Caso individual (CAS) - Discusión: 2025, Publicación: 113ª reunión CIT (2025)

Convenio sobre las peores formas de trabajo infantil, 1999 (núm. 182) - Chad (Ratificación : 2000)

Written information provided by the Government

Article 3(a) of the Convention. All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. Forced or compulsory recruitment of children for use in armed conflict

The following actions have been taken for the protection of children:

• Order No. 001/PR/2014 prohibiting and punishing the enlistment or use of children in armed conflict;
• Order No. 006/PR/2018 against trafficking in persons.

The following measures have been taken for the protection of children:

• Child protection training has been put in place for military personnel, including those responsible for instructing new recruits.
• Strict penalties have been introduced against any person failing to respect the orders of the child protection services established in each military zone.
• Chad has set at 18 years the official minimum age for recruitment to the armed forces and security forces, and has penalized the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict.
• Checks have been performed on 4,000 military personnel as part of the inspections led jointly by the Government and the United Nations in all the country’s military bases.
• Subsequently, in 2014, following the full implementation of the action plan, the Chad armed forces were withdrawn from the United Nations Secretary-General’s list of parties that illicitly recruit and use children.

Debt bondage and serfdom and forced labour

The Government has taken the following measures to investigate, address and resolve the problem:

• Crimes of exploitation are punished under section 15 of Order No. 006/PR/2018 which provides that any person who commits the crime of forced labour or services shall be punished by the penalty provided for in the Criminal Code or the Labour Code.
• Any person who practices, facilitates or makes financial or material profit through the slavery of another person or a similar practice shall be punished by imprisonment of five to ten years and by a fine of between 100,000 and 500,000 CFA francs.
• Any person who uses child labour shall be punished by the penalty provided for in the regulatory and legislative texts pertaining to child labour.
• A National Commission to combat trafficking in persons has been set up to prevent and combat all forms of trafficking in persons, ensure protection of victims, collect data on trafficking, and promote cooperation and collaboration to this end.

Article 3(b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution

The provisions of sections 16 and 22 of Order No. 006/PR/2018 supplement the provisions of sections 335 and 336 of the Criminal Code.

Article 3(c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities

In this regard, section 23 of Order No. 006 provides for a punishment of imprisonment of 20 to 30 years and a fine of between 100,000 and 2 million CFA francs.

Article 3(d). Children at special risk. Muhajirin (talibé) children

Sections 185 and 188 of Act No. 001/PR/2017 of 8 May 2017 issuing the Criminal Code and sections 19 et 23 of Order No. 006/PR/2018 punish begging. While it is true that we must fight against ignorance and teach children to respect the dignity of humankind through the holy scriptures, abuse, torture and exploitation of these children are reprehensible acts.

Children working as domestic workers

The Minister of Telecommunications and the Digital Economy has prepared a document to support Chad’s digital transformation entitled Workforce Management Procedure (PGMO), 2024.

The purpose of the Workforce Management Procedure document is to set out clear procedures to identify and manage all specific and potential problems concerning the work of all workers, in accordance with the provisions of the Labour Code in force in Chad and the requirements of the World Bank Environmental and Social Standard 2 (ESS2) relating to labour and working conditions.

The Workforce Management Procedure document aims to determine the workforce needs and the risks associated with the project. Its main specific objectives are to:

• establish prevention and response measures for sexual exploitation and abuse (and sexual harassment);
• prevent the use of forced labour and child labour;
• promote occupational safety and health;
• protect and promote occupational safety and health by encouraging environments free from sexual harassment, and sexual exploitation and abuse;
• encourage fair treatment, and non-discrimination and equality of opportunity for project workers, including measures to prevent and address discrimination against women;
• protect workers, particularly those who are vulnerable, such as women, persons with disabilities, children (of working age) and migrants, as well as contractual and community workers, and employees of the primary provider, where relevant;
• support the principles of freedom of association and the collective agreements of the project workers, in line with national law.

The domestic labour regulations have not been adopted.

Article 3(a). The worst forms of child labour. All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. Sale and trafficking of children

Act No. 001/PR/2017 of 8 May 2017 issuing the Criminal Code has been adopted; Order No. 006/PR/2018 of 30 March 2018 against trafficking in persons in the Republic of Chad has also been adopted.

The Ministry of Justice announced that it investigated, prosecuted and convicted three possible traffickers.

The courts punished the perpetrators with the following penalties:

• imprisonment of five years and a fine of US$1,000;
• imprisonment of five years and a fine of US$200;
• imprisonment of 18 months and a fine of US$200.

The courts also announced that they sentenced a trafficker who forced several victims to work in the gold mines in the north of the country to three years’ imprisonment and a fine of 200,000 CFA francs.

Article 3(d). Hazardous work. Children working in the informal economy

Two of our labour inspectors have recently finished training with the African Regional Labour Administration Centre (CRADAT). They will be able to make an effective contribution.

Article 7(2). Take effective and time-bound measures. Article 7(2)(a). Prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education

Measures which must be taken in this regard by the Government are the:

• establishment of lifelong training programmes for teachers to strengthen their pedagogical and technical skills, while ensuring decent and motivating working conditions to prevent strikes and ensure continuous learning (to motivate pupils to continue to go to school and to prevent girls from staying at home to carry out household chores);
• modernization of programmes to adapt them to current needs, and to scientific and technological developments;
• equipment of schools with modern learning tools (computers, laboratories, digital libraries);
• building and renovation of school facilities to provide an environment that is conducive to learning;
• establishment of support programmes for pupils in difficulty (tutoring, catch-up classes) and improvement of career guidance so that pupils can choose their study paths in line with their skills and aspirations;
• establishment of a quality control mechanism for education in all regions in the country.

Statistical data unavailable.

Article 7(2)(d). Children at special risk. Children working and living in the street

The Minister of State for Women and Early Childhood met with street children on 11 September 2024 as part of a programme to improve their situation. This initiative is part of efforts to reintegrate these children into their families, thereby offering them an alternative to the difficult life they lead on the streets of the capital city. The aim of this meeting was to listen to these marginalized children, while providing them with advice concerning their family reintegration.

The programme is part of the Government’s national child protection policy, which focuses especially on the rehabilitation of vulnerable children. The testimonies gathered showed that several among them hope to reunite with their families and to return to a more stable and protected life.

In response to the wishes expressed by the children, the Minister has taken the initiative of personally accompanying some of them to their respective homes. This action is aimed at strengthening family ties while facilitating dialogue between the children and their parents, an essential condition for successful reintegration.

This programme, which has a broader reach, aims to improve the living conditions of vulnerable children. In addition to family reintegration, follow-up measures are planned to ensure the children’s long-term protection and support them in their search for a fulfilling and stable life.

The Ministry’s approach, which has been welcomed by several observers, is seen as a significant step towards a more inclusive society where each child has the chance to grow up in a loving and safe environment.

HIV/AIDS orphans

The Government has taken measures through the provisions of Act No. 019/PR/2007 of 15 November 2007 to combat HIV/AIDS/STI and to protect the rights of persons living with HIV/AIDS.

Article 8. International cooperation. Poverty reduction measures

The Government must envisage helping the most vulnerable children, particularly by giving them access to quality health services, food, water and education, and to ensure that they grow up protected from violence and exploitation wherever they are and wherever they live.

Discussion by the Committee

Chairperson – I have the honour of inviting the honourable representative of the Government of Chad, the Permanent Secretary of the National Social Dialogue Committee, to take the floor.

Government representative – I would like to express our appreciation for the work of the Committee of Experts in monitoring and evaluating compliance with the Conventions and Recommendations of our Organization, which is a significant support for Members when improving their national legislation.

