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

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

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Article 7(2) of the Convention. Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and providing the necessary and appropriate assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour, and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Hazardous work in mines. The Committee notes with regret the absence of information in the Government’s report on the situation of children working in mines under particularly hazardous conditions, despite the fact that section 8 of the Children’s (Amendment) Act of 2016 prohibits hazardous work, and that the list of hazardous occupations and activities in which the employment of children is not permitted (first schedule of the Employment of Children Regulations of 2012) includes mining.

The Committee notes that, according to a 2020 World Bank report on the State of the Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining Sector, it is estimated that 12,000 children under the age of 14 are engaged in artisanal and small-scale gold mining (ASGM) in Uganda. These children undertake tasks such as digging in deep open pits, carrying stones to and operating grinding machines, and washing the ground ore. The report reveals that the work in ASGM is considered a worst form of child labour due to the harsh working conditions, handling and exposure to toxic chemicals and vulnerability of young women and girls to sexual and gender-based violence. Poverty is one, but not only, driver for child labour in mining: a lack of decent work for adults, and lack of access to quality education are also contributing factors. To tackle these challenges, in 2017, civil society organizations and UNICEF, together with electronic companies, launched a five-year project “Joint Forces to Tackle Child Labour – From Gold Mine to Electronics”, which uses an area-based approach with interventions in the concerned communities and gold mines as a strategy to address the worst forms of child labour. This approach includes the involvement of community stakeholders, investment in education, and the improvement of household income and mine productivity. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the effective application of the Children’s (Amendment) Act of 2016 and of the Employment of Children Regulations of 2012, so as to prevent children under 18 years of age from working in mines, and to provide the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for their removal and subsequent rehabilitation. It also requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the “Joint Forces to Tackle Child Labour – From Gold Mine to Electronics” project, as well as of any other project or measure aimed at protecting children from hazardous work in the mining sector, and on the results achieved.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk.Orphans and children in vulnerable situations (OVCs). Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it is taking measures to improve the living conditions and resilience of the most vulnerable parts of the population, including children, by investing in social protection systems and decent work, as well as contributing to the promotion of sustainable and inclusive social economic development. This is done, in particular, through the decent work and social protection project being implemented by the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development in collaboration with Enabel (the Belgian federal government’s development agency).

The Committee further notes that the protection of OVCs is also included in the policy objectives of the National Child Policy 2020 (NCP), which has replaced the National Orphans and Other Vulnerable Children Policy. According to the document of the NCP, at least 11 per cent of the children under the age 18 years in Uganda have lost one or both parents; about half of them are orphaned as a result of AIDS, and it is estimated that 18.7 per cent of refugees are orphaned children. While taking note of certain measures taken by the Government, the Committee notes with concern that the number of OVCs due to HIV/AIDS in Uganda who are at particular risk of becoming involved in the worst forms of child labour remains estimated at 660,000, according to the UNAIDS estimates of 2022. The Committee therefore urges the Government to strengthen its efforts to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour. In this regard, and in light of the significant number of OVCs in the country, it encourages the Government to take specific measures for the protection of OVCs from the worst forms of child labour, including through the NCP. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken and the results achieved.

Child domestic workers. The Committee observes with regret that, once again, the Government does not provide information on the protection of child domestic workers in Uganda who, despite the legislative prohibition of the engagement of children under 18 in several activities and tasks in the sector of domestic work, are found in large numbers to be engaged in hazardous domestic work. The Committee notes that, according to a document from the Global Fund to End Modern Slavery entitled “Decent Work for Ugandan Domestic Workers: Findings and Recommendations for Funders”, the use of child labour in domestic work in Uganda is pervasive, and there is a need to address the root causes of child labour in domestic work, including targeted poverty reduction interventions for families and targeted interventions to keep vulnerable children enrolled in school. According to this document, there is also a need to improve the legal framework and enforcement of laws applicable to domestic workers. Once again recalling that children in domestic work are particularly vulnerable to the worst forms of child labour, including hazardous work, the Committee urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to ensure their protection, including through the enforcement of the applicable legislation. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of child domestic workers engaged in hazardous work who have been identified, withdrawn and rehabilitated and socially integrated as a result of the initiatives taken in this regard.

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