Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2017, published 107th ILC session (2018)

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. The NPA called, among other measures, for the development and updating of legislation on child protection, and the strengthening and development of enforcement mechanisms for the legislation in force.

The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report, according to which Act No. 15-12 of 15 July 2015 on child protection has been enacted. Under this Act, a national body for the protection and promotion of the rights of the child (OPPDE) was finally established in 2017. The OPPDE is presided by the national ombudsman, whose main mission is to oversee the implementation and periodic evaluation of the national and local programmes for the protection and promotion of the rights of the child (section 13).

In addition, under sections 21–31 of Act No. 15-12, children’s social protection at the local level falls to the “community oversight services”. A minimum of one service provider is established in each wilaya (administrative division). The community oversight services monitor the situation of children at risk and provide assistance to their families. Thus, under section 2 of Act No. 15-12, the term “child at risk” is understood as “a child whose health, morals, education or safety are at risk or may be put at risk, or whose living conditions or behaviour are likely to expose him or her to a potential risk or compromise his or her future, or whose environment puts at risk his or her physical, psychological or educational well being”. The situations considered to expose the child to risk include, in particular: an infringement of their right to education, and the economic exploitation of a child, particularly by their employment or forced engagement in work that prevents them from studying, or that harms their health or physical or moral well-being. The Committee requests that the Government continue its efforts to combat work by children under 16 years of age which is the minimum age of admission to work in Algeria. In this regard, it requests that the Government provide the information on the concrete measures taken by the OPPDE to eliminate child labour and the results achieved. It also requests that the Government provide information on the number of children under 16 years who have been identified by the community oversight services as being “at risk” because of their employment or forced engagement in work and who have benefited from the protection under Act No. 15-12, bearing in mind that the minimum age for hazardous work under the Convention is 18 years.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and labour inspection. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the provisions of Algerian legislation, including those of Act No. 90-11 on working conditions of 21 April 1990 and of Ordinance No. 75-59 of 26 September 1975 issuing the Code of Commerce, do not regulate all the economic activities that a child under 16 years of age may carry out in the informal economy or on their 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 that around 300,000 children aged under 16 years of age are engaged in work in Algeria. Furthermore, the Committee noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child has expressed its concern that the minimum age for admission to employment is not applied in Algeria, in particular for children working in the informal sector.

The Committee notes the statistics provided by the Government on the visits conducted by labour inspection in various enterprises and undertakings since 2002, the most recent of which include:

• -in 2014, of the 14,201 employers in the private sector, comprising 79,063 workers, 32 workers under 16 years were detected;
• -in 2015, of the 15,093 employers in the private sector, comprising 98,327 workers, 79 workers under 16 years were detected;
• -in 2016, of the 11,575 employers in the private sector, comprising 100,608 workers, 12 workers under 16 years were detected.

The Committee notes, however, that these statistics do not relate to the informal economy and notes yet again with regret that the Government’s report is silent on this issue of children working on their own account or in the informal economy. The Committee recalls that the Convention applies to all branches of economic activity, formal and informal, and that it covers all forms of employment and work, whether it is carried out on the basis of an employment relationship or not and whether it is remunerated or not. In this regard, with reference to the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions (paragraph 407), which notes that the inability of labour inspection to monitor child labour outside a given area is particularly problematic, especially when child labour is concentrated in a sector outside its coverage, the Committee emphasizes the need to ensure that the labour inspection system effectively monitors child labour in all regions and all branches of economic activity. In addition, the Committee refers to paragraph 347 of the 2012 General Survey, which describes the variety of programmes and measures that States have implemented in an effort to combat child labour in the informal economy. These programmes may include specific measures to remove children from work in the informal economy, and often involve initiatives to reintegrate these children into school. Addressing the needs of children engaged in, or at risk of becoming engaged in, the informal economy may also include social protection measures, or mainstreaming the issue of children working in the informal economy into national action plans to combat child labour. The Committee therefore encourages the Government to undertake programmatic measures to ensure that the protection provided by the Convention is enjoyed, in practice, by children working in the informal economy. It also invites the Government to strengthen the capacities of labour inspection to enable it to monitor child labour in the informal economy so that labour inspectors can detect all cases of labour involving children under 16 years of age. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard. It also requests that the Government continue providing information on inspections carried out in practice by labour inspectors responsible for monitoring child labour by providing information on the number of violations registered and extracts from labour inspectors’ reports.

Application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child noted with concern the limited progress made to establish a national, comprehensive and centralized data collection system covering child protection. That Committee was particularly concerned that data by geographic location, socio-economic status and groups of vulnerable children was lacking, and that policy-makers often used unreliable national data to assess the situation and to formulate policies to address the problems of children, including those working in the informal sector.

The Committee notes with regret the absence of information in this regard in the Government’s report. The Committee notes, however, that under section 13 of Act No. 15-12 of 15 July 2015 on child protection, the national ombudsman must establish a national information system on the situation of children in Algeria in coordination with the administrative divisions and institutions concerned. The Committee once again urges the Government to take the necessary steps to, either through a national information system established by the national ombudsman or by other means, ensure that sufficient data on work by children under 16 years of age in Algeria are available, in particular concerning children working on their own account or in the informal economy. In this regard, it requests that the Government provide information on the application of the Convention in practice, including statistics and information on the nature, scale and development of child labour. As far as possible, all information should be disaggregated by age and gender.