Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2012, published 102nd ILC session (2013)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Morocco (Ratification: 2001)

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clauses (a) and (d). Forced or compulsory labour and hazardous work. Child domestic labour. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the statement by the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) that child domestic labour, performed under conditions of servitude, is common practice in the country, with parents selling their children, sometimes as young as six years of age, to work as domestic servants. The Committee noted that section 10 of the Labour Code prohibits forced labour and that section 467-2 of the Penal Code prohibits the forced labour of children under 15 years of age. It also noted that a Bill on domestic work had been adopted and was in the process of being validated. The Bill sets the minimum age for admission to this type of employment at 15 years, lays down conditions of work and establishes supervisory measures and penalties, which may include imprisonment for persons employing children under 15 years of age. The Committee further noted that a specific list determining hazardous types of work prohibited in the domestic work sector would be drawn up and adopted in conjunction with the future Bill on the conditions of employment and work of domestic workers. This Bill has been in the process of being adopted since June 2011.

The Committee also noted that an initial qualitative and quantitative survey of girls under 18 years of age engaged in domestic work had been undertaken in 2001 in the Wilaya of Casablanca. According to the results of the statistical survey undertaken in 2001, nearly 23,000 girls under 18 years of age were working in the Greater Casablanca area as domestic workers, 59.2 per cent of whom were under 15 years of age. The Committee noted that the survey revealed that a significant proportion of these girls were uneducated, were subject to penalties or punishment in the course of their work, received beatings and/or were subjected to sexual abuse. The Committee noted that a second survey was planned in the Greater Casablanca area during the second half of 2010, with an extrapolation of the results and data at the national level. The Committee further noted the Government’s indications that the figures recorded by the 2001 survey have decreased significantly since then, owing to the efforts made by Morocco in recent years, especially to combat school drop-outs and all other forms of social exclusion. With regard to the second survey to be conducted on girls engaged in domestic work in Casablanca, the Government indicated that the methodological report which determines the target group and planning of the survey had been drawn up and the survey itself was being undertaken.

The Committee notes the Government’s indications that, with the entry into office of the new Government, the Bill on domestic work was withdrawn from Parliament and resubmitted to the Council of the Government on 12 March 2012, which deferred it for in-depth examination. With regard to the survey on girls engaged in domestic work in Casablanca, the Government indicates that it commenced during the course of 2012 and that the results will be provided when they have been published. The Committee reminds the Government that young girls engaged in domestic work are often victims of exploitation and that the clandestine nature of such work makes it difficult to monitor their conditions of employment. It also reminds the Government that, under the terms of Article 1 of the Convention, each member State shall take immediate and effective measures to secure the prohibition of the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. Observing that the Government has been referring to the adoption of the Bill on domestic work and the specific list of prohibited types of hazardous work in the domestic work sector for several years, the Committee urges it to take the necessary measures to ensure that the Bill and the list are adopted on an urgent basis. The Committee also requests the Government to take the necessary measures to conclude the survey on the situation of young girls engaged in domestic work in Casablanca in the very near future and to provide a copy of the findings to the Office with its next report.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and removing them from these worst forms, and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. Child prostitution and sex tourism. In its previous comments, the Committee expressed concern at the persistence of child prostitution and sex tourism involving young Moroccans and immigrants, particularly boys, despite the amendment to the Penal Code in 2003 making sex tourism a criminal offence. It noted the Government’s indications that the scourge of the sexual exploitation of children remains unseen and unrecognized in Morocco, for which reason the Government is sparing no effort to address it. The Committee also noted that five child protection units (UPEs) had been set up since 2007 in Marrakech, Casablanca, Tangier, Meknès and Essaouira to ensure better medical, psychological and legal assistance for child victims of violence and ill treatment, including child victims of sexual and economic exploitation, and that hundreds of children have benefited. The Committee also noted that, as part of the National Action Plan for Children (PANE) for the decade 2006–15, a preliminary study on the problem of the sexual exploitation of children was carried out in February 2007 with a view to formulating a national strategy to prevent and combat such exploitation.

