attendance rates and decreasing the drop-out rates. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted and the results achieved in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the Strategic Plan for Education and Culture in improving access to primary and secondary education of children, with special attention to girls.

Clause (b). Removing children from the worst forms of child labour and providing for their rehabilitation and social integration. 1. Sale and trafficking of children for labour and sexual exploitation. The Committee had previously noted that the CRC, in its concluding observations of 4 November 2009, expressed concern at the limited resources available for efforts to protect victims of trafficking and the absence of safe houses and of a formal referral system for victims of trafficking (CRC/C/MOZ/CO/2, paragraph 86).

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that in March 2012, the Parliament of Mozambique approved a draft bill on the protection of victims and witnesses of all crimes, including, victims of trafficking. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the effective and time-bound measures taken or envisaged pursuant to the adoption of the draft bill on the protection of victims of all crimes, to provide for the rehabilitation and repatriation services for child victims of trafficking. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the number of child victims of trafficking who have been effectively removed, rehabilitated and reintegrated as a result of the measures implemented.

2. Debt bondage. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the information from ILO–IPEC that children in rural areas are sometimes used to settle financial and other disputes, with families sending their children to work for periods of time to settle debts. In this regard, it noted that the CRC, in its concluding observations of 4 November 2009, expressed concern at the continued practice of sending children to work to settle families’ financial debts and other obligations and urged the Government to take measures to end this practice (CRC/C/MOZ/CO/2, paragraph 65). Noting an absence of information on this point in the Government’s report, the Committee once again urges the Government to take immediate and effective time-bound measures, to bring an end to the practice of sending children to work to settle debts and to provide for the rehabilitation and social integration of children who have been victims of this practice. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard.

Clause (d). Reaching out to children at special risk. Street children and begging. The Committee had previously noted the Government’s indication that many children live or work in the streets in Mozambique and that the exploitation of child beggars was increasingly frequent in several provincial capitals. However, the Committee noted the Government’s statement in its report to the CRC of 23 March 2009 that, to address the increasing problem of begging, it had taken measures to reduce poverty, to increase social protection and to improve housing policies (CRC/C/MOZ/2, paragraphs 278–279).

The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Government’s strategy with regard to children in difficult situations, including street children involves action programmes to locate and reunify them with their families, reintegrate into community life, provide socio-economic support as well as income-generating projects for such families and communities. The Government report further states that women and social action networks have been campaigning against child begging by encouraging traders and the public to contribute through appropriate channels to help destitute children and to avoid making contributions in shop doorways and streets. The Committee also notes from the Government’s report that measures are being taken to increase the number of centres to shelter children living in the streets. According to the Government’s report currently there are 176 such shelter centres in Mozambique which provide education, occupational training activities, health and psychosocial care to street children. The Committee notes from the Global AIDS Response Progress Report (GARP) that in 2010, 1,197 destitute children were identified and documented, while 1,517 children were reunited with their families; about 30,760 children were attended in the shelter centres; and 253,770 children in difficult situations were provided with support and assistance at community level. The Committee finally notes the Government’s indication that the social protection programmes for abandoned children and their families will be continued through the Social Action Services Programme adopted by Decree No. 52 of October 2011. In view of the fact that street children are at a higher risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee strongly encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to protect them from these worst forms and to provide for their rehabilitation and reintegration. It requests the Government to provide information on the number of street children and child victims of begging who have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into society through the action programmes implemented by the Government, as well as through the social protection programmes under the Social Action Services Programme of 2011.