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Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that according to the Government, the national legislation prohibits any person, regardless of age, from being used in illicit activities. The Committee takes note of the Royal Decree issuing Act No. 1.73.282 of 21 May 1974, sent by the Government. It observes, however, that although the decree prohibits anyone from facilitating access to drugs by persons of 21 years of age and less, it does not appear to prohibit the use, procuring or offering of a child for the production and trafficking of drugs, as required by Article 3(c) of the Convention. The Committee therefore asks the Government to take immediate steps to ensure that the national legislation prohibits the use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. Monitoring mechanisms and application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments the Committee noted that according to the ILO–IPEC activity reports for 2007 on the project to combat child labour in Morocco by creating a suitable environment nationwide and providing for direct intervention against the worst forms of child labour in rural areas, there were only 30 labour inspectors for all the rural areas in the country. It observed that the labour inspection system needed to be strengthened in order to be operational in the area of child labour.

The Committee notes from the final technical progress report of 30 September 2008 on the ILO–IPEC project, several training sessions were organized for the purpose of capacity building for a variety of players involved in combating child labour. Among the trainees were 330 labour inspectors who included recently appointed focal points in the provinces, and in the Gharb region four training sessions of five days each were organized for partner NGOs. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the focal points are made up of 43 inspectors whose duties include visiting establishments that employ children, coordinating their activities with those of all other players involved in combating child labour, gathering data on child labour and drafting periodical reports for submission to the central inspection service. According to the first report on the work of the focal points, in 2008, 870 infringements were reported in 287 workplaces visited that employ children. The Government states that in the course of their inspections, the focal points issued warnings to the employers in these establishments to comply strictly with the provisions of the labour legislation aimed at combating child labour. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to continue reinforcing the mechanisms to monitor the application of the provisions that give effect to the Convention. To this end it requests the Government to provide information on the number and nature of the violations reported that concern children engaged in the worst forms of child labour.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the employment of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. In its previous comments the Committee noted that according to a report by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education of February 2007 (A/HRC/4/29/Add.2, paragraphs 8 and 9), despite the increase in primary school enrolment, further efforts are still needed to guarantee the enrolment of the remaining 7 to 8 per cent of children outside the education system (around 1.5 million). The Committee further noted that, despite a wide range of positive steps taken by the Government to fulfil the right to education, the Special Rapporteur considered the implementation of public policies and strategies, particularly regarding the spread and quality of education to be one of the major challenges to effective and full realization of the right to education in the country.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that, in order to cope with so urgent a problem, Morocco has a number of bodies in operation including the Directorate of Non-Formal Education (ENF), bases its activities on two methods and action programmes. First, a Second Chance School programme offers a variety of methods so as to accommodate the objectives set for the various categories of beneficiaries: enrolment of out-of-school children; curriculum for children in rural areas; preparation for vocational training for children of
12–15 years of age in a learning situation; curriculum for the social integration of children of 9–15 years of age in a work situation. Secondly, a programme to combat school drop-out, launched in 2005–06, is aimed at children who experience difficulty at school and are likely to drop out. The Committee notes that since the start up of the ENF programmes, 321,751 children (179,108 in 2007–08) have benefited from the Second Chance School programme, and 433,689 children (146,489 in 2007–08) have benefited from the programme to combat school drop-out. The Committee further notes that, according to the final technical progress report of 30 September 2008 on the project to combat child labour in Morocco by creating a suitable national environment and providing for direct intervention against the worst forms of child labour in rural areas, the activities carried out under this project have made it possible to prevent 7,868 children from being employed in the worst forms of child labour and to remove 3,994 children from these worst forms of child labour.

The Committee nonetheless notes the detailed information supplied by the Government in the report of the Directorate of Non-Formal Education according to which, despite a noteworthy effort to extend education, including the implementation of the 2009–12 Emergency Education Plan, more than one million children aged between 8 and 15 years either do not attend school or have dropped out before completing compulsory schooling. The Committee further notes from the UNESCO report of 2008 “Education for All by 2015: Will we make it?”, that although the school attendance rate in Morocco has increased significantly (20 per cent), the repetition rate in the first year of primary school is among the highest in the region, reaching 16 per cent. The UNESCO report further indicates that the gross enrolment ratio in lower secondary school (children 12–15 years of age in Morocco) is 65 per cent, and the gross enrolment ratio for upper secondary school (adolescents of 15–18 years in Morocco) is only 35 per cent. Considering that education contributes to preventing children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to redouble its efforts to improve the operation of the national education system, in particular by increasing school attendance and reducing the school drop-out rate, and by paying particular attention to girls and children living in rural areas. It asks the Government to continue to provide information on the results obtained.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Street children. The Committee noted previously that according to the 2007 report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Education (A/HRC/4/29/Add.2, paragraph 10), there are 600,000 street children, the great majority of whom do not attend school. It noted that as part of the national strategy for the reintegration and protection of street children, child protection units (UPEs) have been set up.

The Committee notes the information sent by the Government to the effect that the Ministry of Social Development, Family and Solidarity (MDFS) has developed, in the context of implementing the National Action Plan for Children (2006–15) (PANE), a national programme for the reintegration of street children (INDIMAJ). It is a comprehensive and integrated programme, consisting of three parts: a legal section, an awareness-raising and advocacy section, and an institutional capacity-building section. According to the Government, the programme targets a total of 200 beneficiaries in the towns of Casablanca, Tangiers, Fez, Mekhnes, Tetouan, Rabat-Salé, Marrakesh, Mohammedia, Essaouira, Safi and Agadir. The Committee further notes the pilot experiment “Samu Social” in Casablanca, which aims to improve assistance for street persons and in 2008 benefited more than 100 street children. Lastly, the Government indicates that the MDFS is planning to conduct an inquiry in 2010 on the situation of street children. The Committee takes due note of this information but must once again express concern at the number of street children still remaining and again reminds the Government that street children are particularly exposed to the worst forms of child labour. The Committee accordingly encourages the Government to redouble its efforts to protect them against these worst forms of child labour and asks it to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this area, particularly under the INDIMAJ programme and in the context of the work done by the UPEs. Lastly, it asks the Government to provide information on progress made in terms of the number of children who have been kept out of or removed from the worst forms of child labour.

Article 8. Poverty reduction. The Committee noted previously that the Government, in collaboration with UNDP Morocco, civil society and a number of NGOs, launched projects to combat poverty. Noting the absence of any information on this matter in the Government’s report and observing that initiatives to reduce poverty help to break the poverty cycle and that this is essential to eliminating the worst forms of child labour, the Committee again asks the Government to provide information on any visible impact noted in the course of implementing the projects to combat poverty on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, particularly the sexual and economic exploitation of children in domestic work.