Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (Ratification: 2003)

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Articles 3(a), 6, 7(1) and 8 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour, plan of action, penalties and international cooperation. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that it has adopted: (1) the “Protocol for Victims of Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling, Related Offences and Intervention Roadmap”, approved by Resolution No. 237/2020 of 27 November 2020; and (2) the Plurinational Policy against Trafficking in Persons, the Smuggling of Migrants and Related Offences 2021–25. The Government adds that, in application of Framework Act No. 263 on the sale and trafficking of persons and its regulating Decree No. 1486, the National Department for the Fight against Human Trafficking and Smuggling (DGTTP) was created, with the objective of: (1) taking actions of prevention, protection and reintegration, in the fight against trafficking in persons; (2) improving the investigation of these crimes; and (3) promoting inter-institutional cooperation. The Government states that the DGTTP organized, in 2019, 19 preventive operations and interventions at the national level and trainings for 3,250 persons. In 2020, a training plan and programme on the fight against trafficking in persons was approved and, in that year, 29 repatriations and 18 preventive operations and interventions were carried out. With regard to the 2015 agreement between the Plurinational State of Bolivia and Argentina on the prevention and investigation of the crime of trafficking in persons and on assistance and protection for victims, the Government indicates that a Roadmap is being elaborated and approved through the Plurinational Council Against Trafficking in Persons and Smuggling. According to the Government, in the framework of this bilateral agreement, 42 victims of trafficking of Bolivian nationality were rescued between 2018 and 2019. The Committee further notes with interest the Law No. 1425 of 13 April 2022, ratifying the agreement between the Plurinational State of Bolivia and the Republic of Paraguay to strengthen the fight against trafficking in persons and related crimes.

The Committee notes the updated statistics provided by the Government on the number of complaints of trafficking, pornography and commercial sexual exploitation, but notes that, once again, the Government does not specify the number of cases involving victims under the age of 18 years. The Government merely indicates that, out of all the complaints received between 2015 and 2021, 5.9 per cent concerned children aged 0 to 10 years, and 46.9 per cent concerned children aged 11 to 20 years. Despite the promulgation of acts, protocols and a national policy on combating human trafficking and smuggling, the Committee notes, from the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), that concerns remain over the high and growing number of cases of trafficking of children and the sexual exploitation of children in prostitution, including in mining regions (CRC/C/BOL/CO/5-6, 6 March 2023, paragraphs 25 and 46). The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to put an end to the sale and trafficking of children. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved within the framework of: (i) the National Plan of Action to Combat the Sale and Trafficking of Persons (2015–16); (ii) the Multi-sectoral Plan to Combat Trafficking and People Smuggling; (iii) the activities of the DGTTP; (iv) the above-mentioned Protocol and Plurinational Policy; and (v) the agreements with Argentina and Paraguay. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to provide statistics on: (i) the number and nature of the violations reported, ensuring that the information provided relates to children under 18 years of age; and (ii) investigations, prosecutions and convictions related to these violations.

Articles 5 and 6. Monitoring mechanisms, plan of action and application in practice. In its previous comment, the Committee noted the Government’s intent to use studies on the situation of children working in domestic service, mines, on their own account, in sugar cane fields and those engaged in hazardous types of work to formulate a Plan of Action, which would be coordinated by municipal authorities and government departments. The Committee notes, from the data provided by the Government, that in 2019 there were 83,000 children engaged in hazardous work, a reduction from the 202,000 children who were engaged in such work in 2016. The Government further indicates that, when a violation of the law regarding child labour has been established, the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare (MTEPS) requests the Ombudsperson for Children and Adolescents of the concerned self-governing municipalities to define the infractions and, when necessary, to initiate legal proceedings. The Committee notes the Government’s general indication that it is committed to monitor these instances, but that no concrete information is provided on the number of violations detected, their nature or their scope. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide updated statistics on the results of routine and unscheduled inspections, including inspections carried out by inspectors specialized in child labour. It also requests the Government to ensure that these statistics clearly indicate the nature, scope and trends of the worst forms of child labour, particularly in the sugar cane and Brazil nut harvest, and in the mining sector. Noting the absence of information provided in this respect, the Committee also once again requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved inadopting a plan of action, coordinated by municipal authorities and government departments, to eliminate the worst forms of child labour.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that after the COVID-19 pandemic, which heavily affected school attendance, Ministerial Resolution No. 001/2021 was adopted, to “Bring back the right to education”, with the result of bringing the drop-out rates from 20 per cent in 2020 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic) to 2.1 per cent in 2022 (they were at 2.6 per cent in 2019).The Committee notes from the 2022 Country Programme Document of UNICEF that, in 2021, the net enrolment rates increased to 95.8 per cent for primary education (from 88.48 per cent in 2015), and to 79.1 per cent for secondary education (from 77.58 per cent in 2015). However, around 61,000 children and adolescents dropped out of school in 2021, and approximately 340,000 school-aged children and adolescents were out-of-school in 2021 (E/ICEF/2023/P/L.2, 12 December 2022, paragraph 8). The Committee also notes, from the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), that the secondary education completion rate remains a challenge, particularly for students from rural areas indigenous and Afro-Bolivian backgrounds or other disadvantaged and marginalized groups (E/C.12/BOL/CO/3, 5 November 2021, paragraph 58). Considering that education is key in preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to pursue its efforts to improve the operation of the education system and to increase the rate of school attendance in primary and lower secondary education, including within the framework of the Ministerial Resolution No. 001/2021. It requests the Government to continue providing information on: (i) any measures taken or envisaged to increase school attendance and completion rates particularly in the lower secondary level; and (ii) the results achieved in this respect, including updated statistics on the attendance and drop-out rates in primary and secondary school.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Children in street situations. With reference to the protocol for the prevention and support for street children and young persons, the Committee notes that the Government once again provides information on the objectives of the protocol rather than on the concrete measures taken in practice to identify and reach out to children in street situations, or the results achieved. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on the implementation of the protocol and the specific results achieved in protecting children in street situations from the worst forms of child labour.

Indigenous children. Once again, the Committee notes with deep regret that the Government’s report does not reply to its previous comments. It notes, from the concluding observations of the CRC: (1) the education gap affecting indigenous children living in rural areas and children with no access to the Internet or technology; and (2) the numerous reports of exploitation of children, including in dangerous situations, in particular, among Guarani children in the Chaco region (CRC/C/BOL/CO/5-6, paragraphs 40 and 44). The Committee once again reminds the Government that indigenous children are often victims of exploitation, and requests it to intensify its efforts to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted to prevent these children from becoming involved in situations of debt bondage or forced labour and from being recruited to carry out hazardous work in mines.