Cas individuel (CAS) - Discussion : 2024, Publication : 112ème session CIT (2024)

Convention (n° 138) sur l'âge minimum, 1973 - Ouganda (Ratification: 2003)

Discussion by the Committee

Chairperson –We move on to the first individual case on our agenda, which is Uganda on the application of the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138). I kindly invite the Government representative of Uganda, Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of Uganda in Geneva, to take the floor.

Government representative – I am delighted to introduce the delegation with me today. It includes the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development, and the Commissioner for Labour, from the same Ministry, that is the Ministry of Gender, Labour and Social Development.

At the outset, I wish to underline that we value the work of this Committee and we note the report of the Committee of Experts.

The presence of our delegation at this session today demonstrates our continued commitment to delivering our obligations under the Convention. As a signatory to the Convention, Uganda attaches great importance to upholding the minimum age for admission to employment. We are committed to honouring our obligations and collaborating with all stakeholders, including the social partners, to eradicate child labour.

In this regard, we appreciate the support and the partnership of the ILO and all our development partners. We look forward to strengthening this partnership even further.

To demonstrate our commitment to the Convention, Uganda continues to formulate and implement comprehensive legal frameworks, policies and institutional measures.

As mentioned in our communication to the Committee of 3 June 2024, Uganda is committed to providing a detailed response to all individual cases raised in the report of the Committee of Experts. Once our internal processes are complete, the necessary responses will be provided to the Committee of Experts expeditiously.

Worker members –This is the first time that our Committee is called to examine the application of the Convention by the Government of Uganda. We note that Uganda ratified the Convention in 2003 and that the Committee of Experts has issued nine observations since 2008 showing concern at the plight of children in Uganda and the failure of the Government to remedy the situation. In its latest comment, the Committee of Experts double footnoted the case.

The Committee of Experts expressed its deep concern regarding the dramatic increase of child labour in Uganda. According to the latest National Labour Force Survey, the incidence of child labour rose from 14 per cent prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, to 22 per cent in 2020, and reached an alarming rate of 39.5 per cent, or 6.2 million children, in 2022. That is a 129 per cent increase in three years.

The survey also shows that child labour is the highest among children between the ages of 5 and 11, with 58 per cent of these children trapped in child labour. Around 1.2 million children aged between 12 and 17 years old are occupied in hazardous industries, work in hazardous conditions or perform long hours of work. Child labour is commonly found in many economic sectors, but it is highly predominant in the agricultural sector, including in the sugarcane, rice, tea, coffee, tobacco, livestock and fishing industries.

A baseline report from the Uganda Bureau of Statistics found that child labour in the two districts of Hoima and Kikuube stood at 26 per cent and that three out of ten of these children were engaged in hazardous work or worked for longer hours. The report also identified some root causes of child labour in those regions, pointing to the general lack of awareness among the communities and ignorance of the negative impact of child labour, as well as the need for children to contribute to household income and food security.

The Committee of Experts raised a second issue of concern regarding the gaps in the monitoring of child labour. More specifically, the Committee of Experts noted that, while the Government had strengthened its labour inspection services with the recruitment of 175 district labour officers and the provision of additional means of transport, it provided no information or data on the number of child labour violations identified through inspections or the number or nature of penalties applied.

We note, as did the Committee of Experts, that the Government has engaged in positive steps at the policy level to combat child labour in the country, including the establishment of the National Steering Committee on Child Labour (NSCCL) in 2021, which is tasked with advising on and monitoring issues related to child labour. We also take note of the National Action Plan on the elimination of child labour (NAP II), entering its second phase for 2024/25 which aims to create an enabling environment for the prevention, protection, rehabilitation and reduction of the risk of children removed from work being pushed or pulled back into child labour, as well as the project “CLEAR Cotton: Eliminating child labour and forced labour in the cotton, textile and garment value chains” (CLEAR) which aims to address the root causes of child labour. Finally, we take note of the positive results achieved by the ACCEL Africa project or the “Accelerating action for the elimination of child labour in supply chains in Africa” project, with specific reference to the tea and coffee sectors, and of its continuation for the period 2023–28. We note, in this regard, that both the CLEAR and the ACCEL Africa projects are implemented with the technical assistance of the Office.

While the Worker members welcome the policy commitment of the Government, we are nonetheless alarmed by the abrupt increase of child labour in the country during and following the COVID-19 pandemic. We are concerned that the impact of the measures adopted remains nominal in comparison to the overwhelming prevalence of child labour in the country, and that the positive results of the period pre-COVID-19 have been wiped out by the pandemic.

We recall the global commitments made in 2022 known as the Durban Call to Action on the Elimination of Child Labour, which stressed that “meeting target 8.7 of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, to end child labour in all its forms by 2025, requires immediate, intensified, gender-responsive, well-coordinated, multi-sectoral, multi-stakeholder, rights-based action to scale up efforts to eliminate child labour and forced labour”. Among other commitments, the Durban Call to Action requires Member States to strengthen measures for the prevention and elimination of child labour, to end child labour in agriculture, to ensure children enjoy the right to education, and to provide universal access to social protection.

