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

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Kenya (Ratification: 2001)

Article 1 of the Convention. Measures taken to secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour and application of the Convention in practice.  In its previous comments, the Committee noted with regret that the Government had been referring to the adoption of the National Child Labour Policy (NCLP) since 2004, and requested the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure its adoption in the very near future.

The Committee notes an absence of information in the Government’s report on this point. However, it notes the information from the ILO website that Kenya’s National Assembly adopted the NCLP in October 2016 which focuses on strategies that are aimed at the prevention, identification, withdrawal, rehabilitation and reintegration of children involved in all forms of child labour. The Committee also notes the Government’s information in its report of 11 November 2019 to the Human Rights Council of 2019 that a National Plan of Action (NPA) for Children in Kenya 2015-2022 is in place which provides an operational framework to guide stakeholders and funding partners in coordinating, planning, implementing and monitoring programmes for children (A/HRC/WG.6/35/KEN/1, paragraph 16). According to the NPA 2015-22 document, this NPA proposes to implement programmes that promote prevention of child labour, implement the provisions prohibiting commercial sexual exploitation and trafficking of children, strengthen the National Steering Committee on child trafficking, improve the provision of psychosocial support for victims of the worst forms of child labour and strengthen social protection programmes for vulnerable children. The Committee notes from the report of the UNICEF Situation Analysis of Children and Women (SITAN report) in Kenya, 2017 that the worst forms of child labour in Kenya include illicit drug trafficking, the employment of children as domestic workers, the commercial sexual exploitation of children, trafficking of children for child labour along with begging and scavenging (paragraph 406). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the concrete measures taken within the framework of the NCLP and the NPA 2015-2022 to combat the worst form of child labour in Kenya and the results achieved. It also requests the Government to provide information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, the number of children covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention, the number and nature of infringements reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied. To the extent possible, all information provided should be disaggregated by age and gender.

Articles 3(d) and 4. Hazardous work.  The Committee previously noted that the fourth schedule of the Employment (General) Rules, adopted in 2014, contains a list of 18 sectors including 45 types of work prohibited to children under the age of 18 years (section 12(3) read in conjunction with section 24(e)). It also noted that according to section 16 of the Employment (General) Rules, any person who contravenes any of the provisions related to the employment of children, including the prohibition on employing children in the hazardous types of work listed in the fourth schedule, shall be punished with a fine not exceeding 100,000 Kenyan shillings (KES) (approximately US$982) or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months or both.  Noting the absence of information in the Government’s report, the Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of section 16 of the Employment (General) Rules of 2014, including statistics on the number and nature of violations reported and penalties imposed for the violations pursuant to sections 12(3) and 24(e).

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (c). Prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and ensure access to free basic education for all children removed from the worst forms of child labour.   In its previous comments, the Committee noted the various measures taken by the Government to improve access to basic education which led to an increase in the school enrolment rates at the primary level from 7.4 million in 2004 to 10.2 million in 2013 (95.9 per cent) and at the secondary level from 20.5 per cent to 33.1 per cent. Noting that the school enrolment in secondary level remained low, the Committee requested the Government to pursue its efforts to improve the functioning of the educational system, particularly by increasing secondary school enrolment, attendance and completion rates and decreasing the drop-out rates.

The Committee notes the Government’s information in its report on the measures taken to improve school enrolment and attendance rates and reduce dropout rates, including (i) awareness raising and empowerment of parents, teachers, communities and other partners to support children; (ii) the provision of more teachers to improve teacher-student ratio in secondary education; (iii) provision of increased grants to primary and secondary schools to implement policies for free primary and secondary school education and school infrastructure improvements; (iv) the implementation of feeding programmes in selected primary schools in arid and semi-arid lands (ASAL), slums and poverty-stricken areas; (v) the development of National Guidelines for school re-entry in early learning and basic education to prevent exclusion of children from education; and (vi) the adoption of a policy for the alternative provision of basic education and training. The Government indicates that through these efforts, the enrolment in public and private secondary schools increased from 2.8 million in 2018 to 3.3 million in 2019, an increase by 10.8 per cent. The Government report also provides statistical information on the school enrolment rates in the pre-primary level and primary level in 2019 which are 2,738,600 and 10,072,000 respectively. The Committee further notes the Government’s information in its report of November 2019 to the Human Rights Council that the total number of pre-primary, primary and secondary schools have increased by 1.7 per cent, 6.7 per cent, and 7.2 percent respectively, from 2016 to 2017. Furthermore, primary school enrolment of girls has increased from 5,060,300 in 2016 to 5,178,300 in 2018 (A/HRC/WG.6/35/KEN/1, paragraphs 62 and 63). However, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that more than 850,000 children aged between 6-17 years are out of school in Kenya. The Committee encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to improve the functioning of the educational system, by increasing the primary and secondary school enrolment, attendance and completion rates and decreasing the drop-out rates. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and the results achieved.