Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2016, published 106th ILC session (2017)

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

Article 6 of the Convention. Programmes of action. National Programme to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information in its report, that within the framework of the National Programme to Combat Trafficking in Human Beings 2011–14, several information campaigns to raise public awareness on trafficking of persons as well as information on the existence of the National Helpline for the Victims of Trafficking was carried out, including through mass media, TV broadcast, websites and through posters. In addition, the Programme of Support and Protection of Victims of Trafficking in Human Beings, which provided assistance to victims of trafficking as well as potential victims identified through the National Reference Mechanism, was initiated. The Committee also notes the detailed information provided by the Government with regard to the assistance and support provided to the victims or potential victims of trafficking within this programme.

The Committee further notes from the Report concerning the implementation of the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings by Slovakia (GRETA report) of 2015, that a new National Programme for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings 2015–18 was adopted on 4 February 2015, and a National Strategy for Protection of Children against Violence, which aims at improving the protective environment for children and decreasing their vulnerability to trafficking, was approved in 2014. The Committee notes, however, that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of 25 November 2015, expressed its concern at the greater vulnerability of Roma girls to trafficking, including internal trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation (CEDAW/C/SVK/CO/5-6, paragraph 22). The Committee requests the Government to strengthen its efforts, including through the National Programme for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings 2015–18 and the National Strategy for Protection of Children against Violence, to prevent and eliminate trafficking of children, particularly of girls from the Roma community. It requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Roma children. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the various measures taken and envisaged by the Government for the inclusion of the Roma community, including: the Strategy for Integrated Education of Roma Children and Youth; the Revised National Action Plan for the Decade of Roma Community Inclusion for the period of 2011–15; and the National Strategy for the Integration of Roma up to 2020, with a commitment to significantly support processes leading to the social and economic inclusion of Roma communities, including access to education of Roma children.

The Committee notes the information from the website of the European Commission with regard to the measures taken within the framework of the National Strategy for the Integration of Roma up to 2020. According to this information:

• -a national project called “inclusive model of education at pre-primary stage of school system” aimed at improving the education level of children coming from marginalized Roma communities has been implemented;
• -a two-year social innovation project aimed at integrating Roma children into early childhood education, through empowering families, preparing children for transition to compulsory education, improving teacher–parent cooperation, changing the approach to raising children in segregated Roma communities, and raising awareness of the importance of education within the Roma community has been implemented;
• -a premium for teachers teaching in normal classes at primary schools with “individually incorporated disadvantaged pupils” has been introduced;
• -pedagogical guidelines which explicitly prohibited all forms of discrimination and segregation have been developed; and
• -a new pilot initiative on inclusive education to prevent children from a socially disadvantaged environment being placed in special-needs schools has been undertaken.

The Committee notes, however, that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations of 20 July 2016, expressed concern that Roma children continue to be victims of de facto segregation in the State party’s school system and that their school enrolment rate remains low, and the drop-out rate high (CRC/C/SVK/CO/3-5, paragraph 44). While taking due note of the measures taken by the Government, the Committee requests the Government to strengthen its efforts, including through the effective implementation of the provisions of the Strategy for the Integration of Roma up to 2020, to facilitate access to education of children in the Roma community so as to prevent them from engaging in the worst forms of child labour. It also requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved through these measures, particularly with respect to increasing the school enrolment and completion rates and reducing school drop-out rates of Roma children.