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

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Dominican Republic (Ratification: 2000)

Article 6 of the Convention. Programmes of action. National plan of action against trafficking. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the adoption of the National Strategic Plan of Action for the Eradication of the Worst Forms of Child Labour 2006–16 (PEN), which set out the measures to be taken for the eradication of the worst forms of child labour and the prohibition of such practices. It noted that the Government was planning to strengthen the Child Labour Unit (CLU) responsible for the coordination of the National Strategic Plan within the State Department of Labour, and that 17 programmes of action had been adopted for the implementation of the PEN. The Committee asked the Government to provide information on the programmes of action undertaken in the context of the PEN. Noting that the Government’s report does not contain any further information on this subject, the Committee once again requests it to provide information on the programmes of action undertaken within the context of the PEN and on their results in terms of the elimination of the trafficking of children. It also requests the Government to provide updated information on the results of the measures taken to reinforce the CLU.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (c). Access to free basic education. With regard to the measures taken by the Government to ensure the access to free basic education of all children who have been removed from the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to refer to its detailed comments concerning the application of the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138).

Clause (d). Children at special risk. HIV/AIDS. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, while it was known that approximately 85,000 men and women between the ages of 15 and 49 years were infected by the virus or suffered from AIDS symptoms in the Dominican Republic, the number of child HIV/AIDS orphans was not known. It also noted the significant improvements following the National Response to HIV/AIDS under the new leadership of the Presidential AIDS Council (COPRESIDA), including a policy on HIV/AIDS and for children.

The Committee notes that, according to the 2016 estimates of the UNAIDS agency, there are around 40,000 child HIV/AIDS orphans in the country. In view of the particularly serious situation of child AIDS orphans, especially as they are particularly exposed to the worst forms of child labour, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on the specific measures taken to improve the situation of children orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS.

Article 8. International cooperation. 1. Action to combat poverty. The Committee previously noted that both the PEN and the National Plan to Combat the Sexual Exploitation of Children envisaged a number of strategic poverty reduction measures in the country. It noted with interest the conditional cash transfer programme “Solidaridad”, among the various programmes to give effect to the national poverty reduction strategy (Social Protection Network). It noted that a cooperation agreement had been concluded between this network and ILO–IPEC to link the activities of the Solidaridad programme and the various ILO–IPEC programmes in the country. It noted that it was planned to increase the coverage of Solidaridad by 2020 and that priority would be given to the poorest families with children under 18 years of age who had, or were liable to become engaged in the worst forms of child labour. It further noted that the Solidaridad programme planned to remove 1,653,510 children from work in 2016. Noting the lack of information provided on this subject, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results of the “Solidaridad” programme, particularly in terms of the effective reduction of poverty among children removed from situations of sexual exploitation or trafficking for commercial sexual exploitation, as well as street children.

2. Regional Initiative. The Committee notes that the Dominican Republic is participating in the Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour Regional Initiative, which has the mandate to strengthen inter governmental cooperation to combat child labour through prevention and intra and intersectoral institutional coordination. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken for the implementation of the Regional Initiative.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee once again notes that the information provided by the Government does not contain specific information enabling it to assess the incidence of the worst forms of child labour in the country. The Committee therefore urges the Government to strengthen its action so as to ensure the availability of statistics on the incidence of the worst forms of child labour. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, including the number of children covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention, the number and nature of infringements reported, investigations, prosecutions and convictions, and the penal sanctions applied. In as much as possible, this information should be disaggregated by age and gender.