CMNT_TITLE

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Mozambique (RATIFICATION: 2003)

Other comments on C182

Observation

Direct Request

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Article 5 of the Convention. Monitoring mechanisms and application of the Convention in practice. 1. Trafficking. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s information on the training courses provided for police officers, customs, immigration officials and border police on how to identify cases of trafficking and how to protect victims of trafficking. However, it noted that the Government lacked procedures to identify victims of child trafficking and that the Ministries of Justice and Interior, including the police, have insufficient financial and human resources to improve their effectiveness in enforcing laws pertaining to trafficking in children. Noting the absence of information in the Government’s report, the Committee once again requests the Government to strengthen its efforts, including through the allocation of additional resources, to strengthen the capacity of law enforcement agencies to combat the trafficking of persons under 18 years of age. It requests the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of perpetrators of the sale and trafficking of children are carried out. The Committee further requests the Government to continue to provide information on the practical application of the Trafficking in Persons Act 2008, including information on the number of infringements reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied in cases involving children under the age of 18 years.

2. Data collection and labour inspectorate. The Committee previously observed that there were no available statistics relating to children engaged in the worst forms of child labour in Mozambique. It also noted that Mozambique was one of the countries participating in the ILO–IPEC project entitled “Supporting actions to meet the 2015 targets to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in Lusophone countries in Africa”, which commenced in 2010. Noting the absence of information in the Government’s report, the Committee once again urges the Government to strengthen its efforts, in collaboration with ILO–IPEC, to combat the worst forms of child labour in Mozambique. In this regard, it requests the Government to ensure that the relevant monitoring mechanisms, including the labour inspectorate and police, are allocated sufficient resources to carry out their mandate so as to eliminate the worst forms of child labour effectively. Lastly, it requests the Government to take measures to ensure that sufficient up-to-date data on the worst forms of child labour are made available. To the extent possible, all information provided should be disaggregated by sex and age.

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. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the various measures taken by the Government to improve the education system, particularly with regard to school attendance rates and initiatives to improve girls’ education. Noting the UNESCO statistics on the school enrolment rates at primary and secondary levels, the Committee requested the Government to strengthen its efforts to improve the functioning of the educational system, particularly by increasing secondary school enrolment and attendance rates and decreasing the drop-out rates, and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard.

The Committee notes from the Government’s report submitted under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), that the Council of Ministers approved the National School Meals Programme in 2012 in order to improve the school enrolment and retention rates and to encourage attendance at school, in particular among girls. The Government’s report also indicates that in 2014, 14,141 children benefited from this programme. The Committee notes, however, that according to the UNESCO statistics, the net enrolment rate at the primary level was 87.4 per cent in 2013, while the net enrolment rate was 18.3 per cent at the secondary level. The Committee notes with concern the low enrolment rates at the secondary level. Considering that education contributes to preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to strengthen its efforts to improve the functioning of the educational system, particularly by increasing the secondary school enrolment, attendance and completion rates and decreasing the drop-out rates. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted and the results achieved in this regard.

Clause (b). Removing children from the worst forms of child labour and providing for their rehabilitation and social integration. 1. Sale and trafficking of children for labour and sexual exploitation. The Committee previously noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) expressed concern at the limited resources available to protect victims of trafficking and the absence of safe houses and of a formal referral system for victims of trafficking (CRC/C/MOZ/CO/2, paragraph 86). It also noted the Government’s indication that in March 2012, the Parliament of Mozambique approved a draft bill on the protection of victims and witnesses of all crimes, including victims of trafficking. Noting the absence of information in the Government’s report, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the effective and time-bound measures taken or envisaged, pursuant to the adoption of the draft bill on the protection of victims of all crimes, for the rehabilitation and social integration of child victims of trafficking. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the number of child victims of trafficking who have been effectively removed, rehabilitated and reintegrated as a result of the measures implemented.

2. Debt bondage. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the information from ILO–IPEC that children in rural areas are sometimes used to settle financial and other disputes, with families sending their children to work for periods of time to settle debts. In this regard, it noted that the CRC, in its concluding observations, expressed concern at the continued practice of sending children to work to settle families’ financial debts and other obligations and urged the Government to take measures to end this practice (CRC/C/MOZ/CO/2, paragraph 65). Noting an absence of information on this point in the Government’s report, the Committee once again urges the Government to take immediate and effective time-bound measures, to bring an end to the practice of sending children to work to settle debts and to provide for the rehabilitation and social integration of children who have been victims of this practice. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard.

Clause (d). Reaching out to children at special risk. Street children and begging. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s strategy with regard to children in difficult situations, including street children, which involves action programmes to locate and reunify them with their families, reintegrate them into community life, provide socio-economic support as well as income-generating projects for such families and communities. It also noted the Government’s information that there were 176 such shelter centres in Mozambique which provide education, occupational training activities, health and psychosocial care to street children. Moreover, it noted the Government’s indication that the social protection programmes for abandoned children and their families would be continued through the Social Action Services Programme adopted by Decree No. 52 of October 2011.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report has not provided any response to its previous comments. The Committee, therefore, once again requests the Government to pursue its efforts to protect street children from the worst forms of child labour and to provide for their rehabilitation and reintegration. It also requests the Government to provide information on the number of street children and child victims of begging who have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into society through the action programmes implemented by the Government, as well as through the social protection programmes under the Social Action Services Programme of 2011.