The Committee notes the lack of information in the Government’s report on the activities of the UPEs and on the results achieved through the implementation of the National Strategy to Combat the Sexual Exploitation of Children. The Committee, therefore, urges the Government to take immediate and effective measures to ensure that the National Strategy to Prevent and Combat the Sexual Exploitation of Children will be implemented in the very near future and to provide information in its next report on the progress achieved in this respect. The Committee also requests the Government to provide updated information on the number of children who are prevented from engaging in or removed from prostitution through the UPEs. Finally, the Committee once again asks the Government to provide a copy of the preliminary study on the problem of the sexual exploitation of children undertaken in February 2007 with a view to the formulation of the national strategy.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Child domestic labour. The Committee previously noted the adoption of the National Programme to Combat the Use of Young Girls in Domestic Work (INQAD) as part of the PANE. It also noted that, as part of the strategic plan for 2008–12, and following the implementation of the INQAD programme, the Ministry of Social Development, Family Affairs and Solidarity was planning to organize a second nationwide awareness-raising campaign to combat the use of young girls as domestic workers and to prepare regional action plans. It further noted that, as part of the multi-sectoral programme implemented in collaboration with the United Nations Development Programme to combat gender-based violence by empowering women and girls in Morocco, ILO–IPEC launched an action programme to combat the use of young girls in domestic labour in the region of Marrakech Tensift-El Haouz over the period 1 January 2009 to 31 December 2010.

The Committee notes the Government’s indications that in 2011, following the activities undertaken with the cooperation of ILO–IPEC, 12,192 children were removed from their workplaces and offered viable alternatives and 20,993 were prevented from engaging in work. The Committee also notes that, according to information available from ILO–IPEC, an IPEC action project to combat domestic work by girls is being implemented up to 2014 in the context of the project to support the implementation of the ILO Declaration (PAMODEC). The ILO/IPEC/PAMODEC project has three main priorities, namely prevention, removal and protection, and emphasizes education, capacity building and national ownership. Activities have already been carried out in the context of the project, including the training of 50 focal points on the improvement of the system of monitoring and information gathering, with a special component on combating domestic work by children, training courses on domestic work by children for NGO educators and social workers and information sessions for primary and middle school teachers and inspectors in the Fès region, the objective of which is to combat more effectively school drop-outs, particularly among girls. The Committee encourages the Government to intensify its efforts for the identification, removal and reintegration of girls under 18 years of age engaged in domestic work who are victims of economic or sexual exploitation, and requests it to continue providing information on the results achieved, particularly in the context of the ILO/IPEC/PAMODEC project on domestic work by girls. The Committee encourages the Government to ratify the Domestic Workers Convention, 2011 (No. 189), which has key provisions for child protection.

Article 5 and Part V of the report form. Monitoring mechanisms and application of the Convention in practice. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, in the context of the ILO–IPEC project “Combating child labour in Morocco by creating a suitable environment nationwide and providing for direct intervention against the worst forms of child labour in rural areas”, a number of training sessions were organized to strengthen the capacity of the various actors involved in combating child labour, including 330 labour inspectors and 43 controllers designated as focal points. One of the tasks of the focal points is to monitor establishments employing children. The Committee noted previously the Government’s indications concerning the activities undertaken by the focal points in the years 2008–10.

The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the activities carried out by the focal points in 2011. They visited 383 workplaces, in which they detected 119 child workers under the age of 15 years and 397 child workers between the ages of 15 and 18 years. During the visits, 1,234 reports were drawn up, nine offences and violations were recorded and four cases were referred for prosecution. The sectors employing children between 15 and 18 years of age are commerce and mechanical work (31 per cent), wood working (19 per cent), manufacturing (14 per cent), retail (11 per cent) and the textile industry (8 per cent). The Committee notes that, according to the 2011 report on child labour at the national level, provided by the Government with its report, labour inspections found that children are engaged in work likely to harm their health. The dangers include: the effects of radiation and exposure to injury and burns through welding; the use of machinery with cutting edges and the carrying of heavy loads; the use of chemicals and exposure to dust; the use of paints; the use of electricity, and exposure to high temperatures. The report indicates that when children between the ages of 15 and 18 years are identified in such situations, appropriate work is offered to them as an alternative. Expressing its concern at the situation of children under 18 years of age engaged in hazardous types of work and the low number of violations reported and cases referred for prosecution in comparison, the Committee requests the Government to intensify its efforts to ensure that no children under 18 years of age are engaged in the worst forms of child labour, including hazardous types of work. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the application of the Convention in practice, including statistical data and information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour. In so far as possible, all such information should be disaggregated by age and gender.

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