It comes as a surprise to us, however, to be on the list of countries called before the Committee, knowing that all the regular reports on the Conventions ratified by Chad (for the period from 1 June to 1 September 2024) including Convention No. 182, were transmitted last year. We recall that, since 2023, Chad has been making considerable efforts to meet the reporting obligations despite the very limited knowledge of our small team. Up to 2022, Chad had serious problems with the submission of reports on ratified Conventions and the submission of the instruments to the competent authorities. In 2023, at the 111th Session of the Conference, we undertook to overcome these difficulties, and we requested ILO technical assistance to this end. Unfortunately, to date, our request has been met with silence. Chad kept its commitment and since 2023 the reports have been transmitted, and the country has fulfilled its obligation to submit. In the same way, the replies to the direct requests and the observations formulated by the Committee of Experts on the Convention and on the Employment and Decent Work for Peace and Resilience Recommendation, 2017 (No. 205) were transmitted and were received by the Department of Standards last month, by the set deadlines:

• For Convention No. 182, the regular report in reply to the 2024 direct request and observation were submitted, and another transmitted last month at the request of the Committee.
• Likewise, the report on Recommendation No. 205, which had not been sent and which had placed Chad on the list of serious failures, was sent last month.

For the cases concerning the Workmen’s Compensation (Agriculture) Convention, 1921 (No. 12), the Equality of Treatment (Accident Compensation) Convention, 1925 (No. 19), and the Employment Injury Benefits Convention, 1964 [Schedule I amended in 1980] (No. 121), in 2024, and Recommendation No. 205 in 2025, we had not understood how instruments not ratified by a State Member should be the subject of a report. Faced with this difficulty, we once again requested ILO technical support by reinforcing the 2023 request for technical assistance, at the 111th Session, but our request was not heeded. In addition, in view of the national priorities in promoting decent work in Chad, we then referred the matter to the ILO Decent Work Technical Support Team for Central Africa and the ILO Country Office for Cameroon, Sao Tome and Principe, and Equatorial Guinea on several occasions to train labour inspectors and the social partners in preparing reports on non-ratified Conventions, through workshops. Here too, despite the remote support provided by the expert, no training was provided, as all attempts to that end failed. Again today, before this august assembly, we reiterate our request for technical assistance in accordance with our country’s priorities as soon as possible so that we may advance with the Decent Work Agenda for Chad.

It should be highlighted that, since 2024, the Government has strengthened the team that prepares the reports. This work, which used to be the responsibility of a single person, can now be done more efficiently by several people. However, these new officials do not have the basic knowledge of international labour standards.

As the worst forms of child labour can be understood as all forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage and serfdom and forced or compulsory labour; the forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict; the use of children for prostitution or pornographic production; the use of children for the production and trafficking of drugs; and all work that is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children, their prohibition has been reaffirmed in the Constitution of the Republic of Chad and reproduced in the Labour Code.

Furthermore, in 2023, in an effort to find lasting solutions to this scourge of child labour, Chad joined Alliance 8.7 to benefit from the experience of other pioneering countries in this regard. A workshop was therefore organized from 4 to 5 April 2024 on Alliance 8.7 with the support of the ILO, which resulted in a road map for the elimination of child labour, forced labour and human trafficking in our country.

The workshop brought together government representatives, employers’ and workers’ organizations, civil society and the United Nations (UN) system. The reality of child labour, forced labour and human trafficking were addressed. Actions were identified to strengthen the coordination of national efforts and accelerate the achievement of Goal 8.7 of the Sustainable Development Goals. Consensus was reached on a road map, whose follow-up is coordinated by the Ministry. Further to the workshop, we were included on the list of pioneer countries.

I will conclude by emphasizing that Chad is a country that ensures compliance with the ratified international Conventions, and with everything related to the world of work, and we reiterate our determination to do better. To this end, we are counting on the support of the ILO to promote a healthy working environment in Chad.

Employer members – Before I begin, I would like to thank the Government for the oral and written information provided on the application, both in law and in practice, of the Convention. In line with usual practice, we wish to provide information on the context of the case to ensure better understanding. This is the first time that the Committee is discussing this case. Chad ratified the Convention in 2000, and the Committee of Experts provided observations on the case on three occasions, namely, in 2009, 2014 and 2024, in which it noted both the reports submitted by the Government and the comments made by the social partners.

Before examining the comments of the Committee of Experts, the Employers would like to highlight the importance of the Convention as one of the ten fundamental Conventions. The Convention requires States to adopt immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. For the Employer members, compliance with this Convention is of utmost importance, not only because it is a fundamental Convention, but also because we are convinced of the need to promote, both in law and in practice, the effective protection of children from the worst forms of child labour. Reflecting, therefore, a universal consensus and a strong tripartite commitment, the Convention reminds us of the absolute importance of combatting the worst forms of child labour. For the Employers, it is therefore essential that all Member States fully comply with their obligations under this Convention.

Consequently, it is important to bear in mind that this case invites us to discuss the effective implementation of appropriate measures, in compliance with the requirements set out, specifically, in Articles 3 and 7 of the Convention. For this reason, I will divide my statement into two parts, in order to separately examine the international commitments deriving from both Article 3 and Article 7 of the Convention.

Firstly, Article 3 of the Convention describes the worst forms of child labour, with the practices indicated in subparagraphs (a), (b) and (c) being relevant for this case.

Regarding Article 3(a) of the Convention, the Employer members note the legislative efforts undertaken to prevent and punish forced recruitment. The Child Protection Code and section 370 of the Criminal Code in particular, represent significant progress – in the right direction.

The Employer members also welcome the indication, in the observations of the Committee of Experts, that the Government armed forces reportedly do not engage in practices of forced recruitment. We also highlight the creation of the National Commission to combat trafficking in persons, which is responsible for collecting information and coordinating efforts on this issue. However, we note with deep concern that armed groups continue to use and recruit children. We therefore urge the Government to adopt, in practice, effective measures, aimed at preventing this situation and effectively punishing the perpetrators

Although we recognize the challenges related to public order faced by the Republic of Chad, we call on the Government to prioritize, in all action plans, the prevention of forced recruitment by illegal armed groups, and the investigations leading to the effective sanctioning of the perpetrators of this practice.

Furthermore, with regard to the examination of Article 3(a) of the Convention, we must refer to the situation of child livestock-herders (enfants bouviers), as it undoubtedly constitutes servitude The Employer members note that the 2017 Criminal Code and section 5 of the Labour Code prohibit slavery. However, we are deeply concerned about the effective implementation in practice of this prohibition, as well as the shortcomings that continue to exist in the legislation for the protection of children. and forced or compulsory labour, which are prohibited by the Convention. The situation of child livestock-herders, as the Government itself recognized in its report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, is particularly concerning, and although regional committees have been created to combat this practice, efforts still need to be increased. We therefore consider it a priority for the Government to move forward with the final approval of the Child Protection Code, which is in progress, and which furthermore guarantees, in practice, the protection of children under the age of 18 years from child herding, as a matter of urgency, including the effective sanctioning of the perpetrators.

Regarding Article 3(b) of the Convention, the Employer members note sections 335 and 336 of the 2017 Criminal Code, which prohibit the sexual exploitation of minors in Chad, and which punish the perpetrators of acts of procurement. However, we agree with the view of the Committee of Experts that it is essential for the Government to adopt the necessary legislative measures aimed at amending the Criminal Code in order to include regulatory provisions that specifically punish clients for using or seeking to use a child aged under 18 years for prostitution. Without any doubt, sections 16 and 22 of Order No. 006 of 2018 do not seem sufficient to combat child prostitution.

Concerning Article 3(c), the Employer members observe with deep concern, and along similar lines, that although the Government has made efforts, by means of Order No. 006 of 2018, to prevent the use of children in illicit activities, there continues to be a gap in terms of effective legislative measures prohibiting this practice. We therefore urge the Government to adopt the necessary measures and to keep this Committee informed of any new developments in this respect.

Secondly, Article 7 of the Convention requires States to adopt sanctions to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, including penal sanctions or, as appropriate, other sanctions. Furthermore, Article 7(2) calls for Member States to adopt, taking into account the importance of education in eliminating child labour, effective and time-bound measures.

With regard to these provisions, we note the efforts undertaken by the Government, according to the report submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, concerning actions to identify, transfer and support minors associated with armed forces or groups. Nevertheless, we observe with concern that children continue to be used for the conduct of criminal activities by illegal groups. We therefore support the call by the Committee of Experts for the Government to step up its efforts to prevent the recruitment of children by armed groups, and to ensure that children are removed from these groups and receive the support necessary for their rehabilitation and social integration, including their reintegration into the school system or into vocational training, where relevant. We urge the Government to take effective and time-bound educational measures to prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour.

