Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

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

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities, in particular for the production and trafficking of drugs. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that there are no cases reported under section 45(b) of the Children’s Protection and Welfare Act of 2011 concerning causing or allowing a child to be on any street, premises or place for the purposes of carrying out illegal hawking, gambling or other illegal activities.

Articles 5 and 7(1). Monitoring mechanisms and penalties. Trafficking. In reply to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that the Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Control Unit was established within the Police Service to deal with trafficking related cases. The Government also indicates that three magistrates were provided special training to hear human trafficking cases. It notes the Government’s information that four cases of trafficking of children were investigated and prosecuted, which resulted in one conviction of imprisonment for twenty years. The Government states that it has increased its anti-trafficking training and awareness raising efforts for law enforcement bodies, diplomats, social service personnel and the public. The Government further states that it undertook (i) to provide adequate funding to the Police Trafficking and Smuggling Unit; (ii) to establish a focal point in all the ten districts to ensure effective responses to all potential cases of trafficking; and (iii) to fix the jurisdictional issues that prevent magistrate courts from issuing the maximum penalties for the offences related to trafficking in persons. The Committee also notes from the document on Law Enforcement Standard Operating Procedure, 2021 that the Government, with the technical support of the International Organization for Migration and in consultation with the Multi-Sectoral Committee on Combating Trafficking in Persons, developed the Law Enforcement Standard Operating Procedure for responding to Trafficking in Persons (page 9). This document indicates that victims of internal trafficking, mainly Basotho children have been found to be exploited in domestic servitude and cattle herding. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to ensure that perpetrators of trafficking of children are prosecuted and effective and dissuasive sanctions are imposed on them. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to continue to strengthen the capacities of law enforcement bodies to combat trafficking of children under 18 years, including by means of training and adequate resources. The Committee finally requests the Government to provide information on the activities of the Trafficking in Persons and Migrant Control Unit in combating trafficking of children including the number of cases of trafficking of children identified, investigations carried out, prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied.

Articles 6 and 7(2)(b). Programmes of action to eliminate the worst forms of child labour and direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Trafficking. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the National Anti-Trafficking Strategic Framework Action Plan (NSFAP) 2021–2026 and guidelines for Victim Identification and Referral to Care have been developed. It also notes from the website of the Ministry of Home Affairs that the NSFAP aims to develop effective national coordination and cooperation among stakeholders; strengthen identification, protection and support of victims of trafficking; as well as successful detection, investigation, and prosecution of the perpetrators of human trafficking. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the concrete measures taken within the framework of the NSFAP 2021–2026 to combat the trafficking of children under 18 years of age. It also requests the Government to provide information on its implementation and the results achieved, in terms of the number of children prevented from trafficking, removed and rehabilitated.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (a). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour. Access to free basic education. In response to its previous comments, the notes the Government’s information that it has been providing sufficient funds and subsidies to ensure access of children to pre-school, secondary and higher education and is taking special measures to ensure that children remain in education, especially in rural areas. Government owned pre-schools offering free education were set up in different parts of the country. Although secondary education is not free, the Government offers scholarship for orphans and other vulnerable children. Awareness-raising programmes on the importance of education are being conducted in the rural and urban areas and parents failing to assure regular attendance of their children are subject to penalties. The Government further indicates that non formal education is provided by the Lesotho Distant Training Centre for children unable to attend school and for school drop-outs. The Committee also notes the Government’s information that it has signed an agreement with the World bank on a Basic Education Strengthening Project to improve student retention in times of COVID, especially of boys from poor households and rural areas who are most vulnerable to dropping out of school. The Committee notes that according to the UNESCO statistics there were 25,426 out-of-school children in 2019. For the same year, the gross enrolment rate at primary and secondary level stood at 108.43 and 64.08 per cent respectively. The Committee also notes from the UNICEF-Lesotho 2021 Multidimensional Child Poverty Report that approximately one out of five children aged between 13–17 years is not attending school. The deprivation of education for children aged 13–17 years is twice that of children aged 5–12 years, and particularly higher among boys and children in rural areas (pages 51 and 53). The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to facilitate access to free basic education of all children and particularly of boys and children in the rural areas. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this regard, and the results achieved, particularly with regard to increasing school enrolment, attendance and completion rates, both at primary and secondary level, and reducing school dropout rates as well as the number of out-of-school children.

Application of the Convention in practice. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that according to the preliminary findings of the Labour Force Survey of 2020 the rate of the worst forms of child labour is estimated at 2.97 per cent with highest proportion among male children and children in the rural areas. The Committee also indicates that the upcoming labour force survey is envisioned to include a comprehensive module on children. The Committee also notes from the Government’s report of 2020 to the Human Rights Committee on the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that the Ministry of Labour and Employment is intending to carry out a Rapid Assessment on the worst forms of child labour and thereafter establish a child -specific complaints mechanism that can receive, monitor and investigate cases of child exploitation. The Committee encourages the Government to carry out the Rapid assessment on the worst forms of child labour and to provide detailed information on its findings, including statistical information on the nature, extent and trends of the worst forms of child labour, disaggregated by age and gender. It also requests the Government to provide information on any progress made with regard to the establishment of the child-specific complaints mechanism.