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

Convention (n° 138) sur l'âge minimum, 1973 - Burundi (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes the observations by the Trade Union Confederation of Burundi (COSYBU), received on 28 August 2025. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this regard.

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy, labour inspection and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in its report, that the National Action Plan for the elimination of child labour and its worst forms (PAN/LTE-PF) 2024-2027, has been adopted. The Government indicates that this plan provides a coherent, coordinated and focused framework for the various initiatives contributing to the elimination of child labour and its worst forms, and that it plans to conduct a survey to update the data on child labour.

The Committee notes that, according to the harmonized microdata from the ILO Department of Statistics, in 2020: (1) 53.8 per cent of children aged 5 to 17 years were engaged in child labour; (2) the most affected age group was 5 to 11 years (79.4 per cent of whom were engaged in child labour, followed by 15 to 17 years (21 per cent), and 12 to 14 years (13.6 per cent); and (3) 5.5 per cent of children aged 5 to 17 years were engaged in hazardous work. The Committee is bound to express its concern regarding the high number of children involved in child labour in the country, including in hazardous conditions. The Committee urges the Government to step up its efforts to ensure the elimination of child labour in the country, in particular through the effective implementation of the National Action Plan for the elimination of child labour and its worst forms 2024-2027. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the concrete measures taken in this regard and the results achieved; (ii) the measures taken to strengthen the capacities of the labour inspection services in order to detect cases of child labour, including in the informal economy; and (iii) the number of violations found relating to child labour, including in hazardous conditions, and the number and nature of penalties imposed.

Article 2(3). Age of completion of compulsory schooling. The Committee previously noted Act No. 1/19 of 10 September 2013 establishing the structure of primary and secondary education, which provides that basic education is completed at the age of 15 years (and not at 16 years, which is the minimum age for access to employment or work).

The Committee notes that the Government does not provide any information in reply to its previous requests. The Committee also notes that, according to the 2024 Annual Report of the Independent National Human Rights Commission (CNIDH), basic education is not compulsory. The Committee recalls that compulsory schooling is one of the most effective means of combating child labour. It therefore underscores the importance of adopting legislation providing for compulsory education up to the minimum age for admission to employment or work, because where there are no legal requirements establishing compulsory schooling, there is a greater likelihood that children under the minimum age will be engaged in child labour (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paras 368–372). The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that, in conformity with Article 2(3) of the Convention, schooling is made compulsory. The Committee also strongly encourages the Government to raise the age of completion of schooling from 15 to 16 in order to link it with the minimum age for admission to employment or work. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in this regard.

Article 7. Admission to light work. The Committee previously noted that section 278 of the Labour Code allows children under 16 years, but aged at least 15 years, to perform light work, provided that such work is not harmful to their health or their normal development, and is not such as to prejudice their attendance at school or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that Ministerial Ordinance No. 570/285 of 19 February 2024 regulating child labour was adopted pursuant to section 278 of the Labour Code. It notes that the Ordinance: (1) stipulates, in section 5, that children aged under 15 years may only be employed in the light and healthy types of work set out in section 6, provided that such work is not harmful to their health or their normal development, does not contravene the regulations in force in the field of education, and is not such as to prejudice their attendance at school or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received; and (2) establishes, in section 6, the types of light work that can be carried out by children aged under 16 years.

The Committee observes that section 5 of Ordinance No. 570/285 provides for the possibility for children aged under 15 years to carry out light work without stipulating a minimum age, thereby contradicting section 278 of the Labour Code which establishes that the minimum age for carrying out light work is 15 years. In this regard, the Committee recalls that national legislation must clearly set a minimum age for admission to light work. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to harmonize its legislation and to ensure that the minimum age for admission to light work, contained in the Labour Code and Ordinance No. 570/285, is the same and is not lower than 13 years, in conformity with Article 7(1) of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress achieved in this regard.

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