Solicitud directa (CEACR) - Adopción: 2024, Publicación: 113ª reunión CIT (2025)

Convenio sobre las peores formas de trabajo infantil, 1999 (núm. 182) - Colombia (Ratificación : 2005)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (b). Use, procuring and offering of children for the production of pornography or pornographic acts. The Committee notes that the Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC), the Single Confederation of Workers of Columbia (CUT), and the General Confederation of Labour (CGT) draw attention to the fact that, according to data in the oral adversarial criminal justice system (SPOA) of the Office of the Attorney-General, of the 2,507 victims of commercial sexual exploitation identified in 2023, 57.8 per cent were affected by the crime of pornography involving minors. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the specific measures adopted to prevent and criminalize the use, procuring or offering of children for the production of pornography; (ii) the impact of these measures; and (iii) the application in practice of Acts Nos 1336 of 2009 and 679 of 2001 on combatting exploitation, pornography and sexual tourism involving children and young persons, indicating the number of investigations and proceedings carried out and the penalties imposed for this crime.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (b). Direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour. Child labour in small-scale mining. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (1) the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF) and the National System for Family Protection (SNBF), with the aim of raising awareness among families and communities of the issues that threaten the rights of children, implemented the Mobile Comprehensive Protection Teams – Child Labour (EMPI) strategy; (2) as part of the implementation of this strategy, between 1 July 2022 and 31 July 2024, EMPI professionals identified seven cases of children and young persons engaged in mining activities, which were referred to the respective area centre (ICBF point of care) for the restoration of their rights; (3) the Government signed, together with the Government of Ecuador, a bi-national agreement between Colombia and Ecuador, which focuses, inter alia, on combatting illegal mining, including the protection of the rights of children and young persons in situations of exploitation in illegal mining activities in border areas; and (4) as part of the development of the agreement, the Bi-National Technical Commission on Combatting Illegal Mining elaborated a bi-national operative plan, with the aim of coordinating efforts between the two countries to address the exploitation of children in illegal mining, protect the rights of the minors affected, and ensure their access to the institutional services available (such as education and health services).

The Committee notes that, according to the report of the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons, there are continuing concerns relating to child labour, including trafficking for purposes of child labour in mining, particularly in small-scale and informal mining (A/HRC/56/60/Add.1, paragraph 39). The Committee once again welcomes the measures adopted to identify and provide care to children engaged in the worst forms of child labour in the mining sector, and requests the Government to continue to provide information in this regard, including on the number of children and young persons who have been removed, rehabilitated and socially integrated.

Clauses (a) and (d). Prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Children at special risk. Children belonging to indigenous and minority groups. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the adoption of the Administrative Technical and Interjurisdictional Guidelines for the Restoration of the Rights of Indigenous Children and Young Persons, which: (1) recommend a collaborative approach between the administrative authorities and traditional authorities to examine the situation and determine the most appropriate measures for the restoration of rights; (2) underscore the need to consider the individual and family life plan of the child, and the family and community dynamics, including by taking measures to connect families and communities with programmes and services to improve their living standards and reduce the need for child labour, and to raise awareness among indigenous communities on the rights of children and the adverse impacts of child labour; and (3) to ensure rehabilitation and access to education in cases of the worst forms of child labour, a framework of intercultural understanding and collaboration is being established to guide the development of such measures, with the key objective of protecting the fundamental rights of children belonging to ethnic minorities.

The Government also refers to: (1) the EMPI strategy on child labour, under which it is reported that, during the period from 1 July 2022 to 31 July 2024, the respective institutional services available were coordinated with other officers from the SBNF, and in terms of education services in particular, assistance was provided for the management of 1,114 applications for school enrolment, of which 93 were for children and young persons recognized as belonging to ethnic minorities; and (2) the 2023 Extensive Integrated Household Survey (GEIH) of the National Department of Statistics (DANE) highlights that: out of 538 children between the ages of 5 and 17 years identifying as indigenous, 51 do not attend school; out of 778 children who identify as black, of African descent, Raizal or Palenquero, 61 do not attend school; and out of 775 children who identify as black, Afro-Colombian or of African descent, 60 do not attend school. The Committee duly notes the efforts to enrol children belonging to indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities. However, it notes that: (1) the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons indicates that serious concerns remain in relation to the school dropout rates among indigenous, Afro-Colombian and rural children, which results in high risks of trafficking (A/HRC/56/60/Add.1, paragraph 39); and (2) the Government does not provide information on the results obtained to remove those children from the worst forms of child labour. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that children are not exposed to the worst forms of child labour and to continue to provide updated information on the rates of school enrolment of children belonging to indigenous communities and other minority groups. The Committee also once again requests the Government to provide information on the results of the measures adopted, including under the EMPI strategy on child labour, to remove and rehabilitate children belonging to indigenous peoples and ethnic minorities from the worst forms of child labour.

Children in street situations and engaged in begging. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, following the identification of the families of children and young persons engaged in child labour or begging, or who spend a significant amount of time or live on the streets, EMPI professionals provide the corresponding care, assistance and advice, and mobilize the necessary services available with officers from the SNBF to address the situation identified. Where families do not access the care, or if, during the interventions, the professionals identify a situation involving a threat to or violation of rights, the families are referred to the corresponding ICBF area centre for the restoration of their rights. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, according to which EMPI professionals, during the period from July 2022 to June 2024, provided assistance and advice to 9,305 children, young persons and their families, with whom they carried out social and family environment assessments and psychological assessments, and designed and implemented plans to strengthen families as well as guidelines on access to the provision of services by SNBF officers to address identified situations of child labour and of children who spend a significant amount of time on the streets, as well as school dropout.

The Committee notes that, in her report, the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons indicated that: (1) children in street situations remain particularly vulnerable to trafficking; (2) concerns were raised during the visit in relation to children with disabilities, who are at risk of exploitation for purposes of begging; and (3) children working in street vending are particularly at risk of trafficking (A/HRC/56/60/Add.1, paragraph 40). Recalling that children in street situations are particularly vulnerable to the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on: (i) the measures adopted, including in the context of the EMPI, to identify and remove children from the streets; and (ii) the results obtained in this respect, including the number of children who have been who have been rescued and provided with assistance.

Article 8. International cooperation. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s reply, including the information according to which: (1) progress has been made with the management of agreements with intergovernmental agencies such as the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), to conduct, inter alia, awareness-raising workshops in priority areas, tri-border meetings with Peru and Brazil, and monitoring of the implementation of the Public Policy Framework for the Prevention and Elimination of Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children and Young Persons; (2) in partnership with the ILO and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and with the support of nongovernmental organizations, a course on the detection of and provision of care in cases of trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, aimed in particular at labour inspectors, is being developed; (3) under the Regional Initiative Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour, the Government has institutionalized the Model for the Identification of Risks of Child Labour and has completed the first phase, that is, the identification of factors associated with child labour; and (4) actions were implemented for the exchange of practices with Ecuador, on the Public Policy Framework for the Prevention and Elimination of Child Labour and the Comprehensive Protection of Young Workers, in order to contribute effectively to the development of the public policy instrument on child labour.

The Committee welcomes the efforts of the Government in this regard and notes that the Special Rapporteur on trafficking in persons also welcomed the strengthening of international cooperation on investigations into trafficking in persons and the provision of assistance to victims, including through bilateral and international agreements, although implementation remains challenging in practice (A/HRC/56/60/Add.1, paragraphs 42 and 79). The Committee encourages the Government to continue its international cooperation efforts to combat the worst forms of child labour. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures adopted in the context of the Regional Initiative, and on the results obtained through the Model for the Identification of Risks of Child Labour.