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

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

Articles 3(a) and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour and penalties. Sale and trafficking of children. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, that 55 persons were prosecuted for child abuse in 2023 and 4 persons charged with exploitation of children in 2024. The Committee notes, however, that the Government provides no specific information on the number of prosecutions in cases of child trafficking for labour or sexual exploitation.

The Committee notes that Albania has adopted the 2021–2023 National Action Plan for the Fight against Trafficking in Human Beings (NAP-THB), which aims at coordinating state and non-state actors engaged in the fight against trafficking in persons. The first policy goal of the NAP-THB is to reduce the threat and impact of organized and serious crime, including through combating illegal trafficking. The activities planned in this regard include the training of judicial institutions to specialize in the criminal offences of trafficking in order to proactively investigate cases of trafficking, carry out criminal prosecutions effectively, and train border and migration police and customs officers and asylum staff to increase their capacity to identify victims, especially among children of migrants.

The Committee notes, from a 2023 working document accompanying the European Commission Communication on EU Enlargement Policy-Albania Report, that the Prosecution Office registered 11 new criminal proceedings for trafficking in human beings in 2022, compared with 10 in 2021, and that the number of final convictions of criminal proceedings for human trafficking remains very low, with only seven convictions from two cases in 2022. It is not indicated, however, how many of these proceedings and convictions concerned cases of child trafficking. Moreover, the working document indicates that the implementation of the 2021–2023 National Action Plan on the fight against human trafficking should be supported by adequate funding and better coordination.

The Committee requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of perpetrators of sale and trafficking of children are carried out. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the measures of the NAP-THB 2021-2023 in this regard, as well as on the results achieved. Finally, it requests the Government to provide information on the number of investigations and prosecutions in child trafficking cases specifically, as well as on the number and nature of convictions and penalties applied.

Article 7, clauses (a) and (c). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and ensuring their access to free basic education. Children from Roma and Egyptian Communities. Following its previous comments, the Committee takes note, from the Government’s report under the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), of the National Action Plan for Equality, Inclusion, and Participation of Roma and Egyptian 2021–2025, which aims to ensure the socio-economic inclusion of the Roma and Egyptian communities, including through access to inclusive education, and to ensure the timely identification and enrolment of Roma and Egyptian children of compulsory education age

The document of the National Action Plan mentions the increased school enrolment and attendance rates among Roma and Egyptian students, noting that in 2019, 4,469 Roma and 9,910 Egyptian children were enrolled in compulsory education, surpassing the target of 4,993. Moreover, the Action Plan outlines the efforts made to reduce school dropouts among Roma and Egyptian students, reports that were 179 dropouts in 2020 and aims to increase the return rate by 35 per cent by 2025. Efforts to that end include forming cross-cutting working groups in 27 municipalities to prevent dropouts and support student returns.

The Committee, however, notes that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in its concluding observations of 23 May 2024 (CERD/C/ALB/CO/13-14, paragraph 18) remained concerned about the low attendance rates, low levels of achievement and high rate of school dropout among Roma and Egyptian children, despite the measures taken to prevent discrimination against Roma and Egyptian children in schools and to promote their enrolment in preschool and compulsory education. It also remained concerned about reports of discrimination against and de facto segregation of Roma and Egyptian children in some schools.

While noting the measures taken by the Government, the Committee requests it to pursue its efforts to facilitate access to education and reduce school dropout rates for Roma and Egyptian students and address the issue of discrimination against Roma and Egyptian children in school, including through the effective implementation of the National Action Plan for Equality, Inclusion, and Participation of Roma and Egyptian 2021–2025. The Committee requests Government to continue to provide information on the results achieved, as well as updated statistics on attendance, completion, and drop-out rates at primary and lower secondary levels for Roma and Egyptian children.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Children living and working in the streets. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that a cooperation agreement was signed between the Ministries of Education, Sports and Youth, of Interior and of Health and Social Protection, according to which child protection workers cooperate with schools and local educational units every new school year to identify children who have reached the age of compulsory schooling but who have dropped out or are at risk of dropping out of school, including children in street situations. The Government indicates in this regard that, according to the reports of the child protection workers at the State Agency for Children’s Rights and Protection, 228 cases of children exploited for work and begging were thus managed in 2021; 229 cases in 2022; 182 cases in 2023; and 124 cases between January and March 2024. In addition, the Committee notes, from the Government’s report under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), that in line with Decision of the Council of Ministers (DCM) No. 129 “On Procedures for the Identification, Immediate Assistance, and Referral of Economically Exploited Children, including Children in Street Situations”, field teams have been established to identify, refer, and manage cases of economically exploited children, those in street situations, and child victims of trafficking. In this regard, child protection structures, through child protection workers, have managed 84 cases of children in street situations in 2023, and 55 cases in the first quarter of 2024, for which an individual protection plan was implemented.

Furthermore, the Government indicates that, in 2023, the State Agency for Children’s Rights and Protection has requested municipalities’ cooperation to take measures for the identification, prevention, and treatment of children in street situations. In this regard, the Municipality of Tirana has established vital structures for the prevention, protection, empowerment, and reintegration of children in street situations and their families and has carried out concrete interventions, including: (1) the establishment of the Department of the Child Protection Unit under the Directorate of Protection and Social Inclusion; (2) the creation of the Field Community Centre, pursuant to Decision No. 66 of 2020 of the Municipal Council of Tirana, aiming to prevent and reduce the number of street children and providing coordination care, social protection services, proactive identification and counselling; and (3) the adoption of the Joint Plan of Measures, from March 2024, between the Municipality of Tirana and the Local Directorate of the Tirana Police “For the prevention and mitigation of the phenomenon of families in a homeless situation in the territory of the Municipality of Tirana”, aiming, among other things, to protect children from all forms of abuse and exploitation in the streets, improve inter-institutional cooperation to prevent street begging, and improve awareness for prevention and effective identification.

The Committee welcomes the measures taken by the Government to protect children living and working in the street from the worst forms of child labour and requests the Government to continue making such efforts. It requests the Government to continue to provide information in this regard and on the number of these children who have benefited from such measures and been removed from the streets, rehabilitated and socially integrated.

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