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

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Egypt (Ratification: 2002)

Article 7(2) of the Convention. Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee previously noted the results achieved through the educational project to combat the worst forms of child labour through the rehabilitation and reintegration of working children into informal and formal education. The Committee noted from UNICEF statistics that the net enrolment rate in primary education for the school year 2012–13 was 93.3 per cent while the proportion of pupils completing the last grade in primary education was 82 per cent (78.7 per cent boys and 84 per cent girls).

The Committee takes due note of the Government’s information regarding the measures taken to reduce the school drop-out phenomenon and its negative consequences on the educational process and on the social, cultural and economic development of Egyptian society. The Committee notes that a project on Expanding Access to Education and Protection for at-Risk Children in Egypt (2016–21) was adopted and is being implemented by UNICEF in cooperation with the Ministry of Education and the National Council for Childhood and Motherhood (NCCM), which aims to expand access to education for 36,000 children, including 6,000 children with disabilities, and to support 15 child protection committees in 15 governorates. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the NCCM implemented a pilot project to reduce school drop-out by preparing trained staff and creating committees to that end. These committees support people and families who are exposed to this problem and enable them to address underlying issues such as poverty, with a view to avoiding drop-outs through regular follow-up action and the provision of advice. Moreover, the Committee notes the Government’s information according to which: (i) the capacity of 1,600 teachers, and psychology and social specialists, as well as of approximately 400 school directors and deputy school directors, was enhanced through 50 training workshops in various governorates; (ii) a guidance manual was developed for persons who deal with children exposed to dropping out from school which includes information on the role of teachers, directors, and specialists; and (iii) interactive educational strategies were used to target 2,500 parents of children who dropped out of school in targeted governorates, who were informed of their role in stopping their children from dropping out of school and of the danger of hazardous child labour. Parents were also encouraged to change their negative views of girls’ education in rural areas and to learn about the problems resulting from their illiteracy.

The Committee notes, however, that according to the UNICEF report “Children in Egypt 2016: A Statistical Digest”, while the net enrolment rates at the primary level for the 2014/15 and 2015/16 school years are 91.1 and 92.4 per cent respectively, they remain lower at the lower secondary level (12–15 year-olds) at 83.8 and 83.4 per cent respectively, and at the secondary level (15–18 year-olds), at 60.3 and 60.4 per cent respectively. Considering that education is one of the most effective means of preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to improve the functioning of the education system through measures aimed at increasing school enrolment rates and decreasing drop-out rates at the primary, lower secondary and secondary levels. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken or envisaged in this regard as well as on the results achieved, disaggregated by age and gender.

Clause (b). Providing the necessary and direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Trafficking. The Committee previously noted the Government’s information that the unit to combat trafficking in children (TIC unit) of the NCCM, in collaboration with the International Organization for Migration (IOM), established the El Salam Centre for the rehabilitation and reintegration of child victims of exploitation, including child victims of trafficking, which provides secure, transitional accommodation, medical and legal assistance as well as assistance for their return and reintegration into society.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the most important dimension of the National Plan of Action against Human Trafficking (NAP-HT) is the protection and rehabilitation of victims, which includes proactive and solution-based measures at three levels: early detection of human trafficking cases, urgent assistance provided to victims, and the integration of victims in society. The Government also indicates that, in addition to the work of the El Salam Centre for the rehabilitation and reintegration of child victims of exploitation, an integrated programme has been formulated to disseminate indicators which will help in the identification of human trafficking victims, to train the persons responsible for implementing these indicators, to activate a notification mechanism through a direct assistance hotline “16021” addressed to victims, and to prepare a training component for the capacity building of civil society organizations. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of child victims of trafficking under the age of 18 years who have been received in the El Salam Centre, as well as rehabilitated and socially integrated.

Clause (e). Special situation of girls. The Committee previously took note of the several measures adopted to take into account the situation of girls in education, including the establishment of schools for girls and of girl-friendly schools. However, the Committee noted that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed its concern at the significant gender, income and rural–urban gaps with respect to children who have never enrolled in schools, 82 per cent of whom are girls (CRC/C/EGY/CO/3-4, paragraph 74(c)).

The Committee notes the Government’s information that it is continuing to take several measures to achieve gender parity in education, in particular through its Girls’ Education Initiative, the most recent of which is the signature of a cooperation protocol with the NCCM in 2014 for five years. The Government indicates that it is deploying efforts to reduce the qualitative gaps between girls and boys in order to reduce school drop-out and to provide them with equal protection against the worst forms of child labour. In this regard, the Committee notes with interest that, according to the statistics found in the 2016 UNICEF report, the gender parity index in the net enrolment rates between the 2010/11 and 2015/16 school years averaged 1.005 at the primary level and 1.05 at the secondary level. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to maintain gender parity with regard to education, so as to ensure equal protection for girls from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved.