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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Cameroon (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the observations of the General Union of Workers of Cameroon (UGTC), received on 16 September 2021. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in response to the observations made by the UGTC.

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy and application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that over 1.5 million children under 14 years of age were working in Cameroon and over a quarter of children aged 7 or 8 years were engaged in some form of economic activity (27 and 35 per cent, respectively) and were at serious risk (of abuse, injuries and disease) in the workplace owing to their extreme youth. In addition, 164,000 children between 14 and 17 years of age were forced to perform hazardous work. The Committee also noted with concern that the National Plan of Action for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour (PANETEC) had still not been adopted.

The Committee notes that the Government indicates in its report that the PANETEC was adopted on 18 October 2017, and was updated in 2020. The Government indicates that the Ministry of Labour and Social Security has established the National Committee against child labour in Cameroon (CNLTEC) and that, at the Committee’s third session, held on 26 September 2018, the PANETEC was presented to the public, with a view to eradicating the worst forms of child labour by 2025. However, the Committee notes the UGTC’s observation that neither the PANETEC nor the CNLTEC is operational due to lack of funds. Moreover, the Committee notes that the Economic and Social Council, in its 2019 concluding observations, again noted with concern that many children aged between 6 and 14 years of age were engaged in some form of economic activity, particularly in the informal sector (E/C.12/CMR/CO/4, paragraph 42). The Committee urges the Government once again to step up its efforts to ensure the effective elimination of child labour below the minimum age for admission to employment, including in hazardous types of work, in particular by taking measures to implement the PANETEC. In that connection, it requests the Government for information on the implementation of the PANETEC and the results achieved.

Article 2(1). Application and labour inspection. Children working in the informal economy. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Labour Code only applies within the framework of an employment relationship and does not protect children engaged in work outside a contractual employment relationship. However, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that children are essentially engaged in activities in the informal economy. The Committee also noted that the resources allocated to the labour inspection services were not adequate to conduct effective investigations and that the services did not carry out inspections in the informal economy. It noted that, within the framework of the PANETEC, the reinforcement of the means of action of labour inspectors and the extension of their scope of intervention were priorities.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that labour inspectors receive training in labour standards covering all aspects related to work, including child labour. Inspections carried out by the labour inspectors are, in conformity with the legislation, general in nature and cover all sectors and branches of work; they are also directed at all targets, including cases potentially involving children. The objective set for the number of annual inspections is revised upwards each year. The Government reports that 6,500 inspections were foreseen for 2020 and that despite the upheavals caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, 5,365 had been carried out. However, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it is unaware of any recorded violations and therefore unable to transmit any related information or extracts of reports.

The Committee recalls that the Convention applies to all branches of economic activity and covers all kinds of employment or work, whether or not there is a labour relationship or paid remuneration. In that regard, the expansion of the relevant monitoring mechanisms to the informal economy can be an important manner to ensure that the Convention is applied in practice, particularly in countries where expanding the scope of the implementing legislation to address children working in the informal economy does not seem a practicable solution (General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2021, paragraph 345). The Committee urges the Government to take the steps necessary, within the framework of the PANETEC or otherwise, to reinforce the capacities of the labour inspectorate and widen the scope of its intervention to fully and adequately address participation in informal economic activity by children. It requests the Government to take measures to obtain relevant information on the inspections carried out by labour inspectors in the area of child labour, both in the formal and informal economy, including the number of violations recorded and extracts from the inspection reports.

Article 2(3). Age of completion of compulsory education. The Committee previously noted that the school attendance rate of working children aged between 6 to 14 years (70 per cent) was substantially lower than that of non-working children (86 per cent). The Committee noted that by virtue of Act No. 98/004 of 14 April 1998 governing education in Cameroon, only primary education is compulsory in the country, and that it ends at 12 years of age, which is two years before the minimum age for admission to employment or work (14 years). The Committee urged the Government to take the necessary steps to make education compulsory up to the minimum age for admission to employment, namely 14 years.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that parents are incited to place their children in schooling under article 355(2) of the Penal Code, which sanctions parents who have sufficient means but who refuse to do so. The Committee stresses however that parents are only obliged to send their children to school until the end of compulsory education, and that this age is still linked to the completion of elementary school, i.e at 12 years of age. Moreover the UGTC observes that despite the provisions of the Penal Code, certain children do not go to school and are forced to remain idle due to lack of means. With reference to the 2012 General Survey, the Committee again observes that if compulsory schooling comes to an end before children are legally entitled to work, there may arise a vacuum which regrettably opens the door for the economic exploitation of children (paragraph 371). The Committee therefore recalls that it is preferable to raise the age of completion of compulsory education to coincide with that of the minimum age for admission to employment, as provided in paragraph 4 of the Minimum Age Recommendation, 1973 (No. 146). Recalling that compulsory schooling is one of the most effective means of combating child labour, the Committee once again urges the Government to take the necessary steps to make education compulsory up to the minimum age for admission to employment, namely 14 years. It requests the Government to provide information on progress made in this respect in its next report.