Regarding Article 7(d), we note the efforts made by the Government, through the Ministry for Women and Early Childhood, to improve the situation of children in the long term, and to support them in their search for a fulfilling life. We also express our concern regarding two issues: children engaged in begging; and the fact that despite the prohibition of economic exploitation by the draft legislation, the sanctions established are not sufficient to protect children from the worst forms of child labour.

Lastly, we recall that Member States must keep the ILO informed of any developments in this respect, and we request the Government to implement all legislative amendments and reforms, in consultation with the most representative social partners, and to move forward with the adoption of effective measures to protect children against the worst forms of child labour.

Worker members – This is the first time that our Committee is examining the application of the Convention by Chad. The examination of this Convention with regard to Chad has been the subject of a double footnote, which testifies to the persistence of serious practices in breach of the Convention and the absence of information from the Government since 2009. The Committee of Experts has raised serious concerns regarding the application of this Convention in Chad.

The first concern raised in the report of the Committee of Experts relates to the continued use and recruitment of children by armed groups in Chad. The report of the UN Secretary-General to the Security Council of 3 June 2024 on children and armed conflict emphasizes that cross-border conflicts and intercommunal violence have continued to affect children, particularly those living in the central Sahel and the Lake Chad Basin region. The report also highlighted serious violations committed against excessive numbers of children in the Lake Chad basin region. These violations included the recruitment and use of children by rebel or foreign forces.

Despite all these disturbing findings, the report nevertheless highlighted the efforts made by the Government to implement its action plan to combat the recruitment and use of children, which was completed in 2014, and the 2014 handover protocol. We can only encourage the Government to continue its efforts in this area and, if necessary, to establish a new plan. We echo the UN Secretary-General in calling for the perpetrators of violations against children to be held accountable for their actions, and for disarmament, demobilization and social rehabilitation and reintegration programmes to take account of the specific rights and needs of children who have been associated with armed groups.

In this regard, the Committee of Experts’ report refers to a preliminary draft Child Protection Code, which has not yet been adopted but contains legal provisions that would make it possible to combat these practices. We hope that the Government will do everything in its power to ensure that this text is adopted as soon as possible and that it provides the competent authorities with all the necessary means to enforce these provisions.

Another particularly worrying practice highlighted by the Committee of Experts’ report is the exploitation of boys between 6 and 15 years of age as herders. Although this practice is clearly prohibited by law, it unfortunately still occurs in Chad. However, the Government is making efforts to combat this practice, in particular by setting up child protection committees. We can only call on the Government to take immediate and effective measures to eliminate this practice in Chad. Children are also exposed to sexual exploitation. While pimping is punishable under the Chadian Criminal Code, clients who use children for prostitution are not subject to any criminal charges under the Code. Children are also involved in illicit activities such as drug production and trafficking. However, here again, the Criminal Code does not contain any provisions prohibiting the use, recruitment or offering of a child under the age of 18 for illegal activities.

The Committee of Experts’ report outlines the measures put in place by the Government for children who have been recruited and used in armed conflict in Chad. These include efforts to identify, transfer and care for minors based on a memorandum of understanding between the Government of Chad and the UN regarding the transfer of children associated with armed forces or groups. Chad also takes care of the transfer of these children from prisons to transit and orientation centres to ensure that they receive adequate care. The Government is also putting in place family reunification measures. We can only encourage the Chadian Government to continue and intensify its efforts in this area.

The report also refers to the situation of mouhadjirin (talibé) children. These are the thousands of children who are used for begging by unscrupulous individuals for purely economic purposes. The Committee of Experts’ report notes with regret that the Government has not provided it with any information on this subject since 2009. Yet this is one of the worst forms of child labour, which is totally at odds with the terms of the Convention.

Children are also subject to another form of exploitation in Chad – namely, domestic work. Although the Government appeared to indicate that the domestic work sector was in the process of being regulated, there is nothing specific in the report to suggest that concrete measures have been taken in this regard. It is clear that the eradication of these practices will require the establishment of inspection services with sufficient resources to carry out their tasks. The training of labour inspectors is also essential to enable them to enforce the applicable standards.

The lack of information available to the Committee of Experts to carry out its work is blatantly obvious in the report. It is fortunate that we are now able to engage in dialogue with the Government of Chad to obtain more information on the initiatives it has taken. However, it must recognize the importance of engaging in dialogue with the ILO so that a proper and regular assessment of the situation can be made. Lastly, we would like to signal to the Government that the ILO will always be at its side to help it implement in practice the rights and freedoms enshrined in the international labour Conventions.

Worker member, Chad – I fully support the statement made by the Worker spokesperson. I also fully support the Committee of Experts’ observations published in the 2025 report regarding the application of the Convention in my country.

In its report, the Committee of Experts noted with deep concern the continued recruitment and use of children in armed conflict by armed groups. The Committee of Experts also expressed its concern at the persistence of the practice of child herders, in which children are subject to a form of semi-slavery, and the absence of information provided by our Government on the measures taken to end this practice.

The Committee of Experts further noted with regret that, since 2009, our Government has not provided information on the measures taken to protect mouhadjirin (talibé) children from forced or compulsory labour.

Additionally, the Committee of Experts noted with regret the continued absence of legislative provisions to prohibit and penalize the use of a child for prostitution and the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, child domestic work and debt bondage.

The use of children in armed conflict is extremely concerning. These are armed groups that unlawfully recruit children to advance their own cause. Although such practices are prohibited under Chadian law, the difficulty lies in suppressing these armed groups. The UN is providing assistance to my country in combating terrorism, including Boko Haram and other Islamist groups operating in our subregion. However, the problem persists despite this assistance. These children face a serious dilemma if they wish to leave the armed groups. They are threatened with death, and those who manage to escape are often pursued . The situation is dire, and we are calling for support to end acts of terrorism in my country and across the subregion. I also appeal to those supporting these armed groups: please stop, because you are contributing to worsening the problems faced by the children and citizens of my country.

The issue of child herders is another form of exploitation and slavery. It is essential to examine the push factors. It all stems from poverty in the country. According to the UN Human Development Report 2023, my country ranks 190th out of 193 countries on the human development index, placing it in the low human development category. The World Bank also noted that poverty and vulnerability are widespread in Chad, with 44.8 per cent of the population living below the national poverty line in 2022. Extreme poverty (defined as living on US$2.15 per person per day in 2017 purchasing power parity terms) rose by 2.6 percentage points between 2023 and 2024, reaching 36.5 per cent. This increase means that an additional 688,000 people have fallen into extreme poverty.

I call on our Government to step up its efforts to address the economic challenges that drive families to entrust their children to those with greater means, where they are then exploited as domestic workers, herders, in prostitution or in other illicit activities.

I also urge the Government to engage with the tripartite partners to set minimum wages that enable families to support themselves and help to reduce poverty.

Concerning the situation of talibé children, whose marabout masters use them: when they reach the age to leave, they are subjected to violence, which forces them to take to the streets.

Although I recognize certain legislative progress made by our Government, such as Order No. 001/PR/2014 of 4 February 2014 prohibiting and penalizing the recruitment or use of children in armed conflict, and Order No. 006/PR/2018 of 30 March 2018 against human trafficking, I call on the Government to place greater emphasis on the effective implementation of these laws. Labour inspection in the country remains very weak: labour inspectors are not sufficiently trained and lack the financial and material resources needed to carry out their duties. I call on the Government to step up its efforts in this area. Labour inspection plays a crucial role, both as a deterrent and through repression, against those who violate the law. Harsh penalties must be imposed on those who violate children’s rights.

In conclusion, I call on this Committee and other UN agencies to assist our country in ending the ongoing conflict caused by armed groups and those who indoctrinate them, and to help save our children from the push factors that lead them into illicit activities.

Government member, Poland – I have the honour to speak on behalf of the European Union (EU) and its Member States. The candidate countries, Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Republic of Moldova and Ukraine, , the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) countries, Iceland and Norway, and members of the European Economic Area align themselves with this statement.

