Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2011, published 101st ILC session (2012)

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

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular the production and trafficking of drugs. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Anti-Drugs Act No. 6.368 provides for increased penalties if the drug offence committed involved a minor. However, it noted information in the December 2008 ILO–IPEC report on the Time-bound Programme (TBP) indicating that this worst form of child labour was present in Brazil. The Committee also noted information indicating that the number of young persons involved in drug trafficking had been increasing, since the use of minors for this purpose was cheaper than the use of adults. Noting an absence of information on this point in the Government’s report, the Committee once again requests the Government to supply information on the measures taken to combat the use, procuring or offering of a person under 18 for illicit activities, particularly the production and trafficking of drugs. It also requests information on the application of the relevant legislation in practice, including, for instance, statistics on the number and nature of reported offences, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties imposed.

Article 7(1). Penalties. The Committee previously noted that Decree No. 6.481 of 12 June 2008, which approves a detailed list of the worst forms of child labour, including types of hazardous work, does not provide for penalties in the case of violations of the Decree. It requested the Government to adopt appropriate penalties in this regard.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, at the administrative level, the labour inspectorate has punitive powers to punish offenders. However, the Committee notes an absence of information regarding specific penalties applied in the cases of the detection of violations of Decree No. 6.481. In this respect, the Committee once again reminds the Government that, pursuant to Article 7(1) of the Convention, measures must be taken to ensure the effective implementation and enforcement of the provisions giving effect to it, including the provision and application of criminal penalties or, as appropriate, other sanctions. The Committee, therefore, requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the provision of sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties for engaging young persons in hazardous types of work in violation of Decree No. 6.481. It also requests the Government to provide information on the number of violations detected of Decree No. 6.481, and the specific penalties applied.

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 2007, the net attendance rate in primary education was 95 per cent for boys and girls, and the rate in secondary education was 42 per cent for boys and 50 per cent for girls. The Committee also noted the information in the 2008 Education for All – Global Monitoring Report (published by UNESCO) indicating that, while Brazil was making steady progress towards achieving the goal of education for all by 2015, major disparities (to the detriment of boys) persisted and the goal of gender parity by 2025 would probably not be achieved. It noted, however, that the Government had established a cash-transfer programme (the school bursary programme) benefiting 16 million children and that the “Plan for the development of education” had been under way since 2007.

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report that 19 per cent of children and young persons who work do not attend school. The Government’s report also indicates that children who work and attend school had impaired school performance. The Committee also notes the information from the UNESCO Institute for Statistics that the net enrolment rate for secondary school has risen from 66 per cent in 1999 to 82 per cent in 2008. However, the net enrolment rate of boys, of 78 per cent, lagged behind that of girls, of 85 per cent. The Committee further notes the information in the 2010 UNESCO report Education For All – Global Monitoring Report that the net enrolment rate in primary education has risen from 91 per cent in 1999 to 93 per cent in 2007. However, this UNESCO report also indicates that there remain 901,000 out-of-school children between the ages of 7 and 10. This UNESCO report further indicates that education indicators (such as low secondary enrolment rates and high late enrolment rates) are significantly worse in poorer states in the north and north-east of the country, despite redistributive funding from the central Government to these states. Moreover, the Committee notes that the United Nations Committee on Economic and Social Rights, in its concluding observations of 12 June 2009, expressed concern that 43 per cent of children between 7 and 14 years of age do not complete the eighth grade of basic education at the proper age, despite the Government’s efforts to ensure the provision of compulsory elementary education free of charge and governmental programmes to encourage parents and caregivers to enrol young children in primary school (E/C.12/BRA/CO/2 paragraph 31). In view of the fact that education contributes to preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee urges the Government to strengthen its efforts to improve the functioning of the education system in the country and pursue its efforts to facilitate access to free basic education for children from poorer areas and states. In this regard, it requests the Government to supply information on the effective and time-bound measures taken, to increase the secondary school enrolment rate, reduce drop-out rates and reduce the number of out-of-school children, paying special attention to boys.

Tourist activities. The Committee previously noted the ILO–IPEC information that the Ministry of Tourism had stepped up its initiatives to combat commercial sexual exploitation in the country’s tourist destinations. The Committee encouraged the Government to pursue these efforts.

