CMNT_TITLE

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Turkmenistan (RATIFICATION: 2010)

Other comments on C182

Observation

Direct Request

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Articles 6 and 7(2)(b) of the Convention. Programmes of action, effective and time-bound measures to provide direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour, as well as for their rehabilitation and social integration. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, regarding the measures taken in the framework of the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) to Combat Human Trafficking (2020–22), which was developed in cooperation with the International Organization for Migration (IOM). These include seminars and workshops for law enforcement officers, judges, representatives of public associations and local authorities, with the involvement of international experts, and round tables and seminars held every year in Turkmenistan on various issues regarding safe migration.

Moreover, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the State Youth Policy Act (2022) covers and protects young persons in difficult life situations, including if they should find themselves victims of trafficking, but that no offences involving trafficking or the commercial sexual exploitation of children have been recorded to date according to data from the Information Centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. The Committee observes, however, that the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, in its concluding observations of 25 July 2018, expressed concern about the lack of statistical data on the prevalence of trafficking and the lack of recognition thereof by the Government (CEDAW/C/TKM/CO/5, paragraph 24). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that statistics on the incidence of child trafficking for labour or sexual exploitation are collected and made available, and to indicate whether the NAP to Combat Human Trafficking will be extended or renewed. The Committee also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the concrete measures to combat child trafficking and protect children from this worst form of child labour, and the results achieved in terms of number of children who have been prevented or withdrawn from trafficking and provided with assistance.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Increase of child vendors and beggars. The Committee notes the observation of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) that widespread and systematic use of forced labour for cotton production leaves the children of Turkmenistan vulnerable to child labour outside the cotton sector as well, given the extent to which cotton impacts the provision of education. According to the ITUC, instances where teachers have been ordered to pick cotton and thus have had to reduce the curriculum to the bare minimum have been documented, and there has been a notable increase in children working in the informal economy as a result. The ITUC further observes that COVID-19-induced lockdowns have exacerbated an existing economic crisis in 2020–21, leading sellers to start using children as roving vendors and that, as of 2022–23, there has been a visible increase of child begging in markets across the country.

The Committee notes that the Government has adopted national policies for child protection, mainly the National Action Plan (NAP) for Children’s Rights 2023–28, in collaboration with UNICEF. The Government indicates that one of the objectives of this NAP is to continue monitoring domestic legislation on children’s rights and to take measures to prevent the engagement of minors in work endangering their lives and health. The Committee also recalls that the State Youth Policy Act (2022) guarantees special State protection to all children under the age of 18. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged, in the framework of the NAP on Children’s Rights, to ensure the protection of children under the age of 18 from the worst forms of child labour, in particular from engaging in hazardous work as street vendors or beggars. It also requests the Government to indicate whether, through the implementation of the NAP on Children’s Rights or the State Youth Policy Act (2022), children working on the streets as vendors or beggars have been withdrawn and given support for their rehabilitation and social integration.

[ The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2024. ]