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Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Morocco (RATIFICATION: 2001)

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Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government, in its report, according to which the amendment of the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure is part of the programme of its 2022–26 mandate, with a view to compliance with the provisions of the various international treaties it has ratified. The Committee expresses the firm hope that the draft amendments to the Penal Code will include a provision prohibiting the use, procuring or offering of a child under 18 years of age for illicit activities, and requests the Government to send a copy of the amended Code when it is adopted.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms and application of the Convention in practice. Hazardous work. Further to its previous comments, the Committee observes that according to the 2021 national employment survey by the Office of the High Commissioner for Planning, two per cent of children between 7 and 17 years of age are engaged in economic activity, or roughly 148,000 children, 119,000 of whom are in rural areas and 29,000 in urban areas. Nearly 6 out of 10 working children, or around 88,000, are obliged to perform hazardous work, 73.7 per cent of whom are from rural areas, 88.6 per cent of whom are boys, and 81.9 per cent of whom are between 15 and 17 years of age. According to the survey, the number of child workers fell by 26 per cent from 2019.

The Committee also takes note of the information provided by the Government indicating that the implementation of the sectoral programme combating child labour of the Ministry of Economic Inclusion, Small Enterprise, Employment and Skills (MIEPEEC), pursuant to the provisions of section 3 of Act No. 19-12 of 10 August 2016, fixing the conditions of work and employment of domestic workers, has strengthened the monitoring of child workers, through the appointment of 54 focal points among the labour inspectors responsible for ensuring coordination between inspectors and partnering NGOs. Labour inspectors also advise parties to domestic work contracts before they sign them and require, by law, a copy of the contracts to be filed with the labour inspectorate. The Government indicates that the number of domestic work contracts has risen to 6,970, including 696 foreign contracts, since Act No.19-12 came into force. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that all children under 18 years of age are not engaged in the worst forms of child labour, particularly hazardous work. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the application of the Convention in practice, including statistics and information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour. All information should, as far as possible, be disaggregated by age and by gender.

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. Further to its previous comments, the Committee takes note of Framework Act No. 51-17 concerning the education, training and scientific research system, enacted by Dahir No. 1-19-113 of 9 August 2019, the implementation of which focuses on three main areas: equality of opportunity, improving the quality of education and training, and governance and mobilization.

The Committee notes the information indicating that the total number of pupils enrolled in public and private education, in the three cycles of education, was 7,900,000 during the 2022–23 school year. A total of 6.9 million pupils were enrolled in public schools, taught by over 290,000 teachers in around 11,000 schools, including 7,000 in rural areas.

The Committee also notes that the MIEPEEC has increased funding for NGOs working with children removed from child labour and hazardous work. They have received funding for projects that offer these children viable alternatives, particularly through informal education, dual education, vocational training, as well as support for the guardians and heads of these children’s families.

The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that projects carried out under the Green Morocco Plan (PMV) have generated around 250,000–300,000 jobs in the agricultural sector, which helps to ensure higher incomes for rural families and thus has an impact on school enrolment and dropout rates. However, the Committee notes that the annual employment survey carried out by the Office of the High Commissioner for Planning showed that in 2021, the number of child workers between 7 and 18 years of age was 148,000, with 80.4 per cent in rural areas, where the children work primarily as caregivers. Moreover, 12.1 per cent are enrolled in school, 85.7 per cent have left school and 2.2 per cent have never attended. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to improve the functioning of the education system by increasing the school attendance rate, particularly in secondary education, and reducing the school dropout rate in order to prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, with a particular focus on girls and on children living in rural areas. It requests the Government to provide up-to-date statistics on primary school enrolment and dropout rates, disaggregated by gender and age.

Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, removing children from these forms of labour and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. Child prostitution and sex tourism. The Committee notes, according to information provided by the Government, the development of the National Plan for Children 2017–21, based on strategic objectives set out in the integrated public child protection policy (PPIPE), aimed at strengthening the child protection system at the provincial level against the various forms of neglect, violence and exploitation. It also notes that the regional integrated child protection mechanism (DTIPE) programme consists of a set of measures designed to strengthen prevention and the child protection system and mainly comprises: (1) provincial child protection committees, (2) child protection support centres (CAPEs) at the regional level, (3) child protection units (UPEs) at the local level, (4) child protection units in areas with neither CAPEs nor UPEs, (5) an integrated information system for monitoring children in the protection circuit, and (vi) child protection expertise centres. In 2021, a total of 5,786 children, 2,387 of whom were girls, used government services (2,284 children used UPE services, 1,743 used CAPEs and 1,759 used child protection units).

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Children in street situations. The Committee notes that the Government’s new strategy for the period 2022–26 provides for the development of the regional programme "GISR: from the street to dignity" with a view to the protection and social reintegration of children in street situations. In this framework, the Department of Solidarity is involved in the reintegration of these children by: (1) setting up social sections of the medical emergency services (social SAMUs) for children, (2) supporting social protections establishments for children (EPSs), (3) supporting associations’ projects for the reintegration of street children, and (4) providing capacity-building for stakeholders.

In this regard, the Committee takes due note of the various actions taken under this programme, notably: (1) a total of 2,895 children in street situations are benefiting from prevention, accommodation and social reintegration services; (2) among these children, a total of 1,985 children are benefiting from services from 27 projects under partnership agreements with associations. These projects are being implemented for the years 2021–22 in the regions of Rabat-Salé-Kenitra, Fez-Meknes, Casablanca-Settat, Oriental, Marrakech-Safi, Souss-Massa, Dakhla-Oued Eddahab and Laayoune-Sakia El Hamra; (3) a total of 910 children in street situations, 640 of whom are girls, are benefiting from social SAMUs in Meknes, Casablanca and Tangier; (4) a total of 3,395 children in difficult situations and street children, of whom 1,077 are girls, are benefiting from EPSs; (5) five new structures are being developed in Salé, Marrakech, Fez, Agadir, Laayoune and Taroudant, in partnership with the National Assistance Agency and the National Initiative for Human Development, local authorities and associations; and (6) a training programme is currently being launched for social workers from social SAMUs, EPSs and partnering associations, with a view to the reintegration of children in street situations.

The Committee also notes that children in street situations have benefited from the actions of the Action Plan to protect children from the social repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the children cared for during the health crisis, a total of 224 children were reintegrated into their families, 360 were accommodated in 66 EPSs and 354 in 51 temporary emergency accommodation spaces.

The Committee nevertheless notes the absence of information concerning legislative amendments to the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure that have resulted in better legal protection for children in street situations. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to identify, remove and reintegrate children in street situations. It also requests the Government to continue to provide information on the results achieved through the “GISR: from the street to dignity” programme and the activities of social SAMUs, the National Assistance Agency, associations and NGOs, particularly in terms of the number of children who have benefited from these measures, disaggregated by age and by gender. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate which legislative amendments to the Penal Code and the Code of Criminal Procedure have resulted in better legal protection for children in street situations.

Article 8. International cooperation and assistance. International cooperation against hazardous work. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Government does not provide information on the steps taken at the international cooperation level to combat hazardous work by children. The Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to reinforce international cooperation and assistance in order to combat the worst forms of child labour, and requests it to continue providing information on the results achieved in this respect.

Sex tourism. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Government does not provide information on the steps taken at the international cooperation level to combat child sex tourism. The Committee once again requests the Government to take the necessary steps to strengthen its international cooperation against child sex tourism and to provide information in this regard.