In order to make good on this commitment, we call on the Government to address the root causes of child labour, including through strong and targeted measures to raise awareness among communities on the negative impact of child labour on children’s development and future chances, and on the need to ensure that children are enrolled in and complete at least the compulsory level of education. In this regard, we note that, according to UNICEF-Uganda’s 2022 report, child poverty is on the increase in the country, with four out of every ten children in poverty. UNICEF further noted that teenage pregnancy increased, with 1,050 girls becoming pregnant daily, and with some dropping out of school, thereby increasing their vulnerability.

As did the Committee of Experts, we call on the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure the progressive elimination of child labour. Noting with concern the dramatic increase in child labour during and after the pandemic, we urge the Government to identify and address the root causes of this increase and to take the necessary measures to address the situation, including through the adaptation and continuation of the actions plans already in place. We call on the Government to give priority to the objectives of the elimination of child labour in all its forms, in particular by ensuring that labour inspection services are adequately staffed and funded to carry out their functions of prevention, detection, investigation and punishment of cases of child labour. We urge the Government to work with its social partners in addressing these challenges.

Employer members – The present case is dealing with the application in practice of the fundamental Convention No. 138 in Uganda. Uganda ratified the Convention in 2003 and, since then, the Committee of Experts has made observations on eight occasions: 2011, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022. The Committee of Experts also raised direct requests 11 times over the years. This is the first time, however, that the Conference Committee is discussing the case.

We would like to thank the Government for its presence in the Conference Committee today and for its stated commitment to providing the information requested in the Committee of Experts’ observations. Of course, it is disappointing that the Government has not provided the information in a timely manner to assist in the discussion of the case.

The Committee of Experts’ observations outline very serious gaps in Uganda’s compliance with the Convention. First, regarding Article 1 of the Convention, on the national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and the application of the Convention in practice, the Committee of Experts has expressed its deep concern regarding the significant number of children engaged in child labour, which has increased dramatically since 2019, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

We noted that, according to the National Household Survey of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, child labour rates for children between the ages of 5 and 17 increased from 14 per cent prior to the pandemic to 22 per cent in 2020. Moreover, ILO reports highlight that the incidence of child labour increased to 39.5 per cent in 2022, amounting to a total of some 6.2 million children.

The highest incidence of child labour, at 58 per cent, was observed among the ages of 5 to 11. As this is a very tender age in any child’s development, these numbers present a very serious concern and demand urgent and effective measures.

The lack of awareness about the negative impact of child labour is a serious factor that leads to the cultural approval of children’s contributions to household incomes and food security. That alone, added to the COVID-19 pandemic restrictions on the education system, contributed to the increase of child labour in the country. However, the Employer members are of the view that the accelerated increase of child labour in the country must also be analysed in the light of other causes that have built up since the COVID-19 pandemic.

It is noted that the Government has adopted policies aimed at tackling the root causes of child labour, including in particular the review of the National Child Labour Policy to increase access to social protection, education, skills development and social services for children or households in communities affected or at risk of child labour.

Accordingly, the Employer members would like to request the Government to redouble its efforts and provide further information regarding the implementation of the NAP II. In particular, we would like to request the Government to implement measures concerning its child labour awareness and community sensitization, to intensify its efforts to facilitate access to free basic education for all children, and to provide information on the concrete measures taken in this regard, as well as on the school attendance, maintenance and dropout rates.

We would also like to highlight that the design of efficient and effective policies against child labour must take account of their interaction with the real economy, specifically with informality. The impact of informality may be observed in increased child labour, even in the context of economic recovery. Accordingly, we encourage the Government to strengthen its strategy towards formalization and to seek ILO technical assistance in this regard.

With regard to Article 9(1) regarding penalties and labour inspection, the Employer members note the Government’s efforts in recruiting, training and orienting district labour officers on the elimination of child labour, including in hazardous work. However, the Government did not provide information or data on the number of child labour violations identified through inspections or the number or nature of penalties applied and assessed for child labour violations.

The Employer members echo the Committee of Experts and urge the Government to strengthen its measures to ensure that labour inspectors are adequately trained and possess the necessary resources to be able to detect cases of child labour, as well as to ensure the effective implementation of the regulations providing for penalties in cases of child labour violations.

The Employer members would like to highlight that, while substantial, prosecuting and sanctioning the adults and removing the children from child labour, are not and cannot be stand-alone solutions. These measures are unlikely to be sufficient, effective or sustainable, when not implemented in conjunction with strategic policies aimed at addressing the root causes, risk factors and socio-economic circumstances that either lead to or result in exploitation of children.

Finally, we would like to request the Government to redouble its efforts and take measures to ensure that, in practice, through investigations and robust prosecutions, the necessary and sufficiently dissuasive sanctions are imposed, and to provide information to the Office in this regard.

