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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Burkina Faso (Ratification: 1999)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy, labour inspection and application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments the Committee noted that, according to the last National Survey of Child Labour in Burkina Faso (ENTE), published in 2008, child labour affected 41.1 per cent of children between 5 and 17 years of age a total of 1,658,869 working children. The Committee noted that the National Economic and Social Development Plan 2016–2020 (PNDES) gives priority status to combating child labour and that one of the expected outcomes was to “reduce the proportion of children in the 5–17 age group involved in economic activities from 41 per cent to 25 per cent in 2020.”

The Committee notes the information in the Government’s report on the activities undertaken as part of the PNDES, including the implementation of the road map for the prevention, removal and reintegration of children from small-scale gold mines and quarries (2015–19). The Government also indicates that action has been engaged under the GOVERNANCE (2016–19) project, implemented in the framework of the France-ILO partnership, to strengthen the capacities of the labour inspection in respect of the informal economy. The action includes the elaboration of strategic plans for intervention by the labour inspectorate in general engineering workshops, construction and public works. It also covers the informal economy, and is piloted in four Regional Directorates for Labour and Social Protection. Training is provided for labour inspectors, duplicated across the different regional labour directorates. Finally, the Committee notes that the Government has adopted the National Strategy to Combat the Worst Forms of Child Labour 2019-23 (SN-PFTE). However, the Government indicates that it has no recent statistics on the nature, extent and trends in child labour, but that a nation survey is under way, with the support of the ILO and UNICEF. The Committee encourages the Government to continue to take measures, within the framework of the SN-PFTE or otherwise, to ensure the progressive elimination of child labour, and to provide detailed information on the impact of the measures taken in terms of the number of working children under 15 years of age who have been able to enjoy the protection granted by the Convention, particularly children working in the informal economy. The Committee requests the Government to take the measures necessary to ensure that the national survey on child labour is completed in the near future, so as to be able to provide sufficient updated statistics on the child labour situation, such as recent statistics disaggregated by gender and by age group, relating to the nature, extent and trends of work done by children and young persons who are under the minimum age specified by the Government at the time of ratification, and extracts from the reports of the inspection services.

Article 3(2) and Article 9(1). Hazardous work and penalties. In its previous comments, the Committee noted with concern the large number of children engaged in hazardous types of work in Burkina Faso. It noted that in accordance with section 8 of Decree No. 2016 504/PRES/PM/MFPTPS/MS/MFSNF determining the list of hazardous types of work in Burkina Faso (Decree No. 2016-504) of 9 June 2016, any person committing an offence constituting one of the worst forms of child labour shall be punished according to the terms of section 5 of Act No. 029-2008/AN of 15 May 2008 combating trafficking in persons and similar practices, which provides for imprisonment of 10 to 20 years for offenders. The Committee requested the Government to provide information on the application in practice of Decree No. 2016-504.

The Committee notes the Government’s information, according to which the 88 monitoring exercises carried out in 2019 recorded 1,636 children (434 girls and 1,202 boys) engaged in work on 437 sites (19 gold-mining sites, 409 informal sector structures and nine agricultural undertakings). Violations observed included failure to respect the minimum age for admission to employment; failure to grant paid annual leave or weekly rest; failure to respect the prescribed number of working hours for children. However, the Government indicates that the focus is on raising the awareness of the actors and on the social reintegration of the victims of the worst forms of child labour and that it has no statistics on the number of penalties imposed. The Committee recalls that under Article 9(1), all necessary measures, including the provision of appropriate penalties, shall be taken by the competent authority to ensure the effective enforcement of the provisions of this Convention. Furthermore, with reference to the General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, 2012, the Committee underlines that even the best legislation only takes value when it is applied effectively (paragraph 410). The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the measures necessary to ensure the implementation and effective application of Decree No. 2016-504 against persons who engage children under 18 years of age in hazardous work, and that appropriate penalties are imposed. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard and on the number of convictions handed down and penalties imposed for violations.