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Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Cameroon (RATIFICATION: 2001)

The Committee takes note of the observations of the General Union of Workers of Cameroon (UGTC), received on 10 October 2014.

Articles 1 and 2(1) of the Convention. National policy, minimum age for admission to employment or work and application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Labour Code only applies within the framework of an employment relationship and does not protect children engaged in work outside a contractual employment relationship. It noted that the resources allocated to the labour inspection services were not adequate to conduct effective investigations and that they did not carry out inspections in the informal economy. The Committee also expressed concern at the large number of children under 14 years of age engaged in work in Cameroon and noted with regret that the National Plan to Combat Child Labour, to which the Government had been referring since 2006, had still not been drawn up.

The Committee takes due note of the adoption in March 2014 in Yaoundé of the National Plan of Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (PANETEC) 2014–16. The Government, as well as the UGTC, add that a National Committee to Combat Child Labour has been established following the adoption of Order No. 082/PM of 27 August 2014. The Committee notes that, within the framework of the PANETEC, the reinforcement of the means of action of labour inspectors and the extension of their scope of intervention are priorities. Substantial resources for intervention (logistics and transport, operating budget and interventions) will be allocated to the labour inspection services to enable them to extend their interventions effectively against child labour.

However, the Committee notes that, according to a study undertaken jointly in 2012 by the Government and the Understanding Children’s Work programme (UCW, 2012), over 1,500,000 children under 14 years of age are engaged in work in Cameroon. Economically active children are very young: over a quarter of children in Cameroon aged between 7 and 8 are engaged in some form of economic work (27 and 35 per cent, respectively) and are at serious risk at the workplace (of abuse, injury and disease) due to their very young age. The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that children are essentially engaged in activities in the informal economy. In this regard, with reference to the 2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions (paragraph 345), the Committee observes that in certain cases the limited number of labour inspectors makes it difficult to cover the whole of the informal economy. For this reason, it invites States parties to reinforce the capacities of the labour inspectorate. The Committee once again expresses its deep concern at the large number of children under 14 years of age who work in Cameroon, including in hazardous types of work. It urges the Government to intensify its efforts to ensure the effective eradication of child labour under the minimum age for admission to employment, in particular by reinforcing labour inspection in the informal economy. It also requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the PANETEC and the results achieved.

Article 2(3). Age of completion of compulsorily schooling. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the age of completion of compulsory schooling is 14 years and that primary education is free. The Committee requested the Government to intensify its efforts to enable children under 14 years of age to have access to compulsory basic schooling.

The Committee notes that, according to the UCW 2012 study, the school attendance rate of working children is substantially lower than that of children who do not work, at all ages. The school attendance rate is 70 per cent for children between the ages of 6 and 14 years who work, but it is 86 per cent among children who do not work. In this respect, the Committee notes that one of the strategic priorities of the PANETEC is to promote education by ensuring quality primary education for all and the access of vulnerable children to universal education. Considering that compulsory schooling is one of the most effective means of combating child labour, the Committee urges the Government to intensify its efforts to enable children under 14 years of age to have access to compulsory basic schooling. It also requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in this respect, and on the results achieved, particularly in the framework of the PANETEC.