Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2018, published 108th ILC session (2019)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Niger (Ratification: 2000)

Articles 7(1) and 8. Penalties and regional cooperation. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee noted that, following the implementation of various cooperation agreements to combat trafficking in children, Niger established 30 watchdog committees and proceeded to set up joint mobile brigades in various locations on all national borders. The Government added that child victims of trafficking had been intercepted around the borders. However, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that those presumed guilty were released by the police due to lack of legal proof.

The Committee once again notes with regret that the Government has not provided any further information in its report on the interception of child victims of trafficking or the prosecution of those who have committed this crime since 2009. The Committee observes that, in its declaration on the coordination of the fight against migrant smuggling and human trafficking of 16 March 2018, the Government, with the other participants, committed to: (i) strengthening national tools for the operational fight against migrant smuggling and human trafficking and better coordinating these national tools at the regional level; (ii) strengthening the technical and material capabilities of the defence and security forces responsible for combating smuggling and trafficking in persons in the countries of origin and transit; (iii) strengthening judicial cooperation; (iv) strengthening border controls; and (v) following up on the commitments made at the meeting. Recalling that, under Article 7(1) of the Convention, the Government must take all the necessary measures to ensure the effective implementation and enforcement of the provisions giving effect to the Convention, as a matter of urgency, the Committee urges the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that persons involved in the trafficking of children are prosecuted and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive sanctions are imposed upon them, in the context of the agreements concluded with other signatory countries.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (e). Preventing children from being engaged in the worst forms of child labour and taking account of the special situation of girls. Access to free and universal basic education. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that, in the context of the Franco–Arab teaching support project, measures had been taken for the restructuring of Koranic schools. The Committee noted that, according to the National Survey of Child Labour (ENTE) in Niger of 2009, only 39 per cent of girls between the ages of 7 and 17 years who were engaged in a type of work that was to be abolished attended school, compared with 47 per cent of boys. Moreover, 80.9 per cent of children between the ages of 14 and 17 who were engaged in hazardous types of work did not attend school. With regard to school drop-outs, 21.4 per cent of children between the ages of 7 and 17 years engaged in types of work to be abolished had dropped out of school, of whom 36.5 per cent of children between the ages of 14 and 17 years were engaged in hazardous types of work. The Government indicated that the number of girls and boys attending basic primary school had multiplied by three between 2003 and 2013, and that school enrolment rates had also increased. Moreover, a Bill to protect girls at school was being adopted. According to UNICEF, girls, children in rural areas and children in poor families are the most underprivileged in relation to access to education, and the quality of education is a major challenge in Niger. UNESCO indicated that, in 2013, the school enrolment rate in primary education was 63.5 per cent, with a girl/boy parity index of 0.84, and that the gross school enrolment rate in secondary education was 18.3 per cent, with a girl/boy parity index of 0.69.

The Committee notes that, in its report submitted under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), the Government indicates that several programmes are planned in the area of education and training, including improving the quality of formal and non-formal education. In this framework, new school programmes for primary education have been developed and infrastructures have been improved. The Government indicates that the net enrolment rate in primary education was 66.1 per cent in 2016 and that the primary completion rate was 78.4 per cent, but 69.5 per cent for girls. In secondary education, the gross school enrolment rate in 2017 was 36.4 per cent. The Committee observes that the Government created 175 “alternative rural schools” to improve access to primary education for children living in rural areas.

The Committee notes that the Ministry of Primary Education, Literacy, the Promotion of National Languages and Civic Education (Ministry of Primary Education) indicates that the Decree on support, protection and assistance for young girls at school was adopted on 5 December 2017 in order to develop measures to support the school enrolment of young girls. It adds that the “renovated Koranic schools” programme has allowed it to exercise greater control over such school. The Ministry of Primary Education nevertheless observes that, according to the latest report of the Education System Analysis Programme (PASEC), of the pupils tested from ten countries, those from Niger came in tenth place. In this regard, the Ministry of Primary Education developed a roadmap to restore the quality of education, with a focus on teachers. The Committee observes that, in its concluding observations of 4 July 2018, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights expressed concern at the persistence of inequalities in access to education affecting children living in rural areas in particular; the high drop-out rate in primary and secondary schools, especially among girls; and the poor quality of teaching. The Committee notes that, despite the efforts made by the Government to improve access to education and the quality of the education system, the primary and secondary enrolment rates and the completion rates remain low. Considering that education is key in preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee urges the Government to intensify its efforts to improve the functioning of the education system, taking into account the special situation of girls. In this respect, it also requests the Government to ensure the increase in school enrolment rates and the reduction of school drop-out rates, and to adopt further measures for the integration of Koranic schools into the national education system. The Committee requests the Government to provide updated information on the results under the programmes developed in the area of education and training and under the Decree of 5 December 2017 on support, protection and assistance for young girls at school.

Clause (b). Necessary direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Children working in mines. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the allegations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) that the use of children in gold, salt and gypsum mines and other forms of extraction persists and that the working conditions are deplorable. The Committee noted the results of the implementation of the ILO–IPEC project for the prevention and elimination of child labour in artisanal gold-mining in West Africa, with an indication of the number of children removed and placed in schools. The Committee once again notes the absence of information from the Government on the new measures adopted to remove, rehabilitate and socially integrate children under 18 years of age working in mines, following the closure of the ILO–IPEC project. The Committee urges the Government to take measures without delay for the removal of children under 18 years of age from these mines and for their rehabilitation and social integration. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress achieved in this regard.