Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

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

Article 6 of the Convention. Programmes of action. The Committee recalls its previous comment, which noted that further efforts were needed in areas such as children working in public refuse dumps and on the streets, and the sale and trafficking of children for begging. The Committee notes the Government’s information on the recent measures it has taken in this respect, including with ILO assistance, to eradicate child labour in areas such as public refuse dumps, floral cultivation and municipal slaughterhouses. The Committee also notes the management handbook for the prevention and eradication of child labour in municipalities, annexed to the Government’s report, which provides guidance to municipalities on the elimination of child labour, including its worst forms, and which requires an evaluation of the results achieved every six months. Finally, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has developed 12 roadmaps with the decentralized autonomous governments (GADs) to build local capacity to implement public policies for children.

While taking due note of the Government’s measures, the Committee notes that the Government has provided no information concerning programmes to eliminate children working on the street and the sale and trafficking of children for begging, to which it referred in its previous comment. Nevertheless, the Committee understands that the Government has implemented a programme “Give dignity to an Ecuador without begging or child labour” as well as a 2013 programme “The progressive eradication of begging in Ecuador”, which has provided assistance to approximately 10,000 persons in 16 provinces. Recalling the vulnerability of street children, who are particularly at risk of becoming victims of the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on its programmes to enhance protection for street children and to eliminate the sale and trafficking for children for begging, including with the cooperation of the GADs.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. 1. Children of indigenous peoples. In its previous comment, the Committee noted that the children of indigenous peoples are often victims of exploitation, which takes many forms, and are a population at risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour. It also noted that while a system of bilingual education had been introduced, by providing instruction to indigenous children in Spanish and in their own language, this practice was poorly applied in the intercultural bilingual system in practice.

The Committee notes that the Government has provided no new information concerning the concrete measures it has taken to provide assistance to indigenous peoples. The Committee also notes the 2012 National Statistics and Census Institute (INEC) statistics, according to which the rate of child labour remains highest for indigenous children (29 per cent) out of the total population of children engaged in child labour. The Committee accordingly requests, once again, the Government to provide detailed information on the effective and time-bound measures taken to ensure that children of indigenous peoples have easier access to the system of bilingual education so as to protect them from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour.

2. Child domestic workers. The Committee notes with interest that the Government ratified the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), in 2013. It notes the Government’s information concerning its national campaign, which began in 2010, to enhance the protections afforded to domestic workers. The Committee notes, however, that according to the 2012 INEC statistics, 13.5 per cent of children aged five to 17 years are engaged in hazardous domestic work. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the effective and time-bound measures it has taken to protect child domestic workers against the worst forms of child labour.