Observación (CEACR) - Adopción: 2025, Publicación: 114ª reunión CIT (2026)

Convenio sobre la edad mínima, 1973 (núm. 138) - Botswana (Ratificación : 1997)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy and application of the Convention in practice. In response to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that the Department of Labour and Social Security carried out a project entitled “Addressing Child Labour in Botswana 2021–2023” in the districts of Ghanzi and Tsabong, in partnership with Humana People to People (a network of 29 organizations engaged in international solidarity, cooperation and development in 46 countries across Europe, Africa, Asia and the Americas), and the Embassy of the United States of America. The overall goal of this project is to strengthen children’s rights in Botswana by assessing the extent of, increasing awareness about, and advancing solutions for, child labour, with a particular focus on the agricultural sector. According to the Overview Progress report of this project, communicated by the Government, three workshops on legal and policy frameworks on child labour for farm and cattle owners were carried out; four trainings for project officers and labour officers on identifying and preventing child labour were conducted; and 28 farms in Ghanzi and 92 farms in Tsabong were visited by these officers for child labour screening. In addition, awareness-raising campaigns on child rights as well as messages on the effects of child labour and its prevention were disseminated through the media, newspapers, banners and flyers. In this regard, 25 schools, 2,109 students and 1,338 families were reached with child labour prevention messages. The Committee encourages the Government to continue taking the necessary measures to ensure the progressive elimination of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress made and results achieved, in particular in terms of the effective reduction of child labour. It also requests the Government to provide updated statistical information on the extent, trends and nature of child labour in the country.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and labour inspection. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that child labour exists in Botswana, particularly in the commercial agriculture and cattle sectors. It also noted that the United Nations Human Rights Committee on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, in its concluding observations of November 2021, expressed concern about reports of forced and child labour in cattle herding, particularly affecting children of the San community.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Employment and Labour Relations Bill (which under section 3 extends its application to all the workers, including those working in the informal economy), is to be tabled before Parliament in 2025. The Government also indicates that the Labour Inspectorate conducts task force inspections in the agricultural sector to detect issues related to child labour, and that one such inspection was conducted in 2022. The Committee also notes from the Labour Inspection Annual Plan 2024–25, provided by the Government along with its report under the Labour Inspection (Agriculture) Convention, 1969 (No. 129), that all the regional officers and the labour inspectors were directed to engage in awareness-raising campaigns towards the elimination of child labour and its worst forms in October 2024, targeting law enforcement officers, school-going children, teachers, social workers, businesses under the chamber of commerce, trade unions, farmers and farmers’ associations. It also notes from the 2023 Annual Report of the Department of Labour and Social Security, provided by the Government along with its report under Convention No. 129 that a total of 495 inspections were carried out in 2023, with 18 inspections carried out in the agricultural sector, an increase from the seven inspections conducted in 2022. However, the Annual Report indicates that challenges such as a shortage of inspection officers, insufficient transportation resources and limited funds, act as significant barriers, particularly impacting the ability to conduct regular inspections in remote areas. The Committee requests the Government to continue to take measures to strengthen the capacity and extend the reach of the labour inspection services to better monitor the work performed by young persons in the informal economy, particularly in the agricultural sector and in remote areas, and to provide information on the measures taken and results achieved in this regard. It further expresses the firm hope that the Government will take the necessary measures to ensure that the Employment and Labour Relations Bill, which provides protection to all children carrying out economic activities, particularly children working in the informal economy, including in agriculture, will be adopted in the near future. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard, and to provide a copy of the Bill once it has been adopted.

Article 2(3). Age of completion of compulsory schooling. With regard to the revision of the Education and Training Act of 1967 ensuring the introduction of free and compulsory basic education up to the minimum age for admission to employment of 15 years, the Government indicates that the new Bill is still at the drafting stage. The Committee notes that according to the information from the UNICEF document of 2022 entitled “Botswana – Education: Every child has a right to accessible quality education”, despite a 73 per cent pass rate at primary level, challenges in transitioning to secondary education persists. A significant portion of the education budget is allocated to tertiary education, leaving pre-primary and primary education underfunded. Recalling that free and compulsory education is one of the most effective means of combating child labour, the Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the Education and Training Bill which provides for compulsory schooling up to the minimum age for admission to employment or work of 15 years, is adopted and implemented soon. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in this respect and to provide a copy of the Bill, once it has been adopted.

Article 3(1) and (2). Hazardous work. With regard to the adoption of the list of hazardous types of work prohibited to children under 18 years of age, the Committee refers to its comments under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182).

Article 7(3). Determination of light work. The Committee notes that section 7(1) of the Employment and Labour Relations Bill permits children of 15 years and above to perform light work activities that are set out in Schedule 2 of the Bill. The Committee notes that schedule 2 of the Bill lists six types of work that are considered as light work. The Committee expresses the firm hope that the Employment and Labour Relations Bill which regulates and determines light work activitiespermitted to children from 15 years of age, will be adopted in the near future. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard.