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Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Niger (RATIFICATION: 2000)

Other comments on C182

Observation

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Articles 6 and 7(2). Programmes of action and effective and time-bound measures. Plan of action to combat violence, abuse and exploitation. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the children protected under the national action plan for the implementation of the Framework Document on Child Protection (DCPE) against violence, abuse and exploitation include child victims of exploitation and the worst forms of child labour, child victims of commercial sexual exploitation, child victims of trafficking and children in emergency and displacement situations. According to the statistics registered with the child protection services under the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and the Protection of Children (MPF/PE) for 2021 (under the departmental directorate of child protection (DDPE)), provided by the Government, there were 284 reported cases of children exploited in the worst forms of child labour, 72 cases of commercial sexual exploitation and 138 cases of trafficking. The services afforded to these children include emergency medical assistance, temporary accommodation with a host family, food and clothing, referral of the case to the juvenile judge, placement in an institution ordered by the juvenile judge, and mediation or family reintegration.

The Government indicates that as the implementation of the action plan has been completed, it is currently under review. In addition, the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and the Protection of Children (MPF/PE) is putting in place an information and case management system which will make the statistics available to all entities dealing with child protection. The Committee requests the Government to continue to take effective and time-bound measures to protect children under 18 years of age from the wort forms of child labour, to remove victims under 18 years of age from these worst forms and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. In this regard, it requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the review and adoption of the action plan to combat violence, abuse and exploitation are followed through, and to provide a copy of the action plan as soon as it is adopted. Lastly, it requests the Government to provide updated statistics on the care and protection of children, once the information and case management system has been set up by the Ministry for the Advancement of Women and the Protection of Children (MPF/PE).

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (b). Removing children from the worst forms of child labour and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. Child victims of trafficking. The Committee notes that, according to a 2022 outlook report of the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on trafficking in persons in Niger, the most significant achievement of the collaboration of the IOM with the National Agency to Combat Trafficking in Persons (ANLTP) has been the establishment of the first public protection centre for victims of trafficking in Zinder, which was opened in 2019. The centre is managed by the ANLTP in cooperation with health, justice, police and child protection authorities, and provides direct and comprehensive assistance to victims of trafficking. The IOM also set up study visits for the centre’s staff to IOM transit centres in Agadez and Niamey in order to strengthen its functioning and the quality of the assistance provided. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken to protect child victims of trafficking and on the number of children who have been rehabilitated and reintegrated into society through the public protection centre for victims of trafficking in Zinder, or any other centre established for the same purpose.

Article 7(2). Clause (d). Identifying children at special risk. Children in domestic work. The Committee notes the Government’s information, in response to its previous comments, that workshops providing training and awareness-raising, and capacity-building for stakeholders, were organized by the Ministry of Employment, Labour and Social Protection with ILO technical assistance. These workshops are aimed at improving the awareness of women domestic workers’ rights and to strengthen the protection of such rights. The workshops will take place in four regional capitals and will also aim to raise awareness among trade unions, employers and other members of civil society of the rights and duties of domestic workers, as well as improving familiarity with the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189).

The Committee notes, however, that the United Nations Human Rights Committee, in its concluding observations of 16 May 2019, said that it remains concerned about the large number of children employed as domestic workers who are at risk of abuse (CCPR/C/NER/CO/2, paragraph 44). The Committee also notes that the 2022 IOM report indicates that 4 per cent of victims of trafficking identified between January 2017 and July 2021 were being exploited in domestic services, the vast majority of whom (77 per cent) were women and girls under 18 years of age.

The Committee recalls that domestic child workers are particularly vulnerable to the worst forms of child labour. While noting the measures taken by the Government to strengthen the rights of migrant workers, the Committee requests the Government to provide more specific information on the measures taken to remove children from their situation in domestic work in hazardous conditions, and to ensure their rehabilitation.

Migrant, displaced and unaccompanied children. The Committee notes that, according to the report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of internally displaced persons on her mission to Niger, of 9 May 2018, Niger has 85,847 displaced children, more than 66 per cent of the country’s internally displaced population (A/HRC/38/39/Add.3, paragraph 11). And, according to the report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights of migrants of 16 May 2019, Niger has become “a permanent transit centre” and “the southern border of Europe” as a result of migration policies adopted in Niger and by third countries (A/HRC/41/38/Add. 1, paragraph 6). During his visit, the Special Rapporteur interviewed children who had left their homes due to poverty and lack of opportunities and engaged in the migration journey without anyone, who had been victims of all sorts of human rights violations, including labour exploitation (paragraph 62). The Committee also notes that a study on statelessness and the risk of statelessness in the Republic of Niger by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, in 2021, reveals that unaccompanied children, including Nigeriens under the age of 18, are exploited in networks involving begging, prostitution, domestic work, and other indecent activities in Algeria and Libya, and are returned to Niger where they are taken in by child protection services. In this regard, the Committee notes that, according to statistics provided by the Government, the children taken in by the DDPE in 2021 included 385 unaccompanied children and 20,521 displaced children, 4,351 of whom were returned from Algeria, 4,920 returned from Nigeria and 272 returned from Libya. Given that migrant, displaced and unaccompanied children are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to intensify its efforts to protect these children from these worst forms of labour and to provide information on the measures taken in this regard, in collaboration with the IOM, or any other effective and time-bound measure taken to this end. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken and results achieved.

Article 8. Regional cooperation. Sale and trafficking of children. Further to its previous comments in which the Committee noted the Government’s commitments within the framework of the Niamey Declaration on coordinating the fight against illegal migrant trafficking and trafficking in persons of 16 March 2018, the Committee notes that, according to the 2022 IOM report, the Government is working closely with the IOM to strengthen the capacities of members of government and civil society involved in combating trafficking. These capacity-building efforts are part of a wider framework of cooperation with the Government of Niger in this area, which builds on the initiatives of other stakeholders – for example, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and EUCAP Sahel (a civilian mission established by the European Union with the aim of strengthening domestic security in Niger) – working alongside state actors.

The IOM is seeking to, inter alia, increase coordination among all those involved, particularly between the border authorities and protection bodies such as ANLTP, to which victims of trafficking identified at border controls are referred for assistance. The focus on cooperation is behind the development of the practical guide to existing mechanisms against trafficking, in close collaboration with the UNODC and the Member States signatory to the Niamey Declaration. In the context of this process, the IOM organized the regional virtual conference on combating trafficking in persons and illegal migrant trafficking through better regional and internal cooperation in protection and border management, to facilitate discussion on regional and internal cooperation and coordination to combat trafficking in persons and migrant trafficking, and the implementation of the Niamey Declaration. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts in regional and international cooperation to combat child trafficking. It also requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved in this regard, particularly following the implementation of the recommendations of the Niamey Declaration.