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Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Maldives (RATIFICATION: 2013)

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Articles 3(a), 7(1) and 7(2) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour, penalties and time-bound programmes. All forms of slavery or practices similar to slavery. Sale and trafficking of children. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes, from the Government’s report, that amendments were brought to the Human Trafficking Act 12/2013 in 2021, which widened the definition of child trafficking (section 14). It also notes the Government’s indication that the Maldives Police Service (MPS) continues to provide training and awareness programmes on child exploitation and human trafficking. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that there were no reported cases of child trafficking during the reporting period from 2019 to 2021. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing any relevant information regarding cases of sale and trafficking of children under the age of 18 for labour or sexual exploitation, including the number of investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties which have been applied for the offence of trafficking of children and the number of child victims who have been rescued and provided with assistance. With regard to all other issues pertaining to the sale and trafficking of persons, the Committee refers to its comments under the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29).

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. Following its previous comments, the Committee takes note of the detailed statistics shared by the Government, according to which the net enrolment rates have steadily increased in recent years, reaching 100.2 per cent at the primary level (6 to 12 years of age) and 100 per cent at the lower secondary level (13 to 15 years of age) in 2019 for both boys and girls.

The Committee notes, however, that according to the 2019 UNDP report on “Youth vulnerability in the Maldives”, while students in the capital city of Malé have a range of options and access to higher education, those living on outer atolls often have poorly equipped schools. Almost all young people from the outer atolls interviewed in the framework of the report complained about the quality and variety of education, saying that many sciences were not taught, schools lacked equipment and laboratories, and there was no career guidance. The Committee further notes, from the UNICEF website, that the quality of education in certain atolls is poorer than in the capital; as such, the average pass rate at the lower-secondary level is nearly 20 per cent lower in the atolls when compared to Malé. In this regard, the Committee notes that the Education Sector Plan 2019–23, supported by the Global Partnership for Education and UNICEF, has four goals, which include improving learning for all, through equitable access to quality education; ensuring equitable access to lifelong, affordable and quality education for all; and system strengthening for efficiency and quality schools for all. Welcoming the progress made to improve access to education, the Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts, in order to ensure that all children have access to free basic education, with special attention to children from outer atolls. It also requests the Government to continue its efforts to improve the quality of education to ensure that children do not drop out of school, including in the framework of the Education Sector Plan 2019–23, and to provide information on the results achieved. Finally, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the national school retention and dropout rates at the primary and lower secondary levels.

Clause (b). Direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Child victims of sexual exploitation. In response to the Committee’s previous request that the Government provide information on the number of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation who have been provided with assistance by the Ministry of Gender, Family and Social Services (MGFSS), the Committee notes the Government’s information that cases of commercial sexual exploitation of children are now reported to the Child and Family Protection Service (CFPS). The Committee notes that, according to 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, paragraphs 13 and 46), the CFPS was established in 2020 pursuant to the enactment of the Child Rights Protection Act, 2019. The CFPS is mandated, inter alia, to collaborate with law enforcement institutions in investigating cases of child rights violations, steer the child fostering mechanism, and ensure the wellbeing and protection of children brought under State care, at national and local levels. When a case of commercial sexual exploitation is reported to the CFPS, the safety of the child is ensured by removing him/her from the environment in which they are exploited, and placing them within the care and protection of family or of the State facility, in accordance with the circumstances of the case. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of child victims of commercial sexual exploitation who have been removed from this worst form of child labour, and rehabilitated and socially integrated, through the action of the CFPS, as well as on the type of assistance received.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Vulnerability to climate change. The Committee notes, according to a 2022 UNICEF report entitled “The Heat is On! Towards a Climate Resilient Education System in the Maldives”, that climate change, to which the Maldives is extremely exposed and vulnerable to due to its unique geographical features, has had an important impact on education. According to the report, one fifth of the youths claimed that climate change has affected their journey to school. Main research findings reveal, among other things, that there are no climate change mitigation and adaptation resource allocation mechanisms, and no coordination mechanisms for climate change risk mitigation, in the education sector; and that there exists no systematic data gathering mechanisms on climate change impacts on school infrastructure, education access, student and teacher health and wellbeing, education provision and learning quality. The Committee observes that climate change may increase the risk of child labour and its worst forms and the circumstances under which it is undertaken for a number of reasons, including the negative effects of weather shocks, climate-driven migratory movements and population displacements, and heat stress linked to climate change, as is the case in the education sector in the Maldives. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the time-bound measures taken to protect children from the worst forms of child labour due to the effects of climate change, in particular in the education sector.