Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Social Policy (Basic Aims and Standards) Convention, 1962 (No. 117) - Costa Rica (Ratification: 1966)

The Committee notes the observations of the Rerum Novarum Workers’ Confederation (CTRN), received on 31 August 2021. The Committee also notes the Government’s replies to these observations, received on 26 January 2022.

Parts I and II of the Convention. Improvement of standards of living. The Committee notes the Government’s reference to the report entitled “Analysis of the challenges of the Bicentennial National Development and Public Investment Plan (PNDIP) 2019–22”. The prime objective of the PNDIP is to “generate inclusive economic growth at the national and regional levels, in harmony with the environment, creating quality jobs and reducing poverty and inequality”, and is linked to five national targets relating to production, employment, poverty, inequality and decarbonization. The challenges faced by the implementation of the PNDIP include reducing levels of multidimensional poverty and arresting the growth in the level of inequality. The report indicates in particular that, between 2014 and 2019, multidimensional poverty fell by 5.1 percentage points while the level of inequality increased, with the Gini coefficient moving from 0.512 to 0.508. It also indicates that, according to the National Household Survey (ENAHO), households living in extreme poverty decreased from 6.7 to 5.8 per cent between 2014 and 2019. However, during the same period, poverty in households headed by women increased from 43.3 to 48.4 per cent. In addition, according to the report, the Avancemos (let’s move forward) programme was implemented in 2019, aimed at reducing poverty, and provided 200,923 financial transfers. Moreover, in 2019, the Crecemos (we’re growing) programme awarded 203,401 bursaries to primary-school students and 2,369 to teenage mothers. The report also indicates that, because of the negative effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, the unemployment rate rose, reaching 24 per cent in the second quarter of 2020. Moreover, between 2014 and 2019, social investment in the country increased from 22.7 per cent to 23.91 per cent. The Committee also notes that, according to data from the “ongoing employment survey” of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses (INEC), the informal employment rate rose from 46 to 47 per cent between 2019 and the first quarter of 2020. As regards housing conditions in the country, the report indicates that, as at 2019, out of a total of 1,578,161 dwellings, 4,931 had no electricity supply, 67,271 had no water supply, 6,416 had no piping, and 5,316 had no septic tank. The Committee also notes the information provided by the Government on a series of actions carried out in 2019 for persons in situations of vulnerability, including measures relating to the coordination of selective social programmes to provide basic and comprehensive care for households in situations of poverty and care for older persons; social equity programmes for public education; programmes for combating the housing deficit for low-income population groups; and measures to expand and improve the sewage system in certain cities. Lastly, the Committee notes the observations of the CTRN to the effect that the information supplied by the Government does not represent the current situation in the country. The CTRN criticizes the fact that the population has become poorer, health has deteriorated, social inequalities have deepened and unemployment has risen. The CTRN maintains that between 2019 and 2020 poverty levels increased from 21 to 30.4 per cent, while levels of extreme poverty rose from 5.8 to 11 per cent. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing detailed, up-to-date information, including statistics disaggregated by sex and age, on the nature, scope and impact of measures taken to improve the living standards of the people of Costa Rica (Article 2), especially with regard to groups in vulnerable situations, such as children, women, persons with disabilities, indigenous and Afro-Costa Rican communities, LGBTI persons and persons living with HIV.

Article 4. Agricultural producers. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that in 2019 the agricultural sector contributed 4.8 per cent of GDP and that between 2017 and the first quarter of 2020 this sector ranked second in terms of job creation. As regards producers, the Government states that 84.4 per cent are men and 15.6 per cent are women. The Government adds that the rural poverty index fell from 25.1 per cent in 2018 to 24.2 per cent in 2019. However, the Committee notes the CTRN’s indication that between 2019 and 2020 the rural poverty level rose from 24.2 per cent to 31.6 per cent. The Government states that budget expenditure for agriculture in 2019 was 261,866.5 million Costa Rican colones (CRC). The Government also refers to the implementation between 2019 and 2020 of a series of projects to improve living standards for agricultural producers, including measures for increasing production capacity, such as the creation of new infrastructure, rural credit, food security and virtual training. Lastly, the Government refers to the implementation of a series of policies in the context of the PNDIP, with the aim of providing institutional guidance in agriculture, including: “Policy guidelines for the agricultural, fishing and rural sector 2019–22”; “National policy for sustainable production and consumption 2018–30”; “National policy on seeds”; “State policy for rural and territorial development in Costa Rica (PEDRT) 2015–30”; and “State policy for the agri-food sector and rural development in Costa Rica 2010–21”. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing detailed, up-to-date information, including statistics disaggregated by sex and age, on the measures taken to increase production capacity and improve living standards for agricultural producers, and on the results thereof. The Committee also requests the Government to provide detailed, up-to-date information on the results achieved by the policies implemented in the context of the PNDIP, aimed at providing institutional guidance in agriculture.

