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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Kazakhstan (Ratification: 2001)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy on the effective elimination of child labour. The Committee previously noted the Government’s information on the various measures taken to combat child labour, such as: (i) the “Road to School” initiative, which was designed to reach all school-age children and to provide assistance and material support to socially disadvantaged children, was extended to all regions; (ii) programmes, including training, seminars and awareness-raising activities against child labour, were conducted under the National Information Campaign initiatives; and (iii) several programmes were implemented in 2014 within the new social policy on improving children’s quality of life, especially those from low-income families. However, the Committee noted that, in its concluding observations of 2015, the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) expressed concern about the reports of child labour in vegetable plantations, in car washing, and places of entertainment and trade.

The Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that the Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour for 2016–17 was approved by Order of the Ministry of Health and Social Development No. 384 of 17 May 2016. The Government also indicates that the National Information Campaign “12 days against child labour” is run annually from 1 to 12 June. A large number of awareness-raising activities, such as conferences, training sessions and seminars, reached around 2 million children and 300,000 adults. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this regard to eliminate child labour in all sectors. Noting that the Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour for 2016–17 has ended, the Committee requests the Government to indicate whether it envisages to adopt a new action plan.

Labour inspection and the application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted that amendments were introduced to the Labour Code and to the Act on state supervision and monitoring, in 2015, with the aim of increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of the work of state labour inspectors in taking preventive and warning measures against child labour and its worst forms. The Committee also noted the information provided by the Government with regard to the inspections conducted by the state labour inspectorate and various other agencies, such as education authorities together with representatives from the agencies of internal affairs and health care, civil society organizations, children’s and young people’s organizations and parents’ groups, to detect child labour. Accordingly, in 2014, a total of 4,062 inspections were conducted in 4,557 premises, during which 6,837 minors were detected as engaged in economic activities. Out of these, 185 minors were engaged in child labour.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that, in 2016, state labour inspectors identified 75 cases of child labour, while 20 cases were identified in 2017. The Committee also notes from the Government’s report under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), that, within the framework of a nationwide employment campaign carried out in 2018, several violations of labour legislation concerning children were detected, including 14 cases of employment at entertainment venues, two in agriculture and 18 at other places. The Government indicates that child labour mostly occurs in the service, retail and agricultural sectors. It also states that, in order to identify child labour, inspections are carried out without notice while, in other cases, employers shall be informed of scheduled inspections 30 calendar days in advance. Moreover, mobile squads were set up in all regions, consisting of internal affairs officers, officials from local administrations, state labour inspectors, health professionals, youth workers and psychologists. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to effectively monitor and combat child labour in the country, including in the informal economy. In this regard, it requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the state labour inspectorate. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of inspections on child labour carried out by state labour inspectors as well as by other agencies, and on the number of violations detected and penalties imposed in this regard.