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The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in reply to the communication of the International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) transmitted to the Office on 30 September 2002, which contains a number of comments on the application of the Convention.

In its communication, the ICFTU indicates that the minimum age for admission to employment or work is fixed at 14 years of age and education is free and compulsory up to this age. Nevertheless, it indicates that child labour is a serious problem in practice. The rate of unemployment and poverty is high, particularly in the Haitian community. Therefore children enter the labour market at a young age to work in informal activities or in agriculture. Furthermore, the number of Haitian children working in sugar plantations alongside their parents is increasing.

In reply to the communication of the ICFTU, the Government indicates that, as an underdeveloped country, the Dominican Republic is extremely poor. It is not however certain that Haitian children work. In this respect, the Government points out that the national inspection service has not reported any such cases and, given that labour in the sugar plantations has been mechanized, there have not been any reported cases of child labour in this sector of economic activity. The Government also indicates that it cannot deny the fact that children enter the labour market at a very young age. However, with the support of the ILO/IPEC programme, it is making efforts to improve the situation. In this respect, the Secretary of State for Labour, in collaboration with the National Committee to Combat Child Labour and employers and workers, removed over 2,000 children working in the agricultural sector. These children were later reintegrated into school. Furthermore, the Government points out that, in collaboration with the Secretary of State for Education, awareness-raising activities for children and the general population were organized, in particular 50 workshops, seven television programmes, round-table meetings and programmes with educators.

The Committee notes with interest the Government’s efforts to eliminate child labour, in particular those carried out in collaboration with the ILO/IPEC programme. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to eliminate child labour in practice.

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