Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Indonesia (Ratification: 2000)

Article 5 of the Convention. Monitoring mechanisms. Labour inspectorate. The Committee had previously noted that, according to the ILO/IPEC project launched in 2004 and entitled “Support to the Indonesian National Plan of Action and the Development of the Time-bound Programme (TBP) for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour”, the involvement of labour inspectors in child labour issues is limited. It had noted that several measures had been taken in implementing the National Plan of Action on Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (NPA). The Committee had also noted the Government’s statement that, since the implementation of the regional autonomy policy, labour inspection is carried out by local inspectors and it is difficult to collect data on inspection.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that, through the measures undertaken in the framework of the NPA, including workshop training and technical guidance, labour inspectors have increased their knowledge and conduct better inspections. The Committee notes that, according to the technical progress report for the TBP of September 2006 to February 2007 (hereinafter “technical progress report for the TBP”), one of the immediate objectives of the project is to enhance the capacity of national, provincial and district level stakeholders to plan, monitor, implement and evaluate action to prevent and eliminate the worst forms of child labour. In this regard, the Committee notes that, according to the technical progress report, 87 standardized training programmes for law enforcers, which included a module on child labour, took place during the reporting period. Furthermore, the Committee observes that, in the framework of the TBP and as of February 2007, 110 out of 128 mining units, 418 out of 616 footwear workshops and 76 fishing vessels and 11 harbours, all of which are hazardous sectors that employ children, were monitored. The Committee requests the Government to supply information on the number of violations detected concerning children and young persons involved in the worst forms of child labour during the inspections carried out in the framework of the TBP, as well as extracts of the inspection reports specifying the extent and nature of these violations.

Article 6, paragraph 1. Programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. National Plan of Action on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (NPA). The Committee had previously noted that the NPA prepared in 2002 by the National Action Committee for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (NAC), was a three-phase programme over 20 years. It had also noted several measures that were adopted in implementing the NPA, including a child workers’ survey; awareness raising; education and training for drop-out students; removal of child workers in the offshore fishery sector, the footwear industry and in drug distribution; and training of labour inspectors.

The Committee notes with interest the Government’s information that, through the implementation of the NPA, 19,863 children were prevented from child labour and its worst forms and 10,922 children removed in 2006, and 29,863 were prevented and 13,922 removed in 2007. The Committee notes that, according to the technical proposal of 25 July 2007 for the second phase of the NPA (hereinafter “technical proposal”), the second phase, which will run from 2008 to 2012, will build on the strategy of the first phase while introducing several new and innovative components. Some key features and activities of the proposed project include:

(a)   educating children through a mix of formal and non-formal education, and skills training;

(b)   providing services for 22,000 direct beneficiaries, reaching 35 per cent of these beneficiaries in the first year of the implementation of the NPA.

The Committee also notes that a Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) has been developed in Indonesia for the years 2006 to 2010 in collaboration with the ILO constituents. One of the DWCP’s priorities is to stop exploitation at work and includes a module on the effective progress on the implementation of the NPA. In this regard, the DWCP will support the implementation of the NPA and offer advisory and other technical support on the implementation of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved in implementing the NPA in terms of the number of children prevented from engaging in, or removed from, the worst forms of child labour. It also requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the DWCP on eliminating the worst forms of child labour.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Education. The Committee had previously noted that in Indonesia basic education lasts nine years and is compulsory (section 48 of Law No. 23/2002). It had also noted, however, that, according to the National Social Economy Survey, 2000, 34 per cent of the Indonesian population aged 10 years and above had not completed or even attended elementary school.

The Committee notes that, according to the technical progress report for the TBP, 15,196 children (7,377 boys and 7,819 girls) were prevented from being engaged in child labour and its worst forms through the provision of educational services or training opportunities during the duration of the project. However, the Committee notes that the UNESCO “Education for All Global Monitoring Report” of 2008 indicates that, as of 2005, there were still more than 400,000 children not enrolled in primary education. The Government further indicates in its report that, as of 2005–06, there were as many as 148,890 children who dropped out from school at the junior high school level. The Committee notes that, according to the technical proposal, several of the measures envisaged for the second phase of the NPA are related to education, including: withdrawing or preventing children from involvement in exploitative child labour through the provision of direct educational services; strengthening policies on child labour and education, the capacity of national institutions to combat child labour, and formal and transitional education systems that encourage children engaged in or at risk of engaging in exploitative child labour to attend school; raising awareness of the importance of education for all children and mobilizing a wide array of actors to improve and expand education infrastructures. Considering that education contributes to preventing children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee strongly urges the Government to continue pursuing its efforts to ensure free basic education and to keep children in school. It requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the second phase of the NPA on increasing school enrolment rates and reducing school drop-out rates for children. It also asks the Government to provide updated statistical data on school enrolment and drop-out rates.

Clause (b). Direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour. Child workers in the footwear industry. The Committee had previously noted that ILO/IPEC launched various projects aimed at preventing children from engaging in hazardous work in the footwear industry, within the framework of the NPA. The Committee notes that, according to the technical progress report for the TBP, 142 children were withdrawn and 4,353 children prevented from working in the footwear industry during the reporting period. Furthermore, the Committee notes that ILO/IPEC continues to implement action programmes to protect children from the footwear industry. One such programme is entitled “Increasing Children’s Participation in Education in Ciomas Footwear Centre” and aims to remove 250 children and prevent 1,434 children from entering the footwear industry through increased participation in schools in Bogor Regency. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved in the implementation of the ILO/IPEC action programmes with regard to the number of children prevented and removed from working in hazardous work in the footwear industry.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Child victims of the tsunami. The Committee had previously noted that, shortly following the earthquake and tsunami of December 2004, the TBP was extended to the area of Aceh. The key aim of the project was to prevent child labour among children made vulnerable because of loss of family or family livelihoods. The Committee notes that services continue to be provided to children in Aceh made vulnerable by the earthquake and tsunami through the implementation of several ILO/IPEC action programmes implemented in the framework of the TBP, including offering pre-vocational training in five integrated orphanage centres to benefit 750 girls and boys affected by the tsunami; and supporting “One Roof” schools for areas with insufficient provision of junior secondary schools to improve opportunities to access basic education for vulnerable children. The Committee further notes that preventative measures to protect vulnerable children affected by the earthquake and tsunami have been extended to the Nias district of North Sumatra through the implementation of an ILO/IPEC action programme entitled “Capacity building of ten selected schools to deliver prevocational skills training and retrieval programmes to prevent the worst forms of child labour” in 2007. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the impact of the action programmes implemented in the framework of the TBP on protecting child victims of the earthquake and tsunami from the worst forms of child labour and, more specifically, on the number of these vulnerable children who were effectively prevented or withdrawn from the worst forms of child labour as a result.

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes that the ILO/IPEC project entitled “Enhancing national capacity in child labour data collection, analysis and dissemination through technical assistance to surveys, research and training”, due to be completed on 30 September 2010, aims at conducting a nationwide child labour survey as an add-on to a regular nationwide survey implemented by the national statistical office, BPS–Statistics Indonesia. The national child labour survey will place particular emphasis on identifying and quantifying the extent of child involvement in hazardous forms. The Committee requests the Government to provide the information revealed by the nationwide child labour survey concerning the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, as soon as it is available.