Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2004, publiée 93ème session CIT (2005)

The Committee notes the Government’s first report. It also notes an observation sent by the ICFTU on 23 September 2003 which was forwarded to the Government on 17 October 2003.

The Committee refers to its comments on the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) and to Article 3(a) and (d) of the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), which indicate that the term "worst forms of child labour" includes all forms of slavery or similar practices such as the sale and trafficking of children, forced or compulsory labour and work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is liable to impair the health, safety or morals of the child. The Committee considers that the problems of forced labour, the sale and trafficking of children for the purpose of sexual or economic exploitation and mine work may be examined more specifically under Convention No. 182. It accordingly requests the Government to provide information on the following points.

Article 3. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery or similar practices. 1. Sale and trafficking of children. The ICFTU states in its observations that young girls are trafficked inside the country for domestic work, and that there is likewise trafficking in boys for the purpose of economic exploitation, and in girls for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

The Committee notes that section 255 of the Penal Code punishes whosoever, by fraud or violence, abducts or causes to be abducted minors under 18 years of age or entices, diverts or removes them, or causes them to be enticed, diverted or removed, from where they were placed by the persons to whose authority or guidance they have been entrusted. Section 257 of the same Code prescribes a heavier penalty if the abducted minor dies. Section 258 punishes anyone who, without fraud or violence, abducts or removes, or attempts to abduct or remove, a minor under 18 years of age. The Committee reminds the Government that, according to Article 3(a) of the Convention, the sale and trafficking of children, both for economic and sexual exploitation, including prostitution, is considered to be one of the worst forms of child labour, and that according to Article 1 of the Convention, each Member which ratifies it must take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition and elimination of this worst form of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken or envisaged to prohibit and eliminate this worst form of child labour.

2. Forced or compulsory labour. Begging. In its communication of September 2003, the ICFTU asserts that children are forced to beg in West Africa, including in Niger. It states that, for economic and religious reasons, many families entrust their children from the age of 5 or 6 to a spiritual guide (marabout), with whom they live until they are 15 or 16 years old. During that time they are entirely in the guide’s charge. The guide teaches them religion and in return requires them to carry out certain tasks, including begging. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted that in its concluding observations on Niger in June 2002 (CRC/C/15/Add.179, paragraphs 66 and 67), the Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed concern at the number of children begging in the streets, and, in particular, at their vulnerability to all forms of exploitation.

The Committee notes that section 4 of the Labour Code establishes an unconditional prohibition on forced or compulsory labour. It defines forced or compulsory labour as any work or service demanded of a person under threat of some penalty and which the person does not undertake freely. The Committee notes, however, that according to sections 1 and 2 of the Labour Code, the latter applies only to relationships between employers and workers. It further notes that section 179 of the Penal Code punishes begging and that section 181 of the same Code punishes the parents of minors under 18 years of age who habitually engage in begging, and the persons who invite them to beg or wittingly benefit from the begging. The Committee requested the Government to take all necessary measures to extend the prohibition on forced labour to all work relationships. The Committee notes that at the June 2004 session of the International Labour Conference (ILC, Provisional Record No. 24, part 2/10), the Government representative stated that her Government was deeply concerned by this matter. The Conference Committee indicated that it shared the concern of the Committee of Experts, also expressed by the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child, at the vulnerability of children who beg in the streets. The Conference Committee took note that the Government of Niger had expressed its willingness to pursue its efforts to eradicate this practice with technical assistance from the ILO and, in view of the seriousness of the problem, it requested the Government to pay particular attention to the adoption of measures to protect children against the form of forced labour represented by begging. The Committee accordingly asks the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to this end. It also requests the Government to indicate how effect is given in practice to sections 179 and 181 of the Penal Code.

Clause (d). Hazardous work. Mines and quarries. The ICFTU indicates that mine work is banned for children under 18 years of age and that a study conducted by the ILO in 1999 on child labour in small-scale mining, covered four types of traditional mines (trona mining in the Boboye region; salt in Tounouga; gypsum in Madaoua; and gold in Liptako-Gourma). According to the ICFTU, the study shows that child labour is widespread, principally in the informal economy, and that work in small-scale mines is the most hazardous of all activities in the informal sector. According to ILO estimates, small mines employ 147,380 workers, 70,000 (47.5 per cent) of whom are children, and small mines and quarries employ 442,000 workers, 250,000 (57 per cent) of whom are children. According to the ICFTU, the study shows that in all the these mines and quarries, working conditions for children are very hard and that from 8 years of age children carry out physically dangerous work such as extraction, more often than not for ten hours or so a day, seven days a week. The work involves substantial risk of accidents and diseases and severely impairs the children’s health. The study notes the absence of mining safety techniques on the sites visited and of health infrastructures in the vicinity. In the Tounouga salt mine, 1,620 children under 18 years of age are employed, and salt extraction is carried out almost exclusively by children. Owing to lack of experience, they frequently injure themselves with their tools. In gold mines too, children perform hazardous work underground. The ICFTU asserts that the children are often forced to work by their parents.

In its previous comments, the Committee requested the Government to provide information on the working conditions of these children and on any measures taken or envisaged to protect them from this worst form of child labour. The Government’s report contains no information on the matter. The Committee notes that section 152 of Decree No. 67-126/MFP/T of 7 September 1967 provides among other things that employers may not assign children to underground work in mines. It notes that at the June 2004 session of the International Labour Conference, the Government stated (ILC Provisional Record No. 24, Part 2/11) that the problem was essentially an economic one, Niger ranking last but one in the world in the development index. The Conference Committee nonetheless regretted that the Government had given the Committee of Experts no information on child labour in mines and asked the Government to pay special attention to the adoption of measures to protect children from hazardous work in mines.

