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

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Guatemala (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the joint observations of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) and the Coordinating Committee of Agricultural, Commercial, Industrial and Financial Associations (CACIF), received on 1 September 2018.

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. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, according to the UNICEF 2014 annual country report, the school enrolment rate in primary school had fallen sharply in recent years, from 96 per cent in 2010 to 88.6 per cent in 2013 and 80 per cent in 2014. The Committee requested the Government to intensify its efforts to improve the functioning of the education system in the country.

The Committee notes that the joint observations of the IOE and the CACIF indicate that the Government has prepared a road map for the prevention and elimination of the worst forms of child labour and that the strategy of the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) is to integrate the Network of enterprises for the prevention and eradication of child labour “Los niños y las niñas a la escuela”, established in 2015. The Network of enterprises for the prevention and eradication of child labour, with a policy of “zero tolerance of child labour”, is active in strengthening the primary and secondary school system, among other measures. Furthermore, in 2007, employer representatives were nominated as focal point for the Latin America and the Caribbean free of child labour regional initiative and, in that context, participate in regional initiatives for the eradication of child labour. During the fifth Congress of the CACIF in 2018, the Global Apprenticeship Network (GAN Guatemala) was pre-launched as a coalition of committed enterprises, international organizations and occupational organizations which have come together to create programmes to prepare youth for the labour market and to encourage the development of vocational skills for the benefit of enterprises and youth.

The Committee notes in the Government’s report the analysis of the survey on living conditions (ENCOVI 2014) on child labour and its worst forms. According to this report, 75.6 per cent of children and young persons between the ages of 7 and 17 years are at school, of whom 11.3 per cent also work. The percentage of children at school between the ages of 7 and 9 years is 87.5 per cent, while the figure for children at school between the ages of 10 and 13 years is 87.4 per cent and 56.15 per cent of children between the ages of 14 and 17 years, are at school.

The Committee notes the information in Annex 19 of the Government’s report concerning the progress in relation to the road map, and particularly component three, “Guaranteeing the right to education of children and young persons, and particularly of children at risk of the worst forms of child labour”. With regard to primary education, the MINEDUC has provided teaching materials for all school centres and family economy support and compensation programmes have been implemented free of charge. In addition, the Adult Education by Correspondence Programme (PEAC) has trained young persons and adults to achieve primary school level.

The Committee notes the existence of “filter teams” in the Office of the Public Prosecutor in coordination with MINEDUC with a view to identifying child victims of labour exploitation with a view to the provision of material resources and support so that they do not drop out of school. Considering that education is key in preventing children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee once again requests the Government to continue its efforts to improve the operation of the education system in the country. In this regard, it requests the Government to take measures to increase the attendance rate in primary education and secondary education, and to increase the rate of completion of primary education, and also to continue providing information on the results achieved through the measures adopted, especially in the framework of the implementation of the road map. Please provide information disaggregated by age and gender.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. 1. Children affected by armed conflict. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, according to official estimates, 200,000 children had been orphaned and over a million persons were internally displaced in the country as a result of the conflict. The Committee requested the Government to take immediate measures to protect children orphaned by the armed conflict from the worst forms of child labour.

The Committee notes that Secretariat for Peace of the Office of the President of the Republic of Guatemala (SEPAZ), created by Decree No. 17-97 of the Congress, is the government agency with the mission of ensuring respect and follow-up to the peace agreements. The SEPAZ has developed the Political Agenda for Peace 2017–26. Commitment No. 11 of the Agenda refers to “the protection of families with woman heads of household, including widows, and the protection of orphans”. The national programme of compensation for child victims of the conflict has the objective of “ensuring the recovery, compensating, assisting, rehabilitating and ensuring dignity to those who have been victims of violation of children’s rights”. The following measures have been taken for the most vulnerable: (i) diagnoses of the principal psycho-social problems and comprehensive assistance with priority on vulnerable groups, education and heritage recuperation programmes, recognition of the facts and responsibilities in relation to them; (ii) the establishment of spaces to discuss experiences; (iii) seeking means of access to justice; and (iv) the promotion of mental health at the community level and the training of community and institutional health personnel of the Ministry of Public Health and Social Assistance (MSPAS). The National compensation programme has also developed a historical memory education project with MINEDUC for children and young persons.

Finally, the Committee notes, in the concluding observations of 2018 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in relation to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the recommendation to the Government that it is necessary to strengthen activities for the prevention of the recruitment of children by non-State armed groups, including maras and drug traffickers, by addressing the root causes, such as situations of poverty, economic exclusion and discrimination (CRC/C/GTM/CO/5-6, paragraph 48(b)). While noting the measures taken by the Government, the Committee requests it to continue adopting measures to protect children orphaned as a result of the armed conflict against the worst forms of child labour. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the results achieved through the measures adopted, with an indication of the number of children who have benefited from these measures.

