Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2009, published 99th ILC session (2010)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. Sale and trafficking of children. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that children from Mali were taken to Cote d’Ivoire to work on plantations or as domestic workers and that they were subjected to slavery and enforced labour and to deplorable conditions of work, often unpaid. Certain ethnic groups, such as the Bambara, Dogon and Sénoufo, are particularly vulnerable. The Committee noted that according to the UNICEF report published in 2006 on trafficking in human beings, particularly women and children, in West and Central Africa (2006 UNICEF report), Malian children are the victims of trafficking to the following countries: Cote d’Ivoire, Gambia, Guinea, Ghana and Nigeria. The Committee noted that, although the Government has taken several measures to combat the sale and trafficking of children for the exploitation of their labour, the problem still exists in practice, despite its prohibition by section 244 of the Penal Code and section 63 of the Child Protection Code.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the only statistics available on the application of national provisions respecting trafficking of children cover children who have been intercepted and repatriated in the framework of measures taken to combat the trafficking of children during the period between 2000 and 2006. In this context, the Committee notes that 565 children (289 girls and 276 boys) were intercepted and 271 children (101 girls and 170 boys) were repatriated during that period. However, the Committee notes that, in the summary prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in accordance with paragraph 15(c) of the Annex to Human Rights Council Resolution 5/1 of 3 April 2008, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) indicates that, even though no statistics are available, Mali is a transit country for the trafficking of women and children, and it therefore recommends that the Malian authorities strictly apply sections 240 et seq of the Penal Code penalizing the trafficking of children, and improve the assistance provided to children who have been the victims of trafficking (A/HRC/WG.6/2/MLI/3, paragraphs 13–14). The Committee therefore urges the Government to redouble its efforts to ensure in practice the protection of children under 18 years of age against sale and trafficking and to ensure that thorough investigations and robust prosecutions of offenders are carried out and that effective and sufficiently dissuasive penalties are imposed. In this respect, it requests the Government to provide information on the effect given in practice to provisions respecting the sale and trafficking of children for the exploitation of their labour through the provision of statistics on the number of convictions and the penal sanctions imposed.

Forced or compulsory labour. Begging. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, according to the 2006 UNICEF report, talibé children originating from neighbouring countries, including Mali, are found on the streets of Dakar who have been brought to the city by Koranic teachers (marabouts). These children are kept in conditions of servitude and are obliged to beg daily. The Committee also noted that the 2006 UNICEF report refers to the involvement of marabouts in the trafficking of children for the exploitation of young talibé workers from Burkina Faso in the rice fields of Mali. The Committee noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations of May 2007, expressed concern at the vulnerability of children living in the streets or who are engaged in begging, particularly to all forms of violence, sexual abuse and exploitation, and economic exploitation (CRC/C/MLI/CO/2, paragraph 62). The Committee noted that section 62 of the Child Protection Code defines begging as a sole or main activity of a dehumanizing nature and an obstacle to the rights of the child. It further noted that section 183 of the Penal Code provides that any person inciting a child to beg shall be liable to a sentence of imprisonment of from three months to one year.

In this respect, the Committee notes that in the Report of the Working group on the Universal Periodic Review of Mali of 13 June 2008, the representative of Mali indicated that begging by children in Koranic schools was an infringement of the law (A/HRC/8/50, paragraph 55). The Committee observes that, although the legislation is in conformity with the Convention on this point, the phenomenon of child talibés remains a cause for concern in practice. The Committee expresses serious concern at the use of these children for purely economic purposes. It requests the Government to take the necessary measures to enforce the national legislation on begging and to punish marabouts who use children for purely economic purposes. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the effective and time-bound measures taken to prevent young persons under 18 years of age from becoming victims of forced or compulsory labour, including begging, and to protect these children against forced labour and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration.

Article 5. Monitory mechanisms. Monitoring committees. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, in the context of the implementation of the ILO–IPEC–LUTRENA project to prohibit and eliminate the sale and trafficking of children, local monitoring committees to combat child trafficking have been set up in the circles of Kangala, Bougouni, Kolondiéba and Koutiala. The Committee notes that, according to the final technical progress report of ILO–IPEC of March 2008 on the LUTRENA project, 344 monitoring committees are now operational in Mali. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the principal role of these committees is to identify potential victims of child trafficking, indicate cases in which children are the victims of trafficking and collect and disseminate data on the trafficking of children. The Committee notes with interest that, since 2005, monitoring committees have intercepted and repatriated 730 child victims of trafficking and apprehended four persons who are presumed to be guilty of the trafficking of children. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of children who are prevented from becoming victims of trafficking or are removed from trafficking for labour exploitation as a result of the activities of monitoring committees.

