Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Iraq (Ratification: 1985)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes that, according to the 2018 UNICEF-supported Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS6), 5 per cent of children aged 5–14 in Iraq were engaged in child labour, with higher rates among children living in low-income households and in rural areas. The percentage of child labour, when taking into consideration the 5–17 age group, increased to 7.3 per cent, with the rate of employment in hazardous conditions reaching 16 per cent in the 15–17 age group. Moreover, according to a UNICEF press release of 12 June 2022, child labour has been on the rise in Iraq in recent years due to armed conflict, displacement, socio-economic challenges, and the pandemic; and children were moved to remote learning, increasing the risk of dropping out of school and entering the workforce.

In this regard, the Committee notes that efforts have been made by the Government and social partners to address the needs of children, such as ensuring that families of working children have opportunities to access decent employment and strengthening the social protection system. Key to tackling child labour has been the development of an ILO-supported Child Labour Monitoring System (CLMS), which is funded by the European Regional Development and Protection Programme for Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq (RDPP II) and implemented by the Government of Iraq. The monitoring system identifies vulnerable children who are in or at risk of child labour and provides them with needed support and services. In addition, the RDPP II aims to support the development of a National Action Plan (NAP) against child labour, through the gathering of qualitative and quantitative data on child labour in Iraq. The Committee further notes, according to the Government’s information in its report under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), that it is implementing the Child Protection Policy (2020–25), which includes several activities and targets in the areas of protection, initial intervention, rehabilitation and the reintegration of children aimed at working children and their families, so as to reduce child labour. Such activities include: (1) giving priority to families with children to be included in social protection schemes; (2) undertaking an awareness-raising campaign on the hazards of child labour and its negative impact on society; and (3) preparing studies on child labour. While taking due note of certain measures taken by the Government, the Committee must note with deep concern the incidence of children involved in child labour, including in hazardous conditions.

The Committee urges the Government to continue to take measures to ensure the progressive elimination of child labour, including through the RDPP II and the Child Protection Policy (2020–25), and to provide information on the results achieved. It requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the NAP against child labour is adopted and effectively implemented, and to provide information on the progress made in this regard. It also requests the Government to provide information on the activities of the CLMS, particularly in relation to the number of children who have been identified as being at risk of, or engaged in, child labour, and who have been given support. It finally requests the Government to provide the results of any studies undertaken on child labour, including updated statistics, disaggregated by sex and age.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and labour inspection. Following its previous comments, the Committee observes that section 2 of the Labour Law of 2015 provides that the law aims to regulate labour relations between workers and employers, and that section 3 provides that its provisions shall apply to all workers in the Republic of Iraq. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s indication, in its report, that the Labour Law applies only to the formal sector of the economy and does not cover the informal sector. The Committee notes that this includes section 7 which specifies the minimum age for admission to employment of 15 years.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that the labour inspectors of the Inspection Unit are empowered to enforce the Labour Law, by virtue of section 127, and that 534 children and young persons were found to be employed in the labour market. The Government, however, does not provide information regarding the number of children under the age of 15 found working in the informal economy. In this regard, the Government reiterates, in its report under Convention No. 182, that the Child Welfare Authority has set up a joint committee consisting of the relevant departments in the Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs to carry out visits and monitor the phenomenon of child labour in the informal economy. Such field visits were carried out in industrial regions and in car repair workshops, as well as in waste assembly and sorting areas, and among children who collected cans and other substances.

The Committee recalls that all children, including those working in the informal economy, must benefit from the protection of the Convention, and requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure that children under the minimum age are not involved in child labour in the informal economy. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to consider applying the relevant provisions of the Labour Law to the informal economy, to ensure that all children, including those working in the informal economy, benefit from the protection of the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the number of children found to be working in the informal economy following the field visits of the joint committee set up by the Child Welfare Authority, as well as the measures taken to ensure the protection of the children identified. As for the formal sector of the economy, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of inspections on child labour carried out by the labour inspectors, as well as on the number and nature of violations detected and penalties applied.

Article 2(3). Age of completion of compulsory schooling. In its previous comments, the Committee took note of the Compulsory Education Act No. 118 of 1976 that establishes compulsory education from ages six to 12. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a committee responsible for the amendment of School Regulation No. 30 of 1987 and Compulsory Education Act No. 118 of 1976, including the extension of compulsory education to the middle phase (15 years), was set up pursuant to Ministerial Order No. 10824 of 16 June 2022. The Committee once again refers to the General Survey of 2012 on the fundamental Conventions (paragraph 371) and recalls 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 to the economic exploitation of children.

The Committee therefore once again urges the Government to take the necessary measures to extend compulsory education up to the minimum age for employment, which is 15 years. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard.