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

Convention (n° 138) sur l'âge minimum, 1973 - Rwanda (Ratification: 1981)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy on the effective abolition of child labour and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in its report, that the latest Household Living Conditions Survey 5 (EICV 5) reported that the rate of child labour (for those aged 6 to 17 years) was 3.6 per cent in 2016–17. From the EICV 5, the Committee further notes that: (1) the rate of child labour increases as children get older, 0.6 per cent in the age group 6–12, 6 per cent in the age group 13–15 and 12 per cent in the age group 16–17; (2) the rate of child labour is more than ten times higher among children who are not studying as among those who are; (3) child labour was slightly higher for boys (4 per cent) than for girls (3 per cent); and (4) 58.3 per cent of those in child labour were engaged in work in the services sector, 31 per cent in the agricultural sector and 10.8 per cent in industries.

The Committee welcomes the adoption of a National Strategy on Elimination of Child Labour (2023), which comes as a complement to the existing National Policy on Elimination of Child Labour (2013). Its objective is to guide sustainable action aimed at the elimination of child labour in Rwanda in all its forms. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken to implement the National Policy and National Strategy on Elimination of Child Labour, with a view to ensuring the progressive elimination of child labour in the country, as well as the results achieved in this regard. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide updated statistical information on the nature, extent, and trends of child labour, including specific information on the number of children engaged in hazardous work.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and labour inspection. Children working in the informal economy. The Committee takes due note of the annual labour inspection report of 2022/23, which shows that: (1) out of 812 child labour inspections, 86 child labour cases (28 females and 58 males) were identified and only 39 of these cases were reported to the Rwanda Investigation Bureau (RIB); and (2) 767 child labour awareness campaigns were organized throughout the country. The Government also indicates that, due to the fact that child labour is a criminal offence, labour inspectors do not impose penalties for such violations, but that perpetrators are convicted in accordance with the section 117 of Law No. 66/2018 of 30 August 2018 regulating labour in Rwanda. However, the Government does not provide information on the convictions imposed in practice. The Committeerequests the Government to: (i) continue to provide statistical information on the number and nature of reported violations; (ii) collect and share information on the outcome of the cases identified, including on the number of cases which resulted in prosecutions and convictions; and (iii) indicate if child labour inspections take place only in registered establishments or if inspections are also undertaken in the informal economy, particularly in the agricultural sector and domestic service, where child labour has been found to be prevalent.