The Employer members would like, once again to thank the representatives of the Government for their presence and for their commitment to providing the necessary information to the Office. We reiterate, however, our request to the Government, to intensify its efforts regarding the implementation or early identification of high-risk areas and vulnerable groups, to improve the resources allocation regarding the identification of child victims, and to continue to report relevant data on the measures taken, and the results.

Finally, the Employer members note that the ILO Office is already supporting the country in its efforts to combat child labour in the ACCEL Africa project. We encourage the Government to seek further assistance from the ILO, including to increase the capacity of tripartite constituents, in order to implement effective and sustainable strategies to eradicate child labour in the country, and in particular the engagement of children in hazardous forms of work.

Worker member, Uganda – I speak on behalf of Uganda’s organized labour, and we fully align with the observations of the Committee of Experts regarding the implementation of the Convention, which our country ratified in 2003.

The Committee of Experts noted with deep concern the significant increase in the incidences of child labour in Uganda, escalating from 14 per cent before the COVID-19 pandemic to an estimated 6.2 million children, or 39.5 per cent of all children in the country, as reported by the National Labour Survey in February 2023. According to the 2019–20 National Household Survey of the Uganda Bureau of Statistics, strict school closures during the pandemic accelerated this issue, increasing the child labour rates for the children aged between 5 and 17 from 14 per cent to 22 per cent, amounting to a total of 2.7 million children in 2020.

The most alarming observation is that the highest incidence of child labour is found among children aged between 5 to 11 years, who make up 58 per cent of working children. Further, 19.8 per cent of the 6.2 million children in child labour are between 12 and 17 years old, and are engaged in hazardous occupations predominantly in agriculture, involving long working hours and dangerous conditions. The Committee of Experts also observed with regret that there is no available information regarding the number of child labour violations identified by the labour inspectorate. Given these distressing statistics, the Committee of Experts considered this case to meet the criteria for examination at this Conference.

We take note of our Government’s initiatives to combat child labour through the NSCCL, established in 2021, that meets quarterly to advise on and monitor issues related to child labour. Additionally, the NAP II, aligned with the National Development Plan (NDPIII), aims to create an enabling environment for the prevention, protection, rehabilitation, and reduction of the risk of children returning to work once removed.

Moreover, the ACCEL Africa project was implemented by the Government, social partners and civil society organizations from 2018 to 2023. This regional project aimed to address the root causes of child labour with the overarching goal of accelerating its elimination in Africa through targeted actions in selected supply chains.

We, as trade unions in Uganda, have integrated child labour issues into collective bargaining agreements and various union projects and plans. With funding from the ILO, we have participated in the ACCEL Africa project in Uganda.

Despite our efforts as social partners, child labour persists. We acknowledge the glaring statistics and facts on child labour in Uganda presented in the Committee of Experts’ report and recognize the need for further action to address this pressing issue.

We have noted some weaknesses in our efforts to eliminate child labour and I therefore urge our Government to immediately take the following measures to combat child labour:

• Enhancing the National Steering Committee on Child Labour: The operations of the NSCCL need to be strengthened, particularly in terms of capacity and logistical support to effectively address child labour issues and improve tripartite coordination and engagement.
• Inclusive formulation of national action plans: The formulation of national action plans should be participatory to ensure that workers’ issues and perspectives are wellcaptured. The Government should ensure the representation of workers on the expanded board of the National Planning Authority to incorporate their views effectively.
• The ratification of ILO Convention No. 102: To enhance social protection systems and services in the country, the Government should urgently ratify the Social Security (Minimum Standards) Convention, 1952 (No. 102), to ensure that comprehensive social protection floors for the children are addressed and implemented. Health insurance systems for children, especially vulnerable children, should also be addressed by the Government.
• Strengthening collaboration between labour officers and unions: Labour officers at district and national levels should work closely with district workers’ councillors and labour unions as provided for in the Local Government Act, particularly in monitoring, reporting and raising awareness on the dangers of child labour.
• Formulating a Child Labour Act: While the Government has put in place the National Child Labour Policy of 2006, there is a need to formulate a Child Labour Act to operationalize the policy, address the child labour issues in the country and consolidate fragmented pieces of legislation on child labour so that they comply with the Convention.
• Strengthening labour inspections: Governments must ensure that there are adequate labour inspectors that are well-resourced to undertake inspections and prosecute those who violate the law.

Let me end by saying child labour remains a critical human rights issue in Uganda, necessitating concerted efforts for its eradication. I call for support from the ILO and international development partners to assist the Government and its social partners, particularly in terms of capacity-building, awareness creation, trade union and community outreach, data analysis, and the unionization of workers in the labour unions.

As organized labour, we remain committed to working alongside the Government and other stakeholders to eliminate child labour and ensure that all children can enjoy their rights to education, health and a safe environment free from exploitation.

Employer member, Uganda – I would like to align myself with the statement made by the Employer members. The ratification of the Convention in 2003 demonstrates the Government’s commitment to tackling child labour. While progress has been made, as we have already heard before, recent challenges require renewed focus. The Committee of Experts’ concerns regarding the rise in child labour are of course well-founded. A staggering 6.2 million children (40 per cent aged 5–17) are involved in child labour.