The EU and its Member States are committed to the promotion, protection, respect and fulfilment of human rights, including labour rights and the fight against child labour as enshrined in the Convention. We support the ILO’s supervisory system and call for the universal ratification and effective application of fundamental Conventions.

We express deep concern at the Committee’s findings regarding Chad and the continued recruitment and use of children under 18 years by armed groups, including in the Lake Chad Basin. We call on the Government to take all the necessary measures to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of children and to carry out thorough investigations, prosecutions and to impose effective and dissuasive penalties for all perpetrators.

We also urge the Government to adopt the long overdue Child Protection Code, which should include the complaint mechanism and child protection safeguards.

We are also alarmed by the persistence of practices akin to slavery, such as the exploitation of children as cattle herders. These children, some as young as 6, remain subjected to semi-slavery conditions. We, therefore, urge the Government to eliminate these practices as a matter of urgency, ensure accountability and provide detailed information on enforcement and protection measures.

We further regret the continued absence of legislative provisions explicitly criminalizing clients of child prostitution, and prohibiting and penalizing the use of children in illicit activities, such as drug production and trafficking. We urge the Government to adopt specific legal prohibitions and ensure their enforcement. This implies that effective and dissuasive penalties must be applied in practice.

The situation of talibé children remains of particular concern. These children are highly vulnerable to forced labour, including economic exploitation through organized begging.

We reiterate the Committee of Experts’ call, urging the Government to implement time-bound measures to withdraw these children from exploitative situations, provide appropriate rehabilitation and reintegration and report on progress achieved. We also note with concern the abusive employment of children in domestic work and the absence of regulations and protection for child domestic workers.

We encourage the Government to adopt legislation and practical measures, including shelters and oversight mechanisms and to report on the measures taken. Furthermore, the high prevalence of child labour, including in hazardous conditions, combined with the absence of complaints recorded by labour inspectors, underscores the need to strengthen inspection services and enforcement capacity, including in the informal sector.

We call for improved data collection, disaggregated statistics and transparency on violations and sanctions.

Finally, we note the related concerns under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), particularly the gap between the minimum age for employment, 14 years, and the age of completion of compulsory schooling, 16 years. As well as legal inconsistencies that allow children to start apprenticeships, light work and hazardous work at too young an age or without adequate safeguards.

We urge the Government to align national legislation with Convention No. 138 and ensure that legal frameworks support access to education and training and protect children from exploitation.

The EU and its Member States took note of the written information provided by the Government of Chad on 16 May and encourage the Government to intensify its cooperation with the ILO including the possibility of technical assistance and to engage meaningfully with social partners.

We will continue to follow the situation closely and remain ready to support the Government’s efforts aimed at ensuring compliance with international labour standards and upholding the rights and dignity of all children in the country.

Government member, Switzerland – Switzerland supports the statement made by the European Union and wishes to make the following points.

While strongly deploring the fact that children are still being recruited and used in the armed conflicts that are continuing to afflict Chad and the Sahel region, Switzerland welcomes the information that the Government armed forces in Chad have ceased to have recourse to children. It strongly encourages the Government of Chad to continue its efforts to prevent the recruitment of children in armed groups and to promote the rehabilitation and social integration of former child soldiers. The measures adopted to prosecute and punish persons forcible recruiting children for use in armed conflicts must also be strengthened.

The recruitment and use of child soldiers is not, however, the only manifestation of the worst forms of child labour in Chad. Although forced labour, serfdom and slavery are explicitly prohibited by the Labour Code and the Constitution, the practice of so-called child herders, which involves a system of semi-slavery of boys between the ages of 6 and 15, persists. Moreover, there are still many cases throughout the country of children under 18 years of age being used for prostitution and other illicit activities. Switzerland condemns these practices, which are contrary to the provisions of the Convention, and regrets the lack of information provided by the authorities of Chad on the specific measures taken to combat these forms of child labour.

The Swiss Government calls on the Government of Chad to take all the necessary measures to bring an end to all unlawful forms of the exploitation of children and to punish those responsible. That involves, among other measures, undertaking in-depth investigations and prosecutions, adopting sufficiently dissuasive sanctions and introducing new provisions into the Criminal Code explicitly prohibiting the use of children for prostitution and illicit activities. Switzerland expresses the hope that the draft Child Protection Code will be adopted and applied as soon as possible. Finally, as the worst forms of child labour necessarily have their roots in the very existence of child labour, Switzerland also calls on the Government of Chad to raise the minimum age for admission to employment in order to align it with the age of completion of compulsory schooling, which is set at 16 years, so as to limit the number of children engaged in child labour.

Employer member, Mexico – The first part of this statement is an invitation to everyone here to reflect, since it is clear that if anything causes pain in our society, it is the mistreatment of young persons. Consequently, we cannot disregard practices that harm their integrity, since children are the pillars of our future society. We must underline the fact that, as stated in the preamble to the Convention, “[…] the effective elimination of the worst forms of child labour requires immediate and comprehensive action, taking into account the importance of free basic education and the need to remove the children concerned from all such work and to provide for their rehabilitation and social integration while addressing the needs of their families”.

According to information available on the official website of the organization Humanium, in 2018, Chad was considered to have made moderate progress in its efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, as the country sent three labour inspectors on a 45-day training course at the ILO’s African Regional Labour Administration Centre. The Refugees and Host Communities Support Project was also introduced to improve access to healthcare for refugees, including children, who had been subjected to unacceptable forms of labour.

The Government of Chad is called upon to give effect to the Convention, in particular Article 6(1), which indicates: “Each Member shall design and implement programmes of action to eliminate as a priority the worst forms of child labour”. This requires it to take immediate action to prevent the emergence of situations involving the types of work referred to in Article 3 of the Convention. Although progress has been made in Chad, it remains insufficient to ensure that child development is treated as a fundamental priority.

On behalf of the Confederation of Industrial Chambers of the United States of Mexico, we reject any acts aimed at trafficking young persons, their exploitation in sexual or unsanitary activities, and in any activity that may endanger their integrity and the most fundamental right that must be protected: the right to life.

Let us not forget that the abuse of children is not restricted to a single geographic area. Even though we are dealing with the case of Chad today, this is also a call to the international community represented here to prevent the continuation of these regrettable practices so as to eradicate violence against young persons.

We insist that the future of young persons must be guaranteed since, if they do not enjoy a full childhood, we are destined to carry on facing the atrocities which have been committed to this day. Moreover, we must not forget that this Convention, which is the object of non-compliance, is considered fundamental by the ILO, as it is the fundamental basis for the protection of labour rights, social justice and combating child labour.

Worker member, Botswana – The Government of Chad ratified the Convention in 2000 and in doing so the Government was making a commitment to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. Twenty-five years later, the Committee of Experts, in its report, notes with regret the failure by the Government to adopt the Child Protection Code, a code that prohibits the recruitment and use of young persons under 18 years in the security forces and also lays down penalties for identified violations.

The UN Institute for Disarmament Research published a report in December 2022 on the recruitment of children in the armed conflicts in the Lake Chad Basin. The report outlined the devastating effects of armed conflicts on children. These include subjection to extreme violence, family separation, loss of education, and longlasting trauma which may be felt even after the guns have gone silent. The fact of the matter is that the children in Chad are not immune to these effects.

The statistics in the Committee of Expert’s report speak for themselves on the situation in the Lake Chad Basin region, as referenced from the UN Secretary-General’s report to the Security Council on 3 June 2024. It is therefore clear and urgent that the Government must do all it can to ensure the elimination of the forced recruitment of children by armed groups and adopt the Child Protection Code as a matter of urgency. The Government must also ensure evidence of accountability for those that have been identified to be in violation as recommended by the Committee of Experts. This evidence of accountability must be shared with the Committee of Experts as requested.