The Committee notes the information available on the website for Brazil’s Ministry of Tourism that the Ministry, in cooperation with Brasilia University, tourism sector businesses and civil society groups, has established the Sustainable Tourism and Childhood Programme, which aims to combat the commercial sexual exploitation of children in the country. The project consists of projects and campaigns in the northeast of the country for both prevention and awareness raising purposes, and includes the participation of non-governmental organizations, local law enforcement officials, official authorities, tour operators, hotels, taxi drivers, bus drivers and other professionals working in the industry. However, the Committee also notes the statement in a report entitled “Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 – Brazil”, available on the website of the Office of the High Commissioner for Refugees, that child sex tourism remains a serious problem in the country, particularly in resort and coastal areas in Brazil's north east. The Committee therefore urges the Government to strengthen its efforts, within the framework of the Sustainable Tourism and Childhood Programme, to combat child sex tourism in the country. It requests the Government to provide information on the effective and time-bound measures taken in this regard, and on the results achieved.

Clause (b). Assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. State without child labour – Bahia. The Committee previously noted that, in the context of the Bahia Decent Work Agenda, the Brazilian authorities and ILO–IPEC began implementing, in March 2008, a national aid project to make Bahia the first state in the country to be free of child labour.

The Committee notes the information in the ILO–IPEC Technical Progress Report for the project “Support to national efforts towards a child labour-free state, Bahia” of September 2010 that a total of 11,993 children have been identified and removed from child labour in the state thus far, through joint activities of the Ministry for the Social Development and Combating Hunger and the Labour Prosecutor’s Office. This ILO–IPEC report also indicates that the provision of services has begun to these children who have been removed. This ILO–IPEC report further indicates that studies have been undertaken on the situation of girls, boys and adolescents working in agriculture, the urban informal sector and child domestic labour, as well as those who are victims of commercial sexual exploitation, drug cultivation and trafficking. The Committee requests the Government to continue to supply information on the time-bound measures taken, within the framework of the project to make Bahia the first state in the country to be free of child labour, to identify and remove children engaged in the worst forms of child labour, and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of children identified and removed from the worst forms of child labour in the State of Bahia.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Orphans and other vulnerable children due to HIV/AIDS. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the information from UNAIDS and the World Health Organization of December 2008 that the number of persons living with the HIV virus in Brazil was approximately 730,000. It also noted that the Government was implementing a national framework for preventing and combating HIV/AIDS, which covers children who have been orphaned as a result of the virus.

The Committee notes the information in Brazil’s UNGASS Country Progress Report of March 2010 that there were 11,523 HIV-related deaths in 2008. The Government also indicates in this report that it has a national action plan specifically for orphans and vulnerable children. Recalling that orphans and other vulnerable children affected by HIV/AIDS are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken, within the framework of the national action plan for orphans and vulnerable children, to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour.

Article 8. International cooperation. The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report that one of the four subcommittees of the National Council for the Elimination of Child Labour (CONAETI) focuses on international relations and South–South cooperation related to child labour. The Government indicates that this subcommittee provides a channel for dialogue and cooperation, and allows the Government to promote international cooperation in the sphere of child labour. The Committee notes with interest that, through a partnership between the ILO and the Brazilian Agency for Cooperation (part of the Ministry of Foreign Relations), the Government engages in technical cooperation to share its successes and best practices in the areas requested by the partner countries. The Government indicates that this cooperation strategy is centred on institutional strengthening of the partners, as a fundamental condition for the effective transfer and absorption of knowledge. The Government also indicates that this technical cooperation occurs with: (i) countries whose official language is Portuguese; (ii) MERCOSUR countries; (iii) countries of the Andean community and some Central American and Caribbean countries; and (iv) countries involved in the India, Brazil and South Africa initiative. The Government further indicates that it maintains technical cooperation relations in the sphere of child labour with many countries, and that it has concluded bilateral agreements with Haiti, Ecuador and Peru. Cooperation agreements were also signed with Timor Leste, Bolivia and Paraguay, for projects to be implemented in 2010 and 2011. The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its international cooperation efforts to combat the worst forms of child labour, and to continue to provide information on the impact achieved through these initiatives.