Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2013, published 103rd ILC session (2014)

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

Article 4(1) of the Convention. Determination of types of hazardous work. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest that the Employment (Prohibition of Hazardous Work for Children) Order was adopted and gazetted in 2012. The Committee notes that this Order contains an extensive list of prohibited types of work for children under 18 years of age in the following sectors: agriculture; industry (including the tobacco sector); entertainment; tourism; health; and miscellaneous. The Committee notes the Government’s information that a countrywide dissemination programme of the gazette is being implemented in collaboration with ILO–IPEC.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. Child labour monitoring system. The Committee previously noted the establishment of the National Steering Committee (NSC) on child labour and of the Child Labour Monitoring System (CLMS). It noted the Government’s information that the CLMS was under development by the Child Labour Unit of the Ministry of Labour. In this regard, it noted that the development of the CLMS was also one of the stated objectives of the National Action Plan (NAP) on Child Labour for Malawi (2010–16), which the NSC has the overall responsibility for implementing.

The Committee observes that the Government provides no information on this point in its report. The Committee, therefore, once again urges the Government to take measures, within the framework of the NAP on Child Labour, to develop and improve the CLMS system in order to monitor the implementation of the provisions giving effect to the Convention. It also once again requests the Government to provide information on the implementation of the NAP on Child Labour by the NSC, and on the results achieved, with its next report.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and providing assistance for the removal of children from these types of work and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Trafficking of children. The Committee previously noted the information in the Government’s report to the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW) of 20 October 2008, that the International Organization for Migration, in collaboration with the Government and NGO partners, was implementing a project in the region to prevent trafficking in persons, to protect victims and provide them with rehabilitative assistance, or with return and reintegration options (CEDAW/C/MWI/6, paragraph 157). The Committee further noted that the Government provided law enforcement, immigration, and social services personnel with basic training in identifying victims of trafficking, and that an inter-ministerial task force on human trafficking, led by the Ministry of Women and Child Development, had begun to draft a national plan of action on trafficking which was not yet complete. It also noted that the NAP for Child Labour aims to include in its outcomes the enforcement of trafficking and migration laws and policies, and the strengthening of the network of agencies dealing with trafficking and migration. It is also indicated in the NAP on Child Labour that child trafficking for labour exploitation within and outside the country is an emerging worst form of child labour, for which reason it will be a prioritized sector of intervention. Noting the absence of information on this question in the Government’s report, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved by the NAP on Child Labour in terms of the number of children who were prevented or withdrawn from sale and trafficking and provided with rehabilitative assistance. It also requests the Government to take measures to ensure that the drafting of the national plan of action on trafficking is completed in the very near future, and to provide information on the progress made in this regard in its next report.

Clause (d). Identifying children at special risk. 1. Children orphaned by HIV/AIDS. The Committee previously noted the information from UNAIDS according to which there were approximately 560,000 orphans in Malawi due to HIV/AIDS. The Committee also noted the Government’s indication, in its United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) country report of 31 March 2010, that only 18.5 per cent of orphans and vulnerable children (OVCs) received support through governmental initiatives, and that 81.5 per cent of OVCs received no support at all. In this regard, the Committee noted that the NAP on Child Labour aims to mainstream HIV/AIDS policies into child labour programmes: studies will be conducted on the relationship between child labour and HIV/AIDS; special support will be provided to children from HIV/AIDS-affected households through community-based support structures; and care and treatment will be provided to orphaned children aged 14–17 years who work to support their families.

The Committee notes that the Government provides no information on this question in its report. It notes, however, that, according to the 2012 Global Aids Response Progress Report, orphanhood and vulnerability have not significantly changed since 2004 and, overall, 17 per cent of children aged below 18 years in Malawi are either orphans and/or vulnerable. In this regard, the report indicates that there are a number of initiatives that target OVCs in Malawi, including the establishment of community-based childcare centres, the establishment of childcare institutions, and a social cash transfer programme. Recalling that orphans are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee once again urges the Government to redouble its efforts to ensure that children orphaned by HIV/AIDS are prevented from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures taken within the framework of the NAP on Child Labour in this regard.

2. Street children. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations of 27 March 2009, expressed its concern at the increasing number of children living on the streets and at the Government’s lack of specific policies and programmes to address the situation (CRC/C/MWI/CO/2, paragraph 68). It observed, however, that the NAP on Child Labour takes into consideration the problem of child labourers on the streets.

The Committee once again notes with regret that the Government provides no information on this issue in its report. Recalling that street children are particularly vulnerable to the worst forms of child labour, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the measures taken within the framework of the NAP on Child Labour to remove these children from the street and to provide for their rehabilitation and social reintegration. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard with its next report.