Lastly, in April of 2025, the Office of the Special Representative of the SecretaryGeneral for children and armed conflicts published a paper “2018–2025: from the Global Coalition for Reintegration of Child Soldiers to the Nairobi Process and the Financing Innovation Forum”. In the said paper, Chad is identified as among the international stakeholders. The paper identified that provisions of meaningful and sustainable reintegration of services, to children formally associated with armed forces and armed groups, is critical to help children transition back to civilian life, and heal and build their lives.

We therefore urge the Government to take heed of this and provide such services to these unfortunate children and help rebuild their lives.

Employer member, Honduras – Although this is the first occasion on which this case has been examined by the Conference Committee, the Committee of Experts has made observations on it in 2009, 2014 and 2024 emphasizing areas of failure to comply with the Convention in the Republic of Chad and indicating the risks to children in the country, which in turn is endangering the social and economic development of the country.

The importance of this case should be emphasized, as it concerns one of the fundamental ILO Conventions, which places the requirement on States to adopt immediate and effective measures for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour. As Employer representatives, we are firmly committed to compliance with this Convention, as we believe that social development cannot take place in countries unless we care for and protect children from the worst forms of child labour, such as prostitution, recruitment for service in armed groups and other slave-like practices.

While it is true that the Republic of Chad has provided reports on legislative improvements, such as the Criminal Code, and the establishment of a National Commission to combat trafficking in persons, it is also necessary in parallel to implement effective measures to ensure compliance with these provisions, and to provide all the necessary budgetary and technical measures to the institutions that are created to ensure that they are effective, as otherwise their action will not be effective and social problems will increase in the Republic of Chad.

It is important to embark upon a process of the compilation and documentation of information so as to be able to measure the progress achieved in the eradication of child labour and in ensuring the protection and reintegration of the children concerned.

In conclusion, we recognize the efforts made by the Government of the Republic of Chad, but we emphasize that there are still serious challenges in the implementation of the Convention in practice. It is essential for any legislative reform that is adopted to be undertaken in consultation with the social partners, and for the ILO to be kept informed of the progress made. As Employers, we reiterate our firm commitment to the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.

Worker member, South Africa – I take the floor to echo my concern about the plight of children in Chad who are facing numerous challenges highlighted in the Committee of Experts’ report. The challenges include the recruitment and use of children in armed conflicts, child herders, child domestic workers, debt bondage, procuring children for prostitution and illicit activities such as selling drugs.

The Committee of Experts’ report also made reference to the Report of the UN SecretaryGeneral to the Security Council of 3 June 2024 concerning children and armed conflict, which verified 2,258 grave violations of which 1,193 were victims of multiple violations.

While noting the efforts by the Government to eradicate the problems, more measures need to be taken. The Government has only made minimal advancements to eliminate the mounting challenges facing children, making them susceptible to enslavement in the worst forms of child labour. The Government also acknowledges its failure to enforce the law.

It is paramount to emphasize the role of labour inspection as a means of deterring and bringing to justice those who continue to transgress the law. I am informed that the labour inspection system in the country remains very weak without adequate resources to enable inspectors to conduct their work. Furthermore, the Government must conduct capacitybuilding activities or training courses for labour inspectors, to enable them to effectively detect cases of violations of children’s rights.

The Government has enacted some progressive pieces of legislation but without enforcement children will continue to be exploited and subjected to forced labour and its worst forms.

I urge the Government to urgently take the following measures:

• ensure adequate labour inspectors in the country deployed to all regions to manage these violations;
• strengthen labour inspection facilities and systems to ensure compliance with labour laws and standards, thereby protecting the rights and safety of children;
• ensure the recruitment of additional labour inspectors and provide them with adequate resources that will enable them to carry out their duties;
• enforce strict penalties for officials involved in the sale or exploitation of children and review policies that allow or overlook such practices;
• conduct training sessions for law enforcement, military and government officials on child rights and ethical conduct;
• increase educational awareness among communities, schoolchildren, parents and carers about the detrimental effects of child labour;
• create independent oversight bodies to monitor reports of child exploitation, verifying the activities of government and military officials;
• work with local leaders, non-governmental organizations and community groups to raise awareness about the harms of child labour and the importance of protecting children’s rights, promote alternative livelihoods for families relying on selling children or using them as labour.

I conclude by affirming that the Government should not hide behind the scarcity of resources as an excuse. The lack of resources does not mean that the Government can dispense with its obligation under the Convention. It should adopt measures to improve its resources. That is its responsibility.

Government member, United States of America – We thank the Government for providing information related to its ongoing efforts to address child labour issues in the country, noting that a robust legislative and penal framework has been in place since 2018.

While we welcome these activities as indicators of the Government’s acknowledgement of the persistent issue, efforts to eliminate these practices and hold individuals accountable under the law remain inadequate.

Furthermore, we are deeply concerned by reports indicating that officials are resistant to investigating or prosecuting individuals, as well as directly involved in the exploitation of children as livestock herders. We urge the Government to take immediate steps to hold all individuals, including complicit officials, involved in the worst forms of child labour to account.

We further urge the Government to address existing gaps in both law and practice, specifically to:

• ensure that the law specifically criminalizes a client who uses a minor under the age of 18 for prostitution, noting that articles 16 and 22 of the Order against trafficking in persons lacks such a provision;
• ensure that laws specifically prohibit the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular the production and the trafficking of narcotics;
• enforce existing laws ensuring that investigations are carried out and prosecutions initiated against perpetrators and that effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed, including against Government officials and members of non-state armed groups; and
• improve the collection and publication of information related to both civil and criminal enforcement efforts, including the number and type of inspections conducted, violations found, and penalties imposed.

Employer member, Chad – Employers are major actors throughout the territory by reason of their industrial, commercial, agricultural and stock-raising activities, and they are therefore in a better situation to understand what is happening. I have followed carefully the interventions of the various speakers. However, I have found them to be a little harsh on Chad, as I know that Chad is in a situation in which priority is given to tripartism. Employers, workers and the Government are engaged in a form of partnership for joint reflection on improvements to the working environment, and particularly on action to combat child labour, which is the subject of our appearance before the Committee today.

Chad is ready to listen. Chad has adopted all the necessary texts, but perhaps in their implementation local communities may be experiencing difficulties in objectively applying all the measures required to flush out child labour and the use of children for other serious crimes. It is for that reason that I am taking the floor to provide certain clarifications and to reaffirm that Chad is nevertheless a country that bears heavy responsibilities in view of the wars that are being waged around our country, particularly in Sudan and with immigrants. That is clearly an important task and it is also necessary to recognize that Chad has been avoiding the use of children in the various activities related to the army for a long time now. Pockets of resistance may exist that are not under control. But it is nevertheless necessary to recognize that Chad has been doing good work.

I wanted to say that employers are contributing actively to action to combat child labour by adopting preventive policies, promoting the return to school and supporting initiatives for economic development in our country. We have contributed to the establishment of surveillance and control systems to identify and prevent child labour in enterprises and their supply chains.

Employers support the programme for the education and social reintegration of children by financing school grants and educational projects within the framework of their social responsibility, and particularly in the agro-food and transformation industries. Employers have improved the living conditions of families by endeavouring to support, especially in industrial giants, the families of the staff so that their children have a better life and there is no subjection to work for them, by facilitating local development and creating decent jobs for children.

Employers are raising the awareness of enterprises to avoid any measures involving the recruitment and employment of children, and in any case Chad does not have the type of textile industry in which children are often used. And I believe that, at the level of employers’ representatives, we are participating in multisectoral initiatives to combat child labour, for example by prohibiting it, even informally, in enterprises with which we work, and ensuring that, if such enterprises use children, all commercial activity ceases with them.

I would like to conclude by saying that Chad is very open to dialogue. There are many exchanges between workers and employers, and I can point to three activities which are really enabling us to achieve the transition from informality to formality. And it is in informality that there are pools of child labour. And we are working together with a view to ensuring that, through the solidarity economy, through massive support, action is taken in rural areas, so that 70 to 80 per cent of informal activities can fairly rapidly be transferred to the formal sector through support measures provided by the Government and multinational industrial enterprises.

