Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2024, publiée 113ème session CIT (2025)

Convention (n° 138) sur l'âge minimum, 1973 - Arabie saoudite (Ratification: 2014)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy and application in practice. Following its previous comments, the Committee takes note of the qualitative study on child labour, annexed to the Government’s report, that was prepared in 2020 in certain regions of the country, with ILO technical assistance. The preliminary results of the study indicate that while child labour has decreased significantly in the recent years, it still exists in the country. The study focused on three main areas where child labour can be found: car maintenance and repair shops, and vegetable and fruit markets in Mecca; fishing and agriculture in the Jazan region; and street vending in Riyadh. Main findings illustrate the root causes leading children to feel compelled to work, such as poverty or cultural reasons, and reveal that girls are also engaged in domestic work and wedding halls.

The Committee notes with interest the adoption of the National Policy (NP) and National Action Plan (NAP) to eliminate child labour in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, through the promulgation of Decision No. 493 of 6 April 2021. The NP and NAP aim to provide a suitable environment to eliminate child labour in all parts of the Kingdom and to identify the priorities of work for the Government and stakeholders in this regard. In addition, the Government indicates that the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD), in collaboration with the General Authority for Statistics and with ILO technical assistance, is currently studying the possibility of conducting a national survey on child labour in the context of the NP/NAP.

The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts towards the elimination of child labour, including within the framework of the implementation of the National Policy and National Action Plan to eliminate child labour in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. It requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved. The Committee also encourages the Government to ensure that the national survey on child labour is undertaken and requests it to provide updated information, where possible disaggregated by age and sex, on the nature, extent and trends of child labour in the country, including in the informal economy.

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