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Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Maldives (RATIFICATION: 2013)

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Observation

2023

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Article 1 of the Convention. National Policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour. The Committee notes, from the report of the Government of the Maldives submitted under the Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1 October 2021 (CRC/C/MDV/6-7, paragraph 5), that the Government formulated the Strategic Action Plan (2019-2023) (SAP), in the framework of which protection of child rights and social protection is a recurrent theme, with a majority of the policies aimed at the betterment of social protection services, prevention of violence against children, enhancement of the lives of children with special needs, improvement of family life and provision of enhanced services to the youth. Recalling that, under Article 1, ratifying Members shall undertake to pursue a national policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to supply information on the impact of the SAP on the abolition of child labour.

Articles 2(1) and 4. Scope of application and exclusion of limited categories of employment or work. The Committee previously noted that section 6 of the Employment Act stated that minors under 16 years of age were allowed to participate in the family line of work of their own will. The Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, regarding the adoption of the Child Rights Protection Act (CRPA) 19/2019, which came into force in 2020. Section 26 of the CRPA 19/2019 also prohibits the engagement of children under the age of 16 in employment or work, but includes the same exception as the one provided under the Employment Act, namely that children under 16 years, who consent to it, may be engaged in family work. The Committee reminds the Government that the Convention applies to all sectors of economic activity and covers all forms of employment or work, unless excluded under Article 4(1) of the Convention. In this regard, the Committee recalls that, in so far as necessary, the competent authority, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, may exclude from the application of this Convention limited categories of employment or work in respect of which special and substantial problems of application may arise. The Committee therefore requests the Government to indicate whether it intends to exclude from the application of the Convention work undertaken by children under 16 years, with their consent, in family undertakings, and to provide information on any consultations held in this regard. If the Government does not intend to exclude this category of work from the application of the Convention, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the amendment of section 6 of the Employment Act and section 26 of the CRPA, so that children who have not reached the minimum age for admission to employment or work of 16 are not engaged in child labour.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted that, according to the Understanding Children’s Work Project (UCW) estimates from a 2009 national survey, over 2,000 children (4.2 per cent) aged 7–14 years were in employment in the Republic of Maldives. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated statistics on the child labour situation in the country, such as recent statistics disaggregated by gender and by age group, relating to the nature, extent and trends of work done by children under the minimum age of 15 years.