Why am I saying this? Because it is however necessary to indicated where the pool of child labour is to be found. And it is always in areas that the State has difficulty in controlling. And we are working massively alongside the Government to ensure that, in the interior of the country, in the rural world, and particularly the children of farmers, stock-raisers and nomads, can go to school and not be involved in work. For that, we have created and strengthened, with the State, the nomad school. We have also tried to obtain support from UNICEF and other donors, including the World Bank, to ensure that there is a real improvement in the situation. It is true that I have listened to the various speakers, and they have been a bit harsh on Chad. They have forgotten that Chad is bearing a heavy burden, and I am not saying this for political reasons, as a result of Sudanese immigrants, who number several millions. And today, if everything is going well, that is thanks to the intervention of Chad. With regard to the issues of child labour, Chad is doing everything to ensure that that does not happen. But I can say that, as employers, we are not really very concerned because all of our enterprises have endorsed the measures that combat child labour.

I would like all the various parties to support Chad and encourage it to continue with its burdensome mission. Chad has many missions to carry out for Central Africa. And I therefore hope that our Committee will encourage Chad, I hope that our Committee will support the principle that our Organization can provide more support to Chad – it is already supporting it to face up to the challenge of the elimination of child labour and it should support any measures taken for the creation of databases that can provide the Government with the means to adopt significant public policies.

Worker member, Belgium – The workers of France align themselves with my statement. I would like to come back to the legal framework implemented by Chad to ensure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, in accordance with the Convention.

It should be noted that Chad has also ratified a number of international instruments on the rights of the child, including:

• the Convention on the Rights of the Child;
• the Optional Protocol to that Convention on the involvement of children in armed conflict;
• the Optional Protocol to that Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography;
• the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.

The written information submitted by the Government to the Committee refers to the adoption of several pieces of legislation to meet its international obligations, such as:

• Order No. 001/PR/2014 prohibiting and punishing the enlistment or use of children in armed conflict;
• Order No. 006/PR/2018 against trafficking in persons, whose provisions criminalize the forced labour and recruitment of children for the purpose of prostitution or illicit activities;
• Act No. 001/PR/2017 of 8 May 2017 punishing begging.

This legislation demonstrates the Government’s willingness to make progress in resolving these issues. The report of the Committee of Experts, however, notes that serious shortcomings persist in terms of both the existing legislative framework and its effective implementation in practice. Indeed, as has been highlighted, the legislative framework remains incomplete and does not allow for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour in practice.

Moreover, the measures adopted to combat the worst forms of child labour have been integrated into a broad range of general legislation, making it impossible to ensure that they are sufficiently visible and transparent. It is also unclear whether the solutions put forward by the Government provide specific protection for children. It is doubtful, for example, whether the ban on begging constitutes a truly effective solution to protect talibé children from exploitation.

Given these observations, it seems to us crucial that the draft child protection code is finally adopted. Indeed, in the light of the many instances of abuse committed against children in Chad, there is a need for an exhaustive, clear text that defines violations of children’s rights.

The code should target not only the recruitment and use of children in armed conflict, but also all the different forms of forced labour, such as the use of children as herders, the forcing of talibé children to beg for the purpose of exploitation and the scourge of child prostitution and abuse in the context of domestic work. As well as defining offences, the code must provide for dissuasive sanctions and guarantee transparent, effective and accessible complaint procedures.

Furthermore, beyond improving the body of law, it is vital that Chad adopts specific measures to implement legislation on the ground so that persons who violate children’s rights are held accountable. The written information communicated by the Government does not, however, provide any specific details of ongoing investigations, the number of prosecutions or sentences for offenders. There is therefore an urgent need to strengthen investigation and prosecution capacities and to ensure that perpetrators, whether state or non-state actors, are held accountable and sanctioned in practice. There is also an urgent need to improve coordination between judicial actors, security agencies and child protection bodies to ensure that laws are implemented effectively and coherently.

Observer, Education International (EI) – In Chad, thousands of children are deprived of their basic right to education. Instead of classrooms, they find themselves in fields, in markets, in the streets or in homes, obliged to work, sometimes in conditions of slavery, or forced into armed forces, prostitution or bonded labour.

The report of the Committee of Experts refers to the role of education in reintegrating working children, particularly child herders and talibé children. The Employer member from Chad also mentioned the role of education as a means of eradicating child labour.

A public, free, inclusive and quality education system must become a genuine, credible and attractive alternative to child labour for all families. That requires significant investment in school infrastructure, but also, and in particular, in training, support and funding for teachers. A well-trained, supported and decently remunerated teacher can transform the life of a child, a family or a community. Such a teacher can make a child worker feel welcomed, develop an adapted teaching plan, awaken a child’s curiosity to develop their skills and open the door to a different future for them.

Combating child labour means not only banning practices or changing social norms. It also means giving children the tools to dream, to learn, to flourish. It means making quality, free public education – with relevant educational content delivered by competent and supported teachers – accessible to families in cities, but above all in rural areas. In Chad, like elsewhere, school should be a right, not a luxury

Interpretation from Portuguese: Observer, International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) – We are facing a serious situation of extreme concern. We need only observe that when a state is unconcerned with good governance and a better distribution of the public good, situations arise such as debt bondage, where illegal debts are invented for transport, food, accommodation and work tools. These debts are collected in an abusive and arbitrary manner, with the money deducted from the salaries of workers, who remain indebted forever.

Given the low productivity of workers in this situation, their salaries are never enough to cover their families’ expenses. This is one of the characteristics of forced labour and slavery, leading to extreme poverty for families and, consequently, high unemployment among adults.

And, in these situations, children are forced by their parents to engage in domestic work because there is no effective policy to protect poor families. All these situations lead parents to allow their children to work in this way, to supplement their family’s income.

High unemployment in a country whose political powers do not engage seriously in efforts to combat extreme poverty contributes to significant violations of the Convention. The Government should, therefore, adopt specific, immediate measures to eliminate the phenomenon and to guarantee free basic education to children in order to liberate the children involved in these forms of work and help them reintegrate into society, while also bearing in mind their families’ needs. In this way, social progress could be ensured, and it would be possible to fight effectively against poverty to promote universal education.

The promotion and implementation of policies intended to improve social protection for families and guarantee free education for vulnerable children will help build a society oriented towards progress and sustainable development.

Government representative – I would like to thank all the speakers for whom this issue regarding children is a major concern. The problem of child labour concerns not only Chad but the whole world. Where there are children, their situation should be examined and closely followed. I noted that Chad is treated harshly but I have also noted that there were many more contributions throughout the interventions. Thank you for this, because Chad is a country whose situation is a concern for everyone. You know that Chad has a surface area of 1.284 million kilometres – and there are children. Chad has endured conditions of which everyone is aware. Despite these challenges, the country is concerned about the situation of children.

As you have noted and emphasized, Chad has made considerable efforts to combat the worst forms of child labour and to ensure the protection of adolescents in accordance with the Convention. The country has put in place a robust legislative framework and specific actions to address these various forms of exploitation. If you have read the report that was transmitted, we have highlighted the various efforts that the Government has made in this respect. We have referred to several cases. But if we take it case by case, and look at the fight against the forced recruitment of children in armed conflict, we see that Chad has never recruited children. You have spoken a lot about armed groups but there are no armed groups in Chad. You know that the Lake Chad Basin region covers several countries and the terrorists who have put Chad in a difficult situation have now been contained. And, thanks to the international community, we were able to remove many children and return them to their families. This effort should be recognized.

Chad has taken decisive steps to prevent the recruitment of children into the armed forces. As you are well aware, the minimum age is now fixed at 18 years, with strict recruitment procedures. Training in child protection is even provided for military personnel, and harsh penalties are applied in cases of non-compliance. Thanks to these efforts, in 2014 Chad was removed from the UN General-Secretary’s list of parties that illicitly recruit and use children.

