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

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Benin (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Organisation of Employers (IOE) received on 29 August 2022, as well as those of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 1 September 2022. It also notes the detailed discussion that was held by the Committee on the Application of Standards (the Conference Committee) at the 110th Session of the International Labour Conference (June 2022), regarding the application of the Convention by Benin, as well as of the Government’s report.

Follow-up to the conclusions of the Committee on the Application of Standards(International Labour Conference, 110th Session, May–June 2022)

Article 3(a) and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour and penalties. Vidomégon children. The Committee notes that the Conference Committee, while acknowledging the initiatives taken by the Government, noted with deep concern the persistent and widespread practices related to the worst forms of child labour, including vidomégon children. The Conference Committee requested the Government to strengthen its efforts to protect children under 18 years of age from all forms of forced labour and commercial sexual exploitation, particularly vidomégon children, with specific attention provided to girls. Moreover, the Committee notes that the ITUC states, in its observations, that while the difficulties to access and inspect households, previously highlighted by the Government, need to be resolved in order to be able identify the presence of abuse, the exploitation of vidomégon children often takes place outside the household, since 90 per cent of the children do not attend school and are employed at markets and in the street trade or are victims of prostitution. The Committee notes that the IOE underscores that although the legislation in force makes school attendance obligatory for a child placed with a host family and prohibits the use of the child for domestic tasks, the prevalence of these unacceptable practices clearly reveals the many obstacles to implementing existing regulations.

In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that Benin is continuing its efforts to improve the protective legal framework for child victims of the worst forms of child labour. The Government indicates that 218 investigations into ill-treatment of children were undertaken in 2020, 153 in 2021 and 94 from January to June 2022. Moreover, in 2022, 15 cases of vidomégon children were heard, with both perpetrators and parents summoned before the juvenile court. Three children were reintegrated, and the others returned to their families by decision of the juvenile court. However, the Government also indicates that between 2019 and 2021, a total of 1,119 child victims of internal trafficking comparable to the situation of vidomégons were identified and received by the Social Protection Centres (SPCs), which represents a far higher number of victims than the number of investigations carried out and, above all, the number of cases coming before the juvenile court. The Committee urges theGovernment to intensify its efforts, in collaboration with the employers’ and workers’ representative organizations, to protect children under 18 years of age from all forms of forced labour or commercial sexual exploitation, particularly vidomégon children. It again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure, as a matter of urgency, that thorough investigations and prosecutions are conducted of persons subjecting children under 18 years of age to forced labour or commercial sexual exploitation, and that sufficiently dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved in this regard in its next report.

Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes that the Conference Committee urged the Government to strengthen the capacity to conduct investigations and prosecutions of persons subjecting children to sale and trafficking, and to ensure that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice.

The Committee notes the ITUC’s observations that the initiatives put in place to identify child victims of sale and trafficking are poorly adapted and ineffective. In its observations, the IOE adds that this question must be examined while bearing in mind that the practices of trafficking children from and to neighbouring countries are widespread and that although it may be difficult to identify high risk areas and vulnerable groups in advance, it is fundamental to be aware of them to be able to define priorities and allocate resources effectively.

In this regard, the Committee notes the information from the Government’s report that action is being taken to strengthen the capacities of the actors involved in combating trafficking. For example, in September 2022 training was provided for magistrates as part of the Regional Project to Prevent the Trafficking of Persons in the Gulf of Guinea (PRALTPGG) coordinated by the Ministry of Development and Coordination of Government action. The Government recognizes however that additional financial resources must be mobilized to reinforce activities in the next two years. Effectively, the Committee observes, according to the table giving combined data from the courts of nine towns, provided with the Government’s report, between 2019 and 2022, 102 prosecutions came before the courts, with 82 convictions for the trafficking of children, but only three prosecutions were filed in respect of the sale of children, with no convictions. The Committee urges the Government to strengthen its efforts better to identify the cases of sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age and ensure the effective implementation and enforcement of its legislation, including by conducting thorough investigations and prosecutions of persons who engage in the sale and trafficking of children under 18 years of age. It requests the Government to provide information on the results obtained, in particular the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties imposed for the trafficking of children under the age of 18 years.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. The Conference Committee urged the Government to strengthen the capacity, including of inspections, to conduct investigations and prosecutions of persons subjecting children to the worst forms of child labour, including commercial sexual exploitation, sale and trafficking and dangerous work, especially in mines and quarries. In this regard, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government that the strengthening of the capacities of certain structures, including the inspections, is a constant part of the strategy to combat the worst forms of child labour in Benin. Several reinforcement efforts had been undertaken, including the organization by the Government of 4,634 inspection visits to apprenticeship centres, and mines and quarries between 2019 and 2021; the organization in 2020 of training for the staff of the Republican Police on judicial protection for children at the SOS Children’s Village at Abomey Calavi; the organization in 2020 of a training workshop for protection focal points for children of the Republican Police (police officers); and the organization in May 2022, by the Ministry of Labour of training for 70 actors (labour inspectors, social assistants, judicial police officers, juvenile court judges, members of civil society) on the procedures and protocols for monitoring child labour. The Committee requests the Government to continue to take measures and provide the training required to the police and other bodies responsible for enforcing the law to combat the worst forms of child labour, particularly the trafficking of children and dangerous work in mines and quarries. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the functioning of the labour inspection services, including on specific measures to strengthen the services’ capacity to identify the worst forms of child labour and the results obtained.Finally, it requests the Government to provide the results of labour inspections into the mines and quarries, including the number of violations detected and penalties imposed.

