Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 1999, publiée 88ème session CIT (2000)

The Committee notes with interest the activities undertaken by the labour inspection services in collaboration with the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC) against child labour. In particular it notes that IPEC-allocated resources have enabled the development of a training programme for inspection personnel on the most appropriate methods of combating child labour and on the role of the labour inspectorate in reinforcing application of the relevant legislation through inspection visits, through action related to educational advice and through proceedings initiated in respect of infringements. The training also includes activities to inform employers, trade unions, non-governmental organizations and the population in general on the breadth of the problem of child labour and its consequences; seminars were organized with the Ministry of Labour working with IPEC and with the participation of other ministerial departments to inform the social partners and other interested parties and raise their awareness of the problem.

The Committee also notes with interest that the increase in numbers of inspection visits over the period covered by the Government's report is due not only to the implementation of the strategy to combat child labour developed in collaboration with IPEC, but to the determination of the Labour Department to increase both the quantity and quality of inspections and also to the enthusiasm of the public servants concerned, eager to improve their individual results. The Committee has learned from information sources available to the ILO of progress on the Bill on children, which includes provisions on the functions of labour inspectors and on their empowerment to initiate proceedings against employers violating the rights of children. These same sources of information indicate that the labour inspectors intervene in the formulation of district policy, especially as concerns child labour, by participating actively on the District Children Advisory Committees (DCACs) and the District Development Committees (DDCs). Moreover, the inspection reports drawn up by the inspectors on the basis of very detailed forms have enabled production of a manual used by the inspectors to train partners in the elimination of child labour. The Committee hopes that the Government will continue to supply information on progress achieved by the labour inspectorate in carrying out its main duties and, in particular, on the impact of preventive and coercive action undertaken by the labour inspectors in combating child labour.

The Committee is addressing a request on certain points directly to the Government.