Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2020, published 109th ILC session (2021)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Kyrgyzstan (Ratification: 2004)

Article 6 of the Convention. Programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Ministry of Labour and Social Development has prepared a draft Government Decree approving the draft 2020–2024 Action Plan to Prevent and Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Kyrgyzstan elaborated with support from ILO-IPEC. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on developments in this respect.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee previously noted the information in the UNESCO Global Monitoring Report of 2012 that in 2010 there was approximately 18,000 out-of-school children of primary school age, which represented a significant drop from the 34,000 out-of-school children in 1999. However, the Committee also noted the information from ILO–IPEC that a 2012 study on school non-attendance in the southern part of the country indicated that over one third of the interviewed school age children did not attend school, or regularly missed classes, and that child labour was among the main reasons for school non-attendance.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that the Ministry of Education and Science, together with local self-government bodies, monitor the number of school-age children every year. In particular, in May 2019, it was identified that 2034 children did not attend school due to personal, social and economic reasons. The Government also indicates the adoption of the Instructions on the procedure for recording children of school and pre-school age which have introduced an updated system for monitoring school non-attendance. The Committee further takes note of various measures mentioned by the Government aimed at ensuring better access to education (for example, issuing of a manual for teachers on integrating working children into the school education system, as well as the issuing of the 2015 Regulations on additional (non-formal) education of children). The Committee requests the Government to continue to take measures aimed at facilitating access to free basic education to children and ensuring their attendance in school. It further requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved in this regard, including statistical data on school attendance and school drop-out rates.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Children from poor families. The Committee previously noted the Government’s statement that the Ministry of Social Development had funded 38 projects on the theme of preventing parental deprivation and the exploitation of child labour, 14 of which concerned child labour. The Committee also noted the Government’s indication that through the project to establish child labour free zones, implemented by the Trade Unions of Education and Science Workers of Kyrgyzstan (TUESWK), 50 families with children who were compelled by difficult social and economic circumstances to work had been provided with support. The Government indicated that through the project, 40 working children had been identified, as well as an additional 60 children who are at risk of engagement in the worst forms of child labour.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication on the adoption of the State Programme to Support Families and Protect Children for 2018–2028 aimed at developing family wellbeing, creating conditions for economic stability of families, and providing appropriate standards of living and quality of life, in particular, to children and families living in difficult circumstances. The Government further indicates that 40 parents and adult members of families living in difficult circumstances were trained in the basics of running business and business promotion under the ILO’s Start and Improve Your Business (SIYB) Programme. The Government highlights that the Ministry of Labour and Social Development is considering expanding the provision of such a social service under the Act on State Social Services Procurement of 28 April 2017 No.70. In addition, in 2018–2019, together with the ZhIA Business Association, and with support from ILO-IPEC, an analysis of the market systems and value chains in the cotton, walnut and bean sectors was conducted. The objective of the analysis was to define a strategy to engage families in productive employment and to expand their economic opportunities, so as to prevent and eliminate child labour and its worst forms. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to prevent children from poor socio-economic families from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour.

Street children. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the number of street children forced into prostitution, begging and casual work was on the rise. It noted the information from the United Nations Development Programme that there was approximately 15–20,000 street and working children in the country, including 2,000 such children in Bishkek City. The Committee further noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations, expressed concern about the difficult situation of certain groups of children in the country, particularly street children and working children, as they are particularly vulnerable to all forms of exploitation (CRC/C/OPSC/KGZ/CO/1, paragraph 27).

The Committee notes from the Government’s report on the application of the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), that from 2–4 April 2019, a preventative operation entitled “Vagrant” was carried out in Kyrgyzstan. To identify street children, the officials from internal affairs agencies, together with representatives of educational bodies and child protection agencies, checked retail centres and markets, computer and Internet clubs, basements and heating pipelines, airports and railway stations, and other places. As a result of the operation, 307 street minors were identified. 10 of 307 street minors were sent to children’s homes, 15 to social centres, 107 to the Youth Offending Prevention Centre of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and the remaining 149 minors were handed over to parents. In addition, 59 working children were identified, 18 of whom were engaged in the worst forms of child labour. The Committee further notes that according to the Code on children of 2012 street children are considered as children living in difficult circumstances (section 5), and shall be provided with social assistance measures. As per the Regulations on the Procedure for Identifying Children and Families Living in Difficult Circumstances of 2015, officials of competent authorities for child protection identify and assess the situation of children living in difficult circumstances, including street children, develop an individual child protection plan with appropriate social assistance measures, and monitor its implementation. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken to protect street children from the worst forms of child labour, and the results achieved, including the number of identified street children and the types of social assistance provided.