Order No. 006/PR/2018 defines as a crime specifically the enlistment or use of children in armed conflict, and sets out measures against slavery, debt bondage and forced labour. The Government has strengthened its legislation to investigate and punish crimes of exploitation. Section 15 of Order No. 006/PR/2018 provides for penalties of imprisonment and fines for forced labour and slavery. A national anti-trafficking commission has been established to prevent and combat trafficking, protect victims and promote cooperation. Convictions have been brought against traffickers, including for forced labour in gold mines, and protection has been introduced against prostitution and illegal activities. Sections 16 and 12 of Order No. 006/PR/2018 supplement the provisions of the Labour Code to combat the use, procuring or offering of children for prostitution. Section 23 of the same Order provides for harsh penalties for the use of children for illegal activities – children particularly at risk, such as mouhadjirin (talibé) children, who are mentioned here. Begging is punished by the Criminal Code, Act No. 001/PR/2017 and Order No. 006/PR/2018. The texts strongly condemn mistreatment, torture and exploitation of these children.

Concerning children working as domestic workers, a Workforce Management Procedure document was prepared in 2024 to identify and manage labour-related problems, prevent forced labour and child labour, and promote occupational safety and health. However, a specific regulation on domestic work has not yet been adopted. But I should also highlight that at the moment we are revising the Labour Code and the general collective agreement, and we will examine the provisions to be incorporated into the new Labour Code.

With regard to children working in the informal economy, two inspectors have received training to improve their support in this area. You know that, in relation to the surface area of the country, we currently have only 11 inspectors, and they will soon be retiring. So, as many of you have called for training for labour inspectors, we can only thank you and encourage this initiative, and we strongly urge our partners to take action to this end. As it stands, efforts have been made and 22 inspectors are being trained in the National School of Administration. They will soon complete their training, join the administration and will be able to assist us in advancing somewhat in this area. But this is not enough. These personnel must be increased, followed up and trained in the various areas to ensure the management of all work-related issues.

Turning to children living and working in the streets, under an initiative led by the Ministry for Women and Early Childhood in September 2024, actions were carried out to improve the situation of these children, including reintegration into their families, counsel and long-term follow-up. These actions are carried out on a daily basis. The authorities even go to the streets at night to remove these children. Currently, some children have been reintegrated into their families and are even enrolled in school, and we should express our thanks and encourage the Government’s effort.

Concerning children orphaned by HIV/AIDS, Act No. 019 of 2007 guarantees the right to non-discrimination, protection and equality before the law for these children, ensuring their right to education, information, counsel and care. These are the efforts that the Government is making.

With regard to prevention by ensuring access to free basic education, the Government of Chad is committed to improving access to education to prevent child labour. Measures are envisaged, such as ongoing teacher training, modernization of curricula, provision of modern teaching materials, construction and renovation of schools, support programmes for pupils in difficulty and a quality control mechanism. The statistics on these initiatives are not yet available but you will have them. This is partially in response to the representative of South Africa who deplored the situation, but the Government has not lost sight of the issue of education. It is making efforts and such efforts continue in terms of international cooperation and poverty reduction, because all of this has its roots in poverty. The Government envisages improving assistance for vulnerable children by ensuring access to essential services, namely, health, food, water and education, and by protecting them from violence and exploitation as part of international cooperation and poverty-reduction measures.

The Government has taken action but I note that this is not enough. All that we can ask is that is that the international community supports Chad’s efforts. Today, with the war in Sudan, we have welcomed more than 2.4 million refugees, which as you know includes children. Who should take care of them? They are in Chad. The country has to take care of them. Chad’s resources, albeit limited, are targeted towards safeguarding the lives of these children. Thank you to the international community that has not abandoned Chad, but we must do more so that these children have the best conditions to advance in their lives. We all know that children are important. Wherever there are children, adults must open their eyes to support them, and Chad is doing and continues to do what it can. Chad has made significant progress in combating the worst forms of child labour, particularly with regard to the recruitment of child soldiers and suppression of trafficking. The country continues to strengthen its legislative framework and its actions to protect vulnerable children and improve their access to education. Of course challenges persist, such as the adoption of specific regulations and the collection of data to properly evaluate the impact of the measures implemented.

I would like to request permission for our Ambassador to intervene.

Another Government representative – While I was listening to the different interventions, I thought that they were describing another country from mine with regard to the situation of children, honestly. I would just like to give two examples.

When the war in Sudan broke out, the Head of State decided to leave the borders completely open, without surveillance. I had the opportunity to go three times to these border zones, and people were crossing without border control. I asked him, “Listen, how long will it be like this?” He said, “You know, we would have been glad, had we been in the same situation, to have people who welcomed us like this”.

Two countries in Africa have a Bill concerning the protection and rights of these refugees. Two countries: Chad and Uganda. There are no other African countries that have this type of law defining refugees’ rights, and defining a refugee. Sudanese refugees currently in Chad have practically the same rights as Chadian nationals. I mention this to demonstrate the efforts being made, not only for refugees but in general. Today, these refugees have been given land because we know the international community: after two years, there won’t be any more funding and refugee camps will no longer be funded. We, Central Africans, have refugee camps going back 15 years.

We have camps for Sudanese refugees that go back more than ten years and we continue to support this effort. What I am saying is that the Government has taken firm decisions. No one here is saying the situation is perfect, no one, but things are changing. Governmental policy has been developed so as to take significant decisions relating to the legislation, you yourselves have underscored that. But when a law is adopted, it has to be implemented. Chad has been at war since 1963 – for 60 years. Certain children have known only war. I am telling you this and you have the numbers on orphans in Chad.

In my country, the significant number of orphans we have means that these children become heads of families early, because the father was killed in the war, because the mother was killed, and so forth. So, there are many things that are being done for the situation of children relating to their health and education. It takes time and I agree that you have an important role to play. I think that on several occasions the country has requested your support to help it put things in place and to act. This is what I am saying to you: act, support us to improve the situation not only of children but also of our population’s young girls.

The Government is fighting to improve people’s sanitary conditions. We need more schools and health centres. I will tell you an anecdote to show you the drama unfolding in Sudan. There was a woman who came with her four children. She held her two girls’ hands, she had her 2-month-old son on her front and her 2-year-old son on her back. When she crossed the border, I was the first person that she met and I saw blood on her headscarf. I lifted up her scarf: the 2-year-old had been shot in the head and, on her back, the other child had been shot in the back of his neck. The two children were dead and this woman had walked for ten hours to reach the Chadian border. Today we are talking about refugees but, as I see it, to solve the problem of the war in Sudan is to bring back peace. But nobody has gone in this direction until now. All this to say that there is strong political will at the Government level to improve conditions, not only for children but for the people in general.

Much remains for us to do: increase the number of schools, diversify these schools and increase the number of health centres. Another anecdote that I wanted to share is that I was with the UNHCR in Adré for the opening of a health centre and a school. The mayor of Adré looks at me and says, “Doctor [I am medically trained so that is why I am shocked by certain things]. You are opening a health centre and a school for refugees, and for us, where are these?” To say much less of the situation of war that we have. Chad is a peace haven surrounded by countries in conflict: Sudan to one side, Libya in the north, Central African Republic on the other side, and the ongoing situation between the Niger and Nigeria. And what has Chad done? The first thing that Chad has done is to fight jihadism. We have spoken about the Lake Chad Basin region. Who is currently helping Chad to fight Boko Haram? Nobody, I can assure you, nobody. Chad is alone in fighting jihadists and has intervened in six or seven African countries to fight jihadism. This gives you a bit of a picture of the situation in my country and the difficulties we are facing in improving the situation.

I will conclude by saying that efforts are being made and we need the support of the international community. We need support, your support, so that things can be strengthened and improved.

Worker members – We thank the Government for the written and oral information which it has provided.

Although it is positive to note that the armed forces of Chad have been removed from the UN list of parties that illegally recruit and use children, we are deeply concerned that armed groups continue to recruit and use children in armed conflicts.

The persistence of the practice of child livestock-herders, in which children are subjected to a form of slavery, is also a cause for concern. We are bound to note with regret that, since 2009, the Government has not provided any information on measures taken to protect mouhadjirin (talibé) children from forced or compulsory labour. The information provided here by the Government should be forwarded for in-depth review by the Committee of Experts.

The reference to provisions punishing begging does not, at first glance, appear satisfactory to us, since it is not begging itself that is the problem, but those who exploit it illegally through children. We also regret the continuing absence of legislative provisions prohibiting and punishing the use of children for prostitution and the act of pimping or offering a child for illicit purposes.

