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Q & A on Child Labour
Move towards new ILO standards
on child labour
What is the genesis of this debate?
Over the past few years, interest has been growing towards adopting new ILO standards which would focus on the worst child labour abuses. The decision of the Governing Body of the ILO to place the subject on the agenda of the International Labour Conference was reinforced by a Resolution on child labour adopted by the International Labour Conference in 1996, which stated that within the context of the progressive elimination of child labour, there was a need "to immediately proceed with the abolition of its most intolerable aspects...". These included slave-like and bonded conditions, dangerous and hazardous work, involvement of the very young and the commercial sexual exploitation of children.
This interest in the new standards was expressed once again among the member States of the ILO in their replies to a questionnaire on the possible content of new standards. A record number of 116 governments replied, with an almost equal number of additional replies from employers' and workers' organizations. These replies gave overwhelming support for new standards on extreme forms of child labour. The range of comments reflected a consensus that the persistence and seriousness of the child labour problem warranted renewed international action focused specifically on extreme or intolerable forms of child labour.
The replies also showed a perceived gap in international standards. While the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, and ILO instruments, particularly the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), and the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), prohibit child labour and slavery-like practices, it was felt that there could be clearer priorities for national and international action focused on children in hazardous work and other intolerable situations. There would also be an advantage in explicitly covering all forms of extreme child labour in one standard.
At the same time, there was a divergence of opinion about various points, such as the appropriate level of detail in the Convention, the amount of flexibility to be given to national authorities to determine extreme forms of child labour and establish penalties, the type of enforcement and monitoring machinery to be included in the Convention, and the immediacy with which countries would be obliged to act against extreme forms of child labour.
What are the existing standards?
The Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) and its accompanying Recommendation, 1973 (No. 146) are the most recent and comprehensive ILO instruments aimed at the abolition of child labour. They are the pillars of ILO action to promote improved national policy and legislation, and in designing technical cooperation to combat child labour. Among the elements:
National policy: The Convention requires ratifying States to "undertake to purse a national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for admission to employment or work to a level consistent with the fullest physical and mental development of young persons". Recommendation No. 146 provides guidance on necessary policy measures.
Coverage: The Convention applies to all sectors of economic activity, whether or not the children are employed for wages. Certain sectors may initially be excluded from application of the Convention by developing countries. Limited categories of work can be excluded for special and substantial problems of application. Exclusions and exceptions are provided for education and training, and artistic performances.
Basic minimum age: The Convention establishes that the minimum age should not be less than the age of completing compulsory schooling and in no event less than 15 years of age. It allows a developing country to specify initially a general minimum age of 14 years of age instead of 15.
Minimum age for hazardous work: A higher minimum age of at least 18 must be set for hazardous work - "employment or work which by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out is likely to jeopardize the health, safety or morals of young persons". (Work from age 16 can be authorized if the young persons concerned are fully protected and adequately trained.)
Minimum age for light work: The Convention allows a lower age for light work from 13 to 15 years of age, provided that the work is not hazardous to the child's health or development, and does not hinder the child's education. A minimum age for light work at 12 instead of 13 can be set in countries where the basic minimum age of 14 is allowed, after consultation with the employers' and workers' organizations concerned.
Enforcement: The Convention calls for all necessary measures to ensure effective enforcement, appropriate penalties, definition of persons responsible for compliance, and record keeping.
Why is a new Convention on child labour needed?
Convention No. 138 is and will remain the fundamental international standard on child labour. It has had a profound influence on national law and practice and the number of ratifications has been on the increase over the last couple of years. Its goal is the total abolition of child labour, but it also allows for progressive implementation and improvement.
While it is recognized that eliminating child labour will take time, there are certain kinds of child labour which cannot be tolerated. These require immediate action. There has been growing international consensus that there should be a new standard focused on the worst forms of child exploitation which would make the intolerable - children in slavery, prostitution and pornography, and the most hazardous work - the priority for national and international action. Countries with limited resources and capacity, for example, should nonetheless begin to take action to tackle the problem by focusing their efforts on eliminating extreme forms of child labour with the support and cooperation of the international community.
New international standards would also put into one legal instrument all extreme forms of child labour. This would not in any way make existing instruments less important, but would bring into a sharper focus the kinds of measures needed to suppress the most dangerous and hazardous work of children, to prevent their entry into it, to remove them from hazardous situations and give them the assistance needed for their rehabilitation. New standards will reinforce the objective of Convention No. 138: the total abolition of child labour.
