Demande directe (CEACR) - adoptée 2025, publiée 114ème session CIT (2026)

Convention (n° 182) sur les pires formes de travail des enfants, 1999 - Bosnie-Herzégovine (Ratification: 2001)

Article 6 of the Convention. Programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2024–2027 and the Action Plan of the Government of Republika Srpska for combating trafficking in human beings 2024–2027. The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report that the implementation of the Strategy to Counter Trafficking in Human Beings in Bosnia and Herzegovina for 2020–2023 and its Action Plan (SAP 2020–2023) does not fall under the jurisdiction of the authorities of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (FBiH).

The Committee notes from the Government’s reply to the questionnaire of the Group of Experts on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) for the evaluation of the implementation of Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings of 2023, the adoption of the Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2024–2027. The Committee also notes that the Strategy’s priorities include strengthening identification and assistance mechanisms for child victims, providing specialized training for stakeholders, and enhancing legal and institutional frameworks. (GRETA (2023)11).

The Committee also notes from the Government’s reply to the 2023 GRETA questionnaire, the adoption of the Action Plan of the Government of Republika Srpska for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings 2024–2027, which focuses on prevention, early identification, victim protection, and prosecution (GRETA (2023)11). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking of Bosnia and Herzegovina 2024–2027 and the Action Plan of the Government of Republika Srpska for Combating Trafficking in Human Beings 2024–2027, including concrete measures taken and the results achieved with respect to the elimination of trafficking in children.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee notes the absence of information in the Government’s report on specific measures to facilitate access of Roma children to free and quality basic education.

The Committee, however, notes the implementation of several initiatives: (1) from the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD), in its concluding observations of 18 September 2024, the reference of the adoption of the Action Plan for the Social Inclusion of Roma 2021–2025 (CERD/C/BIH/CO/14-15, para. 4(b)), which in accordance with the Action Plan, aims to improve access to education and includes anti-discrimination measures against Roma people; (2) from the Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2024–2027, the implementation of measures to combat stereotypes and discrimination against Roma students in the education system; and (3) from the Council of Europe official website, consultative meetings in Sarajevo to prepare the Bosnia and Herzegovina Roma Social Inclusion Plan 2026–2030, involving public institutions and civil society organizations.

The Committee observes that CERD is still concerned about the existence of mono-ethnic schools and around 50 cases of “two schools under one roof” in the FBiH, in which children are segregated based on their ethnicity and remains concern about the low enrolment and attendance rates of Roma children at all levels of the educational system (CERD/C/BIH/CO/14-15, paras 21 and 23(d)). The Committee requests the Government to continue to pursue its efforts to facilitate free access to quality basic education. It further requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the results achieved, particularly with regard to increasing the school enrolment rates and reducing the school drop-out rates of Roma children. It also requests the Government to provide information on the effective implementation of the Action Plan for the Social Inclusion of Roma 2021–2025 and on the results achieved in this regard, including updated statistics on Roma children’s attendance, completion, and drop-out rates at the primary and lower secondary levels. It finally requests the Government to provide information on the adoption and implementation of the Bosnia and Herzegovina Roma Social Inclusion Plan 2026–2030.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Children in street situations. While noting an absence of information in the Government’s report, the Committee observes from the Strategy for Combating Human Trafficking in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2024–2027 that planned measures include: (1) rehabilitation programmes offering alternatives such as vocational training, employment, and alternative care for children living or working on the streets or at risk; (2) identification and assistance mechanisms for potential child trafficking victims, with particular attention on children in street situations; and (3) support for adequately funded day centres and social welfare services.

The Committee further notes, from the Government’s reply to the 2023 GRETA questionnaire, that in 2022, targeted training sessions were conducted in cooperation with World Vision, a non-governmental organization in Bosnia and Herzegovina, to strengthen the response to child begging and the exploitation of children in street situations. These included: (1) eight Protocol Implementation Trainings on newly developed local coordination and assistance protocols for child victims of forced begging, involving 196 participants; and (2) three Intersectoral Workshops on prevention and treatment in cases of begging and other forms of child exploitation, focused on field-level referral interventions, with 99 participants (GRETA (2023)11). The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to identify, remove, and reintegrate children in street situations. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken and the results achieved, including, the number of children that have been removed from the streets, rehabilitated, and socially integrated.