CMNT_TITLE

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Eritrea (RATIFICATION: 2000)

Other comments on C138

Observation

Direct Request

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Article 2(1) of the Convention. Scope of application. Self-employment. The Committee recalls its previous comment which had noted that, although Labour Proclamation No. 118/2001 (Labour Proclamation) excludes self-employed workers from its scope of application, the Ministry of Labour and Human Welfare intended to introduce a programme regulating self-employment. It noted that the Ministry had inserted provisions for self-employment in draft amendments to the Labour Proclamation. The Government further indicated that it had introduced a pilot local economic development (LED) project which aims, among others, to extend the protections of the Convention to children who are working outside of the formal employment relationship.

The Committee notes an absence of information in the Government’s report on this point. Recalling that the Committee has been requesting the Government to take the necessary measures in this respect for many years, the Committee strongly requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to ensure that the protections provided under the Labour Proclamation are extended to children working outside of an employment relationship in the very near future. The Committee also requests the Government to provide further details concerning the pilot LED project, including the number of children covered by the programme, the results achieved and its potential continuance.

Article 7. Light work. The Committee previously observed that the legislation contains no exception for light work for children below the minimum age of 14 years. It further noted the findings of the Constitution Commission that statutory regulations are needed concerning the number of hours children may work (light work and after school hours) in addition to the types of work which should be prohibited. The Committee requested the Government to finalize those regulations without delay.

The Committee notes the Government’s information in its report that in practice, some young persons above the age of 12 years are engaged in light work outside school hours. Children, who often combine light work with schooling, are usually engaged in gainful employment or self-employment for an income to supplement family living expenses. The majority of working children in Eritrea are engaged in: (i) housework (caring for siblings, fetching water and fire wood); (ii) agricultural work (in family farms and livestock herding); and (iii) petty trade/business (street trade, etc.). The Committee, however, notes that according to the Labour Force Survey of 2015-2016, 16.4 per cent of children aged between 5-13 years are engaged in some work activities. In this regard, the Committee draws the Government’s attention to Article 7(1) and (4) of the Convention which provides that national laws or regulations may permit children from the age of 12 years to engage in light work, which is: (a) not likely to be harmful to their health or development; and (b) not such as to prejudice their attendance at school, their participation in vocational orientation or training programmes approved by the competent authority or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received. The Committee also recalls that, according to Article 7(3) of the Convention, the competent authority shall determine what is light work and shall prescribe the number of hours during which, and the conditions in which, such employment or work may be undertaken. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to regulate and determine the types of activities, the number of hours and the conditions under which light work may be undertaken by children from the age of 12 years, as required under Article 7 of the Convention.