CMNT_TITLE

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Algeria (RATIFICATION: 2001)

Other comments on C182

Observation

Direct Request

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Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that sections 342 and 343 of the Penal Code prohibit and penalize the procuring or offering of persons, particularly children, for prostitution. It requested the Government to provide information on the application of these provisions in practice.

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report still does not contain any information on the application of these provisions in practice. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that in-depth investigations and effective prosecutions of persons who engage in the commercial sexual exploitation of children under 18 years of age, are conducted. It also urges the Government to provide information on the application of sections 342 and 343 of the Penal Code in practice, including, for example, statistics on the number and nature of the infringements reported, the investigations conducted, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied, disaggregated by age and gender of the victims.

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. The Committee notes the Government’s information that, in Algeria, all children aged 6–16 years are entitled to free education under article 53 of the Constitution, as well as Act No. 08-04 of 23 January 2008, establishing the Framework Act on National Education. It notes the Government’s indication that this translates into support measures for children’s schooling, particularly in remote areas, which allow them to receive aid in various forms. The Committee also notes that, according to the information available on UNICEF’s website, Algeria began implementing the reform of its education system in 2003 in order to improve the quality of education at every level, to increase access to education and to improve the completion rates for primary, middle and secondary studies. As a result, the net primary school enrolment rate rose to almost 98 per cent in 2015. UNICEF nevertheless stresses that problems persist in relation to the school attendance of children from so-called disadvantaged regions (wilayas in the south of the country and in the high plateaus, as well as suburbs), roughly 300,000 of whom still do not attend school. The drop-out rate is also cause for concern, with an estimated 500,000 pupils at risk of dropping out of education before high school.

Considering that school retention contributes to preventing and combating the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee stresses the need to improve the functioning of the educational system through measures that aim in particular to increase school attendance rates and reduce school drop-out rates (see the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 570). The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken to improve the functioning of the educational system, and on the impact of these measures on increasing school completion rates and the school attendance of children from disadvantaged regions. To the extent possible, all information should be disaggregated by age and gender.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Children in street situations. The Committee previously noted that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations, noted with concern that insufficient measures have been taken by Algeria to implement its previous recommendations concerning street children and that Algeria considers the phenomenon as marginal, although no data has been collected since 2008, and that thousands of children are reported to live on the streets.

The Committee notes with regret that the Government does not provide any information on the measures taken to tackle the issue of street children in Algeria. The Committee nevertheless notes that under Act No. 15-12 on child protection, a child subjected to begging is considered to be a “child in danger” and is therefore entitled to the protection afforded by the provisions of the Act. Among other things, the child protection services (services du milieu ouvert), which are responsible for the social protection of children at the local level, conduct investigations to verify situations of danger (section 23) and, if necessary, contact children’s legal representatives to reach agreements on the measures that are best suited to their needs and remove them from danger (section 24). If an agreement cannot be reached or conventional measures fail, the child protection services must refer the case to the competent juvenile court. The Committee urges the Government to provide detailed information on the application in practice of the provisions of Act No. 15-12 relating to the child protection services, in particular on the number of street children and children subjected to begging who are removed from the worst forms of child labour and subsequently rehabilitated and integrated in society.