Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Mexico (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 its previous comments the Committee noted the use of children for begging and asked the Government to provide information on the application in practice of section 201 of the Federal Penal Code, which establishes penalties for inciting or obliging any person to engage in begging.

The Committee notes Government’s indications in its report that the Office of the Attorney General has not reported any violations under section 201 of the Federal Penal Code between June 2011 and July 2012. The Committee notes that section 24 of the General Law to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Crimes relating to Trafficking in Persons and to Protect and Assist the Victims of these Crimes of 14 June 2012 prohibits the use of a minor under 18 years of age for begging and provides for aggravated sanctions for perpetrators of between nine and 15 years’ imprisonment and between 1,000 and 25,000 daily wages. The Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information in its next report on the number of violations reported and penalties imposed under section 201 of the Federal Penal Code and section 24 of the 2012 General Law to Prevent, Punish and Eradicate Crimes relating to Trafficking in Persons and to Protect and Assist the Victims of these Crimes.

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. In its previous comments the Committee noted the results achieved under the “Opportunidades” programme that provides education grants to children in very poor households, as well as the activities of the ILO–IPEC project “Stop child labour in agriculture” in this regard.

The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report that the “Opportunidades” programme maintained its coverage of 5.8 million families in 2011 including almost 1.5 million families in indigenous communities. It notes that the education grant under the programme is provided to children between 14 and 21 years of age, increases with each grade, is higher for girls compared to boys and includes financial assistance for the acquisition of school supplies. The Committee also notes that the Secretary for Education developed the Basic Education Programme for Children of Agricultural Day Labourers (PRONIM), which operates in 29 federal states. In the 2009–10 school year, PRONIM provided educational assistance to 60,477 children and in the 2010–11 school year to 73,458 children. The objective of PRONIM is to ensure a coverage of 100,000 children by the end of 2012. The Committee also notes the initiatives undertaken in the context of the national system of educational supervision of migrants to reach out to the migrant families and ensure basic education of their children.

According to UNICEF 2010 statistics, the net school attendance rate for primary education stands at 97 per cent for girls and boys. Nevertheless, the Committee observes, that even though the primary–secondary transition rate remained stable at 94 per cent in 2010 (compared to 2008), the net enrolment rate in secondary education did not improve and was only 72 per cent for boys and 74 per cent for girls. The Committee also notes in this regard the results of the “Child labour” module published as part of the 2011 national survey of employment and occupation which found that in 2011, of the 3 million children in employment, 39.1 per cent did not attend school, a percentage corresponding to a total of 1.2 million children of which 72.3 per cent are boys and 27.7 per cent are girls.

The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to improve the functioning of the educational system, giving particular attention to boys, children from rural areas, indigenous communities and of migrant workers, and placing emphasis on raising the school attendance rate for secondary education. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the results achieved in this regard, in particular in the context of the “Opportunidades” and PRONIM programmes.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. 1. Child domestic labour. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes that, according to the results of the 2011 national survey of employment and occupation mentioned above, more than 20 million children and young persons between 5 and 17 years of age are engaged in domestic labour (compared to 19 million children in 2009). Of these, 9.5 per cent, which represent 1.9 million children (compared to 2 million in 2009) do not go to school, 59.2 per cent of which are girls. The Committee notes that within the framework of the policy to prevent child labour and to protect young persons in ages permissible to work the Secretary of Labour and Social Welfare has carried out a number of activities. These have included: the organization of six workshops between June to December 2011 attended by 273 participants including 112 strategic actors such as trade unions, employers’ organizations, companies, government bodies and civil society groups; the signature of 31 letters of commitment on the intersectoral level to eradicate child labour and protect young workers; and the realization of six seminars from May to November 2011 on strategic planning and follow-up to the commitment to eradicate child labour and protect young workers. While these activities contribute to protecting children in domestic labour from the worst forms of child labour, the Committee notes that the Government’s report provides no information on specific efforts undertaken and the results achieved to prevent and protect children engaged in domestic labour. Considering the high incidence of child domestic labour in the country, the Committee urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to protect children, especially girls, engaged in domestic labour from the worst forms of child labour and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information in its next report on the measures taken and the results achieved in this regard. The Committee encourages the Government to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), which has key provisions for child protection.

