Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2021, published 110th ILC session (2022)

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Burundi (Ratification: 1963)

The Committee takes note of the observation of the Trade Union Confederation of Burundi (COSYBU), received on 28 August 2021.

Article 1(1) and Article 2(1) of the Convention. Compulsory community development work. For more than ten years, the Committee has referred to the question of community work in which the population participates under Act No. 1/016 of 20 April 2005 organizing municipal administration. With the objective of promoting the economic and social development of municipalities at both the individual level and on a collective and unified basis, municipalities may cooperate through a system of inter-municipality, and it is up to the municipal council to establish the community development programme, monitor its implementation and carry out the evaluation thereof. While noting the Government’s indication that the law does not provide for penalties against persons who do not engage in community work, the Committee observes that this work is undertaken by the population without a text regulating the nature of the work, the terms under which the work may be required of the population, nor the manner in which the work is organized. The Committee also noted that the COSYBU referred to the fact that the population is not consulted on the nature of the work, which is decided upon unilaterally, and that the police prevent the population from moving during such work, by closing the streets. The Committee drew the Government’s attention to the need to adopt regulations to Act No. 1/016 of 20 April 2005 organizing municipal administration, to provide a framework for participation in community work and its organization, and enshrine the voluntary nature of the work.

In its report, the Government reiterates that participation in community work is voluntary, and that it takes due note of the need to regulate Act No. 1/016. The Committee notes however that Basic Act No. 1/04 of 19 February 2020 amending certain provisions of Act No. 1/33 of 28 November 2014 organizing municipal administration, does not enshrine the voluntary character of the work. This Act reprises certain provisions of Act No. 1/016 of 20 April 2005, and specifies that municipalities must promote their economic and social development at both the individual level and on a collective and unified basis, and that it is up to the municipal council to monitor the implementation and carry out the evaluation of the municipal development programme. The Committee notes the new observations from the COSYBU according to which during the performance of community works circulation in the streets is free, although no information regarding the lifting of the street closures has been provided.

The Committee observes, from the information available on the Government’s website, that certain community work consists of renewing bridges and roads. Furthermore, according to information available on the National Assembly website, community work that helps install municipal, regional and national infrastructure, boosts the national budget allocated to the country’s socio-economic policies by the equivalent of more than 10 per cent each year, and appears to implicate the entire population. The Committee also notes that, in its annual report for 2020, the Independent National Human Rights Commission (CNIDH) refers to labour supplied by the population, which had been used for the construction of new classrooms. In light of the nature of the work undertaken, its scale and the importance that it holds for the country, the Committee again requests the Government to take the appropriate measures to regulate the ways in which the population participates in community work, and to enshrine the voluntary nature of this participation. It requests the Government to provide information on progress made in this regard.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.