Child labour definitely is a serious issue, and Ugandan employers fully support the efforts to eradicate it. We however recognize the Government and other stakeholders’ efforts, particularly in light of the unique challenges that came following the COVID-19 pandemic.

In the case of Uganda, schools were closed for nearly two years, businesses were disrupted and, of course, poverty increased to a great extent, and this then resulted in the doubling of the rates of child labour in a short period. However, we commend the Government’s multi-stakeholder approach, already highlighted by my Worker colleague. The NSCCL is in place, a multi-stakeholder committee. We have developed the NAP II, which we are currently implementing, taking into account challenges that have emerged especially linked to the COVID-19 pandemic, the National Employment Council has been established and, of course, the Labour Advisory Board has been reactivated as well. All this demonstrates a strong commitment towards addressing the issue that we are dealing with.

We have also seen increased budgetary allocations for both primary and secondary education, granting universal access to education for school-going children and, more recently in 2023, we saw a robust poverty reduction initiative through the Parish Development Model. All these are positive steps. We have also seen the expansion in the Presidential Skilling Initiative, with around 19 hubs spread across the country. On the part of employers, we have also seen a lot of efforts in making the registration of businesses a lot easier, and these are crucial long-term solutions.

The Ugandan employers have zero tolerance for child labour. We actively support education through direct funding in schools, but there are also a lot of social protection initiatives like in-house retirement schemes that have been created by employers. As the Federation of Uganda Employers (FUE), we have signed the Memorandum of Understanding with several companies to address the issue of child labour. We also have a running Memorandum of Understanding with our trade union counterparts on this issue.

We appreciate the support of the Office, both technical and financial, through the ACCEL Africa project, but also the project on “Capacity Strengthening of Governments to Address Child Labour and/or Forced Labour, and Violations of Acceptable Conditions of Work in Sub-Saharan Africa” (CAPSA), and we believe that we are on the right track and, of course, future results will reflect that.

We further urge the Office to maintain and enhance its support, particularly in strengthening our labour inspection mechanism and reporting, which we have already spoken about, but also the transition from the informal to the formal sector. Child labour is big but largely in the informal sector in Uganda. The Ugandan Employers are fully committed to working with all stakeholders to eliminate child labour, not just in Uganda, but also globally.

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

The EU and its Member States are committed to the respect, protection and fulfilment of human rights, including labour rights. We promote the universal ratification and effective implementation of fundamental ILO Conventions, and support the ILO in developing and promoting international labour standards and supervising their application.

We will continue to stand up for the rights of every child to reach their full potential in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its Optional Protocols, as also included in the EU Strategy on the Rights of the Child. Effective implementation of the fundamental ILO Convention No.138 is crucial in this regard.

The EU and its Member States have been committed development partners of Uganda, including through the “Everything But Arms” (EBA) arrangement under the EU’s General Scheme of Preferences, granting duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market. We recall that the trade benefits granted under the EBA arrangement are subject to the condition that Uganda respects core international principles, enshrined in core UN and the ILO Conventions.

The EU and its Member States welcome the measures taken by the Government to address the challenge of child labour in the country, especially with the establishment of the NSCCL in 2021 and the adoption and implementation of the NAP II. We also take note of the ACCEL Africa project in selected supply chains to specifically address the root causes of child labour.

However, we must express our deep concern about the significant number of children engaged in child labour, including in hazardous work, and the recent dramatic increase. According to estimates, incidence of child labour was at 14 per cent prior to the pandemic and now concerns 6.2 million children, or 39.5 per cent of all children in the country. We are also deeply concerned that the highest incidence of child labour is found among those aged between 5 and 11 years old and that a significant number of children aged between 12 and 17 years old are occupied in hazardous occupations mainly in agriculture, and in hazardous working conditions and long working hours.

Given the gravity of the situation, we echo the call of the Committee of Experts on the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure the progressive elimination of child labour by children under the minimum age for employment or work, as well as for those engaged in hazardous conditions. We would also like to highlight the need for the Government to take all necessary measures to ensure that the labour inspectorate has adequate training and resources to be able to detect cases of child labour, and that an adequate system is put in place to withdraw children from labour and place them in schools, while at the same time ensuring that support is provided to the parents to help them achieve living income.

We regret the absence of information regarding the number and nature of child labour violations and would like to ask the Government to provide reports and statistics on labour inspection, as requested by the Committee of Experts, as well as detailed information on the root causes of the increase in child labour and the measures taken to combat it, and on the policies and projects already implemented and their concrete results.

The European Union is a committed development partner of Uganda, including through the CLEAR project, implemented under the lead of the ILO, which aims to strengthen systems to prevent and eliminate child labour in the coffee value chains and to address its diverse root causes. We look forward to continuing joint efforts with the Government, the ILO, and its constituents to address the issues raised above.