All these findings lead us to make numerous recommendations to the Government of Chad, which we are confident will do everything in its power to implement. We count on the Government of Chad being committed to doing this.

The Government has informed us of the recent adoption of a road map in the context of Alliance 8.7. This is an encouraging development which we welcome, and we hope that the implementation of the Committee of Experts’ comments and our Committee’s conclusions will form an integral part of this road map.

We call on the Government to ensure in practice the elimination of the forced recruitment of children under the age of 18 by armed groups and to proceed immediately with the complete demobilization of all children. To this end, we call on it to continue to take measures to ensure that child soldiers are removed from armed groups and receive the direct assistance necessary for their rehabilitation and social integration, including reintegration into the school system or vocational training.

We encourage the Government to intensify its efforts and continue its collaboration with the United Nations and UNICEF to prevent the recruitment of children into armed groups. It will also ensure that thorough investigations are conducted and that those who engage in the forced recruitment of children under 18 years of age for use in armed conflict are prosecuted, so that penalties constituting an adequate deterrent are widely imposed in practice.

It is also essential that the Government adopt the Child Protection Code as soon as possible and provide a copy of the Code once it has been adopted. The Government must ensure that children under the age of 18 are protected from work as livestock-herders as soon as possible, and that investigations are conducted and perpetrators are prosecuted. Penalties that act as an effective deterrent must be imposed on the perpetrators of this practice, in accordance with the prohibition of forced labour set out in section 5 of the Labour Code.

Furthermore, the Government must ensure that the law contains provisions expressly criminalizing a client who uses a child under the age of 18 for prostitution. We also ask the Government to ensure that the legislation contains provisions prohibiting and punishing the use, pimping or offering of a child under the age of 18 for illegal activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs.

The Government must ensure that the competent authorities have the necessary resources to enforce these legal provisions in practice. It must prevent the engagement of mouhadjirin (talibé) children under the age of 18 in forced or compulsory labour, such as begging, and remove them from such activities. It must provide them with the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for their rehabilitation and social integration.

Finally, it will ensure that regulations on domestic work are adopted with a view to protecting children engaged in domestic work from the worst forms of child labour, removing them from such work, and providing them with the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for their rehabilitation and social integration, in particular by setting up reception centres with the necessary resources. The Government informs us that inspectors have received training on the economic exploitation of children. We encourage the Government to continue such training initiatives and strengthen the capacity of these inspection services to enable them to ensure the effective enforcement of standards. It is essential that the Government takes measures to guarantee free access to basic education, which will help prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of labour. We welcome the initiatives taken by the Government to improve the situation of children working and living on the streets. We encourage it to continue these efforts and to strengthen them in order to guarantee these young people their right to education. We hope that the Government will engage in ongoing and regular dialogue with the ILO and provide it with all information on the specific measures taken to implement the above-mentioned recommendations. We also hope that it will do so in collaboration with the social partners.

We invite the Government to seek technical assistance from the ILO in order to implement the recommendations that will be made to it by our Committee and to provide the Committee of Experts with a report no later than 1 September 2025 on the measures taken to implement these recommendations.

Employer members – The Employer members wish to thank the different speakers who have taken the floor and expressed their views on this matter, including the Government representatives.

We can only hope that the Government representatives will take on all the comments made during this discussion, which were intended to constructively assist the Government in addressing the real scourge of child labour, especially its worst forms, in Chad.

We recognize that the Government is adopting measures to address the serious concerns regarding the situation of children in the country, through various programmes; support, strengthening and training of the labour inspectorate; membership in Alliance 8.7; the development of a road map; and the strengthening of the education system. However, we reiterate that, in line with the observations of the Committee of Experts, much more needs to be done.

We note the reports mentioned, including those of the UN, on the ongoing and serious violations of children’s rights. Accordingly, the Employer members insist on the importance of the Convention, as a fundamental Convention, the universal ratification of which reflects a universal consensus and a strong tripartite commitment to eliminate the worst forms of child labour.

While acknowledging the complexity of the situation prevailing on the ground, including the current issue of child refugees, we share the concerns expressed by the Committee of Experts regarding the persistent recruitment and use of children by armed groups, the exploitation of child livestock-herders, and the use of children in illicit activities and domestic work.

In the light of the Committee of Experts’ observations and today’s discussion, the Employer members would like to recommend that the Government do the following.

First, continue to adopt measures, using all available means, to ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children and to put a stop, in practice, to their forced recruitment. Ensure the thorough investigation, prosecution and penalization of all perpetrators of forced recruitment of children for use in armed conflict as well as ensure the rehabilitation and social integration of child victims of forced recruitment.

Second, increase its efforts to combat the practice of child livestock-herding, which amounts to semi-slavery.

Third, step up its tripartite efforts to improve the functioning of the education system, and to facilitate access for all children to basic education and protection measures.

Lastly, the Employer members urge the Government to continue to avail itself of ILO technical assistance, in order to implement the aforementioned recommendations and future reporting obligations, and to maintain tripartite social dialogue in order to continue to work towards improving the lives of children.

Conclusions of the Committee

The Committee took note of the oral and written information provided by the Government and the discussion that followed.

The Committee noted with deep concern the continued recruitment and use of children in armed conflict. It also expressed its concern at the persistence of the practice of exploitation of children, including child herding and forced begging.

Taking the discussion into account, the Committee urged the Government to take, in consultation with the social partners, effective and time-bound measures to:

• ensure the full and immediate demobilization of all children who are forcibly recruited or used by armed groups;
• ensure that thorough investigations and prosecutions of all persons who forcibly recruit children for use in armed conflict are carried out and sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in law and practice;
• provide for the rehabilitation and social integration of street children and children who are forced to join armed groups;
• redouble its efforts to combat the practice of child herding and guarantee the protection of children against this practice as a matter of urgency, including through the effective punishment of those responsible for this practice;
• take immediate steps to approve the Child Protection Code and provide a copy thereof once it has been adopted;
• amend the Penal Code to include normative provisions that penalize the “client” who demands services of or uses a child under the age of 18 for prostitution;
• prohibit and punish the use and recruitment of children for illicit activities, in particular the production and trafficking of drugs and provide the necessary resources to the competent authorities;
• improve the functioning of and investments in the education system to facilitate access to free quality basic education and protective measures for all children, particularly girls and street children, and the security and safety of children in war-affected areas, and to take measures to increase the school enrolment and attendance rates at the primary and secondary levels and to decrease the school drop-out rates;
• take measures to protect mouhadjirin children from the worst forms of child labour and continue efforts to ensure that the Secretary for Women and Early Childhood program is effective in the protection of street children;
• adopt regulations to protect children from working in domestic services and measures to remove them from such situations, and provide the necessary and appropriate measures to directly assist their rehabilitation and social integration.

The Committee requested the Government to avail itself of ILO technical assistance to give full implementation to the above-mentioned measures.

The Committee also requested the Government to submit a detailed report to the Committee of Experts by 1 September 2025.

Chairperson – I now give the floor to the honourable representative of the Government of Chad who wishes to make some comments, Minister for the Civil Service and Social Dialogue.

Government representative – I would like to give my sincere thanks and acknowledgement to all the honourable representatives who took the floor to share comments on the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). As has been indicated, I would first like to recall that we take due note of the recommendations that have been made.

Concerning the issue of armed groups, this has already been addressed but I would like to touch on it once again. As it stands, there are no armed groups in Chad. Armed groups have been spoken of when alluding to terrorist groups. Boko Haram and armed groups in general, operating in the Sahel region, are groups that no one can control. It is true that some individual Chadians may be recruited but they are recruited directly by armed groups. They are not groups that are managed by Chad. This is an important observation to recall because the term “armed group” is still used in the recommendations and, logically, from our side, this term cannot be used.

Concerning the issue of child labour, in general, Chad has made many efforts to eliminate this practice. Today, this practice is very rare but, as has been indicated, we take note and will amend the Chadian Criminal Code to incorporate very restrictive provisions to try to suppress all violations in this area.

I assure you that Chad will do everything it can to protect children.