Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Togo (Ratification: 1984)

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Article 1 of the Convention. National policy and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the adoption of the National Action Plan to combat child labour and its worse forms (NAP 2020–24). The six strategic pillars of the NAP are: (1) reinforcement of the legal and institutional framework to combat child labour; (2) information, awareness-raising and social mobilisation; (3) education and training; (4) protection, follow-up, and care for child victims and those at risk of the worst forms of child labour; (5) monitoring and repression; and (6) coordination and evaluation of the NAP. A mid-term and final review of the NAP is foreseen. Implementation is undertaken by the Ministry of Labour through the National Steering Committee on combatting child labour.

The Committee also takes note of the data contained in the report of the Understanding Children’s Work programme, referenced in the NAP, that around 719,000 children of less than 15 years of age are economically active, and 214,000 children of 15 to 17 years of age are reported to be engaged in the worst forms of labour. Moreover, according to the 2017 UNICEF Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, a total of 38.5 percent of girls and 38.4 per cent of boys between 5 and 17 years of age are engaged in child labour. While noting certain measures taken by the Government, the Committee is bound to express its concern at the persistently large number of children working in Togo, including in hazardous conditions. The Committee therefore requests the Government to reinforce its efforts and to continue to take the necessary measures to ensure the effective abolition of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the results obtained under the NAP 2020–24, particularly through the evaluation to be undertaken for that purpose.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and labour inspection. The Committee notes the information from the Government according to which between 2019 and 2022, apart from induction training of labour inspectors provided by the National School of Administration, at least one inspector a year was trained at the African Regional Labour Administration Centre. Nevertheless, the Government stresses that only the induction training contains a module on child labour, and that it is struggling to mobilize the means of offering specialised training, such as on child labour. It adds that several factors, among them the security crisis in the north of Togo, have had a negative impact on the budget allocated to the social services, which in turn has hampered the labour inspectorate’s ability to conduct data collection on child labour and in drawing up the training plan for inspectors. While taking account of the crisis in the north of Togo, the Committee again requests the Government to continue its efforts to strengthen the capacity of the labour inspection, including in the informal economy, to identify children working below the minimum age for admission to employment. It requests the Government to provide information in this respect as well as on the inclusion in the training plan for training on child labour. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on the data gathered using the labour inspection services’ data-gathering system concerning child labour, including statistical information on the number and nature of reported violations, and the penalties imposed in the event of violations.

Article 3(3). Admission to hazardous work from the age of 16 years. In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to take the necessary steps to amend section 11 of Order No. 1556/MPFTRAPS of 22 May 2020, determining the hazardous types of work that children are prohibited from performing in order to guarantee that the hazardous work provided for under this Order can only be performed by children of at least 16 years of age, and that the health, safety and morals of children between 16 and 18 years of age performing types of work figuring among the hazardous types listed in Order No. 1556/MPFTRAPS are fully guaranteed and that these children have received adequate specific training in the relevant branch of activity.

The Committee notes the information provided in the Government’s report, that the social partners are currently being consulted on the reformulation of section 11 of Order No. 1556/MPFTRAPS of 22 May 2020, to ensure that the hazardous types of work provided for by the Order shall only be performed by children of at least 16 years of age and that strict conditions of protection and training are respected. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on all progress achieved concerning the amendment of section 11 of Order No. 1556/MPFTRAPS of 22 May 2020. It also requests the Government to take the necessary steps to ensure that the health, safety, and morals of children between 16 and 18 years of age performing certain types of hazardous work (under Order No. 1556/MPFTRAPS) are fully guaranteed and that these children have received adequate specific training in the relevant branch of activity, as provided under Article 3(3) of the Convention.

Article 6. Apprenticeship. The Committee takes good note of the new Labour Code of 2021 (Act No. 2021-012 of 18 June 2021), as well as the provisions of section 122 under which an apprenticeship contract shall only be concluded with a person under 15 years of age on authorization by the labour inspector, and section 123, under which the conditions relating to the conclusion and performance of the apprenticeship contract shall be determined by the legislation in force.

However, the Committee notes with regret that the draft code on apprenticeship, which determines the conditions with which an apprenticeship contract shall comply and by virtue of which such a contract shall not start before the age of compulsory schooling and in no case before 15 years of age, is currently going through technical validation, and has not yet been adopted. The Committee again requests the Government to take the necessary measures so that the code on apprenticeship is adopted without delay, in conformity with Article 6 of the Convention. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this respect, as well as a copy of the texts once they have been adopted.

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