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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Niger (Ratification: 1978)

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Article 1 of the Convention. National policy. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the National Plan of Action to Combat Child Labour has still not been adopted and that the process is still receiving technical and financial support from the ILO through the MAP16 project on measurement, awareness-raising and policy engagement to accelerate action against child labour and forced labour. The Government indicates in its report that a national consultant has been recruited to support the process and a number of workshops are planned which will contribute to the finalization, validation and adoption of the Plan of Action. In this regard, the Committee notes that in May 2023 the consultant undertook a documentary analysis of national sectoral policies and programmes contributing to action on the root causes of child labour, which should serve as a framework for discussion with key actors to update the set of public policies and related legislative texts and identify the strategic pillars of the National Plan of Action to Combat Child Labour. The analysis also indicates that several public policies exist and are being implemented in Niger which should contribute to combating the deep-rooted causes of child labour in the country. These include the Economic and Social Development Plan 2022–26, the Agricultural Policy 2016 and the National Population Policy 2019–35. However, the Committee observes that these policies do not specifically address child labour and that, according to the analysis, the complexity of the phenomenon of child labour in Niger requires relevant strategic planning to guarantee the intersectionality of interventions and allow the identification of priorities and the roles and responsibilities of institutional actors in action to combat child labour in order to make it more dynamic and better adapted to the national context.

In this regard, the Committee notes that, according to the analysis, the determining factors of child labour in Niger include the poverty and vulnerability of households, demographic pressure on the school system and other factors, such as traditional practices which are prejudicial to children. The Committee also notes that a 2022 UNICEF report analysing risks and impacts on children in Niger sets out in detail the risks that affect or could affect the well-being and development of children, and which could potentially be an obstacle to the achievement by Niger of its international commitments, including the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These risks include the impact on children and services of climate change, environmental risks (and particularly floods, desertification, epidemics and storms) and conflict, internal and external displacement, shocks and stress. The Committee observes that climate change and other risk factors can increase the incidence of child labour, and the circumstances in which it occurs. The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the Plan of Action is prepared and adopted in a manner that takes into account and addresses the root causes of child labour in the country, namely: the poverty and vulnerability of households, demographic pressure on the school system, traditional practices that are prejudicial to children, as well as other risk factors, such as the impact of climate change, conflict and migratory movements. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken and the results achieved in terms of the progressive elimination of child labour in the country.

Article 2(1). Scope of application, labour inspection and application of the Convention in practice. Further to its previous comments, in which the Committee expressed deep concern at the number of children who have not reached the minimum age for admission to employment or work of 14 years who are working in the informal agricultural sector, often in hazardous conditions, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that, although the Labour Code does not cover informal work or own account work, nothing prevents labour inspectors from intervening in these sectors and that in practice they are increasingly active in the informal economy. The Government adds that, within the framework of the project to provide support and advice for migration policy (APM/GIZ) negotiated by the Ministry of Employment, Labour and Social Protection, resources and equipment have been provided to the labour inspection services (IT equipment, computers, vehicles, and so on) and labour inspectors have benefited from training on international legal instruments protecting human rights.

The Committee also notes the information provided by the Government on the results achieved within the framework of the project to reduce child labour through sustainable agriculture in Niger, including: (1) the establishment of regional dialogue frameworks for the actors involved on child labour in agriculture in four regions; (2) capacity-building for actors at the communal, departmental and regional levels in relation to action to combat child labour in agriculture through awareness-raising and training activities; and (3) the preparation of a study on occupational risks and health in agricultural work, which led to the development of a guide with recommendations relating to a list of hazardous types of work in agriculture, stock-raising and the environment (fishing). The Committee further notes that the activities of the MAP16 project in Niger include not only those related to the adoption of the Plan of Action, but also the strengthening of action to combat child labour in agriculture and the building of the institutional capacities of the principal stakeholders (National Steering Committee, child labour cells, labour inspection and the social partners). The Committee once again requests the Government to continue taking the necessary measures to ensure that all children who work, including work outside a formal employment relationship, as is the case of children who work in the informal economy, benefit from the protection afforded by the Convention. In this regard, the Committee strongly encourages the Government to continue its efforts to strengthen the capacities of the labour inspection services, as well as any other supervisory bodies involved, so as to improve their direct interventions in the informal economy, particularly in the agricultural sector, and to provide information on the measures adopted and the results achieved in this context.

Article 2(3). Age of completion of compulsory schooling. Further to its previous comments, in which it drew the Government’s attention to the fact that the age of completion of compulsory schooling of 16 years in Niger is higher than the minimum age for admission to employment of 14 years, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it undertakes to take the Committee’s comments into account in the revision of Act No. 2012-45 of 25 September 2012 issuing the Labour Code. The Committee once again emphasizes that Article 2(3) of the Convention provides that the minimum age for admission to employment shall not be less than the age of completion of compulsory schooling and that, if the minimum age for admission to work or employment is lower than the school-leaving age, children may be encouraged to leave school as they are allowed by law to work (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, para. 370). The Committee therefore urges the Government to take the necessary measures to raise the general minimum age for admission to employment or work in order to link it to the age of completion of compulsory schooling, in accordance with the requirements of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in this respect.

The Committee is raising another matter in a request addressed directly to the Government.