Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2008, published 98th ILC session (2009)

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

Article 3 of the Convention. Clauses (a), (b) and (c). Sale and trafficking of children, and use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, pornography or illicit activities. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes with interest that section 91 of the Employment Relations Promulgation 2007 (Promulgation No. 36 of 2007), adopted on 2 October 2007, explicitly prohibits:

(a)   all forms of labour slavery, such as the sale and trafficking of children, debt bondage, and any form of forced or compulsory labour, including forced or compulsory recruitment of children in armed conflict;

(b)   the use, procuring or trafficking of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs as defined in relevant international treaties; and

(c)   the use, procuring or offering of a child under the age of 18 for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances.

Article 3, clause (d), and Article 4, paragraphs 1 and 2. Determination and identification of hazardous work. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes that, according to section 40(1) of the Employment Relations (Administration) Regulations 2008, a child under 18 years must not be employed or permitted to be employed in situations of direct hostilities, in any work for which the child has little capacity, in any work which is hazardous to the child’s health, mental, spiritual or social development, and in an environment which subjects the child to physical harm, psychological torture, any form of neglect, torture, any form of cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment, or which does not foster the health, self-respect and dignity of the child. The Committee also notes that section 95(1) of Promulgation No. 36 of 2007 prohibits the employment of children underground in mines. It further notes that section 95(2) of Promulgation No. 36 of 2007 provides that the Minister of Labour may, after consulting the National Occupational Health and Safety Advisory Board, and by order in the Gazette, declare any employment or workplace to be a prohibited or restricted employment or workplace on the ground that it is injurious to health or is hazardous, dangerous, or unsuitable, including attendance on machinery, working with hazardous substances, driving motor vehicles, heavy physical labour, the care of children or work within security services. However, the Committee observes that no list of such hazardous employment or work appears to have been declared by the Minister of Labour. The Committee once again recalls that, according to Article 4, paragraph 1, of the Convention, the types of work considered as hazardous are to be determined by national laws or regulations or by the competent authority, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned. It further once again draws the Government’s attention to Article 4, paragraph 2, of the Convention according to which the competent authority, after consultation with the organizations of employers and workers concerned, shall identify where the types of work determined as hazardous exist. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take measures to ensure that a list of hazardous activities and occupations prohibited to persons below 18 years of age, pursuant to section 95(2) of Promulgation No. 36 of 2007, is adopted in the near future. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. The Committee had previously noted that the Government had created a Committee for the Elimination of Child Labour, which includes individuals from the Ministry of Labour, the Ministry of Women, Social Welfare, and Poverty Alleviation, the Fiji Police Force and UNICEF, as well as media and employers’ and workers’ organizations. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide further information regarding the functioning of the Committee for the Elimination of Child Labour.

Article 6. Programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. The Committee had previously noted the Government’s statement that there is no existing programme of action as such, “although the Government and social partners and non-governmental organizations and civil societies do oversee their own actions on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour”. The Committee notes the Government’s information that Fiji is one of the 11 countries involved in the implementation of the ILO/IPEC project “Tackle child labour through education” (ILO/IPEC Tackle project). It notes that, in the case of Fiji, the potential area of emphasis of the ILO/IPEC Tackle project is to establish broad-based action against child labour and to promote the adoption of a national plan against child labour. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in the elaboration of a national plan against child labour and, more specifically, on the impact of this national plan on ensuring that the worst forms of child labour do not exist or arise in Fiji.

Article 7, paragraph 2. Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. The Committee had previously expressed concern at the large number of children in Fiji who do not attend school and may be engaged in the worst forms of child labour. The Committee further notes that, according to the regional overview of the Pacific region in the UNESCO “Education for All: Global Monitoring Report” of 2008, the primary net enrolment ratios declined by about three percentage points in Fiji from 1999 to 2005. It notes that the Ministry of Education adopted the “Educating the Child Holistically for a Peaceful and Prosperous Fiji” Strategic Plan (2006–08), according to which the Education Summit that was held from 31 August to 1 September 2005 culminated in the Suva Declaration, which outlines the major directions for education until 2015 and prioritizes social justice, social inclusion and gender equality. The Committee also notes that the ILO/IPEC Tackle Project aims, among other things, to prevent vulnerable children from entering child labour by reducing poverty and providing access to basic education and skills training for disadvantaged children and youth. The Committee once again expresses its view that education contributes to eliminating the worst forms of child labour, and therefore once again encourages the Government to continue its efforts to ensure access to free primary education to all children in Fiji. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the Suva Declaration and of the strategic plan on providing free basic education to children in order to prevent them from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour. It also requests the Government to provide information on the number of children who were effectively prevented from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour as a result of the implementation of the ILO/IPEC Tackle Project.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. In its previous comments, the Committee had noted that the use of children in prostitution, mainly in sex tourism, appears to be a serious problem in the country. The Committee had also noted that the Committee on the Rights of the Child, in its Concluding Observations (CRC/C/15/Add.89, 24 June 1998, paragraphs 17 and 25), expressed concern at the insufficient awareness of and lack of information on child abuse, including sexual abuse, and the insufficient legal protection measures and appropriate resources. It had also expressed concern at the insufficient rehabilitation measures for ill-treated, sexually abused and economically exploited children as well as their limited access to the justice system. The Committee had noted that the report of the National Workshop on the Implementation of Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child recommended that the Government ensure the provision of counselling to all child victims of abuse for their recovery and rehabilitation, including the availability of immediate counselling for victims by employing child psychologists to work with the police and the Department of Public Prosecution. Noting the absence of information on this point in the Government’s report, the Committee requests the Government to take the effective and time-bound measures to assist in the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour such as homeless children working in the area of sex tourism, and to take initiatives to ensure their rehabilitation and integration in response to the recommendation made at the national workshop. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes that, according to a press release of 7 June 2007 published on Fiji Government Online (www.fiji.gov.fj), the Director of the ILO Office for the South Pacific, on the occasion of the World Day Against Child Labour of 12 June 2007, stressed the need for a survey to determine the number of children who are in the workforce in Fiji. The Committee urges the Government to take measures to collect statistics in order to obtain a clearer picture of the prevalence of child labour and its worst forms in Fiji, as well as information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour. The Committee once again requests the Government to give a general assessment of the manner in which the Convention is applied in Fiji and, in particular, to provide information on the situation with regard to trafficking and the use of children in commercial sexual exploitation. The Committee also asks the Government to supply copies or extracts from official documents including inspection reports, studies and inquiries and where such statistics exist, information on the number of children covered by the measures giving effect to the Convention, the number and nature of infringements reported, investigations, prosecutions, convictions and penalties applied.