Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

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

The Committee notes the communication of the Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) dated 29 August 2013, as well as the Government’s report.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee previously noted that Zimbabwean children were trafficked internally, and were also trafficked to other states for sexual exploitation, forced agricultural labour and domestic servitude. The Committee noted the statement of the ZCTU regarding the existence of trafficking of children to other countries in the region, such as Botswana and South Africa. However, the Committee noted that according to the 2009 United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Global Report on Trafficking in Persons, no prosecutions or convictions were recorded for trafficking in persons in recent years, due to the absence of a specific provision on human trafficking. In this regard, the Committee noted the Government’s statement that it was in the process of discussing comprehensive legislation to deal with human trafficking in all its facets, including the trafficking of children. However, the Committee observed that the Government had been referring to similar forthcoming legislation since 2005.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that it has had consultations with the relevant stakeholders on the development of a draft bill on human trafficking and that the Office of the Attorney-General is currently drafting this bill. The Committee must, therefore, express its concern that comprehensive legislation has yet to be adopted to prohibit the trafficking of persons under 18 years of age, including their trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation. Accordingly, the Committee once again strongly urges the Government to take immediate measures to ensure that legislation prohibiting the sale and trafficking of children (including internal trafficking) for both labour and sexual exploitation is adopted as a matter of urgency, and to provide a copy of the relevant legislation, once adopted.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identify and reach out to children at special risk. 1. Orphans of HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable children. The Committee previously noted that many children in Zimbabwe were orphaned due to HIV/AIDS and that most of these children found themselves involved in the worst forms of child labour. In this regard, the Committee noted the ZCTU’s allegation that the HIV/AIDS pandemic had contributed to the phenomenon of child poverty and child labour, as the number of child-headed families increased. The Committee noted that the Government launched the Orphans and other Vulnerable Children National Action Plan (OVC NAP) 2004–10, which sought to ensure that these children had access to education, food, health services, and that they were protected from abuse and exploitation.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that it continues to take effective measures to protect children orphaned by HIV/AIDS from becoming engaged in the worst forms of child labour, including the implementation of the Harmonized Social Cash Transfers Schemes (HSCT) and the Basic Education Assistance Module (BEAM), which contain components aimed at protecting and supporting orphans and vulnerable children. Moreover, the Committee notes that, according to the 2012 Zimbabwe Country Report to the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on HIV/AIDS, the second phase of the OVC NAP (2011–15) aims to reach out to about 250,000 households annually with cash transfers by 2015, in addition to paying school fees for about 550,000 primary-school children and 200,000 secondary-school children annually through the BEAM. However, the Committee notes with deep concern that, according to the 2011 UNAIDS estimates, an average of 1 million children aged 0 to 17 years are orphans due to HIV/AIDS in Zimbabwe. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures, within the framework of the OVC NAP, and other programmes such as the HSCT and the BEAM, to protect children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable children from the worst forms of child labour.

2. Children engaged in mining activities. The Committee previously noted the ZCTU’s statement that one of the worst forms of child labour most common in Zimbabwe is work in the mining sector, where children scavenge for minerals to survive. The Committee also noted the information in the Rapid Assessment Survey of 2009 that 11.6 per cent of the children surveyed were engaged in mining work and that these children were mostly self-employed boys between the ages of 15 and 17 (though most started below the age of 14). The Rapid Assessment Survey further indicated that 67 per cent of children working in this sector use chemicals (including mercury, cyanide and explosives), and approximately 24 per cent of these children work for more than nine hours a day.

The Committee notes the ZCTU’s allegation that the Government has still not made efforts to finance and implement the five-year Project on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Zimbabwe (WFCL Project), and that this project is almost coming to the end of its term before implementation.

However, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it intends to embark on a resource mobilization exercise in order to carry out more data collection with a view to elaborate the appropriate interventions to protect children from all the worst forms of child labour, including those engaged in mining activities, and to provide them with rehabilitation services. The Committee urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures, in the framework of phase II of the WFCL Project or otherwise, to prevent children from engaging in hazardous mining activities, to remove them from these activities and to provide them with rehabilitative services. It once again requests the Government to provide information on effective and time-bound measures taken in this regard and the results achieved.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.