2. Children engaged in agricultural work or marginal urban activities. In its previous comments the Committee noted the results of the programme to prevent and eliminate child labour in the marginal urban sector (PROCEDER) and the activities of the ILO–IPEC project entitled “Stop child labour in agriculture” which provide for direct action to prevent child labour in agriculture and withdraw children already working in the sector. The Committee notes that, according to the results of the 2011 national survey of employment and occupation mentioned above, the percentage of children between 5 and 17 years engaged in agricultural activities decreased slightly from 30.3 per cent in 2009 to 29.5 per cent in 2011.

The Committee notes the Government’s indications that no updated information is available on the results achieved in the context of the PROCEDER programme. It further notes that the Government is developing a diagnostic study in collaboration with the different government bodies concerned to comprehensively understand the phenomenon of child labour in agriculture. The Committee also notes the activities implemented by the Government in the context of the Convention for the Execution of the Programme of Direct Action (PAD) since August 2011, which have included capacity building activities of 32 government institutions, assistance to 2,860 children and young persons, various awareness-raising activities and information sessions in the sugar cane and coffee industry. It also notes from the Government’s report, as well as from the technical progress report on the ILO–IPEC project entitled “Stop child labour in agriculture” in Mexico of October 2012, that as a result of work that begun in 2010, the national sugar industry made great strides in its commitment to prevent and eliminate child labour in its value chain. Besides internationally presenting proposals to eliminate child labour in the countryside, national leaders and the Government of the State of Veracruz in August 2012 signed an agreement to develop actions leading to the prevention and elimination of child labour in the agricultural industry in this state.

The Committee strongly encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to protect children engaged in informal urban activities and agriculture from hazardous types of work and requests it to continue to provide information on the impact and results achieved in the context of the PROCEDER and PAD programmes, as well as in the sugar industry.

3. Street children. The Committee previously noted the high number of street children and the results of the PROCEDER programme under which 1,161 girls and 2,527 boys living in the streets received assistance between 2008 and 2010. Of these, 595 girls and 1,579 boys were reintegrated into their families. The Committee notes the Government’s indications that the National System for the Integral Development of the Family (SNDIF) through various programmes targets street children and carries out preventive action, provides educational activities, as well as health, capacity building, legal and psychological assistance. The Committee notes the results of its programmes, which in 2011 withdrew 199 girls and 415 boys from the streets and reintegrated them into their families. Between January and April 2012, 77 girls and 82 boys were withdrawn and reintegrated. The Government’s report provides no information on recent results of the PROCEDER programme regarding street children. Recalling again that street children are particularly vulnerable to the worst forms of child labour, the Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to remove children from the streets and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the number of children who have been removed from the streets, rehabilitated and socially integrated.

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments the Committee expressed its concern at the large number of children under 18 years of age who are engaged in the worst forms of child labour and called on the Government to strengthen its efforts to protect these children.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that currently the federal inspectorate consists of 376 inspectors. Yet, the Committee notes with interest that another 400 inspectors are in the process of being recruited, which will ensure a total of 776 labour inspectors for monitoring child labour. The Committee observes however that the Government’s report does not contain information on the number of inspections conducted, neither on the number of investigations, reported violations and penalties imposed. It also notes that the National Institute of Migration has carried out 95 regional verification visits since February 2012 to detect possible victims of trafficking.

The Committee furthermore notes that according to the results of the 2011 national survey of employment and occupation mentioned above, the percentage of children between 5 and 17 years of age who were engaged in economic activities fell from 3.2 million in 2009 to 3 million in 2011. However the employment rate remained almost unchanged (10.8 per cent in 2009 and 10.5 per cent in 2011). In the period 2009-2011, the participation of unschooled children in economic activities increased slightly, from 44.8 per cent to 46 per cent.

Considering the large number of children under 18 years of age who are engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee urges the Government to further intensify its efforts to protect children from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to continue to provide statistics and other information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, the number of children protected by the measures giving effect to the Convention, the number and nature of reported violations, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and criminal penalties imposed. To the extent possible, all information provided should be disaggregated by sex and age.