CMNT_TITLE

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Bahamas (RATIFICATION: 2001)

Other comments on C138

Observation

Direct Request

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Article 1 of the Convention. National policy. In its previous comments, the Committee had requested the Government to take the necessary measures to adopt a national policy on child labour.

The Committee notes that the Government’s report does not contain any information on this matter. However, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that since 2014, the country has been actively participating in the ILO’s Regional Initiative – Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour which is an intergovernmental platform for cooperation to end child labour. Within the framework of this initiative, a Rapid Assessment (RA) on child labour was conducted in 2016. The Committee notes from a document published by the ILO on the key findings from the RA, that children between the ages of 7 and 17 are involved in economic activities, either on their own or with adult guardians, mainly in service or trade-oriented supermarkets, roadside selling, fishing, working on ferries or boats, collecting and selling seashells, car washing, and work in the wholesale and retail market. According to this report, most of these activities are undertaken exclusively after school hours, during weekends or holidays and hence does not affect school attendance. However, these children do not have time to rest properly, undertake homework or play with siblings after school. This report further indicates that although the vast majority of economic activities performed by children in the Bahamas do not fall under the definition of child labour as they are not hazardous or exploitative, there is a significant risk of child labour on the conditions associated with the informal working arrangements, such as selling between lanes and roads, standing in the hot sun or rain for long hours, working in the night, walking very long distances to collect and return with items to sell, and working in small and confined spaces. The Committee, referring to the General Survey of 2012 on the fundamental Conventions (paragraph 330), emphasizes that the Convention aims to protect children’s ability to attend school as well as to regulate the types of economic activity which are permissible for them and the appropriate conditions for such work and to protect their health, safety and morals. Moreover, the Convention reflects the convictions of the ILO’s constituents that childhood is a period of life which should not be devoted to work, but to full physical and mental development of children. Taking into account the information in the report, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken to prevent children from falling into child labour, including within the framework of the ILO Regional Initiative, and the results achieved.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and labour inspection. The Committee previously observed that the minimum age for admission to employment, established under section 50(1) of the Employment Act 2001 only applies to formal undertakings whereas the majority of children work in the informal economy.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that strong efforts are being taken to strengthen the labour inspection services in order to ensure the protection of children working in all sectors, including children working on their own account or in the informal economy. The Committee requests that the Government provide specific information on the measures taken with regard to strengthening the capacity and expanding the reach of the labour inspectorate in the informal economy.