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Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Ethiopia (RATIFICATION: 1999)

The Committee notes the Government’s report. It requests it to supply further information on the following points.

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted the Government’s statement that there is no particular policy in Ethiopia designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour and to raise progressively the minimum age for admission to employment, but that there are different economic and social policies that have indirectly addressed the issue. The Committee once again asks the Government to provide information on these policies and the results attained, in particular the education and training policy, which is to achieve universal enrolment in primary school by 2015, specifying how they contribute to the effective abolition of child labour. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a new National Plan of Action (NPA) has been drafted during 2004, to replace the previous NPA. One of the aims with the new NPA is to improve the well being of the Ethiopian children. The issue of child labour is also appropriately addressed in this NPA. The Committee requests the Government to provide more detailed information on the implementation of the NPA and on the results attained.

Article 2, paragraph 1. Scope of application. The Committee had previously noted that section 89(2) of the Labour Law Proclamation No. 42 of 1993 prohibits employment of persons under 14 years of age. It had also noted that section 3(1) of the Labour Law specifies that it “shall be applicable to employment relations based on a contract of employment that exists between a worker and an employer”. The Committee had observed that the provisions of the Labour Law do not cover work performed outside an employment relationship. The Committee recalls that the Convention applies to all branches of economic activity and that it covers all types of employment or work, whether under a labour relationship or contract of employment or not, and whether it is remunerated or not. It therefore once again requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure the application of the Convention to all types of work, including work carried out by persons under 14 years of age who work on their own account.

Article 3, paragraphs 1 and 2. Minimum age for admission to, and determination of hazardous work. The Committee had previously noted that section 89(3) of the Labour Law Proclamation provides that “it is prohibited to employ young workers for work which, on account of its nature or due to the condition in which it is carried out, endangers the life or health of the young worker”, a “young worker” being defined as a person who has attained the age of 14 years, but is not over the age of 18 years (section 89(1)). It had also taken note of the decree of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of 2 September 1997 concerning the prohibition of work for young workers. The Committee had further noted that all work that could be harmful to the health and safety of the young worker is prohibited (section 4(1) of the decree). Section 4(1) of the decree contains a detailed list of types of hazardous work and a general prohibition of all other kinds of work likely to jeopardize the young worker’s morals or physical condition/health. The Committee had observed that, according to section 4(2) of the decree, the prohibition set out in section 4(1) does not apply to persons who carry out such activities in the course of professional education in vocational centres. The Committee notes the Government’s statement that the Labour Law Proclamation prohibits all young workers from carrying out hazardous work, including those engaged in apprenticeships. This is also common practice in Ethiopia. The Committee once again asks the Government to specify which kind of protection is set up to ensure that apprentices of 14 years of age and above do not engage in the hazardous work prohibited to young workers. The Committee notes that the guidelines designed to facilitate the implementation of the abovementioned decree is currently only available in Amharic. The Committee therefore requests the Government to supply a copy of the guidelines once they have been translated into one of the official languages of the ILO.

Part V of the report form. Practical application of the Convention. The Committee once again asks the Government to provide information on the manner in which the Convention is applied in practice, including, if possible, statistical data on the number of children engaged in any form of employment or work by age group and the occupations or types of work involved, extracts from the reports of inspection services, and information on the number and nature of contraventions reported.