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

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (Ratification: 2003)

Articles 3(a) and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour and the sanctions applied. Sale and trafficking of children. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes with interest the adoption of Act No. 263, the Integral Law on the Sale and Trafficking of Persons, on 6 February 2012. The Committee notes, in this respect, that under section 27 of the Act, the Government will cooperate with other institutions to design and implement protocols on a national and international level for the early detection of trafficking, with special attention given to children. Further, under section 28(4), special attention will be given to child victims in order to reintegrate them into society. Section 30 specifically provides enhanced protections for child victims and witnesses, including during the judicial process, and section 34 modifies several provisions of the Penal Code to enhance the penalties for trafficking crimes that involve children. Finally, the Committee notes the Government’s information concerning its national plan of action against the sale and trafficking of persons, elaborated in 2012 under the Inter-Ministerial Council against Sale and Trafficking of Persons, which includes a criminal policy and a governmental vision concerning sale and trafficking. The Committee welcomes the Government’s programmatic and legislative measures. It requests the Government to provide information on the effect given in practice to the Integral Law on the Sale and Trafficking of Persons, as well as to the increased sanctions in the Penal Code, including statistics on the number and nature of the offences reported and the investigations conducted, prosecutions and convictions in this respect.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms and practical application. The Committee recalls its previous comment, which noted the lack of resources concerning labour inspectors in the country and the difficulties that were encountered in gaining access to plantations in the Chaco region. The Committee also noted the child labour survey carried out by the National Statistical Institute (INS) in collaboration with the ILO–IPEC Statistical Information and Monitoring Programme on Child Labour (SIMPOC) during the last quarter of 2008, the results of which indicated hazardous types of work but failed to identify other forms of child labour, including its worst forms. Finally, the Committee noted the Government’s information that only 5 per cent of the 90 technical inspections carried out in 2009 in the sugar cane and nut harvest plantations and in mines showed working children under 14 years of age.

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s latest information merely repeats its previous statistical information citing the 5 per cent of inspections involving children under 14 years of age. The Committee also notes that the Government has not supplied, as requested, any information concerning regular or unscheduled inspections in sugar cane and Brazil nut harvesting plantations or in mines, nor has it provided any statistical information that was collected from these child labour inspections concerning the nature, extent or trends of the worst forms of child labour. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to its comments adopted in 2012 under the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81) concerning the lack of resources provided to the labour inspectorate, and urges the Government to intensify its efforts in this respect. It further requests the Government to supply updated statistical information concerning the results of its regular and unscheduled inspections, including the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, particularly in the sugar cane and nut harvesting plantations, as well as in mines.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee recalls its previous comment, which expressed concern at the low secondary school enrolment and attendance rates. The Committee noted the Government’s programme for the distribution of school vouchers Juancito Pinto which aims to cover the costs of schooling for children enrolled in primary education, but observed that it only covers children in primary education.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report provides limited information in this respect, and merely indicates that 2,545 Bolivians benefited from the Juancito Pinto programme between 2006 and 2013, and that overall academic drop-outs decreased from 6.5 per cent in 2005 to 1.51 per cent in 2013. The Committee nevertheless understands that the Ministry of Education has contributed to the implementation of Act No. 070 “Avelino Siñani-Elizardo Pérez” of 20 December 2010 and the development of an Institutional Strategic Plan (PEI) to ensure that children have access to universal education, including initial, vocational and transition to secondary education.

The Committee notes the 2012 statistical information provided by UNICEF, according to which the net enrolment rate in primary school was 91.2 per cent for boys and 91.5 per cent for girls, but decreased to 69.6 per cent for boys and 70.5 per cent for girls in secondary school. The Committee further recalls the recommendations contained in the 2013–17 Plan of Action with UNICEF that the country needed to improve the quality of and access to education in order to increase the rate of attendance in secondary schools, particularly in rural zones. Noting the discrepancy between school attendance in primary and secondary school, the Committee strongly encourages the Government to continue to strengthen its efforts to improve the functioning of the education system and to increase the school attendance rate at the secondary level, including within the framework of the 2013–17 Plan of Action with UNICEF and the PEI. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved in this respect, including up-to-date statistical information on school attendance and drop-out rates at the secondary level.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. 1. Street children. Further to its previous comment, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the revised list of hazardous work under section 136 of the Children’s and Adolescent’s Code of 17 July 2014 encompasses the work of street children in the country. The Committee observes that this list highlights the priority given to the worst forms of child labour in: (i) sugar cane plantations in the departments of Santa Cruz and Tarija; (ii) nut harvesting plantations in the departments of Beni and Pando; (iii) mines in the department of Potosí; (iv) ranches; and (v) borders. Noting the absence of express provisions in this respect, the Committee requests the Government to explain the manner in which the provisions of the Children’s and Adolescent’s Code of 17 July 2014 protect street children from the worst forms of child labour.

2. Indigenous children. In its previous comment, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that a National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Forced Labour was going to be adopted which would take account of Guarani families in a situation of debt bondage and include special measures for the children of these families.

The Committee takes into account the statistical information concerning the actions taken to restore the socio-labour rights of Guarani children, which indicates that the number of Guarani workers who benefited economically from the restitution of their labour rights in the agrarian sector increased from two workers in 2010 to 75 workers in 2014. However, the Committee notes that the Government’s statistical information does not provide information concerning programmatic or legislative measures taken to assist Guarani children. In addition, it observes with regret that the Government’s report supplies no information concerning the development of the national plan to which it previously referred, nor to any other effective and time-bound measures that would identify and reach out to indigenous children. Nevertheless, the Committee understands that the 2013–17 Plan of Action with UNICEF aims to provide special attention to indigenous children, including the development of strategic policies, education and professional programmes in indigenous languages, and collaboration with indigenous groups and children. The Committee again reminds the Government that the children of indigenous peoples are often the victims of exploitation, and requests it to intensify its efforts to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour, including in cooperation with UNICEF. It again requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted, including the development of the National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Forced Labour, to prevent these children from being in a situation of debt bondage or forced labour and from being recruited to carry out hazardous work in mines.