What would the proposed Convention and Recommendation look like?
Proposed Conclusions have been drafted based on replies to an ILO questionnaire completed by 116 governments and approximately the same number of employers' and workers' organizations. These Proposed Conclusions contain the suggested text for a new ILO Convention and Recommendation on extreme forms of child labour. They have been drafted in the form of a short and precise Convention to complement Convention No. 138, with the basic obligation to take measures to secure the immediate suppression of all extreme forms of child labour, and a Recommendation which would give further guidance for legislative and practical action.
The expression "extreme forms of child labour" covers all forms of slavery and practices similar to slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, forced or compulsory labour, debt bondage and serfdom; the use, engagement or offering of a child in illegal activities, for prostitution, production of pornography or pornographic performances; and any other type of work or activity which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to jeopardize the health, safety or morals of children, so that they should not be used or engaged in such work or activity under any circumstances.
What is the proposed content of the new Convention and Recommendation on extreme forms of child labour?
The proposed Convention and Recommendation apply to all children under the age of 18 in conformity with the general age stipulated in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the minimum age for hazardous work in the ILO Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No.138). Unlike Convention No. 138, however, the future standards would apply to all sectors of activity without the possibility of limiting their scope to certain sectors or branches of activity.
The proposed Convention would require measures to suppress extreme forms of child labour, to ensure effective enforcement, including provision of criminal penalties, and for prevention, removal and rehabilitation of the children and call on ratifying member States to take steps to assist each other through international cooperation or assistance.
The proposed Recommendation would call for adopting national programmes of action which would protect the very young, protect girls, include measures for prevention, rehabilitation and social integration, raise awareness and mobilize society; establishing monitoring mechanisms to ensure effective application; determining the most hazardous work; compiling data; designating certain activities as criminal offences; and taking effective enforcement measures.
Summary
There is overwhelming support among ILO constituents for putting an end to the intolerable exploitation and abuse of children in hazardous work and conditions of slavery, and practices similar to slavery. Such exploitation and abuse not only jeopardize the physical and mental well-being of children but are also gross violations of their human rights and dignity.
An important step towards the achievement of this goal is the proposal for new ILO standards aimed at the immediate suppression of extreme forms of child labour. A new standard has been called for to identify priority areas for national and international action in the fight against child labour. While the rate of ratification of Convention No. 138 has grown over the last couple of years, there is still a sense among some member States that the Convention is too complex and detailed to achieve universal ratification in the near future. 1 It is also argued that even though a higher minimum age is established for hazardous work, it does not provide the necessary focus for priority action. These concerns have been a driving force behind the development of new standards.
The proposed new standards differ from existing ones in that they are entirely focused on extreme forms of child labour and cover all those forms in one instrument. They contain no exceptions based on age, sector or type of enterprise. Their singular mission is to put an immediate stop to extreme forms of child labour: those forms of child labour that cannot be tolerated anywhere in the world.
Forms of child labour not covered by the new instruments remain the subject of existing ones, in particular Convention No. 138, which is the fundamental ILO Convention for the abolition of child labour.
The proposal for a new Convention also differs from Convention No. 138 in the following ways: it requires measures for the immediate suppression of all extreme forms of child labour; it calls for criminal penalties; it specifies that measures for prevention, removal of children from extreme forms of child labour, and rehabilitation of child victims are to be taken; and calls for steps towards mutual cooperation or assistance in giving effect to the provisions of the Convention.
The June 1998 International Labour Conference will debate the content of the proposed standards for the first time. The issues discussed in this article are likely to be at the core of the debate. At the conclusion of the 1998 Conference, member States will have an opportunity to comment again on the text. On the basis of those comments, the International Labour Office will prepare a report for submission to the 1999 Conference. The final word will be that of the 1999 Conference, which will decide on the final adoption of new standards.
1 There are 60 ratifications at the time of this writing. The Director-General has included Convention No. 138 in the campaign to increase ratification of fundamental ILO Conventions.
What is the minimum age in accordance with Convention No. 138?
|
General minimum age (Article 2) |
Light work (Article 7) |
Hazardous work (Article 3) |
| In normal circumstances: | ||
|
15 years or more (not less than compulsory school age) |
13 years |
18 years (16 years conditionally) |
| Where economy and educational facilities are insufficiently developed: | ||
|
14 years |
12 years |
18 years (16 years conditionally) |