Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2019, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Peru (Ratification: 2002)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously expressed concern at the high number of children and young persons engaged in economic activity or hazardous types of work. It requested the Government to provide information on the new projects developed in the context of the National Strategy for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labour and the Protection of Young Workers 2020–21 (ENPETI), and on the results achieved.

The Committee notes from the Government’s report that the Ministry of Labour and Employment Promotion, with the support of the Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean and the ILO, has developed a model for the identification of risks of child labour known as MIRTI. The model, which is currently undergoing validation, proposes educational and socio-economic indicators, including of school attendance and type of housing, with a view to analysing the causes and determining locations where there is a high risk of child labour.

The Committee also notes the results of the Municipal Programme for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labour 2017–18, undertaken by the Municipal Service for the Protection of Children and Young People, in the Carabayllo district of Lima, which benefited 51 girls, boys and young people. Similarly, a total of 140 people have been trained at the national level on the risks of vulnerability for families, including the issue of child labour. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the results of the implementation of the ENPETI, as well as information on the MIRTI. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice, including recent statistics on the employment of children and young persons and specific information on hazardous types of work.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and labour inspection. The Committee previously noted that the majority of children under the age of 14 years engaged in an economic activity worked in the informal economy. The Committee requested the Government to intensify its efforts to adapt and strengthen the labour inspection services so as to improve the capacity of labour inspectors to identify cases of child labour in the informal economy and thereby ensure that children under 14 years of age working in the informal economy enjoy the protection afforded by the Convention. It also requested the Government to continue providing information on the measures adopted in this regard and the results achieved.

The Committee notes, according to the information provided by the Government, the introduction of another model for the identification and prevention of child labour by municipal authorities. The model allows municipal inspectors, who assess compliance with labour standards by enterprises, to include criteria in their interventions for the identification and prevention of child labour. The municipal authorities have the power, among other measures, to impose penalties on enterprises in the most serious cases, including the confiscation of goods, the revocation of permits and the temporary or definitive closure of the establishment. The model is currently being implemented in the municipalities of Pichanaqui, Villa Rica, Concepción and Lima.

The Committee also notes the Government’s indications that in 2019 the National Supervisory Authority of Labour Inspection (SUNAFIL) issued 460 labour inspection notices concerning child labour in relation to the minimum age. Thirty-four infringements relating to child labour were detected and noted in compliance reports. The infringements are currently covered by an administrative sanction procedure within the respective time limits. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken in this respect and the results achieved. It also once again requests the Government to provide extracts from the reports of the labour inspection services indicating the number and nature of the infringements reported and the penalties imposed.

Articles 2(1) and 3(3). Minimum age for admission to employment or work and admission to hazardous work from the age of 16 years. The Committee previously expressed the firm hope that the Bill to amend the Code of Children and Young Persons, which has been under amendment since 2010, would be adopted at the earliest possible date so as to guarantee that no child under the age of 14 years is permitted to work, and also to guarantee that only children and young persons aged 16 years and over can be authorized to perform night work during the period from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. for a limited period, in accordance with the conditions laid down in Article 3(3) of the Convention.

The Committee notes the indications by the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Peoples that two women members of Congress, of whom one is currently the Minister of Women and Vulnerable Peoples, submitted a proposal in 2016 for a new Code of Children and Young Persons in Bills Nos 500/2016-CR and 663/2016-CR. The Committee once again expresses the firm hope that the Bill to amend the Code of Children and Young Persons will be adopted in the very near future and requests the Government to provide information on any progress achieved in this regard.