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

Convention (n° 182) sur les pires formes de travail des enfants, 1999 - Erythrée (Ratification: 2019)

Article 3, clause (b) of the Convention. Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution and for the production of pornography or pornographic performances. The Committee recalls that the Penal Code of 2015, in its sections 314 and 315, prohibits the procuring or offering of persons, including children, for prostitution or pornography and provides strict penalties for these offences. The Committee observes the Government’s indication that no cases of use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution or pornography have been verified by the National Prosecution Office.

The Committee notes that the Government refers to section 314 of the Penal Code as the provision that penalizes the use of children under 18 years for the purposes of prostitution. The Committee observes, however, that while this provision makes punishable persons who, for gain, “procure, promote or aid” the prostitution of another person, it makes no mention of persons who use the prostitution of a child under the age of 18 years, i.e. the client.

The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to prohibit the use of a child under 18 years by a client for prostitution. It also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the application of section 314 in practice indicating the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and specific penalties applied for the offences related to the use, procuring or offering of persons under the age of 18 years for prostitution.

Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs. The Committee notes the Government’s information that no cases of use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, including under section 391 of the Penal Code of 2015, have been verified by the National Prosecution Office. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that a new Penal Code is upcoming and that the scope of application of its provisions will be broader, so as to impose severe penalties on individuals who exploit young persons for profit in the drug trade, regardless of whether the child has committed an offence, and making the individual in question the principal offender without charging the child as an accomplice.

Clause (d) and Article 4(1). Hazardous work and determination of hazardous work. Regarding the adoption of the list of hazardous types of work prohibited to children under the age of 18, the Committee refers to its comments under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138).

Article 6. Programmes of action and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee takes note of the Government’s information regarding the measures taken to promote the rights and welfare of children, including the 2021–2025 strategic plans aiming to ensure the Decent Work Agenda and the concerted efforts undertaken to strengthen sensitization and awareness on the respect and protection of children’s rights. The Government indicates in this regard that various popular committees entrusted with the protection of child rights, women and harmful traditional practices organized promotional campaigns and seminars in all 67 sub-regions, benefiting 100,812 community members including religious leaders, village elders, police officers, female circumcision practitioners, and people living with HIV/AIDS, parents of children with disabilities, community-based rehabilitation volunteers; representatives of civil society organizations, administrators, parents, teachers and students. While taking due note of these measures, the Committee observes that they do not pertain to the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.

The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures taken on protecting children from the worst forms of child labour. Moreover, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide statistical information on the situation of children under 18 years in the worst forms of child labour, including information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour in the country.

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 Government’s information regarding the efforts undertaken to improve the functioning of the education system as well as access to free basic education of all children, including those from rural areas and nomadic communities. In particular, the Government continues to implement the Complementary Elementary Education (CEE) programme, through which children living in remote and rural areas can access education. In the academic year 2021–22, there were 11,690 CEE students, out of which 46 per cent were girls, with 9,940 (almost 85 per cent) completing the three-year programme. The CEE programme was conducted in 246 centres located in three zones, namely Gash-Barka, Anseba, and Northern Red Sea. The Government further indicates that in 2021–22, 65 schools served the nomadic community, where 9,109 students were enrolled, including 2,088 or 23 per cent girls.

The Committee further notes, from to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) meeting summaries of 15 January 2025, that the net enrolment rate at the elementary level stands at 81.7 per cent, and the literacy rate stood at about 70 per cent, in contrast to the estimated rate of 30 per cent at the time of independence in 1993. As of 2022, the drop-out rate was 3.6 per cent at elementary level and 8.8 per cent at secondary level. The main reason for dropouts remains difficulty in accessing schools, which the Government is addressing by establishing new schools in remote areas and boarding schools. Moreover, efforts have been made towards the greater inclusion of children with learning difficulties, as well as towards the improvement of the quality of education at all levels and in all types of education, including through the review of school curricula, the training of new and serving teachers, the strengthening of school management, and the expansion of skills training.

The Committee takes due note of these measures and strongly encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to improve access to free basic education of all children, including children from rural areas and from nomadic communities, and to improve the functioning of the education system while reducing drop-out rates. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the concrete measures taken and the results achieved in this regard.

Articles 7, clauses (a) and (b) and 8. Preventing and removing children from the worst forms of child labour, providing for their rehabilitation and social integration and international cooperation. Trafficking and commercial exploitation of children. The Committee notes the Government’s information that it is planning to focus on awareness-raising, protection and support of victims by identifying their needs, but that lack of sufficient skills and financial constraints remain pertinent challenges. In addition, the Government indicates that poverty, famine, unemployment and civil conflicts are among the major causing for trafficking in persons in the region, and that this challenge requires coordinated work in strengthening the capacities of states in the region. To this end, Eritrea is building partnerships so that to enhance its human and institutional capacity. In this regard, the Committee notes the Government’s information that it continues to engage in various international and national efforts to tackle trafficking in persons, including children. In this regard, some of the international efforts include participation in the Palermo Convention, the Valetta Summit (joint declaration and action plan) and the Khartoum process (Better Migration Management). The Committee observes that the Khartoum process, a platform for political cooperation among the countries along the migration route between the Horn of Africa and Europe, aims at establishing a continuous dialogue for enhanced cooperation on migration and mobility and at supporting Member States in identifying concrete projects to address trafficking in human beings and the smuggling of migrants and other migration-related areas

The Committee once again encourages the Government to strengthen international and regional cooperation efforts to combat the worst forms of child labour, including child trafficking. It requests the Government to provide information on the outcomes of these initiatives, particularly the Khartoum Process, including the results achieved in preventing children under 18 from becoming victims of trafficking, withdrawing them from such forms of labour, and ensuring their rehabilitation and social reintegration.