National Committee to Follow-up Programmes to Combat the Trafficking of Children. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the National Committee to Follow-up Programmes to Combat the Trafficking of Children in Mali (CNS) is responsible for evaluating the action taken in the context of the implementation of programmes to combat the trafficking of children, for following the implementation of cooperation agreements to combat the trafficking of children signed by Mali and for learning from the experience acquired in this field to take responsibility for child victims of trafficking. However, the Government indicates that, since it was established in 2006, the CNS has not been operational, thereby creating a gap in the coordination of action to combat the trafficking of children in Mali. To overcome this problem, three meetings have been planned between September and November 2009, at which the programme and action of the CNS will be determined and the annual work‑plan for 2010 adopted. The Committee requests the Government to redouble its efforts to ensure that the CNS becomes operational and contributes to combating the trafficking of children in Mali. It requests the Government to provide information on the activities carried out by the CNS and their impact on the elimination of the trafficking of children for labour exploitation.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Effective and time-bound measures. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest that, according to the ILO–IPEC final technical progress report of March 2008 on the LUTRENA project, a total of 36,160 children in West and Central Africa benefited from the activities carried out in the context of the project. The Committee notes that 26,576 children (11,791 girls and 14,785 boys) who were at risk were prevented from becoming victims of trafficking and 9,584 children (4,317 girls and 5,267 boys) were removed from trafficking. The Committee also notes that in Mali 21,195 children attended the model lessons provided by teachers on the issue of the trafficking of children.

Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and assistance to remove them from these worst forms of child labour. Sale and trafficking of children. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest the Government’s indication that, in the context of the implementation of the LUTRENA project, 37,532 children (13,151 girls and 24,381 boys) were covered by awareness-raising activities relating to the trafficking of children and its consequences. The Government adds that, through an information caravan carried out in 2007, 5,658 children were covered by awareness-raising activities on the trafficking of children for labour exploitation in agriculture. The Committee also notes with interest the information provided by the Government that 250 child victims of trafficking have been repatriated from Cote d’Ivoire and are now engaged in income-generating activities in Mali, and that 3,830 children (1,851 girls and 1,979 boys) who were victims of trafficking have been rehabilitated through formal and informal education services, vocational training and income‑generating activities.

The Committee further notes that a sub-regional project to combat the trafficking of children for labour exploitation in West Africa was launched by ILO–IPEC in May 2008 (ILO–IPEC project to combat the trafficking of children). The objectives of the project include strengthening the capacity of the Government, employers and workers to replicate the activities of the LUTRENA project through which children at risk were prevented from becoming victims of trafficking and child victims were removed from trafficking, making use of the methods and good practices developed during the course of the LUTRENA project. The ILO–IPEC project is targeting 4,000 boys and girls, who will be prevented from becoming victims of or removed from trafficking involving hazardous or abusive conditions of work through the provision of educational and non‑educational services. Another objective of the project is to establish a pilot information system on the trafficking of children and to improve the database of the trafficking of children though targeted research and by facilitating networking between sub-regional experts.

However, that Committee notes that, in the summary prepared by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in accordance with paragraph 15(c) of the Annex to Human Rights Council Resolution 5/1 of 3 April 2008, the FIDH indicates that there are no institutional facilities available in Mali to shelter, offer guidance to or assist young women who have been the victims of trafficking or sexual exploitation (A/HRC/WG.6/2/MLI/3, paragraphs 13–14). The FIDH therefore recommends that the Malian authorities set up care and guidance facilities and provide assistance for the return of girls who are victims of trafficking. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted in the context of the ILO–IPEC Project to combat the trafficking of children with a view to preventing young persons under 18 years of age from falling victim to sale and trafficking and to remove child victims from this worst form of child labour. It also requests the Government to envisage the establishment of care and guidance facilities and the provision of assistance for the return of child victims of trafficking, as recommended by the FIDH, with a view to ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on any progress achieved in this respect.

Access to free basic education. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, according to the report on the national survey of child labour carried out in 2005, 41 per cent of children between the ages of 5 and 14 years were engaged in full-time economic activity, 25 per cent combined work and studies and 17 per cent went to school only. The net enrolment rate for primary school (7–12 years) in 2004–05 was 56.7 per cent (48.9 per cent for girls and 64.8 per cent for boys), compared with 20.6 per cent for secondary school (13–15 years) (15.4 per cent for girls and 26 per cent for boys).

