Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2014, published 104th ILC session (2015)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Burkina Faso (Ratification: 1999)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy and application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that child labour affected 41.1 per cent of children between 5 and 17 years of age in Burkina Faso, which amounted to 1,658,869 working children. More than 30 per cent of children between 5 and 9 years of age and 47.6 per cent of children between 10 and 14 years of age worked in various economic sectors. The Committee noted that most children were working in agriculture and stockbreeding, and the most vulnerable groups were employed as apprentices, in the informal economy in small-scale gold mines and, regarding girls in particular, as domestic workers, vendors or apprentices. The Committee noted the Government’s adoption on 15 February 2012 of the National Plan of Action to combat the worst forms of child labour in Burkina Faso 2011–15 (PAN/PFTE), formulated in collaboration with ILO–IPEC, with the general objective of reducing the incidence of child labour by 2015.

The Committee notes the Government’s indications that, in the context of the implementation of PAN/PFTE, a total of 126 inspections were conducted in 2013 in relation to child labour, of which 104 were in small-scale gold mines, ten in agriculture and 12 in the informal economy. These controls identified 1,411 children who were working, of whom 1,195 were in small-scale gold mines and 215 in the informal economy (carpentry, engineering, sewing, small-scale trading, etc.). The Government also indicates that in 2013 a total of 50 meetings for building the capacities of actors involved in combating child labour took place; 107 awareness-raising meetings were held which reached out to some 30,000 people; and the PAN/PFTE National Coordinating Committee was established. The Government also indicates that it undertook a number of actions to build the capacity of the labour inspectorate with regard to monitoring child labour. These actions included the preparation and adoption of a module on child labour with a view to incorporating it into the training curriculum for labour inspectors and controllers and the drawing up of a training plan for labour inspectors covering various areas including action against child labour.

While duly noting the measures taken by the Government, the Committee notes with concern the large number of children under the minimum age for admission to employment who are working in Burkina Faso. The Committee urges the Government to continue its efforts to ensure the progressive elimination of child labour. It requests the Government to provide detailed information on the impact of PAN/PFTE and measures for strengthening the labour inspectorate in terms of the number of working children under 15 years of age, particularly children working in the informal economy, who have been able to enjoy the protection granted by the Convention. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing information on the application of the Convention in practice, including recent statistics, disaggregated by sex and age group, relating to the nature, extent and trends of the labour of children and young persons under the minimum age specified by the Government at the time of ratification, and extracts from the reports of the inspection services.

Article 9(1). Penalties. In its previous comments, the Committee noted with interest that, under section 5 of Act No. 029-2008/AN of 15 May 2008 combating trafficking in persons and similar practices, any person who commits an offence constituting one of the worst forms of child labour, including hazardous work, shall be liable to imprisonment ranging from ten to 20 years.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication in its report on the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), that 14 compliance orders were issued by the regional labour and social security directorates in 2013 to operators of small-scale gold mines instructing them to comply with the legislation on child labour. The Committee recalls that, under the terms of Article 9(1) of the Convention, the competent authority must take all necessary measures, including the provision of appropriate penalties, to ensure the effective enforcement of the provisions of the Convention. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that any person violating the provisions that give effect to the Convention, particularly those relating to hazardous work, is prosecuted and appropriate penalties are imposed. It requests the Government to provide information on the types of violation detected, the number of persons prosecuted and the penalties imposed.