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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - United Republic of Tanzania (Ratification: 1998)

Article 3(2) of the Convention. Determination of types of hazardous work. Zanzibar. The Committee previously noted that, according to the May 2013 report on the follow up mission conducted within the framework of the Special Programme Account (SPA mission report), a zero draft list on hazardous work was approved by the tripartite Multi-Sectoral Child Labour Steering Committee. This constitutes an internal effort to add some types of hazardous work occurring specially in Zanzibar.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, the draft list of hazardous work was made under the Employment Act No. 11 of 2005, and that with a view to avoiding a conflict with the Children Act No. 6 of 2011, the draft list is no longer in force. The Committee also notes that, section 100 of the Children’s Act prohibits hazardous work for children under 18 years of age and defines a work as hazardous if it poses a danger to the health, safety or morals of a person in its subsection (2). The Children Act also provides a list of types of hazardous work in its subsection (3), including mining and quarrying, porterage of heavy loads, work in manufacturing industries where chemicals are produced or used, work in places where machines are used and any other hazardous work as shall be declared by the Minister. The Committee further notes that, section 100(5)(b) also requires the Minister to make regulations to determine the forms of work related to subsection (2), and to make provision for the regular revision and updating of the list of hazardous work. The Committee therefore requests that the Government indicate whether regulations have been made to determine the hazardous types of work to be prohibited to persons under 18 years of age, pursuant to section 100(5)(b)of the Children’s Act, 2011.

Article 7(1). Minimum age for admission to light work. The Committee previously noted that according to section 5(2) of the Employment and Labour Relations Act, 2004, a child of 14 years of age and above may only be employed to do light work which is not likely to be harmful to the child’s health and development, and does not prejudice the child’s attendance at school, or the child’s participation in vocational orientation or training programmes approved by the competent authority or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received. The Committee also noted that according to section 77(1) of the Law of the Child Act No. 21 of 2009, the minimum age for light work is 14 years.

The Committee notes that, the Law of the Child (Child Employment) Regulations of 2012 repeats the abovementioned provisions in its Part II. However, the Committee notes that, according to the National Child Labour Survey 2014, 45.4 per cent of children aged 12–13 years are involved in economic activities. Moreover, the survey excludes the children engaged in light work of this age group from the definition of child labour. In this regard, the Committee reminds the Government that, according to Article 7(1) and (4) of the Convention, national laws or regulations may permit persons from the age of 12 to 14 years to engage in light work which is not likely to be harmful to their health or development and not such as to prejudice their attendance at school, their participation in vocational orientation or training programmes approved by the competent authority or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received. Accordingly, the Committee requests that the Government consider the possibility of adopting provisions to regulate light work performed by children of 12 to 14 years of age.

Article 8. Artistic performances. The Committee previously noted that the National Child Development Policy recognizes the right of children to participate in artistic performances and sports activities. The Committee also noted that the Ministry of Education and Culture was in the process of formulating regulations with respect to the participation of children in activities such as artistic performances, which also specify the categories of permissible artistic work, conditions and penalties for breaches.

The Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that, regulations to govern engagement of children in artistic activities have not been adopted. The Committee once again requests that the Government take the necessary measures to adopt regulations which provide for permits to be granted to children participating in cultural artistic performances and which limit the number of hours during which, and prescribe the conditions under which, such work may be permitted, in accordance with Article 8 of the Convention.

Labour inspection. The Committee previously noted that, in October 2012, a two-day meeting was held whereby labour officers had the opportunity to discuss and deliberate on effective labour inspection strategies, including with regard to child labour. In addition, with the support of the United Nations Development Assistance Programme, a total of 20 labour officers appointed as public prosecutors were trained in prosecution skills and the management of labour cases, including those pertaining to child labour. According to the 2013 SPA mission report, training would be given to labour officers who were not previously trained on labour issues. Moreover, the Committee noted that, according to the SPA mission report, special labour inspections were carried out in agriculture and mining in Arusha and Ruvuma in the spring of 2013. The three inspections in Ruvuma detected 16 boys and 21 girls under 18 years of age who were found engaged in hazardous work. In Arusha, the inspections were conducted in agriculture and in mining. Children over 15 years of age were identified as working in non-hazardous work in coffee and cut-flower plantations, while no children were found working in mines. The mission report indicated that similar inspections would be undertaken in fishing-related activities, and that more targeted inspections would be conducted in mining and agriculture.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that efforts are continuing in order to strengthen the capacity of labour officers. In September 2015, the Government, in collaboration with the WEKEZA project financed by the Government of the United States, trained 52 labour officers on issues related to child labour. The same training took place in September 2016 to capacitate the remaining 41 labour officers. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to continue its efforts to strengthen the capacity of labour inspectors so that they can identify all children under 14 years of age who are working, particularly in the informal economy. It also requests that the Government provide information on the number of investigations undertaken and, where possible, to provide extracts from the labour inspection reports.