Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2003, published 92nd ILC session (2004)

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

The Committee takes note of the Government’s first report and requests it to provide information on the following points.

Article 1 of the Convention. The Committee notes the Government’s statement in its report 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. It 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 also notes the statement by the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs at the 27th Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly on Children, on 10 May 2002, that the Government of Ethiopia has prepared a National Plan of Action (NPA) to improve the well-being of the Ethiopian children, and asks it to provide information on this NPA and on the results attained.

Article 2, paragraph 1. The Committee notes that section 89(2) of the Labour Law Proclamation No. 42 of 1993 prohibits employment of persons under 14 years of age. It notes that section 3(1) of the Proclamation 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 notes that work performed outside an employment relationship is not covered by the provisions of the Proclamation. It, therefore, requests the Government to indicate which provisions of the national legislation, if any, prohibit work performed outside an employment relationship to persons under 14 years of age who are self-employed.

Article 3. The Committee notes 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, but is not over the age of 18 years" (section 89(1)). The Committee also takes note of the decree of the Minister of Labour and Social Affairs of 2 September 1997 concerning the prohibition of work for young workers. It notes that all work that could be harmful to the health and safety of the young worker is prohibited (section 4(1)). Section 4(1) of the decree contains a detailed list of hazardous works and a general prohibition of all other kinds of work likely to jeopardize the young worker’s moral or physical condition/health. The Committee notes 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. According to section 48(2) of the Labour Law Proclamation, contracts of apprenticeship may be concluded with persons at least 14 years of age. Therefore, the Committee asks the Government to specify which kind of protection is set up to ensure that apprentices of 14 or 15 years of age do not engage in the hazardous works prohibited to young workers. The Committee also asks the Government to specify if the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned have been consulted prior to the establishment of the categories of hazardous works prohibited to young workers. The Committee notes from the Government’s report that the Labour Inspectorate has prepared guidelines designed to facilitate the implementation of the above decree ("Directive" in the Government’s report). It requests the Government to supply a copy of these guidelines.

Article 4. The Committee notes the Government’s statement in its report that "up to now there is no exclusion of categories of employment or work in respect of special and substantial problems from the application of this Convention". It notes that "the Convention is applied in every work, categories of employment covered by the Labour Law Proclamation No. 42/93". However, at the same time, the Government refers to some excluded categories of employment or work, such as "work performed by strict supervision of family or guardian without interfering with the child’s education family and small-scale holding agricultures". The Committee requests the Government to provide additional information concerning the categories of employment or work which are excluded under Article 4 of the Convention, especially as regards the reasons for such exclusion and the situation of child labour in such excluded categories. It also requests the Government to indicate whether the employers’ and workers’ organizations concerned have been consulted on this matter. The Committee recalls that paragraph 1 of this Article of the Convention authorizes, in so far as necessary, the competent authority to exclude limited categories of employment or work in respect of which special and substantial problems of application arise. The Committee requests the Government to provide a detailed review of the situation in its next report.

Article 6. The Committee notes that section 170(1) of the Labour Law Proclamation provides that the Minister is competent to issue directives on the types of occupation and works in which apprenticeship need to be given and on the duration of apprenticeship. The Committee asks the Government to indicate if such directives have been issued by the Minister and, if so, to supply a copy of them. The Committee is particularly concerned about the possibility for apprentices aged 14 and 15 to engage in hazardous works, and refers on this matter to its comments under Article 3 above. The Committee notes that no consultations have yet taken place with the employers’ and workers’ organizations on the matter. It asks the Government to indicate if such consultations will take place in the future.

Article 8. The Committee notes the absence of any provisions in the national legislation allowing exceptions to the prohibition of employment or work for such purposes as participation in artistic performances to children under the minimum age for admission to employment or work. It asks the Government to provide information on the practice in this field and to indicate whether it is envisaged to introduce any legislation on this matter.

Article 9, paragraph 3. The Committee notes that section 12(6) of the Labour Law Proclamation provides that employers shall keep a register indicating, among others, the name and age of the workers they employ. It asks the Government to provide a model of the register in question.

Part V of the report form. The Committee 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 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.