The Committee reminds the Government that, according to Article 3(d) of the Convention, work which, by its nature or the circumstances in which it is carried out, is likely to harm the health, safety or morals of children, is considered to be among the worst forms of child labour and must be prohibited for anyone under the age of 18. Although the legislation is in line with the Convention in this matter, child labour in mines is, in practice, a problem. The Committee therefore requests the Government to redouble its efforts to ensure that effect is given to the legislation to protect children from underground work in mines. It also requests the Government to provide information on the application of the penalties in practice, including, for example, reports on the number of sentences.

Article 6. Programmes of action. The Committee notes that several action programmes involving the withdrawal of children from the worst forms of child labour are being conducted in collaboration with ILO/IPEC. It notes, in particular, the programme to withdraw children from gold panning in Niger and improve working conditions, the implementation of which has been entrusted to a non-governmental organization, the Organization for the Prevention of Child Labour in Niger (OPTEN-Niger). The aim is to withdraw 90 children, 35 per cent of whom are girls, from the arduous and hazardous tasks of gold panning, and to relocate them in less dangerous, income-generating activities. The Committee further notes the programme to contribute to the elimination of arduous work done by children in the insular villages of the urban commune of Tillabéri, the aim of which is to withdraw 500 children, 50 per cent of whom are girls, from such work and to reintegrate them into the school system or vocational training. The Committee notes that the number of direct beneficiaries of this programme is 702 children - 420 boys and 282 girls - and that the number of indirect beneficiaries is 1,581 children. The number of children who have benefited from the improvement of the school system is 792 - 488 boys and 304 girls.

The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the implementation of these programmes of action and on their impact in terms of protecting and removing children from forced labour, sale and trafficking and from underground work in mines.

Article 7, paragraph 1. Penalties. The Committee notes that under section 181 of the Penal Code, the parents of minors of under 18 years of age who habitually engage in begging, and all persons who invite them to beg or wittingly gain from the begging, shall be punished by a term of imprisonment of from six months to one year.

The Committee also notes that section 255 of the Penal Code punishes the abduction, diversion or removal by fraud or violence of a child under 18 years of age by a prison term of from two to ten years, attempts carrying the same penalty as the offence itself. Under section 257 of the Penal Code, abduction is punishable by the death penalty if it is followed by the death of the minor. Section 258 of the same Code punishes the abduction or leading away or attempted abduction or leading away, without fraud or violence, of a minor under 18 years of age by a prison term of from one to five years, and a fine of from 10,000 to 100,000 francs, or by only one of these two penalties.

The Committee further notes that, under section 327 of the Labour Code, breach of, inter alia, the decree laid down in section 99 (Decree establishing the nature of the work and the categories of enterprises which are prohibited for minors under 18 years of age) is punishable by a fine of from 5,000 to 50,000 francs and recurrent breach, by a fine of from 50,000 to 100,000 francs. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application of these penalties in practice.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. The ICFTU indicates that although compulsory education lasts six years, only 32 per cent of children of primary-school age go to school. Furthermore, most girls are kept at home to work and are married very young. The literacy rate is 7 per cent for girls and 21 per cent for boys. The ICFTU provides a table showing that only 30.3 per cent of children between 5 and 12 years of age attend school. The Committee notes that, according to the Government, basic education is free in Niger and that the country has occupational training centres. It likewise notes the Government’s statement that for some years it has been focusing on the enrolment of young girls and that several measures are under way for this category of the population.

The Committee notes that article 11 of the Constitution recognizes education as a fundamental right. It also notes from the information supplied by the Government in the report submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/3/Add.29/Rev.1, paragraph 273), that Act No. 98-12 of 1 June 1998 setting out the aims of the education system, sets forth the right of the child to education and the obligation of the State to make primary education compulsory and free. The Government indicates that section 2 of the abovementioned Act prescribes compulsory education for all citizens of Niger. Education is compulsory from 4 to 16 years of age. The Government specifies in the abovementioned report that no child, boy or girl, can be taken out of or excluded from the education system before the age of 16 years for any reason whatsoever. The Committee requests the Government to provide a copy of these provisions.

The Committee notes that in its report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC/C/3/Add.29/Rev.1, paragraph 301), the Government indicates that the education system in Niger has been in crisis since the country obtained independence and that despite a plethora of meetings and forums, the crisis continues for a number of reasons, in particular, the economic crisis and inadequate infrastructure and staffing. The Committee notes that a number of programmes are under way at the regional level and international level. At the regional level, an effort has been made to harmonize programmes in French-speaking countries. At the international level, the World Bank, through the basic education sectoral project (PROSEF), facilitated numerous activities between 1995 and 1996.

The Committee takes notes of a programme by the Association of Traditional Chiefs of Niger (ACTN), and of a Memorandum of Understanding with UNICEF concerning the enrolment of girls. The Committee further notes that according to the information submitted to the Committee on the Rights of the Child in the replies to the issues to be taken up in connection with the consideration with the initial report of Niger (CRC/C/Q/NIG/1), the adoption and implementation of the ten-year education plan 2002-12. The Committee notes, however, that in its concluding observations (CRC/C/15/Add.179, paragraph 58), the Committee on the Rights of the Child welcomes the ten-year education plan and the efforts undertaken by Niger to increase the enrolment of girls, but remains concerned at the low enrolment rate and the widespread illiteracy, the gender and regional disparities in school enrolment, the high drop-out rates, and the insufficient numbers of trained teachers. The Committee requests the Government to indicate, in accordance with Article 7, paragraph 2(a), of the Convention, the effective and time-bound measures taken to ensure, in practice, access to free basic education for girls and boys in urban, rural or particularly disadvantaged areas, on an equal footing for all.

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