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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Lebanon (Ratification: 2003)

The Committee notes with regret that the Government’s report has not been received. It hopes that a report will be supplied for examination by the Committee at its next session and that it will contain full information on the matters raised in its previous direct request, which read as follows:

Repetition

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy designed to ensure the effective abolition of child labour. In previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s information that in 2000 a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed between the Ministry of Labour (MoL) and the ILO–IPEC aimed at formulating policies and programmes for the eradication of child labour and the protection of working children, especially from hazardous work. It noted the Government’s information that, following the MOU, the MoL established a National Committee to Combat Child Labour (NCCL) whose task was to prepare and follow up on the implementation of programmes aimed at combating child labour in collaboration with the ILO–IPEC, international organizations and NGOs, and that a Special Unit to Combat Child Labour had been constituted within the MoL. The Committee noted the Government’s information that, following the finalization in 2004 of a study on child labour commissioned by the ILO–IPEC, the MoL had launched a national strategy to eliminate child labour.

The Committee noted the copy of the National Strategy to Eliminate Child Labour, submitted with the Government’s report under Convention No. 182. It also noted the information in the ILO–IPEC Final Technical Progress Report (ILO–IPEC TPR) of 30 March 2008 that the Government is implementing a Social Action Plan, within the framework of an overall social strategy, and that child labour is a key element in this plan. The Committee noted the information in the ILO–IPEC TPR that this plan targets poor households and large families with children either not enrolled in school or under the legal age to work. In this regard, the Social Action Plan includes cash assistance support and follow-up services to households that comply with a number of conditions, including ensuring that their children stay in school until the end of compulsory education. This Social Action Plan also includes programmes focusing on the prevention of school drop-outs. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on national policy measures designed to ensure the effective elimination of child labour, and results attained.

Part V of the report form. Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee previously noted that, according to the 2004 ILO–IPEC survey, the percentage of children aged 10–14 years working proportionally rose with the age of the child, and that while only 0.3 per cent of 10-year-olds worked, 4.5 per cent of 14 year olds worked. According to the same source, the majority of boys worked in artisanal/handicraft occupations, including small industrial establishments such as mechanic shops and auto body repair, and young working girls were mostly found in unskilled occupations. It also noted that children worked very long hours and were unpaid. Most of the children found working were above 10 years old, but younger working children, even as young as 6 years of age, were identified, especially on the street and on tobacco plantations.

The Committee noted the Government’s statement that information on the practical application of the Convention is not yet available. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on the manner in which the Convention is applied, as soon as it is available, including, for example, statistical data on the employment of children and young persons by age group, extracts from the reports of inspection services, and information on the number and nature of contraventions reported.