Worker member, Senegal – I take the floor on behalf of the workers of west Africa on the implementation of the Convention in the Republic of Uganda. We welcome the remarkable work of the Committee of Experts on this matter. We have also noted the Government’s statement on the efforts made, including the establishment of the National Steering Committee on child labour in 2021, the adoption of the NAP II and the implementation of the ACCEL Africa project.

Despite all these efforts, we note with regret and concern, as indicated in the report of the Committee of Experts, the persistence of this plague and even its worsening, according to the 2019–2020 National Household Survey of the Uganda by the Bureau of Statistics. The rate of child labour involving children between 5 and 17 years rose from 14 to 22 per cent following the COVID-19 pandemic. Further, a communication of the Bureau of Statistics published in April 2021 highlights that child labour in the two districts of Hoima and Kikuube has reached 26 per cent (74,000 children) and that three out of every ten of these children are engaged in hazardous work. Child labour results in developmental delays in the children involved and undermines the status of society.

Given the known causes and consequences of this plague imposed on children, their families and the socio-economic future of Uganda, we urge the Committee to act effectively with the Government in order that relevant, specific and urgent measures be taken to combat and progressively eliminate child labour. We also invite the Government to:

• strengthen and broaden policies on school support and attendance by making children’s school enrolment compulsory in practice;
• establish a national policy for health and nutrition at school to discourage absence from school and promote school meals, thereby lightening the burden on indigenous parents;
• broaden and strengthen the Government’s social protection policy by allocating family support benefits, such as the “cash transfer” programme for vulnerable households; and
• strengthen community information and awareness campaigns on the negative impact of child labour.

We hope our call will be heard. Thank you for your attention.

Government member, Switzerland – Switzerland supports the statement made by the European Union and wishes to make the following point. Switzerland expresses its deep concern regarding the increased use of child labour in Uganda in recent years. According to ILO figures, child labour rose from 14 per cent before the COVID-19 pandemic to 39.5 per cent in 2023, which represents 6.2 million children. Furthermore, the majority of these children are very young, as they are aged between 5 and 11 years. These children also often work in hazardous occupations or industries, in which the working conditions can significantly affect their physical and psychological well-being in the short, medium and long term.

In response to this exponential and worrying increase in the number of children engaged in work, Switzerland urges the Ugandan Government to take all measures necessary to prevent and identify cases of child labour, and to penalize the perpetrators.

As labour inspection is an essential means of identifying and preventing child labour, Switzerland deeply regrets the absence of data and information on the number of offences recorded by inspectors and the number of penalties imposed by the Ugandan authorities. Switzerland encourages the Government to pursue and step up its actions under the NAP II, in order to ensure that its labour inspection services have the necessary means to identify and ensure the follow-up of these cases of child labour.

As the application of the Convention by Uganda has been the subject of several observations of the Committee of Experts over the last ten years, Switzerland encourages the Government to strengthen its efforts, particularly by considering additional resources – and including possible technical assistance from the ILO – to effectively and rapidly combat child labour.

Worker member, Ghana – On behalf of the workers of Ghana, I would like to express our unwavering support to the workers of Uganda and to urge the Government to earnestly consider the recommendations of the Committee of Experts regarding non-compliance with the Convention.

For several years, the Committee of Experts has highlighted concerns regarding Uganda’s adherence to the Convention, yet no significant progress has been made. This ongoing situation suggests a troubling lack of commitment on the part of the Government to prioritize and implement measures that protect children from exploitation. This neglect jeopardizes the future of Uganda’s youth, exposing many to not only precarious work but also hazardous conditions, which is profoundly regrettable. As Nelson Mandela once said, “There can be no keener revelation of a society’s soul than the way in which it treats its children”. We therefore urge the Government to prioritize the implementation of the already ratified Convention and its associated Recommendation.

Regarding the challenges related to the minimum age for employment, Uganda can draw valuable lessons from Ghana’s proactive measures to combat child labour. The Ghanaian Government, in collaboration with tripartite partners and various civil society organizations, has effectively utilized social dialogue as a critical tool to eliminate child labour. A National Steering Committee has been established, working in concert with social partners to implement strategies aimed at eradicating this scourge. This collaborative approach in Ghana serves as a model that the Ugandan Government can adopt to address child labour issues and ensure compliance with the Convention.

As Kofi Annan profoundly stated, “There is no trust more sacred than the one the world holds with children. There is no duty more important than ensuring that their rights are respected, that their welfare is protected, that their lives are free from fear and want and that they grow up in peace”. It is imperative that Uganda takes decisive action to uphold these principles and protect its children from the perils of child labour.

In conclusion, I call upon the Government to work with the social partners, in particular the trade unions and employers in crafting solutions to their problem and the implementation of the recommendations of the Committee of Experts.

Worker member, Spain – One of the fundamental aspects to be highlighted in the analysis of the case of Uganda regarding the Convention is related to the complex situation arising from the coexistence, in the country’s legislation, of different regulations with different minimum age limits.

