Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2015, published 105th ILC session (2016)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Madagascar (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the observations of the Christian Confederation of Malagasy Trade Unions (SEKRIMA), which were received on 17 September 2013.

Articles 3(b) and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour; sanctions. Child prostitution. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that section 13 of Decree No. 2007-563 of 3 July 2007 concerning child labour categorically prohibits the procuring, use, offering or employment of children of either sex for prostitution. The Committee noted that section 261 of the Labour Code and sections 354–357 of the Penal Code, which are referred to in Decree No. 2007-563, establish effective and dissuasive sanctions for offences including the procuring or offering of a child for prostitution. However, the Committee observed that, according to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), child prostitution and sex tourism are on the increase in the country, notwithstanding the low number of investigations into and prosecutions for child prostitution.

The Committee notes the observations of SEKRIMA stating that the number of girls under the age of majority, some as young as 12 years old, engaged in prostitution is increasing, especially in the cities. SEKRIMA indicates that 50 per cent of prostitutes in the capital Antananarivo are minors, and 47 per cent engage in prostitution because of their precarious situation. Some 40 per cent of these girls are reportedly the victims of assault, sexual violence and gang rape, while 80 per cent prefer not to turn to the authorities for fear of reprisals. SEKRIMA also states that despite the law punishing sex tourism, child prostitution is still nowhere near being eliminated.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has strengthened the capacity of 120 entities engaged in tourism in Nosy Be and 35 in Tuléar with regard to sexual exploitation for commercial purposes. However, the Committee notes that there is no information on the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions of perpetrators of commercial sexual exploitation. The Committee notes that the CRC, in its concluding observations of 2015 relating to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (CRC/C/OPSC/MDG/CO/1), expressed deep concern that child sex tourism is growing and that the measures taken by the Government to combat this phenomenon are insufficient (paragraph 27). The CRC also expressed concern at the fact that thousands of children are victims of sexual exploitation for commercial purposes, of trafficking for domestic servitude and sexual exploitation, and that the number of prosecutions and convictions for offences covered by the Optional Protocol is extremely low, a situation that fosters impunity (paragraph 31). The Committee also observes that, according to the 2013 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (A/HRC/25/48/Add.2, paragraph 10), child prostitution in Madagascar has reached alarming levels and affects the whole country, particularly urban and mining areas and tourist resorts. The Committee therefore expresses its deep concern at the large number of Malagasy girls under 18 years of age who are engaged in prostitution, particularly in the form of sex tourism, and also at the lack of prosecutions and convictions of perpetrators. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that persons suspected of procuring, using, offering or employing children for prostitution are thoroughly investigated and robustly prosecuted and that penalties constituting an effective deterrent are imposed on them. It requests the Government to provide statistical information on the number and nature of violations reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and criminal penalties imposed in this respect.

Clause (d). Hazardous work. Children working in mines and quarries. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the observations of the General Confederation of Workers’ Unions of Madagascar (CGSTM) stating that children are working in precarious and often dangerous conditions in the Ilakaka mines and in stone quarries. The CGSTM also indicated that the worst forms of child labour are to be found in the informal sector and rural areas, which the labour administration is unable to cover.

The Committee notes that, according to the 2013 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on contemporary forms of slavery (A/HRC/24/43/Add.2, paragraphs 44–60), the work carried out by children in mines and quarries qualifies as a contemporary form of slavery owing to the debt bondage, forced labour and economic exploitation of those concerned, particularly unaccompanied children working in artisanal mining and quarries. The Committee notes that children work from five to ten hours a day, they take care of the transportation of blocks of stone or water and some boys dig mining holes 1 metre in circumference and between 15 and 50 metres deep, while others go down the holes to collect the earth. The children start working with their parents from 5 years of age while unaccompanied children start at 12 years of age. Furthermore, in stone quarries on the outskirts of the major towns, children between 3 and 7 years of age, often working in family groups, break stones and carry baskets of stones or bricks on their heads, working an average of 47 hours a week in cases where they do not attend school. Conditions are unsanitary and hygiene is poor. All the children are also exposed to physical and sexual violence and to serious health hazards, particularly because of contamination of the water, the instability of mining holes and the collapse of tunnels. Noting with concern the situation of children working in mines and quarries, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that no children under 18 years of age can be engaged in work which is likely to harm their health, safety or morals. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this respect and the results achieved.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Children at special risk. Street children. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Labour and Social Legislation (MTLS) was continuing its programme of school enrolment and training for street children in the context of the Public Investment Programme for Social Action (PIP). It noted the CGSTM’s allegation that the number of street children has increased in recent years and that the action taken by the Government to help them was still minimal. In reply, the Government indicated that the programmes financed under the PIP aim to remove 40 children per year from the worst forms of child labour, or 120 children over three years.

