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Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Namibia (RATIFICATION: 2000)

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Article 1 of the Convention. National policy. The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in response to its previous comments, that the Inter-Ministerial Committee on child labour could not fully implement its 2018–19 Activity Plan due to the inactiveness of its members. The Government indicates that the Inter-Ministerial Committee was revived in July 2022, with a view to ensuring the prohibition and elimination of any form of child labour and coordinating all initiatives relating to child labour in Namibia. The Committee further notes that, according to information available to the Office, the Government is considering the development of an action plan on the elimination of child labour in Namibia, with possible ILO assistance. The Committee encourages the Government to take the necessary measures to develop, adopt and implement the action plan on the elimination of child labour, and requests it to provide information on the progress made in this regard. It also requests the Government to provide information on the activities conducted by the Inter-Ministerial Committee and on their impact on the elimination of child labour in the country.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and labour inspection. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information regarding the impact of the Labour Inspectorate Action Plan (2017-19) of the Ministry of Industrial Relations, Labour and Employment Creation, the objective of which was for the labour inspectorate to improve inspections, particularly in relation to the elimination of child labour. The Government indicates that two cases of child labour were detected in the domestic sector in 2020 and 2022, and three cases in the agricultural sector in 2021. The cases in the domestic sector related to the employment of children under the age of 18, whereas the cases in the agricultural sector related to the employment of two children under the age of 14 and one child under the age of 16 as animal herders. Compliance orders were issued under the terms of section 126 of the Labour Act, and criminal cases were registered with the police for prosecution.

The Committee further notes, from the Government’s report under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), that the Labour Advisory Council has observed, during the consultative meeting that took place in August 2022, that the Ministry of Labour should conduct targeted inspections on child labour. The Committee requests the Government to continue to take measures to strengthen the capacity of the labour inspection system to adequately monitor and detect cases of child labour in the country, in particular in the agricultural and domestic sectors, as well as in the informal economy. In this regard, the Committee encourages the Government to take measures to ensure that the labour inspectorate conducts inspections targeting child labour. It further requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of inspections on child labour carried out by the labour inspectors, as well as on the number and nature of violations detected and penalties applied.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Government indicates that the last Labour Force Survey was conducted in 2018, and that due to budgetary constraints, the Government is not in a position to conduct a survey this year. The Committee requests the Government to take measures to ensure that updated statistics on the child labour situation in the country are made available, such as recent statistics relating to the nature, extent and trends of work done by children under the minimum age of 14 years.