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

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

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Article 5 of the Convention. Monitoring mechanisms.On the topic of labour inspection, the Committee refers to its comments under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138).

Article 6. National plan of action on the elimination of child labour (NAP–WFCL). Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Ministry of Labour (MoL) is in active contact with the ILO in Beirut to discuss future measures to follow-up and maintain the implementation of the NAP-WFCL, the priorities of which being: (1) making provision at policy level for increasing the number of child labour centres and providing services directly to them; (2) capacity-building for key service providers; and (3) meeting with the concerned competent NGOs to refer children working in the streets and victims of human trafficking to specialized centres.

The Committee takes note, in this regard, of the observations of the General Confederation of Lebanese Workers (CGTL), according to which the Government should strengthen the capacities of all stakeholders, including governmental institutions, social partners, and civil society organisations, to create and implement programmes and action plans to prevent children from being engaged in hazardous work and removing child workers from places where they perform such work. The Government shares, however, that the important challenges faced by the country, including the absence of the required funding for the implementation of the NAP-WFCL, has even led to the closure of the social welfare centres for the protection of children in the worst forms of child labour in the governorates of Beirut, Tripoli, Bekaa and Nabatieh. While noting the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee expresses the firm hope that the NAP-WFCL will be extended and its priorities implemented, in order to ensure the protection of children under 18 years of age from the worst forms of child labour and the reintegration and rehabilitation of victims through the services of safe and specialized shelters. It requests the Government to provide detailed information on the measures taken in this regard and the results achieved, including regarding the possible reopening of the social welfare centres that were compelled to close due to the economic crisis.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. The Committee notes that the CGTL, in its observations, indicates that the Government should confront the phenomenon of school dropouts, and reintegrate children into the educational system at the academic and vocational training levels.

In this regard, the Committee takes note of the Government’s information that, in 2018, UNICEF and the Ministry of Education and Higher Education have supported the enrolment in public schools of 213,358 refugee children and 209,409 Lebanese children in vulnerable situations. However, the Government indicates that, since then, the Syrian refugee crisis and the economic crisis in the country have had far-reaching consequences for both refugee and Lebanese children’s right to quality education in Lebanon. The Committee notes with concern that some students, including Lebanese students, have had to absent themselves from school in order to help their families earn a living, resulting in a decline in the enrolment rates, in particular at the secondary level. In addition, the Committee notes the concern expressed by the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in its concluding observations of 1 March 2022, that school-related costs, including transportation, prevent many girls from attending school, and at the very low attendance rates among refugee girls (CEDAW/C/LBN/CO/6, paragraph 37).

The Committee takes note of the Government’s information regarding the programmes developed in response to the increasing number of non-Lebanese and Lebanese students who wish to enrol or return to formal education following school interruptions. These include: (1) the “Reaching All Children with Education” project (RACE II) (2017–21), implemented by the Ministry of Education and Higher Education and partners to ensure quality educational opportunities for children aged 3 to 18, regardless of nationality, through holistic interventions that address the demand and availability of quality public education, including non-formal education; (2) the Basic Literacy and Numeracy Programme (BLN), one part of which is aimed at children aged 10 to 14 who have never been in education to prepare them for enrolment in formal education; and (3) the Accelerated Learning Programme, to reintegrate children into formal education following intensive programmes of learning to catch up. The Committee urges the Government to pursue and strengthen its measures to ensure access to free basic education to all children, both boys and girls and both Lebanese and children from other nationalities, by placing emphasis on addressing the main drivers leading children to drop out of school, for instance poverty and school-related costs, including transportation. The Committee also strongly encourages the Government to continue taking measures to ensure quality educational opportunities for all children with a view to increasing the school enrolment rates and decreasing the drop-out rates. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken and results achieved in this regard, including updated statistical information, to the extent possible disaggregated by age and gender.

Clause (e). Special situation of girls.The Committee once gain requests the Government to indicate whether, within the framework of the NAP–WFCL or any other programme or project, specific measures have been adopted for girls, particularly for girl domestic workers, to ensure that they do not fall into the worst forms of child labour.