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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Algeria (Ratification: 1984)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that a National Plan of Action (NPA) had officially been launched on 25 December 2008 on the theme “An Algeria fit for children” for the period 2008–15, and that the NPA includes a component on child labour. The NPA calls, among other measures, for the development and updating of legislation for the protection of children, and the reinforcement and development of enforcement mechanisms for the legislation that is in force.

The Committee notes the Government’s indications that a series of actions have been implemented in the framework of the NPA, including: the holding of a national conference on children; the design and operationalization of the monitoring and evaluation system for the NPA; the organization of workshops to promote the rights of the child; and awareness-raising activities concerning the rights of the child. However, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations of 18 July 2012, the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed its concern at the lack of specific budgetary allocations for the implementation of the NPA and the weak technical capacity of the system for the monitoring and evaluation of the NPA (CRC/C/DZA/CO/3-4, paragraph 15). The Committee urges the Government to reinforce its efforts to combat child labour and to provide information on the progress achieved in this respect. It once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on the impact of the NPA, and of any other measures, on the elimination of work by children under 16 years of age.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that Act No. 90-11 respecting conditions of work of 21 April 1990 does not apply to employment relations which are not governed by a contract, such as work done by children on their own account. The Committee also noted that the provisions of Ordinance No. 75-59 of 26 September 1975 issuing the Code of Commerce regulate the possibility for emancipated minors of either sex, aged 18 or above, to engage in a commercial activity in the formal economy. However, they do not regulate all the economic activities that a child under 16 years of age may carry on in the informal economy or on her or his own account and which are covered by the Convention, for example in agriculture and domestic work, where the economic exploitation of children is more frequent. In this regard, the Committee noted previously that around 300,000 children aged under 16 years of age are engaged in work in Algeria.

The Committee notes the Government’s indications that, during the first quarter of 2012, of the 12,227 establishments inspected by the labour inspection services, only 14 workers (of the 93,794 workers inspected) were under 16 years of age. In these cases, violation reports were issued, which have been referred to the competent courts for prosecution. In 2013, labour inspectors issued 17 violation reports for failure to comply with the statutory age for the employment of 90 children who had not reached the statutory minimum age for admission to employment or work. However, the Committee notes that, in its concluding observations of 18 July 2012 (CRC/C/DZA/CO/3-4, paragraph 15), the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern that policy-makers often use unreliable national data to assess the situation of vulnerable children and to formulate policies to address the problems of children, especially those working in the informal economy (paragraph 21) and the fact that the minimum age for admission to employment is not fully applied in Algeria for children working in the informal economy (paragraph 71).

The Committee once again notes with regret that the Government’s report is silent on the issue of children working on their own account or in the informal economy, and on the manner in which the Government intends to protect them so that they benefit from the protection afforded by the Convention. The Committee therefore once again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to strengthen and adapt the labour inspection services with a view to ensuring that the protection afforded by the Convention is guaranteed for children who work on their own account or in the informal economy. In this respect, it urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the availability of data on the number and nature of the violations involving children under 16 years of age who work on their own account or in the informal sector, and to provide this information in its next report.

Article 3(1) and (2). Minimum age for admission to hazardous work and determination of these types of work. With regard to the adoption of a list of hazardous types of work, the Committee requests the Government to refer to its detailed comments under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182).