Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Zambia (Ratification: 1976)

Article 3(2) of the Convention. Determination of hazardous work. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the adoption of the Statutory Instrument No. 121 of 2013 which prohibits the employment of children and young persons under the age of 18 years in hazardous work and which contains a list of 31 types of hazardous work prohibited to children and young persons (section 3(2)). It requested the Government to provide information on the application in practice of this Statutory Instrument, including statics on the number and nature of violations reported and penalties imposed.

The Committee notes the Government representative’s indication to the Conference Committee that monitoring of compliance with the Statutory Instrument had started and had been devolved to the District Child Labour Committees and that work was ongoing to develop methods of gathering data on the number and nature of violations reported and penalties imposed. The Government representative also indicated that a National Child Labour Steering Committee comprising of government ministries, employers, trade unions and the civil society had been created to oversee child labour activities as well as the implementation of the Statutory Instrument. Noting the absence of information in the Government’s report in this regard, the Committee requests the Government to provide detailed information on the application in practice of Statutory Instrument No. 121 of 2013, including statistics on the number and nature of violations reported and penalties imposed. It also requests the Government to provide information on the methods adopted by the District Child Labour Committees and the National Steering Committee in monitoring child labour as well as the data collected in this regard.