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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Costa Rica (Ratification: 1976)

The Committee notes the observations of the Confederation of Workers Rerum Novarum (CTRN), received on 31 August 2021.

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the indication of the CTRN that: (i) according to data for 2020 from the Costa Rican National Institute of Statistics (INEC), the average age of working children and young persons is 13.5 years, despite 15 years being specified as the minimum age by the Government; (ii) INEC records a total number of 6,706 working children between 12 and 17 years of age, 30.9 per cent of whom do not attend school.

The Committee notes the statistical information of the Office for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour and the Protection of Juvenile Workers (OATIA) in the Government’s report. In 2019, out of a total of 353 children under 18 years of age who were recorded as engaging in work, 94 of them were under 15 years of age. The Government indicates that most of these children were involved in fishing, agriculture and construction, and that they have been removed from work.

The Committee also notes the Government’s indication, in response to its request for information relating to its previous comments, that the National Roadmap Strategy 2010–20 for the prevention and elimination of child labour and the worst forms thereof was officially published in June 2018 (No. 41172-MTSS). It notes that OATIA carried out a number of activities in connection with its implementation.

The Committee further notes that, according to the Government’s report, as part of the Regional Initiative for No Child Labour in Latin America and the Caribbean, two measurement instruments have been designed, in conjunction with the ILO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean and the United Nations Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean, namely: (i) the child labour risk identification model; and (ii) the child labour vulnerability index. Both these tools enable the identification of the regions most at risk of child labour, but also the association of various factors with a view to defining which multisectoral actions are the most effective for contributing to the elimination of child labour. These are based on the roadmap and on the Ministry of Labour’s Institutional Strategic Plan 2018–22, which establishes a specific objective regarding the identification of areas at risk of child labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the regional measures and actions taken as part of the Regional Initiative for No Child Labour in Latin America and the Caribbean. It also requests the Government to continue providing detailed statistics on the nature, extent and trends of labour involving children and young persons who have not reached the minimum age specified by the Government at the time of ratification of the Convention, namely 15 years.

Article 3(1) and (2). Minimum age and determination of hazardous work. The Committee notes that, according to the Government’s report submitted in relation to the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), a bill is being drafted with a view to amending Act No. 8922 of 25 March 2011 on the participation of minors in public performances and in various activities in the fishing sector. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any new developments regarding the planned legislative amendment and its application in practice.