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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Kazakhstan (Ratification: 2001)

Parts III and V of the report form. Labour inspection and the application of the Convention in practice. 1. General application. The Committee previously noted that, according to the 2006 multiple clusters indicator survey, approximately 3.2 per cent of all children aged 5–14 years (approximately 79,515 children) engaged in some form of economic activity. It also noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 19 June 2007, expressed concern at the large number of socially vulnerable children engaged in labour (CRC/C/KAZ/CO/3, paragraph 63). The Committee further noted the Government’s indication that in the course of inspections carried out as part of a nationwide campaign against child labour, it was revealed that child labour was used in car washes (in wet and cold conditions); in city markets (in the transport of goods in handcarts and in unloading goods); in private retail outlets; in agriculture; and as attendants in petrol stations, including at night. The Committee finally noted that the Committee on Economic and Social Rights (CESCR), in its concluding observations of 7 June 2010, expressed concern regarding the persistence of child labour in the country (E/C.12/KAZ/CO/1, paragraph 27).

The Committee notes the Government’s information that along with state monitoring, there is also public monitoring of labour law in the enterprises or organizations by the public safety and health inspector appointed by the trade union committee of the enterprise/organizations. In this regard, the Committee notes from the ILO–IPEC project report of June 2013 on Combating Child Labour in Central Asia (PROACT CAR Phase III) that a training project on child labour and its monitoring concepts as well as mainstreaming child labour into the education sector was conducted in Astana City and Akmola region in 2012 and in Shymkent City in April 2013. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), that within this project, seven training sessions were held which were attended by 133 people, including employers, entrepreneurs, trade union members as well as teachers. The Committee also notes from the ILO–IPEC project report of June 2013 that a programme was implemented in Kazakhstan from 16 May to 15 August 2013 which undertook a public awareness-raising campaign in 14 regions, during which 76 children were identified as involved in hazardous child labour including at markets (35), as waiters (31), at car wash stations (eight) and at gasoline stations (two), while 14 employers were made administratively liable for the violation of the Labour Code. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to strengthen its efforts, in collaboration with the ILO–IPEC, to effectively monitor and combat child labour in the country. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the number of inspections on child labour carried out by the state labour inspectors as well as by the public safety and health inspectors, and on the number of violations detected and penalties imposed in this regard.

2. Tobacco and cotton plantations. The Committee previously noted the Government’s statement that it was prohibited to employ minors on tobacco and cotton plantations, and that the List of Works in which it is prohibited to employ workers under the age of 18 (of June 2007) includes both work in cotton and tobacco. However, the Committee noted that the CRC, in its concluding observations of 19 June 2007, expressed concern at the large number of children engaged in labour within the tobacco and cotton industries (CRC/C/KAZ/CO/3, paragraph 63). It also noted that the CESCR, in its concluding observations of 7 June 2010, expressed concern about child labour in Kazakhstan performed by children of migrant workers in tobacco and cotton farms, and that these children did not attend school during farming periods (E/C.12/KAZ/CO/1, paragraph 27). Moreover, the Committee noted that the Human Rights Committee, in its concluding observations of 19 August 2011, expressed regret at the increase in the number of children employed in cotton and tobacco fields (CCPR/C/KAZ/CO/1, paragraph 16).

The Committee notes from the Government’s report under Convention No. 182 that a Social Centre for Prevention and Preclusion of the Worst Forms of Child Labour which has been operating in the Almaty Province since 2008, has implemented a project entitled “Prevention of the use of child labour” in conjunction with the NGO Karlygash and TOO Philip Morris Kazakhstan. Within the framework of this project, the following components were implemented for children living in the rural population, including children of migrant workers:

• – the provision of supplementary education, acquisition of computer skills, development of handicraft skills, sports, and arts;
• – the provision of occupational training to 14 children in 2011, and 28 children in 2012;
• – the provision of material assistance and school accessories to 150 children; and
• – organization of quality leisure time in order to prevent the use of children in harvesting tobacco. For example, every year, the company Philip Morris Kazakhstan organizes summer holidays for children of migrant workers. From 2010 to 2012, a total of 594 children participated in the summer holiday programmes.

The Committee notes from the ILO–IPEC project report of June 2013, that an action programme on “Establishing and Piloting a Child Labour Monitoring System (CLMS) in Maktaaral district in South Kazakhstan region” is being implemented. This action programme aims at establishing the CLMS in agriculture, building the capacity of national and local authorities in CLMS, providing direct services for children involved in or at risk of entering child labour in agriculture, and raising awareness of community members, general public and the media. The Committee notes, however, from the Government’s report under Convention No. 182, that according to the data available at the Procurator’s Office of the Maktaral District, 39 pupils from grades 7–11 were found involved in cotton picking during school hours, while eight secondary school children were found working during the tobacco harvest in the Karatal District. The Committee takes due note of the measures taken by the Government to eliminate child labour in agriculture, in particular tobacco and cotton plantations. It strongly encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to ensure the elimination of child labour in tobacco and cotton plantations, including through the strengthening of labour inspection. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on measures taken in this regard, and on the results achieved. It also requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of children and young persons under the minimum age involved in child labour in the cotton and tobacco plantations.

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