Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2010, published 100th ILC session (2011)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Egypt (Ratification: 2002)

Article 5 of the Convention. Monitoring mechanisms. Committees for the protection of childhood. The Committee previously noted that the amendments to the Child Law included provisions for the establishment of committees for the protection of children at all police centres and departments. The Committee requested information on the activities of these committees, particularly the number of children working in the worst forms of child labour who were identified through the action of these committees.

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report that committees were set up in each governorate to help monitor child labour. These committees, in coordination with the Ministry of Manpower and Migration and the local councils in the governorates, work to implement the National Strategy to Combat Child Labour and to provide services to children removed from child labour. The Government indicates that the committees have successfully withdrawn 23 children from the worst forms of child labour in the first quarter of 2010, and provided health and social services to 789 children.

Article 6. Programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. The Committee previously noted that the National Strategy to Combat Child Labour aimed to remove children involved in hazardous work and to identify children vulnerable to child labour. The Committee noted the various initiatives to be implemented within the framework of the National Strategy to Combat Child Labour, and requested information on the results achieved through its implementation.

The Committee notes the Government’s statement that a tripartite steering committee was set up to translate the National Strategy to Combat Child Labour into a national action plan. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that this national action plan includes measures to combat the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to provide a copy of the national action plan, once completed.

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. The Committee previously noted that according to UNICEF statistics for 2000–06, the net primary-school enrolment rate was 96 per cent for boys and 91 per cent for girls, and the net secondary school enrolment rate was 85 per cent for boys and 79 per cent for girls. It also noted that the Government was implementing measures to eliminate the worst forms of child labour through the provision of education.

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report concerning the results achieved through an ongoing educational project to combat the worst forms of child labour, which aims to eradicate these worst forms through rehabilitation and reintegration of working children into informal and formal education. The Government indicates that this educational project, implemented in the governorates of Assiout, Beni Soueif, Sohag and the Red Sea, benefited a total of 11,266 children, exceeding the targeted goal. The Government indicates that this includes 6,909 children who were enrolled in 104 government schools. This educational project also resulted in the inauguration of 15 schools in Sohag (for 312 children) and five schools in Assiout (for 144 children). The Committee also notes the information in a report on the worst forms of child labour in Egypt of 10 September 2009 (available on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees (www.unhcr.org)) that since 2008 the National Council for Children and Motherhood (NCCM) has worked to provide working minors with social security safeguards, and to provide their families with alternative sources of income to reduce school drop-out rates. Nonetheless, the Committee notes that, according to the UNESCO report entitled “Global Monitoring Report – Education for All” of 2010, there remain approximately 232,000 children between the ages of 6 and 11 who are not in school. Therefore, while taking due note of the measures implemented by the Government, the Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to improve access to free basic education. It requests the Government to provide information, in its next report, on the impact of the measures taken, particularly with regard to increasing school enrolment and completion rates and reducing school drop-out rates.

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted that the National Strategy to Combat Child Labour included the establishment of a database of statistics on working children. The Committee requested a copy of the statistics collected.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report submitted under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), that, while the central database on child labour is still being developed, the Central Body for Public Mobilization and Statistics is undertaking a comprehensive survey on child labour, in collaboration with the ILO. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that this comprehensive survey includes an examination of children engaged in the worst forms of child labour and to provide information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour in Egypt, with its next report. To the extent possible, all information provided should be disaggregated by sex and age.