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Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Fiji (RATIFICATION: 2002)

Article 5 of the Convention. Monitoring mechanisms. Training for officials engaged in the monitoring of child labour. Further to its previous comment, which noted the establishment of a Child Labour Unit (CLU), the Committee notes the Government’s information concerning the CLU’s special training sessions for sugar industry stakeholders on the hazardous workplace list, as well as the development and implementation of a national reporting process on child labour in the sugar industry and other agricultural farms. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, as a result of these efforts, Fiji was found in compliance with the International Fair Trade Rules for not involving children in cane harvesting or for using pesticides. The Committee further notes the Government’s information on training activities that were conducted with the assistance of the ILO–IPEC project “Tackle child labour through education” (TACKLE project), as well as the activities undertaken by the Inter-Agency Committee on child labour to, among others, monitor and report on non-compliance cases. The Committee welcomes the Government’s efforts to strengthen the monitoring of child labour, in particular in the sugarcane plantations. It requests the Government to continue to communicate information on the work of the Inter-Agency Committee on child labour as well as the CLU, particularly with regard to the worst forms of child labour, including, for example, extracts of reports or documents indicating the scope and nature of violations reported concerning children and young persons involved in the worst forms of child labour.

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. The Committee recalls its previous comments which expressed concern over the large number of children in Fiji who do not attend school and who may be engaged in the worst forms of child labour.

The Committee notes the Government’s information concerning measures to raise awareness of child labour issues and to implement new policies and remove barriers to education. More concretely, the Committee notes the Government’s information concerning the resources that were allocated in 2014 to the provision of, among others, free primary tuition, textbooks, buildings and additional fees traditionally charged by schools which benefited 136,000 primary school children. The Government further indicates that there was a significant increase in school enrolment in 2014 and that a demonstrative decrease in secondary enrolment was due to a correlative increase in basic employment-skills training. Furthermore, the Committee notes the various measures that have been undertaken with the assistance of the TACKLE project, including community-based approaches to prevent and withdraw children from child labour, as well as awareness-raising campaigns in primary and secondary schools. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide updated information concerning the impact of its recent measures on increasing school enrolment rates and reducing drop-out rates.