Articles 6 and 7(2). Programmes of action and effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and provide assistance for their removal from these forms of labour. Children working in mines and quarries. The Conference Committee urged the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect children from hazardous work in the mining and quarrying sector and provide statistical data on the number of children removed from this hazardous work and provide information related to the rehabilitation and social integration measures.

The Committee notes that the ITUC, while acknowledging the implementation by the Government of initiatives such as raising the awareness of actors on the mining sites, occupational safety and health training courses and, working with UNICEF, putting monitoring committees in place, observed that it was imperative for the Government to pursue and reinforce its prevention efforts.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that, despite the prohibition by the legislation in force of child labour in mines and quarries, children have been observed working in informal, artisanal mines, to varying degrees depending on the regions of the country and the household revenues. In this regard, the Committee notes that during the Conference Committee, the Government representative referred to a specific study launched in March 2022 to assess the magnitude of the phenomenon precisely. It is envisaged that the study will be accompanied by a three-year plan of action for targeted and significant intervention in the mining sector over the coming years. The Committee urges the Government to take, without delay, the necessary measures to ensure the protection of children engaged in hazardous work in mines and quarries, including within the framework of the triennial plan, and to provide information on the progress made in this regard. It again requests the Government to provide specific statistical data on the number of children protected against hazardous work in the mining and quarrying sector and who have been removed, and to indicate the measures provided for their rehabilitation and social integration. It also requests the Government to provide statistics compiled by the study into the magnitude of child labour in mines and quarries.

Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes that the Conference Committee urged the Government to strengthen the rehabilitation and social integration measures provided to children victims of the worst forms of child labour, commercial sexual exploitation, the sale and trafficking of children and those in hazardous work.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government regarding action undertaken to prevent violence against and exploitation and abuse of children, including trafficking, such as: the training session for the social actors on protection of the child; the joint awareness-raising visits by the Ministries of Labour and of Social Affairs to the large Benin markets; and the awareness-raising tour on child trafficking led by the same ministries to bulk carriers, Social Promotion Centres (SPCs) and community relays. The Government also indicates that data compiled by the Integrated System for Family, Women and New-generation Children Data reveal that 2,274 trafficked children, of which 1,192 were girls, were received by the SPCs and its partner structures between 2019 and 2021. At total of 1119 of these children were victims of internal trafficking comparable to the situation of vidomégons and 711 were victims of cross-border trafficking. All SPC directors receiving a child victim apply the Minimum Intervention Package (PMI) which is the standard operating procedure for welcoming, listening and providing holistic care to victims, and also extends to their reintegration. Where the children are victims of cross-border trafficking, they are cared for under regional guidelines, which are implemented in coordination with the West African Network for the Protection of Children.

The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to prevent children from becoming victims of trafficking, to remove children from the worst forms of child labour and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. The Committee also requests the Government to take effective, time-bound measures to strengthen the capacities of the centres and other social structures with regard to rehabilitation and social integration of children victims of trafficking and provide information on the results achieved in that respect.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes that the Conference Committee recommended that the Government develop a multidisciplinary time-bound action plan, with ILO technical assistance and in close cooperation with the social partners and other relevant civil society organizations with relevant competencies and expertise, including UNICEF. It also requested the Government to develop a robust statistical machinery to allow an efficient follow-up of the evolution of the practices of vidomégon children, the sale and trafficking of children and children working in mines and quarries.

The Committee notes, according to the ITUC’s observations, that the absence of precise statistics on vidomégon children in Benin constitutes an obstacle to decision-taking and to establishing policies and action plans aimed at eradication of the practice.

The Government indicates that measures are currently undertaken regarding the elaboration of a multidisciplinary, time-bound plan. With regard to statistics, the Government indicates the need for overall improvement of the system for gathering statistics in order to harmonize them, as the tools in place produce overall data, rather than child-labour specific data. In this connection, the Government indicates that a study into the worst forms of child labour and vidomégons is envisaged, with a view to the formulation of the multidisciplinary time-bound plan. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the study on the worst forms of child labour and vidomégons is conducted and completed as soon as possible. It requests the Government to provide, in its next report, information on progress made in this respect, as well as on the development and adoption of a multidisciplinary and time-bound action plan aimed at protecting children under 18 years of age from engaging in the worst forms of child labour.

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