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

Convenio sobre la edad mínima, 1973 (núm. 138) - Belice (Ratificación : 2000)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy, labour inspection and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government regarding the measures taken to implement the National Child Labour Policy and Strategy (2022–25), including: (1) targeted engagement with Mennonite communities in the Cayo district, where child labour is more prevalent, particularly in agriculture, to raise awareness of the risks associated with child labour; (2) labour inspections across all sectors, including agriculture and tourism; (3) training of frontline workers, including law enforcement, social workers and education personnel, to strengthen their capacity to identify and respond to child labour; (4) continued cooperation with the ILO through regional initiatives and technical support; and (5) nationwide public awareness campaigns directed at parents, employers and communities.

The Committee also notes the information provided by the National Child Labour Secretariat, which continued to play a pivotal coordinating role during the reporting period. The Government indicates that the secretariat: (1) engaged in consultations with key stakeholders to identify gaps and opportunities for advancing the National Child Labour Policy and Strategy, and collaborated with the National Committee for Families and Children (NCFC) to ensure alignment with broader child protection frameworks; (2) organized awareness-raising sessions among ministries and government agencies to reinforce institutional responsibilities in preventing and addressing child labour; (3) collaborated with the NCFC in extensive sensitization and education campaigns conducted in rural communities and high schools countrywide; (4) concluded memorandums of understanding with key associations in the sugar and citrus industries focused on eliminating child labour practices; and (5) coordinated with stakeholders in the implementation of child labour inspections.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that 834 inspections were carried out in 2024, including 125 inspections focused on child labour, and that no violations were identified. The Committee requests the Government to continue taking measures to eliminate child labour, including among the Mennonite and other vulnerable communities, within or outside the framework of the National Child Labour Policy and Strategy (2022–25). It also requests the Government to continue providing updated information on: (i) the measures adopted in this respect; (ii) the results achieved; (iii) the nature, extent and trends of child labour; and (iv) the activities of the National Child Labour Secretariat and the Inspectorate, including on the number of child labour inspections carried out, the infringements detected, and the penalties applied.

Article 2(1) and (3). Minimum age for admission to employment and age of completion of compulsory schooling. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that section 2 of Act No. 37 of 2024 (Education and Training (Amendment) Act) raises the mandatory school age from 14 to 16 years.

The Committee recalls that, upon ratification of the Convention, the Government specified 14 years as the minimum age for admission to employment or work. In this regard, the Committee reminds the Government that, pursuant to Article 2(3) of the Convention, the minimum age specified should not be lower than the age of completion of compulsory schooling. Furthermore, the Committee emphasizes the importance of linking the age of school completion of compulsory schooling with the minimum age for admission to work or employment. If the minimum age for admission to work (14 years) is lower than the age of school completion (16 years), children may be encouraged to leave school, as children required to attend school may also be legally authorized to work (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions concerning rights at work, para. 370). The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to raise the minimum age for admission to employment or work from 14 to 16 years, in order to link this age with the age of completion of compulsory schooling, in conformity with Article 2(3) of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

Articles 2(1), 3(2), 7 and 9(3). Scope of application determination of hazardous work, light work and registers of employment. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that it is currently reviewing the Labour Act, Chapter 297, with a view to strengthening protections against child labour. The Government specifies that the Ministry of Labour has identified several priority areas for amendment, including: (1) inserting definitions of light work, hazardous work, and the worst forms of child labour; (2) increasing penalties for the employment of children or young persons and for the failure to keep the required records; and (3) amending the Labour (Keeping of Records) Regulations (Statutory Instrument No. 85 of 1986).

The Government indicates that it has requested advice from the ILO on the proposed amendments and that, upon receipt of such advice, a submission will be made to the Cabinet of Belize, followed by the adoption of the necessary legislative changes.

The Committee recalls that, in its previous comments, it noted the establishment of the Legislative Review Committee (LRC) to review the national legislation concerning child labour, and that the LRC recommended: (1) amending the relevant provisions of the Shops Act, Chapter 287, and the Labour Act, Chapter 297, to ensure that the minimum age for admission to employment or work applies to all sectors of employment and not only to industrial undertakings and shops; (2) inserting into the Labour Act a list of hazardous types of work prohibited for persons under 18 years; (3) raising the minimum age for light work from 12 to 13 years and adopting a list of types of light work; and (4) deleting section 163 of the Labour Act, which limits the obligation to keep registers of employees under 18 years to public and private industrial undertakings, and replacing it with a general requirement for all employers to prepare and keep one or more registers containing information on each worker, available for inspection. The Committee hopes that the necessary measures will be taken to ensure that the revision of Chapter 297 of the Labour Act, as well as the other legislative revisions envisaged, are completed as soon as possible and that, in this respect, consideration will be given to the Committee’s comments to give full effect to the provisions of the Convention. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on any progress made in this regard and to provide a copy of the new legislation, once adopted.