Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

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

Articles 3(a) and 7(1) of the Convention. Sale and trafficking of children and penalties. In its previous comments, the Committee noted Act No. 2010-272 of 30 September 2010 prohibiting trafficking and the worst forms of child labour. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the effect given in practice to Act No. 2010 272 of 30 September 2010.

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report concerning the results achieved through the implementation of the National Plan of Action to Combat the Worst Forms of Child Labour 2015–17 (PAN-PFTE 2015–17), particularly in relation to Pillar 3 on the prosecution and punishment of traffickers. According to this information, the activities of the subdirectorate of the criminal police department responsible for combating child trafficking and juvenile delinquency have resulted in the conviction of 187 traffickers. In addition, the “AKOMA” police operation, carried out in June 2015 in San Pedro, Tabou and Sassandra, with the support of International Organization for Migration (IOM) and INTERPOL, led to the arrest and conviction of 22 traffickers and the rescue of 103 child victims of trafficking and exploitation. The Committee also notes the detailed information provided by the Government in its report submitted under the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) concerning the application of Act No. 2016-1111 of 8 December 2016 on trafficking in persons. The Committee notes, inter alia, that in 2018–2019, 46 persons were prosecuted for offences in trafficking in persons and that in 2019–2020, 23 cases resulted in investigations into trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation. Examples provided by the Government include convictions with firm prison sentences of up to ten years for trafficking in persons for the purpose of sexual exploitation, where the victims were minors.

The Committee also notes that, within the framework of the National Plan of Action to Combat the Worst Forms of Child Labour 2019–21 (PAN-PFTE 2019–21), provision is made to reinforce the technical and operational capacities of the subdirectorate of the criminal police department responsible for combating child trafficking and juvenile delinquency, as well as to organize six police operations to combat child trafficking and child labour. In addition, the Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report submitted under Convention No. 29, the National Committee to Combat Trafficking in Persons (CNLTP) plans to organize a workshop to review the implementation of the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons (2016–2020), which will then enable the development and approval of a new strategy for 2021–2025. Within this framework, particular emphasis is placed on the punishment of traffickers by strengthening the operational capacities of the police tasked with combating child labour, notably the subdirectorate of the criminal police department responsible for combating child trafficking and juvenile delinquency, in particular so that it can patrol the borders with a view to intercepting child traffickers and dismantling clandestine child trafficking and exploitation networks.

The Committee notes, however, the concern expressed by the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations of 12 July 2019 (CRC/C/CIV/CO/2), highlighting the limited information on convictions of perpetrators of child labour (para. 48(b)), as well as its request to Côte d’Ivoire to enforce its laws, including Act No. 2010-272, strengthen monitoring and inspection mechanisms, and prosecute perpetrators of violations related to child labour (para. 49(b)). While noting the efforts made by the Government, the Committee encourages it to intensify its efforts to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement bodies to ensure that all persons who commit child trafficking are investigated and prosecuted and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of Act No. 2010-272 of 30 September 2010 prohibiting trafficking and the worst forms of child labour, and Act No. 2016-1111 of 8 December 2016 on trafficking in persons. It also requests the Government to provide statistics on the number and nature of violations reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and criminal penalties imposed in the context of cases involving child trafficking.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the establishment in 2011 of the Inter-Ministerial Committee against the Trafficking and Exploitation of Children and Child Labour (CIM) and the National Monitoring Committee of Action to Combat Child Trafficking, Exploitation and Labour (CNS). It requested the Government to provide information on the activities of the two committees.

The Committee notes that the Government has not provided any information on this subject in its report. It notes, however, the information provided in the Government’s report submitted under Convention No. 29, according to which the CNLTP was operationalized in 2019 and that various activities have since been carried out. The Executive Secretary of the CNLTP, for example, refers victims of trafficking to the NGO, Côte d’Ivoire Prospérité, to ensure their care in a secured shelter. This care consists of medical, psychological and psychosocial assistance, food and non-food items, sanitary kits and help with repatriation. In addition, the CNLTP, in cooperation with the IOM, repatriated 45 victims of trafficking. The Government reports that 581 victims have been provided with care since 2020, 249 of whom were minors of various nationalities (Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Gabon, Nigeria and Togo). The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the activities of the CNLTP concerning the manner in which it contributes to enforcing the provisions of the Convention with regard to the sale or trafficking of children for the purposes of commercial or sexual exploitation and the results achieved. It also requests the Government to indicate whether the CIM and the CNS remain operational and, if so, to provide information on their activities and the results achieved.

