Children in the world of work: eradicating harmful child labour
Reply to Recommendation
| Doc. 16081
| 03 December 2024
- Author(s):
- Committee of Ministers
- Origin
- Adopted at the 1513th meeting
of the Ministers’ Deputies (27 November 2024). 2025 - First part-session
- Reply to Recommendation
- : Recommendation 2276
(2024)
1. The Committee of
Ministers has carefully examined Parliamentary Assembly
Recommendation 2276 (2024) on “Children in the world of work: eradicating harmful
child labour”. It has forwarded it to relevant bodies for information
and possible comments.
NoteThe
Committee of Ministers supports the Parliamentary Assembly’s call
for more effective and co-ordinated action at all levels to end
child labour by 2025, in line with commitments under target 8.7
of the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. It
shares the view of the Parliamentary Assembly that Council of Europe
instruments that provide a protective legal framework for children,
as well as the 2022 Durban Call to Action on the Elimination of
Child Labour, constitute a concrete basis to take action to contribute
to the eradication of child labour.
2. The Committee of Ministers would invite member and observer
States to consider the specific recommendations enumerated in paragraphs
2.1, 2.2 and 2.3, with specific attention to paragraph 2.2, with
a view to acceding to the various Council of Europe instruments.
With regard to the European Social Charter (revised), member States
are also encouraged to ratify its Additional Protocol providing
for a system of collective complaints.
3. To this end, the Committee of Ministers considers it opportune
to recall the relevance of the Council of Europe instruments referred
to in the recommendation and the pertinent activities carried out
with respect to the issue addressed.
4. The Committee of Ministers recalls that under the European
Social Charter, States Parties must set the minimum employment age
at 15 (Article 7§1). The European Committee of Social Rights (ECSR)
has clarified that work within the family also falls under this
rule, even if it is informal. Exceptions apply only to light work
that does not harm children’s health, moral welfare, development,
or education. Measures must be taken to protect and assist children
in vulnerable situations, with particular attention to children
in street situations and children at risk of child labour, including
those in rural areas. Additionally, under Article 7§10, States must
prohibit child exploitation, including sexual and labour exploitation,
trafficking, begging and organ removal, and educate relevant professionals
on these issues.
5. The ECSR stresses that States Parties must ensure not only
the necessary legislation to protect children but also its full
enforcement, with adequate supervision and sanctions. In its 2023
conclusions, the ECSR found several issues: insufficient prohibitions
on employment under 15, excessive working hours for children, gaps in
criminalising sexual exploitation, and inadequate protection for
child victims of violence exploitation and abuse in the digital
environment.
6. The Assembly’s call in this recommendation is also fully in
line with the
Council
of Europe Strategy for the Rights of the Child (2022-2027), notably under its Strategic Objective 2 “Equal opportunities
and social inclusion for all children”, calling for ”tackling the
situations of […] children in difficult economic situations or living
in poverty, children affected by migration and forced displacement
(including for the purpose of child labour)”.
7. The Strategy also underlines, under its Strategic Objective
6 “Children in crisis and emergency situations”, the particular
vulnerability of children in armed conflicts, migration or forced
displacement, as well as the heightened risk that children in such
situations would become victims of exploitation or trafficking, including
trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, or fall into
poverty and end up working on the streets or in harmful conditions.
To ensure that the rights of the child are protected in crisis and
emergency situations, including through the prevention of harmful
child labour, the Strategy foresees supporting member States in building
strong child protection systems, mapping the existence of possible
new vulnerable situations arising from crisis or emergency situations
and developing innovative measures targeting their protection.
8. The issue of harmful child labour is also covered by the Strategic
Objective 1 “Freedom from violence for all children” which calls
for the protection of children against abuse, neglect, maltreatment,
exploitation or trafficking, which could include situations of harmful
child labour. The Recommendation
CM/Rec(2009)10 on integrated national strategies for the protection
of children from violence, currently undergoing an implementation
review, also calls for the prohibition of violence against children
to cover forced labour or services. It further considers child exploitation
to include forced labour or services.
9. The Council of Europe Consultation Group on the Children of
Ukraine (CGU) has also tackled the issue of harmful child labour.
The CGU, a multilateral co-operation platform between Council of
Europe member States, the EU, and relevant international organisations
and civil society organisations, has been set up with the support
of the CDENF as a follow-up to the “
Reykjavík
Declaration – United around our values”. On 2 July 2024, during its plenary meeting, the CGU
held a special hearing on understanding the risks of human trafficking
of children of Ukraine including for sexual and labour exploitation,
and identified new challenges that have emerged in preventing and
combating human trafficking affecting children. The hearing underscored
the need to enhance awareness about the risks of human trafficking
of the children of Ukraine in Council of Europe member States and
a joint report of the Secretariats of the CGU and the Group of Experts
on Action against Trafficking in Human Beings (GRETA) was published
in October 2024.
10. The Committee of Ministers also underlines the importance
of the Council of Europe Convention on Action against Trafficking
in Human Beings in this area, particularly in relation to the UN
Sustainable Development Goal 8.7, which calls, inter alia, for the prohibition
and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, and by 2025,
child labour in all its forms. The Convention obligates States to
take protective measures to reduce children's vulnerability to trafficking,
ensure special procedures for children in the context of victim identification
as well as to afford special protection measures to child victims
and witnesses, taking into account the best interests of the child.
11. GRETA has consistently focused on child trafficking in its
monitoring activities, especially trafficking for forced labour.
Its country reports, particularly from the second evaluation round
of the Convention, contain specific chapters on preventing child
trafficking and assisting children who are victims of trafficking.
GRETA’s fourth evaluation round, which began in 2023, continues
to monitor efforts by States to reduce child vulnerability, identify
and assist victims, and punish offenders. It has also emphasised
the need for specific preventive measures targeting vulnerable children,
including unregistered children, those in institutions, street children,
and unaccompanied minors. GRETA highlighted the need to address
child trafficking for various forms of exploitation, including forced
labour, domestic servitude, and criminality.
12. GRETA has also issued a Guidance Note on preventing and combatting
trafficking for the purpose of labour exploitation, which examined
the specific situation of children trafficked for the purpose of
labour exploitation and the related obligations of States Parties.
It highlights that States should raise public awareness of the risks
and different manifestation of child trafficking (including for
the purposes of forced labour) and should prioritise the sensitisation
and training of relevant professionals (teachers, educational staff,
child welfare professionals, social workers, guardians).
13. Finally the Committee of Ministers would recall its Recommendation
CM/Rec(2022)21 to member States on preventing and combating trafficking
in human beings for the purpose of labour exploitation, the preamble to
which recalls existing international instruments, including the
1999 ILO Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, and underlines
the Recommendation’s relevance to the issue of child labour. The
explanatory report to Recommendation
CM/Rec(2022)21 includes a section specifically on protecting child
victims in this context (paragraphs 37-39).
