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

Convention (n° 182) sur les pires formes de travail des enfants, 1999 - Congo (Ratification: 2002)

Articles 3 and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Penalties. Clauses (a) and (b). All forms of slavery or similar practices. Sale and trafficking of children. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to ensure that all persons who engage in trafficking of children are investigated and prosecuted and that penalties constituting an effective deterrent are applied in accordance with the Penal Code, Act No. 4-2010 of 14 June 2010 and Act No. 22-2019 of 17 June 2019.

The Committee notes the Government’s indications that an analytical report on street children and children in situations of mobility, including child victims of trafficking, was produced in 2022 with the support of UNICEF. According to the report, five departments of the Congo are affected by the trafficking of children: Kouilou (a transit point for child trafficking victims from West Africa, in particular Benin, Mali, Guinea, Senegal and Togo), Bouenza (where trafficked children come mainly from the Democratic Republic of the Congo), Pool, Sangha and Likouala. Brazzaville is also a transit point for children in situations of cross-border mobility. In this regard, with particular reference to child victims of trafficking, the report indicates the need to strengthen the technical and operational capacities of child protection actors in terms of detecting the victims and checking the identity of children on the move, while at the same time toughening the imposition of penalties on the perpetrators of trafficking.

Furthermore, the Committee notes the Government’s indications in its 2014–20 report to the African Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child regarding the situation in the Congo that a total of six alleged traffickers were arrested in 2019 and sentenced by the criminal court of Brazzaville to imprisonment ranging from three to 10 years, together with fines of between 1 million and 10 million CFA francs. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that all persons engaged in the trafficking of children are investigated and prosecuted and that penalties constituting an effective deterrent are imposed. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of investigations conducted by the competent authorities into the trafficking of children under 18 years of age, and also on the number of prosecutions initiated, convictions handed down and penalties imposed under the Penal Code and/or Act No. 4-2010 of 14 June 2010 and/or Act No. 22-2019 of 17 June 2019.

Article 3(d) and Article 4(1) and (3). Hazardous work and determination and revision of the list of hazardous types of work.As regards the determination and revision of the list of hazardous types of work, the Committee refers to its comments relating to the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138).

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Access to free basic education. In its previous comments, the Committee asked the Government to provide detailed information on the results achieved through the “Education sector strategy (SSE) 2015–25”, the “National strategy for schooling for girls” and the measures taken in collaboration with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), in particular regarding the rate of school enrolment and completion for children in rural areas. In this regard, the Committee notes the absence of information from the Government.

However, the Committee notes in UNICEF’s Country Office Annual Report 2023 for the Congo that a national study was conducted on the extent and causes of non-attendance at school by children and young persons between 6 and 18 years of age. According to the study, the number of children in the 6-18 age group not attending school totalled 136,898. The study highlights the fact that lessons learned from the implementation of the SSE 2015–25 have led the government to prepare a new education strategy for 2021–30.

The Committee also notes from the June 2024 comprehensive national review of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action that various activities are being carried out in the country, including: (1) the launch, on 24 November 2021 in Brazzaville, of the “Education sector support programme (PASSE)” of the Ministry of Preschool, Primary and Secondary Education and Literacy, with support from UNESCO; (2) the continued implementation of the “National strategy for schooling for girls (2017–25)”, which aims to reduce gender disparities in access to, retention in and completion of schooling; (3) the continuation of school canteens with the support of the World Food Programme and the International Partnership for Human Development; (4) the launch of education, training and learning centres; and (5) improved schooling for indigenous pupils at primary level through the presence of ORA (“observe-reflect-act”) schools, which, inter alia, cater for a total of 5,670 pupils.

However, the Committee notes the concerns of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 1 March 2024, in particular: (1) the practice of demanding enrolment and/or tuition fees in schools; (2) the cost of uniforms and textbooks; (3) the fact that teachers are not paid or are paid late or receive insufficient salaries; (4) the lack of effective measures to develop inclusive education, in particular for children with disabilities, children living in rural areas, and indigenous children and adolescents; (5) the persistence of high school drop-out rates, particularly among girls, due to early pregnancy, child marriage, discriminatory traditional and cultural practices and poverty, particularly in rural areas; and (6) financial barriers that prevent poor families from, inter alia, accessing preschool education (CRC/C/COG/CO/5-6, para. 43). The Committee requests the Government to continue taking all necessary steps to improve the functioning of the education system and to ensure free basic education. It also requests the Government to provide detailed information on the results achieved through the SSE 2021–30, the “National strategy for schooling for girls (2015–25)” and the PASSE. It further requests the Government to provide information on school attendance and completion rates for children in rural areas, disaggregated by age and sex.

Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, removing them from these worst forms, and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. Sale and trafficking of children. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indications that a preliminary draft decree establishing the powers, composition, structure and operation of the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Persons is in the process of being adopted. This commission, composed of representatives of the Government, Parliament and civil society, is tasked with: (1) contributing to the development of national policies to combat trafficking in persons; (2) preventing and combating all forms of trafficking in persons; (3) ensuring the protection of victims; (4) collecting data on trafficking; and (5) promoting cooperation and collaboration for these purposes.

However, the Committee notes the lack of detailed information on specific measures taken to prevent and combat the trafficking of children and to provide child trafficking victims with appropriate services for their rehabilitation and social integration. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on the specific measures taken to prevent and combat the trafficking of children and to provide child trafficking victims with the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for their rehabilitation and social integration. The Committee also once again requests the Government to provide information on the number of children who have been prevented from becoming trafficking victims or have been removed from trafficking and have been rehabilitated and socially integrated. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the decree establishing the powers, composition, structure and operation of the National Commission for Combating Trafficking in Persons, once it has been approved.

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