The Committee notes the information supplied by the Government to the effect that the implementation of the PIP programmes has enabled 40 children per year to be withdrawn from the worst forms of child labour. However, the Committee notes that, according to the 2013 report on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (A/HRC/25/48/Add.2, paragraph 36), although there are no specific data on the actual number of street children in Madagascar, the Special Rapporteur nevertheless witnessed the scale of the problem and quotes an estimated figure of about 4,500 street children in the capital Antananarivo. The Committee further notes that, in the 2014 UNICEF analysis of the situation of mothers and children in Madagascar, referred to a 2012 survey of 950 street children in Antananarivo, which indicated that most of these children are boys (63 per cent) who live from begging or garbage picking. According to the UNICEF report, girls living on the streets frequently become victims of sexual exploitation in meeting their subsistence needs or as a result of pressure from third parties. Others are engaged in domestic work, swelling the ranks of exploited child workers (page 110). Noting with concern the growing number of street children, the Committee requests the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to ensure the targeted implementation of the PIP programmes, and requests it to intensify its efforts to ensure that street children are protected from the worst forms of child labour, and are rehabilitated and integrated in society. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved in this respect.

Application in practice. The Committee previously noted the detailed results of the 2007 National Survey on Child Labour (ENTE), according to which more than one in four Malagasy children between 5 and 17 years of age (28 per cent) are economically active, namely 1,870,000 children.

The Committee notes the Government’s indications that a National Survey of Employment and the Informal Sector (ENEMPSI 2012), including statistics on child labour, was carried out with the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the ILO. The survey shows that 27.5 per cent of children are working, namely 2,030,000, of whom 30 per cent live in rural areas and 18 per cent in urban areas. Most children work in agriculture and fishing (88 per cent). Children working in urban areas are engaged in domestic work (10 per cent) and commerce (11 per cent). Moreover, 91 per cent of child workers have the status of an unpaid family helper. The ENEMPSI also indicates that 81 per cent of child workers between 5 and 17 years of age are engaged in hazardous work, namely 1,653,000 children. Agriculture, livestock farming and fishing account for the majority of children’s work (89 per cent) and more than six out of ten working children have reported health problems resulting from their work in the last 12 months. The Committee also notes that a baseline study of child domestic labour covering three regions was conducted in 2012. The study reveals that child domestic labour is often a feature of the lives of poor rural families, who send their children to urban areas in response to their precarious situation. Child domestic workers may be forced to work up to 15 hours per day, most of them receive no wages, the latter being paid directly to their parents, in some cases they sleep on the floor and many are victims of psychological, physical or sexual violence. The Committee further notes that, according to the 2013 report on contemporary forms of slavery (A/HRC/24/43/Add.2, paragraph 81), the Special Rapporteur observed girls as young as 10 years of age working in slavery-like conditions. The Committee expresses its deep concern at the situation and number of children under 18 years of age forced to perform hazardous work. It urges the Government to intensify its efforts to eliminate these worst forms of child labour and requests it to continue providing information on any progress made in this respect and on the results achieved. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing information on the worst forms of child labour including, for example, studies and statistical surveys on the subject and information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, the number of children covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention, the number and nature of violations reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and criminal penalties applied. All information provided should, as far as possible, be disaggregated by age and sex.

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

[The Government is asked to supply full particulars to the Conference at its 105th Session and to reply in detail to the present comments in 2016.]