Part III. Migrant workers. In its previous comment, the Committee asked the Government to provide information on the measures taken to ensure that the working conditions of migrant workers required to live away from their homes take account of their normal family needs. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has not taken any action on this matter and that no agreements have been signed between employers and workers to reconcile occupational and family responsibilities. The Government adds that section 38 of the Labour Code provides that the employer must pay reasonable daily return travel costs for workers, if the distance between the worker’s usual residence and place of work is 10 km or more, and this provision includes migrant workers. Moreover, in its previous comment, the Committee asked the Government to provide information on the impact of measures taken in relation to workers employed on banana and pineapple plantations, particularly workers from the Ngäbe and Buglé indigenous communities. In this regard, the Government indicates that, in the context of the project entitled “Implementing a culture of labour compliance in the agri-export sector in Costa Rica”, 11 labour inspectors were given training to learn the language of the Ngäbe-Buglé community in 2021 to enable them, in the context of their duties, to consult indigenous workers on matters such as hours of work, lunch breaks, insurance coverage and living conditions. The inspectors also implemented various measures that were disseminated in both Spanish and Ngäbere. The Government also refers to the systematization between 2014 and 2018 of comprehensive care centres which provide food for over 600 children throughout the country belonging to indigenous families, migrants and workers on agricultural plantations, established on private coffee estates. The initiative was launched in 2014 with the aim of protecting the rights of children from the Ngäbe and Buglé indigenous communities. The Government also refers to the protocol for the implementation of general guidelines for coffee estates hiring migrant workers in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the aim of which is prevention and mitigation of infection from the virus, specifically on coffee estates and among producers who employ migrant and Ngäbe-Buglé indigenous workers. The Committee also notes that, according to the Directorate for Migration and Foreign Nationals, between 1 November 2020 and 30 June 2021 a total of 6,638 Nicaraguan workers entered Costa Rica, of whom only 451 had documentation. Between 20 August 2020 and 15 January 2021, a total of 6,510 Ngäbe-Buglé indigenous workers entered the country, of whom 6,026 were documented. These workers came into the country to seek work on plantations. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it does not have statistics disaggregated by sex and age for this category of workers. Lastly, with regard to the Committee’s previous request concerning the impact of cooperation on labour migration between the authorities of the Government of Panama in relation to migrants from the Ngäbe and Buglé indigenous communities, the Committee notes the Government’s statement that no studies on the impact of such cooperation have been carried out so far.

The Committee notes with concern that the CTRN, in its observations, denounces violations suffered by workers, mostly migrant and indigenous workers, employed on banana, pineapple, sugar cane and other plantations, in relation to hours of work, wages, working conditions, social protection and trade union rights. The CTRN also refers to the lack of inspections in the sector and inadequate planning thereof. The Committee also notes that the CTRN asserts that migrant and indigenous children and young people are often obliged to work to augment the family income owing to their vulnerable and marginal situation. In this regard, the Committee refers to its direct request of 2021 on the application of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), in which it noted the observations of the CTRN asserting that child domestic work is often done without remuneration and is largely carried out by migrant children. The Committee further notes that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 4 March 2020, regarding children’s standard of living, expressed concern at the fact that, according to the 2018 National Household Survey of the National Institute of Statistics and Censuses, 34 per cent of children in Costa Rica are living in poverty and 12 per cent in extreme poverty. The CRC also noted with concern the deprivation suffered by migrant children and by children with disabilities living in rural, coastal and border areas (CRC/C/CRI/CO/5-6, paragraph 39). In conclusion, the CTRN requests, in view of the seriousness of the situation, that a technical and/or direct contacts mission be sent to observe in situ the violation and non-observance of the Convention. In light of the concerns expressed by the CTRN, the Committee reminds the Government that the existence of child labour is incompatible with the objective of the Convention, namely the well-being of the population and improvement of living conditions (Articles 1 and 2). The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary steps to secure working conditions and minimum standards of living for migrant workers, particularly those who work on banana, pineapple and sugar cane plantations, and to send detailed, up-to-date information in this respect. The Committee also requests the Government to continue sending information on the impact of the measures taken with regard to workers from the Ngäbe and Buglé indigenous communities. The Committee further requests the Government to continue sending statistical information, disaggregated by sex and age, on the number of migrant workers obliged to live away from their homes. Lastly, the Committee once again requests the Government to send detailed, up-to-date information on the impact of cooperation on labour migration between the authorities of the Government of Panama, in relation to migrants from the Ngäbe and Buglé indigenous communities (Article 8 of the Convention).