2. Street children. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the National Plan for the Protection of Street Children 2004–14 was developed by the Secretariat for Social Affairs (SBS) and the Social Movement for the Rights of Children and Young Persons in Guatemala. In January 2012, the SBS participated in the programme for street children and young persons, which had only one street educator to carry out its activities. The main role of the street educator was to carry out visits by day and night, principally in zone 1 of the capital and around the various centres, with a view to detecting children and young persons in the streets and approaching them for their inclusion in the programme, so as to remove them from the streets and detect the emergence of new cases.

However, the Committee notes that, since 2015, the SBS has not been directly addressing the problem of children and young persons in street situations. Solely for preventive purposes, children at risk between 8 months and 6 years of age are provided with care through the programme of comprehensive care centres (CAI), which has 42 centres throughout the country providing tutorials and school catch up courses. The programme for educational reinforcement and prevention (REPREDEC) only operates in the afternoon, in the centres, and provides para-school assistance for children between 7 and 12 years of age with a view to preventing them from staying in the streets once they leave school, when their parents are still working. Considering that street children are particularly exposed to the worst forms of child labour, the Committee encourages the Government to intensify its efforts to remove children from the streets and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken within the context of the National Plan for the Protection of Boys, Girls and Young Persons in the Streets, and on the number of children removed from the streets who have received instruction.

3. Indigenous children. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, according to the 2015 report Education for All 2000–2015: Achievements and challenges, UNESCO found that several ethnic groups including Q’eqchi speakers are particularly vulnerable to economic and educational deprivation (page 96). The Committee requested the Government to take immediate and time-bound measures to protect these children against the worst forms of child labour.

The Committee notes that the Indigenous Development Fund (FODIGUA) facilitates the access of indigenous communities to technology with a view to their integration in the education system. In 2014, a total of 22,445 girls and boys benefitted from this programme, while in 2015, the 83 education centres in 83 indigenous communities provided IT materials and training to 22,409 children and young persons. Other activities have been undertaken by the FODIGUA, such as the rehabilitation or construction of new physical spaces for the continued education of boys and girls in indigenous rural areas. Noting that the children of indigenous peoples are particularly exposed to the risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to continue taking immediate and time-bound measures to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to continue providing detailed information on the measures taken and the results achieved.

Article 8. Poverty reduction. The Committee notes in the Government’s report the statistics of the national survey of living conditions (ENCOVI), according to which 22.8 per cent of boys, girls and young persons in extreme poverty were engaged in work in 2014. The Committee notes the various programmes of grants which are being implemented, including: (i) the programme Mi Beca Segura, Beca Educaciόn Media, which consists of conditional cash transfers with shared responsibility (in relation to health and education) for families in a situation of poverty or extreme poverty with children between the ages of 6 and 14 years, with a view to promoting their school enrolment and attendance at the pre-primary and primary levels; (ii) the programme of social grants Mi Beca Segura, Beca Mi Primer Empleo, which is intended to facilitate the integration of young persons living in poverty or extreme poverty and unemployment into the formal labour market through temporary recruitment in an enterprise as an apprentice; (iii) the programme Mi Comedor Seguro, which consists of providing rations of food for breakfast and lunch at a subsidized cost to enable students to have access to food. In 2017, the programme had 21,037 beneficiaries; (iv) the social programme Mi Bolsa Segura was established in 2012 by Ministerial Decision No. 02-2012 and reformed by Ministerial Decision DS-07-2015. Between 2016 and 2017, this grant benefitted 15,753 students; and (v) the programme Jovenes protagonistas, which targets and encourages school attendance by young persons in a situation of vulnerability and social risk due to their poverty, through education. In 2017, the programme was extended to cover 15 departments, 78 municipal areas and 109 schools.

The Committee also notes the measures and practices adopted by the Ministry of Social Development to combat poverty in the context of the implementation of the road map 2016–20. In 2017, the “child labour” variable was included in the identification list of social programmes (FIPS) so that the institutions which are part of the National Information System (SNIS) can transmit data to the Single Register of National Users in the field of child labour (RUUN). The Social Promotion Department carried out two training courses on feeding data on child labour in the SNIS in coordination with the sectorial technical committee, the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs and the Social Promotion Department. The coordinator of the CODEPETIs was invited to the ordinary and extraordinary meetings in the various departments on the subject of the eradication of child labour. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts and requests it to continue providing information on the specific results achieved through the various social programmes undertaken by the Ministry of Social Development, and on the practical measures taken to combat poverty within the context of the implementation of the road map.