For example, I can point out that the Constitution of Uganda (1995) establishes a minimum age of 16 years. The Employment Act (2006) prohibits work by children under 12 years of age and limits the work of children aged between 12 and 14 years to light work. The Children Act uses the age threshold of 18 years to define a person as an adult, as does the National Child Labour Policy. This means that 12, 14, 16 and 18 years are established as a minimum age, depending on the legislation, which demonstrates a clear lack of harmonization with regard to this fundamental aspect of the Convention in some of its Articles.

For example, Article 1 of the Convention refers to a national policy to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age. However, the range of minimum ages in Ugandan legislation prevents the enforcement of a national policy in this area due to the aforementioned multiplicity of situations permitted by the regulations. Article 2 of the Convention establishes that each Member which ratifies this Convention shall specify, in a declaration appended to its ratification, a minimum age for admission to employment or work within its territory. Uganda, as a signatory to the Convention, fails to comply with this provision by establishing different minimum ages.

Article 9 of the Convention mandates the competent authority to provide all necessary measures, including the provision of appropriate penalties, to ensure the effective enforcement of the provisions of the Convention. However, the lack of Uganda’s regulatory clarity on the matter hinders the work of the authorities relating to their inspection and punishment functions to combat child labour, and to effectively comply with the Convention.

For example, the Committee of Experts’ observations include the matter of labour inspection, which is limited by not only the evident lack of resources and training, but also by the legislative framework itself which does not function as a tool to help inspectors.

The Government alleges that it has recently made efforts, through the implementation of projects, to strengthen the national institutional framework on child labour. However, the necessary changes to the regulatory framework in line with the Convention have not been made, and it should be pointed out that the projects carried out by the Government and highlighted in the Committee of Experts’ report, are limited to only a few areas of the country, and to only some agricultural production chains such as coffee and tea, with child labour present in many other economic sectors.

The situations of child labour described reveal widespread non-compliance with the Convention, but furthermore, and this is what I wish to highlight, Uganda does not even have an adequate regulatory framework on child labour.

It is considered that the confusion created by the different regulations is one of the causes of the growing incidence and prevalence of child labour in Uganda, as stakeholders continue to ignore the correct legislation on the minimum age for work.

The data collected by the Committee of Experts in its report and that added by the worker representatives of Uganda in this Conference Committee, call for the Government to step up its efforts to comply with the Convention and put an end to child labour. However, addressing this necessary work requires a policy coherence that is currently lacking in Uganda, which makes it even more difficult to effectively apply the Convention.

Interpretation from the Arabic: Government member, Egypt – We have duly noted the measures adopted by the Government of Uganda concerning the implementation of the provisions of the Convention. The Government has adopted positive measures to prevent child labour. A national council was established in addition to the creation of another consultative body in 2021. Further, there is a national plan that aims to put an end to child labour and to tackle the supply chain through the ACCEL Africa initiative. We encourage the Government to continue this way forward, ultimately to implement all the provisions of these international labour standards, the purpose of which is to end child labour. We think that the Government is on the right path. Lastly, we welcome the Government’s efforts to this end.

Government member, Mali – It is both a pleasure and a duty for my country, Mali, to support the Government’s position in the case to which it is invited to respond before your august assembly. This case concerns the application of a Convention already ratified by Uganda before many other countries, which leads us to believe in the Government’s good faith regarding the effective application of the Convention. I recall that Mali and Uganda both benefited from the ACCEL Africa project at the same time, which has enabled them, to date, to make some progress to combat child labour.

In conclusion, my Government fully supports Uganda and invites it to continue the way it has started, to implement not only Convention No. 138 but also other fundamental ILO Conventions on child labour.

Government member, Canada – Canada is deeply concerned by reports indicating that child labour in Uganda rose from 14 per cent before the pandemic to 39.5 per cent in 2022, including an increase in the number of children facing hazardous work and long working hours. Alarmingly, the highest incidence is among children between 5 and 11 years, with 58 per cent of such children involved in child labour. Likewise, we deeply regret that, despite the Government’s various efforts, there is a worrying lack of data on the number of child labour violations identified during inspections, and the number and nature of measures implemented.

Canada recognizes the Government’s initiatives to combat child labour, including the NAP II and the ACCEL Africa project. However, the Government must strengthen its efforts to protect and rehabilitate its children. We urge the Government to take immediate and specific measures to:

• (a) strengthen efforts aimed at eradicating labour of children under the minimum age for employment and work, and employed in hazardous work;
• (b) determine and address the root causes of child labour, particularly by improving access to education;
• (c) strengthen labour inspection by ensuring an adequate number of labour inspectors with the necessary training and resources to detect child labour, with a view to improving their capacity to impose sanctions; and
• (d) improve efforts to collect data on child labour violations and related measures.

We sincerely hope that the Government’s next report to the Committee of Experts will highlight positive developments and we wish the Government much success in its next steps.