Article 6. Programmes of action and application of the Convention in practice. PAN-PFTE . The Committee previously noted the strategic objectives of the PAN PFTE 2015–2017. It requested the Government to provide information on the results achieved in relation to the number of children removed from the worst forms of child labour.

The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government in its report submitted under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), according to which the review of the implementation of the PAN-PFTE 2015–2017 helped to identify significant progress in terms of preventing the phenomenon, protecting victims, strengthening the legal framework, as well as law enforcement and follow-up evaluation. Regarding prevention, more than 70,000 stakeholders involved in the remediation system have been trained to better protect children. These persons include prefects, sub-prefects, magistrates, labour inspectors, social workers, police, gendarmes, journalists and media professionals. With regard to assistance and protection of child victims, more than 4,000 children at risk of exploitation and victims of child labour have been rescued and provided with support for family, school or occupational reintegration in specialized structures of the State and NGOs. More than 20,000 local child protection committees have been set up across the country to prevent and ensure emergency care for child victims of trafficking and exploitation at the local level.

The Committee notes that a Third National Plan of Action to Combat the Worst Forms of Child Labour 2019–21 (PAN-PFTE 2019–21) was launched on 25 June 2019. The PAN–PFTE 2019–2021 aims to contribute to the vision of a Côte d’Ivoire “free of child labour by 2025”, with the strategic outcome of protecting children aged 5 to 17 years against work to be abolished, including the worst forms of child labour. The Committee requests the Government to continue to indicate the measures taken to combat the worst forms of child labour including within the framework of the PAN–PFTE 2019–2021. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the results achieved relating to the number of children removed from the worst forms of labour, particularly child victims of trafficking.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. 1. Clause (a). Preventing children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee previously noted the Sectoral Education/Training Plan 2015–25, showing the rise in the net and gross school enrolment rate at primary level, with the gross rate reaching 101 in 2016. The Committee observed that, according to the Sectoral Plan, this improvement in the school attendance rate has resulted at the practical level in action to increase supply (the construction of classrooms, recruitment of teachers) and a lightening of the cost to be borne by families through the free distribution of school supplies for children enrolled in public primary schools since 2013.

The Committee notes that several measures were taken as part of the implementation PAN–PFTE 2015–2017 which contributed to improving the functioning of the education system in Côte d’Ivoire. The Government indicates, for example, that access for children to basic social infrastructure has been improved by building more than 4,250 preschool and primary classrooms, ensuring civil registration of 700,000 primary school pupils, and establishing more than 258 teaching centres in cacao plantation areas and over 104 school canteens in rural schools. In this regard, the Committee notes that, according to UNICEF, the number of children of primary and lower secondary school age not in school fell by half between 2016 and 2020. The Committee further notes that in June 2021 UNICEF and the Ivorian Government launched a new cooperation cycle for the period 2021–2025 that will guide various interventions for the realization of the rights of children and adolescents in Côte d'Ivoire, including in education. Lastly, the Committee notes that, under the PAN–PFTE 2019–2021, the country intends to pursue and intensify its efforts to accelerate progress towards eliminating the worst forms of child labour through children’s access to education and includes as an indicator of success the fact that child workers or children at risk of labour to be abolished have access to quality basic education and training. Considering that education plays a key role in preventing children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labor, the Committee requests the Government to continue to take all necessary measures to improve the functioning of the education system and to ensure free basic education. It also requests it to provide detailed information on the results achieved through both the implementation of the Sectoral Education/Training Plan 2015–25 and also the new cooperation cycle with UNICEF and the PAN–PFTE 2019–2021, particularly with regard to the rates of enrolment and completion, disaggregated by age and gender.