Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2023, published 112nd ILC session (2024)

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

Previous comments: observation and direct request

Articles 3(d) and 7(2)(a) and (b) of the Convention. Hazardous types of work and effective and time-bound measures to prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, to remove them from these worst forms and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. Child domestic labour. The Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report under the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), on the adoption of Act No. 31047 of 2020 on Domestic Workers, which sets the minimum age for engagement in domestic work at 18 years (section 7). It further notes that section 23 of Act No. 31047 provides that the labour inspectorate can inspect the home where a domestic worker is working, on the condition that the employer has consented to it or with judicial authorization to do so. The Committee also notes, from Supreme Decree No. 009-2022-MIMP that the list of hazardous work includes “domestic work” as prohibited for children and young persons under 18 years (section 1.3.4). The Committee notes however that section 63 of the Code of Children and Young Persons (CNA) envisages the conditions under which an adolescent may be engaged in domestic work, in contradiction with Act No. 31047 and Supreme Decree No. 009-2022-MIMP which prohibit such work for young persons under the age of 18 years. Finally, the Committee notes that the Government does not provide information on the activities of the labour inspection services in relation to domestic work. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on: (i) how it is ensured that the application in practice of section 63 of the CNA does not contravene with the prohibition of domestic work for persons under 18 years, contained in Act No. 31047 and Supreme Decree No. 009-2022-MIMP; (ii) the application in practice of Act No. 31047 and Supreme Decree No. 009-2022-MIMP, including the number and nature of violations regarding young persons engaged in domestic work in hazardous conditions; and (iii) the measures taken to remove children and young persons from such types of work and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying children at special risk. Children in street situations and begging. The Committee notes the Government’s indication, in its report, that through the Street Educators’ Service, the National Family Welfare Institute (INABIF), provided assistance services to 8,841 children aged 0 to 17 years in 2021, and to 9,570 children in 2022. The Committee also notes that section 40 of the CNA provides that children and young persons living in the streets have the right to participate in programmes aimed at eradicating begging and ensuring their physical and psychological development and educational process, and that the Ministry of Women and Vulnerable Populations (MIMP) is responsible for developing such programmes. Recalling that children in street situations are at particular risk of becoming engaged in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken, including in the application of section 40 of the CNA by the MIMP or the INABIF, to identify children in street situations and protect and withdraw them from the worst forms of child labour, and on the results achieved in this respect. It further requests the Government to provide information on the number of children in street situations in the country.

Article 8. International cooperation and assistance. Poverty reduction and international cooperation. The Committee notes the Government’s participation in the Regional Initiative for a Latin America and Caribbean Free from Child Labour, which seeks to accelerate and intensify actions to prevent and eradicate child labour and its worst forms by strengthening inter-institutional coordination and promoting coordination between different levels of government.

The Committee notes, from the technical report of the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI) “Evolution of Monetary Poverty 2010–2021”, that in 2021, 25.9 per cent of the population (8.56 million persons) was in a situation of poverty, including 4.1 per cent in extreme poverty, while 34.6 per cent of the population (11.43 million persons) was in a situation of economic vulnerability (that is, at risk of falling into poverty). The report highlights that the increase in poverty since 2019 (when it was at 20.9 per cent) is due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and that there has been a decrease compared to 2020 (at 30.1 per cent). The Committee notes the Government’s indication that Supreme Decree No. 008-2022-MIDIS, adopted in 2022, approved the National Policy on Development and Social Inclusion for 2030 (PNDIS) which seeks to reduce social exclusion and poverty and thus directs its actions towards the population in situation of poverty or at risk of falling into poverty. Recalling that poverty reduction programmes contribute towards breaking the cycle of poverty, which is essential for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the PNDIS and any other poverty reduction programme on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour in the country.