Employer member, Colombia – Firstly, I consider it important to underscore the importance and priority that we, as employers, attach to the Convention, which aims to protect children and ensure the abolition of child labour. I wish to highlight that, in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target 8.7 of eliminating child labour in all its forms by 2025, we must work, through social dialogue and with the social partners, in a coordinated manner.

On this specific case, the Committee of Experts indicated, in its report, its deep concern regarding the increase in the number of children engaged in child labour and hazardous work in recent years in Uganda.

In this regard, it should be recalled that, in accordance with Article 1 of the Convention, the Government must adopt a national policy to ensure the abolition of child labour and raise progressively the minimum age for admission to employment.

We reiterate the request of the Employer spokesperson, encouraging the Government to conduct the necessary investigations in the field of labour inspection, and to apply the appropriate penalties when violations of standards on the employment of children and young persons occur, and also for the Government to strengthen its efforts, in coordination with the most representative organizations, to implement multidimensional strategies and policies to enable capacity-building to achieve the elimination of child labour.

Observer, International Union of the Food, Agricultural, Hotel, Restaurant, Catering, Tobacco and Allied Workers’ Associations (IUF) – I am speaking on behalf of the IUF and we indeed represent agricultural workers around the world, and I would like to draw the attention of the meeting to the fact that most of the child labour globally is found in agriculture.

The African countries are not an exception. According to the Global Conference on the Elimination of Child Labour in Durban in 2022, the focus should be on the agricultural sector and, geographically, on Africa, if we want to seriously achieve progress on the elimination of child labour. This is the area, the sector and the continent where specific measures have to be taken. This was a conclusion based on the statistics received even before the pandemic. During the pandemic, we saw a number of features which can be characterized by and applied specifically to Uganda, as one of the African countries and as one of the agricultural countries. We saw that the absence of universal social security coverage as one of the problems which undermine the ability of families to keep their children at home and send them to school. We saw the absence of the minimum wage and minimum income, the income which can guarantee families the ability not only to feed their children but also to send them to school. When this minimum income level and minimum wage is non-existent, it is a reason for and a root cause of the increasing use of child labour, especially in agriculture. The Committee of Experts highlighted, as one of the root causes, the need for children to contribute to household income and food security.

That means most of agricultural families are not able to feed themselves. They are at risk of food insecurity. Therefore, the ability to deal with this issue relies not only on the legislative measures but also on creating economic conditions for legislative measures to be implemented.

Lastly, looking at the report and hearing what was said, most child labour in Uganda is found in the sugarcane, tea, coffee, tobacco and fisheries sectors. These are all the crops which are supplied to the European Union, and they were all highly and hugely undermined during the pandemic days, leading to a huge loss of employment, because of the lack of regulations helping to equally and fairly distribute the profits which are received in these supply chains by the European companies. We call on the Government, but also the EU countries, to look at these issues and take measures in order to enable the economic conditions to implement legal action.

Observer, Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) – The case to be discussed is under Convention No. 138, but it should also be highlighted that a lot of the observations are also in line with the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), as a majority of the children work in the most hazardous sectors of construction, mining and agriculture. As the Committee of Experts notes, there has been a recent significant increase in the incidence of child labour in Uganda from 14 per cent prior to the pandemic to a staggering 39.5 per cent of all children in the country. This is also connected to a staggering increase of child labour in the sector I represent, construction, which was reported as a consequence of the total lockdown, including the closing of schools, during the pandemic. With one of the exempted sectors being the construction sector, the result is that there was a great increase in children working in the sector despite its hazardous nature.

In response to these facts, this intervention focuses on the need to ensure the effectiveness of the efforts taken by the Government to strengthen child labour monitoring, as the report by the Committee of Experts highlights. Despite the efforts made to recruit, train, and orient district labour officers on the elimination of child labour, including in hazardous work, there is little evidence of their effect and operation. Labour inspectors have traditionally been critical players in eliminating child labour. Child labour inspection is a public function, a responsibility of the Government, and best organized as a system, within the context of a larger state system, and in line with the Labour Inspection Convention, 1947 (No. 81). To tackle hazardous child labour, inspectors should: give information on hazardous child labour; use their legal enforcement powers to ensure that children are withdrawn from workplaces where hazardous work is taking place, and are referred to the appropriate authorities who can then get them into school and help them obtain skills training; and ensure that the health of the children who have reached minimum legal age to work is fully protected in the workplace.

Considering this critical role of the functioning labour inspectorate and concerning the significant increase in the incidence of child labour in the country, we support the Committee of Experts’ call for the Government to strengthen its measures to ensure that the labour inspectorate is adequately trained and possesses the necessary resources to be able to detect cases of child labour, as well as to ensure that the regulations providing for penalties in the case of a violation of the provisions on the employment of children and young persons are effectively implemented.

Government representative – On behalf of the Ugandan delegation, I would like to thank the social partners and Member States for the constructive engagement that we have had during this session. Once again, I would like to underscore that we value this engagement. We view this process as our collective efforts to eradicate child labour, consistent with target 8.7 of SDG 8 on decent work and economic growth.

