Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

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

The Committee takes note of the supplementary information provided by the Government in light of the decision adopted by the Governing Body at its 338th Session (June 2020). The Committee proceeded with the examination of the application of the Convention on the basis of the supplementary information received from the Government this year (see Article 7(2)(d) on street children), as well as on the basis of the information at its disposal in 2019.

Article 7(2) of the Convention. Clauses (a) and (c). Access to free basic education. Plantation Tamils.  The Committee previously noted that, according to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Tamils of Indian origin, also referred to as “Plantation Tamils” lacked quality education, and suffered from higher dropout and child labour rates than the national average. It requested the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure access to free basic education, particularly for Plantation Tamil children.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that the 13 Years Guaranteed Education Programme aims at ensuring that vulnerable children and children who are more likely to drop out of school attend school. The Government specifies that in 2017 the programme was implemented in 42 schools. In the same year, the school census identified 845 schools in the plantation areas, accommodating 209,057 students.  The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to ensure access to free basic education for all, including for Plantation Tamils children, and to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this regard, including on the activities conducted and the results achieved in the framework of the 13 Years Guaranteed Education Programme. Please provide information on the number of children reached by the programme, disaggregated by gender and age, indicating how many of them are Tamils of Indian origin.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Street children.  The Committee notes that the National Plan of Action (NPA) for Children in Sri Lanka 2016–20 identifies children living or working in the streets as a key issue. This plan specifies that these children are sometimes begging or engaged in child prostitution. Accordingly, the Government has developed a Plan of Action for Street Children, which aims at preventing children from living or working in the streets and at providing care and protection for all street children.

The Committee further notes that the Policy Framework and National Plan of Action to address Sexual and Gender-based Violence (SGBV) in Sri Lanka 2016–20 provides for the design and implementation of a special programme to address the issue of street children, with the involvement of relevant agencies, including the development of a status report on street children in the country. The Committee notes the Government’s information in its supplementary report that the NPA for children and the SGBV are implemented with the active involvement of multiple stakeholders. The Government further provides an official website link to the progress report of the SGBV action plan. However, the Committee observes that the progress report does not appear to have any information on the measures taken to address the issue of street children. Considering that street children are particularly exposed to the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour. In this regard, it requests the Government to indicate the concrete measures taken to address the issue of street children within the framework of the Plan of Action for Street Children and of the Policy Framework and National Plan of Action to address SGBV 2016–20 and the results achieved. The Committee also requests the Government to supply information on the number of street children protected and removed from the streets as well as on the measures in place to provide assistance for their rehabilitation and social integration.