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), according to which the National Education Statistical Yearbook indicates that, for the 2007–08 school year the gross enrolment rated in primary school (7–12 years) was 80 per cent, or 70.7 per cent for girls and 89.5 per cent for boys, while that for secondary school (13–15 years) was 46.8 per cent (36.6 per cent for girls and 57.3 per cent for boys). The Committee notes that Mali is one of the 11 countries involved in the implementation of the ILO–IPEC project “Tackle child labour through education” (ILO–IPEC TACKLE project), the principal objective of which is to contribute to poverty reduction in the least developed countries by providing equitable access to primary education and developing the knowledge of the most underprivileged categories of society. According to the activity report of the ILO–IPEC TACKLE project in Mali of October 2009, several measures and programmes of action have been implemented in support of the school attendance of children engaged in work at an early age. Furthermore, an integrated framework to cover the educational needs of the most vulnerable categories of children is currently being formulated with the objective of integrating these needs into Phase III of the Sectoral Investment Programme for the Education Sector (PISE).

The Committee takes due note of the measures adopted by the Government in the field of education. However, it notes that, according to the 2008 Education for All Global Monitoring Report published by UNESCO under the title “Education for All by 2015: Will we make it?”, although substantial progress has been made in the field of education, Mali still has little chance of the objective of universal primary education by 2015, and will probably not achieve gender parity in 2015 or 2025. The Committee also observes, that, according to the national report submitted in accordance with paragraph 15(a) of the Annex to Human Rights Council Resolution 5/1 of 14 April 2008, despite the progress made over the past ten years with regard to the realization of the right to education, many problems and challenges still need to be addressed, including raising enrolment rates, inequality of opportunity between girls and boys and the uneven geographical distribution of schools (A/HCR/WG.6/2/MLI/1, paragraph 69). 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 functioning of the education system in the country, particularly by increasing school attendance and reducing school drop-out rates, affording particular attention to girls so that they benefit from the same opportunities of access to education as boys. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the results achieved.

Article 8. Cooperation. Regional cooperation. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Government had signed bilateral cooperation agreements on the cross-border trafficking of children with Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, Guinea and Senegal. It also noted that in addition to the Multilateral Cooperation Agreement to Combat Child Trafficking in West Africa, signed in July 2005, Mali also signed the Abuja Multilateral Cooperation Agreement in 2006. The Committee noted that mobile security brigades had carried out patrols in the border regions between Mail and Burkina Faso, Cote d’Ivoire and Senegal.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in the context of the bilateral treaty signed between Guinea and Mali, a Koranic master from Guinea was intercepted with children from Guinea, who were repatriated. It also notes that, in the context of the ILO–IPEC project to combat the trafficking of children, it is planned to reinforce the application of the bilateral and multilateral treaties signed by Mali. However, the Government indicates that, although the countries which have signed agreements with Mali meet periodically, they are more dynamic in their activities in the national territory than in terms of mutual international assistance. The Committee observes that, in the Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review of Mali of 13 June 2008, the representative of Mali noted that, with regard to trafficking in children, the main difficulties stemmed from the cross-border nature of the phenomenon (A/HRC/8/50, paragraph 54). The Committee therefore requests the Government to take measures to reinforce the application of the bilateral and multilateral treaties signed by Mali so as to contribute to the elimination of the trafficking of children for labour exploitation or for sexual exploitation. It expresses the firm hope that, in the context of these agreements, measures will be taken to increase the numbers of land, maritime and air border police officers, particularly through the establishment of joint frontier patrols and the opening of transit centres near these frontiers.

Poverty reduction. The Committee previously noted that a PRSP had been adopted, in the context of which the problem of child labour was taken into account as a cross-cutting issue and placed in the overall framework of improving the situation of children and the role of the family. The Committee notes that, according to the national report submitted in accordance with paragraph 15(a) of the Annex to Human Rights Council Resolution 5/1 of 14 April 2008, the second generation of this framework, known as the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy Framework (GPRSF), covering the period 2007–11, is currently being implemented (A/HCR/WG.6/2/MLI/1, paragraph 58). It also notes that the first National Forum on Child Poverty and Social Security was held in Bamako from 12–14 May 2009. The Committee further notes that a National Action Programme for Employment to Reduce Poverty (PNA/ERP) has been formulated and that a Decent Work Country Programme (DWPC) is currently being prepared. Considering that poverty reduction programmes help to break the circle of poverty, the Committee requests the Government to take measures in the context of the implementation of the GPRSF, PNA/ERP and the DWCP to eliminate the worst forms of child labour, with particular reference to the effective reduction of poverty among children who are the victims of sale, trafficking and forced begging. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress achieved in this respect.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.