Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Eswatini (Ratification: 2002)

Article 5 of the Convention. Monitoring mechanisms. Secretariat and Task Force on Prevention of People Trafficking and People Smuggling. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information according to which the Secretariat for the Prevention of People Trafficking and People Smuggling (Secretariat), established within the Prime Minister’s Office, has provided trainings on trafficking to judicial officers, the police, labour inspectorate, prosecutors, immigration officers and social workers. The Committee further notes the indication from the Government that the Task Force for the Prevention of People Trafficking and People Smuggling was re-established in January 2017. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken by the Secretariat and Task Force to prevent trafficking in persons, in particular of children under the age of 18 years. It also once again requests the Government to provide concrete information on the number of cases of trafficking of children under the age of 18 years that have been identified by the Task Force.

Article 6 and application of the Convention in practice. National Action Plan. The Committee notes that the Action Programme on Combating Child Labour in Eswatini (APCCL) was adopted in September 2021, and that a multi-sectoral Task Team was appointed for its implementation. It notes that the overall objective of the APCCL is firstly to reduce the incidence of the worst forms of child labour to the barest minimum. The Government indicates that information in this regard will be contained in the next report to be submitted on the application on the Convention to the Committee. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of the APCCL and on the results achieved in terms of the number of children protected from the worst forms of child labour, in particular hazardous work.

Articles 6 and 7(2). National plan of action and effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Child victims of trafficking. The Committee notes the Government’s detailed information regarding the measures taken for the prevention of child trafficking and for the protection and rehabilitation of child victims. In particular, it notes that the Government formally launched the National Strategic Framework and Action Plan to Combat People Trafficking 2019–2023, with the support of UNODC, which addresses among other priorities, the current gaps in the victim protection measures, by advocating for a victim-centred approach as one of the guiding principles. The Committee further notes the Government’s information that the Secretariat has conducted advocacy and communications campaigns to prevent trafficking, as well as awareness-raising along the borders. It also launched an awareness campaign to combat trafficking in persons in collaboration with the IOM, which aims to build the capacity of communities to identify and report trafficking cases to the authorities. Moreover, the Government indicates that a Protection Officers Portfolio has been established within the Secretariat and is responsible for coordination of victim care, protection and assistance, and that it has established formal procedures to identify trafficking victims and refer them to care. The Government further indicates that it owns one facility that provides short-term care for victims of crime, including trafficking, and has a second training facility with a residential component that could house victims. The Government indicates that, in 2020 and 2021, it identified and referred six and four victims of trafficking, respectively, to care. All identified victims were girls, including three from Eswatini and one from Mozambique. The Government first referred identified victims to a Government facility for initial food, clothing, toiletries, psychosocial support, and medical care. It then reunified the three Swati victims with their families. The Committee welcomes the measures taken by the Government and requests it to continue providing information on the measures taken to prevent children from becoming victims of trafficking and withdrawing child victims of trafficking and rehabilitating and socially integrating them, as well as on the results achieved.

Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s detailed information regarding the measures taken to improve the education system. In this regard, the Government indicates that the availability of education has improved through various initiatives, including the strengthening of the enabling policy environment, institutional capacity and monitoring and evaluation functions at the central level, and implementation capacity at a school and regional level. In particular, the Government has developed an action plan to facilitate the implementation of the Education Sector Strategic Plan (ESSP) 2010–2022 and the Education Sector Policy, 2011 revised in 2018 as well as the National Education and Training Improvement Programme (NETIP). These reforms in the education system have sought to improve the availability of, and access to pre-primary, primary and secondary schools. Furthermore, as the ESSP and NETIP come to an end, various studies have and will be undertaken, including an analysis on the education sector, to further help inform the development of the next ESSP.

The Committee notes that, according to the 2018 Report on Out of School Children in Eswatini, published by the Ministry of Education and Training and UNICEF, repetition and dropout appear to be serious problems throughout the Swati school system, and even more so as children become older. In this regard, the report reveals that, among other issues, there is an acute problem of inadequate availability of well-trained teachers in the country, which represents a major cause of concern. The Committee also notes the concern expressed by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its concluding observations of 22 October 2021, about high dropout rates, low enrolment rates in secondary education, the large number of unqualified teachers and the hidden costs related to education (CRC/C/SWZ/CO/2-4, para. 62). Similarly, UNICEF noted that school dropouts were caused by poverty and the inability to pay top-up fees at primary levels and the high cost of secondary education (A/HRC/WG.6/39/SWZ/2, para. 46). Considering that education is key to preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee encourages the Government to continue taking measures to improve the functioning of the education system, in particular to reduce school repetition and dropout rates at the secondary level. It requests the Government to provide updated statistical information on the school enrolment and attendance rates as well as drop-out rates.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Child orphans of HIV/AIDS. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that, according to 2021 UNAIDS estimates, the number of orphans due to HIV/AIDS has increased to 58,000, as opposed to the 47,000 noted by the Committee in 2015–2016. The Committee notes that, in the framework of APCCL, the high prevalence of HIV and AIDS in the country has been identified as one of the root causes of child labour, making addressing this issue one of its objectives. The Committee indicates that, with the appointment of the Task Team to drive the effective implementation of the APCCL, it is anticipated that detailed information on the measures taken to protect child orphans due to HIV/AIDS from the worst forms of child labour will be contained in the next report submitted by the Government on the application of the Convention. Recalling that children orphaned by HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable children are at an increased risk of being engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to strengthen its efforts to protect these children from the worst forms of child labour. It once again requests the Government to provide concrete information on the results achieved through these efforts, in terms of the number of OVCs who have effectively been prevented from becoming engaged in the worst forms of child labour or removed from these worst forms.