Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Côte d'Ivoire (Ratification: 2003)

Articles 3(d) and 7(2)(a) and (b) of the Convention. Hazardous work, preventing children from being engaged in and removing them from the worst forms of child labour. Children in agriculture. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the latest statistics on child labour from 2008 revealed that 1,570,103 children were economically active in the agricultural sector, frequently in cocoa plantations. It also noted that the exploitation of child labour had been noted in mining sites under concession to private individuals, even though child labour in mines is on the list of hazardous types of work prohibited for children under 18 years of age (Order No. 2250 of 14 March 2005, as revised in 2012).

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that the National Plan of Action to Combat the Worst Forms of Child Labour 2015–17 (PAN-PFTE 2015–17) is a multisectoral plan. The Committee notes the statistical data provided by the Government on child labour by sector and gender compiled by the national child labour observation and monitoring system in Côte d’Ivoire (SOSTECI) in 2016. It notes that, according to these statistics, a total of 1,559 children under 18 years of age are engaged in hazardous types of work, including in the agricultural sector, in which the number of children is 1,148, of whom 748 are boys and 400 are girls. However, the Committee notes that the PAN-PFTE 2015–17, which refers to the report on the situation of child labour in Côte d’Ivoire (SITAN 2014) indicates that the number of children subject to hazardous types of work in the agricultural sector is 189,427, with a total of 105,699 children between the ages of 14 and 17 years. Furthermore, in the context of the implementation of the PAN-PFTE 2015–17, the Committee notes the adoption in June 2017 of Order No. 2017-017 determining the list of hazardous types of work prohibited for children under 18 years of age in several agricultural branches. Concerned at the high number of children engaged in hazardous types of work in agriculture, the Committee urges the Government to intensify its efforts to prevent children under 18 years of age from being engaged in hazardous types of work, particularly in agriculture. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the effective enforcement of Order No. 2017-017 on the list of hazardous types of work. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to ensure that child victims of hazardous types of work are removed from such work and rehabilitated, particularly by ensuring their access to free basic education and vocational training.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Children at special risk. Child HIV/AIDS orphans. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the number of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) due to HIV/AIDS in the country was 380,000 and that in this context the Government had developed the National Programme for the Care of Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children due to HIV/AIDS (PNOEV), especially to ensure the access of OVCs to free basic education.

The Committee notes that the Government has not provided any information on this subject in its report. It notes that the 2016 estimates published by UNAIDS give the figure of 320,000 OVCs due to HIV/AIDS in the country and that the Government, with the support of UNAIDS, has established a National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan 2016–20 covering care and support for OVCs and their families. Recalling that children who have been orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS and other OVCs are at particular risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee urges the Government to intensify its efforts, within the context of the National HIV/AIDS Strategic Plan 2016–20, to ensure that these children are protected from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the effective and time-bound measures taken in this regard and the results achieved.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.