Like any other country, Uganda has challenges but nonetheless, we are proud of the tremendous progress we continue to make in the eradication of child labour. We appreciate the recognition that has been expressed by many speakers during this session on the progress that we have made and continue to make.

As others have said this afternoon, we believe that effective implementation of the Convention goes hand in hand with a stronger partnership. A partnership that enhances and supports capacity-building, institutional strengthening and constructive stakeholder engagement. We therefore will welcome support from the ILO and other partners as we walk along this road.

Finally, I would like to reiterate Uganda’s readiness to engage with the Committee and reaffirm our commitment to supporting and advancing the goals of the Convention.

Employer members – We would like to again thank the representative of the Government for the commitment to cooperate with the Committee of Experts with respect to the information requested. We would also like to thank all the speakers who took the floor to contribute to this discussion. The Employer members wish to emphasize the seriousness of addressing child labour, especially the hazardous forms of child labour. Accordingly, we recommend to the Government the following:

• to strengthen its efforts to ensure the progressive elimination of child labour by children under the minimum age for employment to work, as well as for all children engaged in hazardous work;
• to provide information on the root causes of the increase in child labour in the country, and to indicate the measures taken to address the situation according to international labour standards enforced in the country;
• to provide detailed information on the implementation of the NAP II and of the ACCEL Africa project, including on the results achieved;
• to continue to supply information on the application of the Convention in practice, particularly statistics disaggregated by age and sector of activity, on the situation of children engaged in child labour in the country; and
• to strengthen its measures to ensure that the labour inspectorate is adequately trained and has the necessary resources to detect and address child labour cases, as well as implement sufficiently dissuasive sanctions for child labour violations and to communicate statistics on violations and persecutions in this regard.

Worker members – The Worker members would like to thank the Government for its participation and its final remarks. We also thank all the speakers who took the floor.

We express once again our deep concern regarding the alarming rise of child labour in Uganda which, according to the latest data available, impacted 39.5 per cent of all children in the country. While we take note and welcome the efforts deployed by the Government to combat child labour in the country, including through several national plans and other projects in the framework of international technical assistance, we are concerned by the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic which led to a dramatic surge in child labour, as a palliative to the economic difficulties met by families in Uganda.

In the post-pandemic recovery, we urge the Government to address child labour as a matter of priority and to adopt and implement targeted measures, namely:

• to identify and address the root causes of child labour, including through awareness-raising campaigns in communities to alert on the negative impact of child labour, as well as school enrolment campaigns for all school-age children;
• to take the necessary measures towards the elimination of child labour, including through the continuation of national actions plans already ongoing. These action plans should be reviewed to take into account the dramatic increase of child labour in the country since the pandemic, so as to adapt them and to develop targeted measures to address the situation;
• to take measures to ensure that labour inspection services are adequately staffed and trained and that they have sufficient funding and material resources to carry out their functions of prevention, detection, investigation and punishment of cases of child labour.

These measures should be developed and implemented by the Government in consultation with the social partners. The technical assistance provided by the Office should be reinforced, including through the review of the ongoing projects and their adaptation, where necessary, to effectively tackle all the dimensions of child labour in the country. We call on the Government to accept a technical advisory mission.

Conclusions of the Committee

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

The Committee noted with deep concern the recent significant increase in the incidence of child labour in the country, including children between the ages of 5 and 11 years, and noted with deep concern that a large number of children continue to be involved in hazardous work.

The Committee noted the willingness of the Government to address the issue.

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

• intensify its efforts to ensure the progressive elimination of child labour by children under the minimum age for employment or work, as well as for all children engaged in hazardous work, in particular by: (i) implementing measures concerning child labour awareness and community sensitization; (ii) intensifying its efforts to facilitate access to free basic education for all children.
• strengthen the capacity of the labour inspectorate (i) to detect cases of child labour, by providing all the human, material, financial and technical resources and by adequately training the labour inspectorates; and (ii) to ensure that the relevant provisions on the employment of children and young persons providing for penalties are effectively implemented.
• intensify its efforts towards early identification of high-risk areas and vulnerable groups and improve resources allocation for this purpose;
• provide detailed information on: (i) the implementation of the NAP II and of the ACCEL Africa project, and the results achieved; (ii) the concrete measures taken to improve child labour awareness and community sensitization; (iii) the efforts taken to facilitate access to free basic education for all children as well as school attendance, maintenance and dropout rates; (iv) the number and nature of violations involving children detected by the labour inspectorate, in particular by communicating a copy of all recently published Annual Labour Inspection reports; (v) the measures taken to strengthen the capacity of the labour inspectorate and the results achieved; and (vi) statistics, disaggregated by age and sector of activity, on the situation of children engaged in child labour in the country.

The Committee called on the Government to continue with and to intensify the ongoing ILO technical assistance and review, where necessary, the ongoing projects to effectively implement all the above-mentioned Committee’s recommendations.

The Committee requested the Government to provide a detailed report on the measures taken to implement the above-mentioned recommendations and the results achieved before the deadline of 1 September 2024.