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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Eritrea (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not been received. It is therefore bound to repeat its previous comments.

Repetition

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy, labour inspection and application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that it had collected data and information to formulate a national policy and that an upcoming Comprehensive National Child Policy document was expected to strengthen efforts to provide sustained services to children. However, it noted that the UN Human Rights Council (A/HRC/26/L.6 and A/HRC/26/45) in its reports of 2014, continued to highlight child labour in the country, including in hazardous activities such as harvesting and construction. The Committee therefore strongly urged the Government to intensify its efforts to implement concrete measures, such as by adopting a national plan of action to abolish child labour as well as strengthening the capacity of the labour inspection system.

The Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, that considering that a holistic approach is the best solution for the elimination of child labour, the Government has adopted a Comprehensive Child Policy in 2016. It also notes the Government’s information that it is in the process of developing a national action plan for the elimination of child labour. In this regard, two members of the Ministry of Labour and Social Welfare (MLSW) have participated in the National Capacity Building Workshop on Child Labour and Forced Labour Data Analysis organized by the ILO in February 2020 in Cairo, Egypt. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that labour inspection plays a critical role in preventing child labour by conducting regular inspections of workplaces and ensuring that conditions of work are respected as prescribed by law. Several efforts are being taken to improve the number and quality of labour inspections, such as providing trainings to the inspectors. The Government indicates that more than 45 labour inspectors, including new recruits are engaged in inspection throughout the six regions of the country. The Committee further notes the Government’s reference to the findings of the Eritrea Labour Force Survey 2015-16 which indicated that among the 809,670 eligible children (referred to as children within the age group of 5–13 who are eligible for study), 16.4 per cent were engaged in some work activities, of whom 71.3 per cent were then currently attending school. The average age at which children start working is 7 years. The main reasons reported for working at early age were “to help in household enterprises” (53 per cent) and “supplement family income” (33.3 per cent). The survey also indicated that while 11.7 per cent of children combined work with schooling, 4.8 per cent of children were involved in child labour either by missing some classes or without going to school at all. In this regard, the Committee notes from the Technical Advisory Mission Report on the Tripartite Inter-ministerial Workshop on the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No.182) held in Asmara in March 2019, that the tripartite constituents identified that measures are required to “Strengthen the capacity of labour inspectorate to identify children engaged in child labour with a view to removing them and providing them with assistance”. While noting the measures taken by the Government, the Committee urges it to intensify its efforts to progressively eliminate child labour in the country, including through the adoption and effective implementation of the National Action plan for the elimination of child labour and the Comprehensive Child Policy. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to continue to take measures to strengthen the capacity of the labour inspection system in order to adequately monitor and detect cases of child labour in the country. It further requests the Government to provide information on the number of inspections on child labour carried out by the labour inspectors as well as on the number and nature of violations detected and penalties applied. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the application of the Convention in practice, in particular statistical data on the employment of children and young persons by age group.

Article 2(3) and (4). Age of completion of compulsory schooling and minimum age for admission to employment. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that education is compulsory for eight years (five years of elementary school and three years of middle school), which would be completed at 14 years of age. It noted the measures taken by the Government to provide free education to all school children up to the middle school level as well as its policies, in particular the Nomadic Education Policy, to make education inclusive to all children. However, the Committee noted from the draft proposal within the Strategic Partnership Cooperation Framework (SPCF) 2013–16 between the Government and the United Nations system and from the Government’s fourth periodic report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/ER/4, paragraph 301 and table 28), a decline in the elementary school enrolment rates. The Committee therefore requested the Government to continue to cooperate with the UN bodies to improve the functioning of, and access to, the education system so as to increase school enrolment rates and reduce school drop-out rates for children at least up to the age of completion of compulsory education, particularly with regard to girls.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that efforts are being taken as a priority to improve the compulsory basic education in the country. In order to counter the challenges and hostilities including capacity and resources, and to a limited extent the cultural obstacles affecting nomadic children and girl’s education in some of the lowland areas, basic schools without any barriers are being introduced gradually throughout the country. According to the statistics provided by the Government, in 2017-2018, 654,399 students were enrolled from pre-primary up to secondary level. In the last two decades, school enrolment rates have increased by 96.4 per cent (106.3 per cent for girls), number of teachers by 131 per cent and number of schools by 178 per cent. Moreover, alternative education through Complementary Elementary Education (CEE) has been introduced for out-of-school children as well as to address the challenges in remote and rural areas. In this regard, 8,575 out of school children (46.4 per cent girls) aged 9-14 years benefitted from the CEE in 2016–17. The Committee further notes from the UNICEF Annual Report of 2016 that the ongoing measures to promote access to education resulted in 17,145 out-of-school children including (6,541 girls) from the most disadvantaged areas enrolling in primary education during the 2015-16 academic year. The Committee, however, notes that according to the UNESCO estimates for 2018, the net enrolment rates at primary and secondary level were 51.5 per cent and 41.6 per cent respectively, and the number of out-of-school children was 241,988. Considering that compulsory education is one of the most effective means of combating child labour, the Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to increase school enrolment, attendance and completion rates, and reduce drop-out rates, particularly of children up to 14 years of age. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved, including statistical data on the number of children enrolled at the primary and secondary schools.

Article 3(2). Determination of the types of hazardous work. The Committee recalls that the Government has been referring to the upcoming adoption of a list of hazardous activities prohibited to young employees under section 69(1) of the Labour Proclamation since 2007. The Committee urged the Government to finalize this ministerial regulation, without delay.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that child labour in Eritrea does not involve hazardous work. However, the MLSW is in the process of finalizing the regulation prescribing the list of types of hazardous work that are prohibited to young persons under 18 years of age.  The Committee accordingly expresses the firm hope that the ministerial regulation issuing the list of hazardous activities prohibited to persons under the age of 18 will be adopted in the near future. It requests the Government to provide a copy, once it has been adopted.

Article 9(3). Keeping of registers by employers. The Committee previously noted the Government’s indication that the requirement for employers to maintain a register of persons who are employed and are under 18 years would be addressed in an upcoming regulation and studies in this regard were ongoing.

The Committee once again notes the Government’s indication that the MLSW is still undertaking studies to develop this regulation. Noting that the Government has been referring to the adoption of this regulation since 2007, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the regulation concerning the registers to be kept by employers is adopted without delay. It also requests the Government to provide a copy, once it has been adopted.

The Committee encourages the Government to seek ILO technical assistance in its efforts to combat child labour.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.

The Committee hopes that the Government will make every effort to take the necessary action in the near future.