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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Colombia (Ratification: 2001)

The Committee notes the observations of the National Employers Association of Colombia (ANDI) received on 31 August 2021. It also notes the joint observations of the Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CTC), the Single Confederation of Workers of Colombia (CUT) and the General Confederation of Labour (CGT), received on 1 September 2021.

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy for the abolition of forced labour and application in practice. The Committee welcomes the response to its previous request, with the information in the Government’s report on the adoption of the Public Policy Framework for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labour and the Comprehensive Protection of Young Workers, 2017-2027, structured around six strategic pillars: (1) the strengthening of institutional architecture; (2) the promotion of rights and prevention of violations; (3) the quality and coverage of care; (4) the participation of children and their families; (5) knowledge management; and (6) monitoring and evaluation. The Committee notes that the Policy Framework has been discussed by national, regional and local authorities responsible for providing care for children engaged in child labour; and that the Colombian Family Welfare Institute (ICBF), in coordination with the Ministry of Labour, provided guidance in the formulation of action plans in 32 Interinstitutional Committees for the Eradication and Prevention of Child Labour and its Worst Forms (CIETIs) in the departments and the capital city. It notes the provision, under the Progressive Plan for Social Protection and Guaranteeing Rural Sector Workers’ Rights (under the Peace Agreement), of technical assistance in the area of child labour targeting family commissioners, territorial officials, social leaders, employers and workers.

The Committee welcomes the statistical information provided by the Government according to which the rate of child labour for boys and girls aged between 7 and 14 years fell by 2.1 per cent between 2015 and 2020. However, approximately 522,593 child and young workers were identified who were engaged in hazardous types of work affecting their mental and physical health, while 573,477 performed more than 15 hours work a week in their homes. The Committee notes that, in the framework of the ILO project Responsible Business Conduct in Latin America and the Caribbean (RBCLAC), the communication campaign “Coffee Producers for Child Protection” was launched by the Salgar Coffee Growers’ Cooperative in Antioquía to provide information and raise the awareness of families in coffee-growing areas to encourage them to take action to prevent child labour.

The Committee notes that the ANDI highlights the Government’s achievements in reducing child labour and emphasizes that the private sector is contributing actively to achieving this objective by raising enterprise leaders’ awareness of the importance of eradicating child labour in supply chains, as well as by supporting and participating in the elaboration of public policies. Public-private partnerships have been set up through the Network of Employers against Child Labour, which currently includes 44 enterprises and 19 strategic partnerships. Finally, the Committee notes that the Government emphasizes that it has an Integrated Information System for Identification, Registration and Classification of Child Labour and its Worst Forms (SIRITI), which provides a basis on which to build an institutional response to child labour. However, the CTC, CUT and CGT indicate that there are inconsistencies in the SIRITI, and that it does not provide information on the number of child workers assisted and how many have had their rights restored.

The Committee requests the Government to continue adopting measures, in collaboration with the social partners, to eliminate child labour, including child labour in dangerous conditions. To this end, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted in the context of the Public Framework Policy for the Prevention and Eradication of Child Labour and the Comprehensive Protection of Young Workers, 2017–2027, and their results. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing updated statistical data on the nature, extent and trends of child labour, particularly for child workers under the minimum age of 15 years, as well as information on the number of child workers covered by the measures adopted under the new policy.

Article 2(3) of the Convention. Compulsory education. The Committee has previously encouraged the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that all children attend school at least up to the age of 15 years (as provided in article 67 of the Political Constitution). The Committee notes with interest the detailed information provided by the Government and in particular that: (1) progress has been made in structuring a National Observatory of Educational Trajectories as an information system on the situation of students (access, repetition, those who have fallen behind or dropped out, and graduation) from pre-school to middle school, to facilitate analysis and the formulation of evidence-based public policies; (2) the Ministry of Education, in collaboration and coordination with the Certified Territorial Bodies (ETCs), is implementing a school retention strategy designed to take account of the health emergency, which includes reinforcing school retention strategies (including school meals programmes, coaching to prevent students falling behind, additional education days and flexible education, school residences and school transport); and (3) to promote retention within the education system, the Government has taken numerous measures, including providing training to 5,558 teachers and school heads in 83 ETCs in flexible education models during the second half of 2020, strengthening education services in rural areas by providing 234 educational establishments in 14 ETCs with sets of supplementary educational materials, such as libraries, laboratories and maps for use in the flexible education models.

The Committee, however, notes the Government’s indication that approximately 164,407 child workers (aged between 5 and 17 years) were without schooling in the fourth quarter of 2020. The Committee also notes, according to UNESCO statistics, that in 2019 there were 35,080 children and 106,186 young persons who were not at school; while in the same year the net primary (6 to 10 years of age) school attendance rate was at 93.9 per cent, and the secondary (11 to 16 years of age) school attendance rate was at 79.8 per cent. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it is necessary for the Ministry of Labour, together with the various social actors and strategic partners, to continue developing innovative strategies for activities to prevent and eradicate child labour in order to make further progress in achieving this goal. The Committee trusts that the measures adopted will make it possible to continue promoting and ensuring compulsory schooling for children at the national level, at least up to the age of 15 years, and requests the Government to continue providing information on any measures adopted and their results. The Committee also requests the Government to continue providing updated statistics on the school attendance and completion rates of children under the age of 15.

Article 9(1). Penalties and labour inspection. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on: (1) the legal instruments available to the labour inspectorate in carrying out its investigations; (2) the penalties that can be imposed (ranging from fines to the immediate stoppage of work); (3) section 113 of the Children and Young Persons Code, under which labour and social security inspectors responsible for authorizing work by young persons over the age of 15 years are required to undertake inspections to ascertain safety and working conditions for the health of the worker. For that purpose, in 2016 the Ministry of Labour issued a memorandum setting out inspection strategies and guidelines for the protection of the labour rights of children. While taking note of the functions of the labour inspectorate, the possibility of carrying out investigations and imposing penalties, the Committee observes that, according to the Government’s report, the rate of child labour, as well as that of children engaged in hazardous types of work, has further increased. Under these circumstances, the Committee trusts that the Government will continue taking all the necessary measures to give full effect to the Convention and once again requests it to provide information on the number of investigations carried out by the labour inspectorate in which penalties have been imposed for violations of the law in respect of work by persons under the minimum age of 15 years, with an indication of the type of penalty imposed and the nature of the violation.