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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - United Republic of Tanzania (Ratification: 1998)

The Committee notes that the country is participating in an ILO technical assistance programme, the Special Programme Account (SPA) project, and that, in the framework of the SPA, two tripartite inter-ministerial workshops were conducted in September 2012 in Zanzibar and Dar es Salaam with the aim of drawing attention to the legislative gaps and problems of application in practice identified by the Committee with regard to the child labour Conventions, as well as two follow-up missions in May 2013 to assess the progress achieved and identify the way forward. The Committee notes with interest that this technical assistance resulted in the development of action plans to concretely address the comments of the Committee, including the adoption of a list of types of hazardous work and the undertaking of targeted labour inspections in specific sectors.

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy designed to ensure effective abolition of child labour. The Committee previously noted that the Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Government of Brazil with the technical support of the ILO to undertake a project in supporting the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour (NAP).

The Committee notes the Government’s information that the ILO facilitated the dissemination of the NAP by sensitizing 148 government officials in the southern regions of Lindi and Mtwara on its effective implementation, as well as 110 local government officials on upscaling child labour interventions into their plans and budgets. The Committee requests the Government to take measures to ensure that the NAP is effectively implemented, and to provide concrete information on the results achieved in terms of gradually eliminating child labour.

Article 3(2). Determination of types of hazardous work. 1. Tanzania Mainland. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes with satisfaction that the Law of the Child (Child Employment) Regulations were adopted in 2012, pursuant to Law of the Child Act No. 21 of 2009, which contain a list of hazardous activities in which a child under 18 years of age shall not be employed. The Committee observes that this list includes a wide range of hazardous types of work in the sectors of: agriculture (for example, applying pesticides, harvesting with dangerous tools or equipment, operating farm machinery, carrying wastes for disposal); fishing (for example, placing and hauling fishnets, sorting fish, deep sea fishing); mining and quarrying (for example, shaft, drift or trench digging, drilling and blasting, crushing ore); construction (for example, cement mixing, painting, brick making, excavation operations); service (domestic service, restaurant and hotel service, or community service); trade (carrying and selling merchandise in the streets and selling pornographic materials); transport (service stations, carrying luggage, and loading goods into vehicles); and others (for example, carpentry and fixture working, manufacturing of detergents, carpet and mattress making, chemical formulation, tanning, pottery and ceramic manufactures).

2. Zanzibar. The Committee notes that, according to the May 2013 report on the follow-up mission conducted in the framework of the SPA (SPA mission report), a zero draft list on hazardous work was approved by the tripartite Multi-Sectoral Child Labour Steering Committee, which constitutes an internal effort to add some types of hazardous work occurring specifically in Zanzibar. According to the SPA mission report, this list should be gazetted by December 2013. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of the new list of types of hazardous work in Zanzibar along with its next report.

Parts III and V of the report form. Labour inspection and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted that a review of the situation of enforcement of child labour legislation in selected districts was undertaken in April 2009, which indicated that child labour was widely recognized and acknowledged as a problem and that there was broad public support for its elimination. The Committee noted that the Ministry of Labour and Employment was working with the ILO on a project for improving labour law compliance, to strengthen labour inspection and to review labour inspection forms so as to improve the collection and compilation of child labour data. The Committee further noted that the Ministry of Labour and Employment was also working with the Office of the Director of Prosecutions on delegating the labour officers with powers to prosecute cases of labour law contraventions.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that, in October 2012, a two-day meeting was held whereby labour officers had the opportunity to discuss and deliberate on effective labour inspection strategies, including with regard to child labour. In addition, with the support of the United Nations Development Assistance Programme, a total of 20 labour officers appointed as public prosecutors were trained in prosecution skills and management of labour cases, including those pertaining to child labour. According to the 2013 SPA mission report, further training will be given to labour officers who were not previously trained on labour issues. Moreover, the Committee notes that, according to the SPA mission report, special labour inspections were carried out in agriculture and mining in Arusha and Ruvuma in the spring of 2013. The three inspections in Ruvuma detected 16 boys and 21 girls under 18 years of age who were found engaged in hazardous work. In Arusha, the inspections were conducted in agriculture and in mining. Children over 15 years of age were identified as working in non hazardous work in coffee and cut flower plantations, while no children were found working in mines. The mission report indicates that similar inspections will be undertaken in fishing-related activities, and that more targeted inspections will be conducted in mining and agriculture. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to strengthen the capacity of labour inspectors so that they can detect all cases of work by children under 14 years of age, particularly in the informal economy. It also requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of investigations undertaken and, where possible, to provide extracts from the labour inspection reports. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that sufficient data are made available on the situation of children engaged in work in the United Republic of Tanzania, and particularly on the number of children and young persons who work under the minimum age for admission to work or employment and the nature, extent and trends of such work.

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