Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2024, published 113rd ILC session (2025)

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Sao Tome and Principe (Ratification: 2005)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Scope of application. The Committee recalls that sections 2 and 3 of the Labour Code No. 6/2019 limit its application to formal employment contracts. It also noted that child labour remains widespread in subsistence farming, plantations and small-scale fisheries and that children start working in the informal economy at a very young age.

The Committee notes the absence of information provided by the Government in reply to its previous requests. The Committee notes, from the concluding observations of the United Nations Committee on the Protection of the Rights of All Migrant Workers and Members of Their Families (CMW) and of the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the concerns about the extent of child labour in the informal economy, particularly in agriculture and fisheries, and the fact that children often work in dangerous conditions and situations of vulnerability (CMW/C/STP/CO/1, 21 December 2021, paragraph 30 and CRC/C/STP/CO/5-6, 23 June 2023, paragraph 49).

The Committee recalls that the Convention applies to all persons engaged in economic activity, whether or not there is a contractual employment relationship and whether or not the work is remunerated, including unpaid work and work in the informal economy. This includes workers in family enterprises and farms, domestic workers, agricultural workers and self-employed workers (2012 General Survey on the fundamental Conventions, paragraph 332). Considering the prevalence of child labour in the informal economy, including in hazardous work, the Committee once again requests the Government to: (i) take the necessary measures, including through legislative amendments, to ensure that children working in the informal economy enjoy the protection afforded by the Convention; and (ii) provide information on the steps taken in this regard as well as on the results achieved.

Article 6. Apprenticeship and vocational training. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that it has not yet adopted special legislation regulating the vocational training of minors, pursuant to section 270 of the Labour Code No. 6/2019. The Committee recalls that the Labour Code No. 6/2019 does not specifically provide a minimum age for access to vocational training, and it therefore requests the Government to take the necessary measures to: (i) adopt legislation to regulate the vocational training of young persons, pursuant to section 270 of the Labour Code; and (ii) ensure that it clearly sets out a minimum age of at least 14 years for access to vocational training if performed in undertakings (apprenticeships).

Article 9(1). Penalties, labour inspectorate and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (1) it has taken measures, in cooperation with educational authorities, to organize awareness-raising campaigns in order to eliminate child labour, including under hazardous conditions; (2) it has established a unit within the Office of Social Protection and Solidarity (the Child Protection Department), which functions as a mechanism for reporting any cases of child labour or similar matters to the labour inspectorate; and (3) it is implementing programmes to eliminate child labour through partnerships with UNICEF.

With regard to statistical data on the application in practice of the Convention, the Committee notes the Government’s reply that: (1) there have not been any complaints relating to the violation of child labour provisions of the Labour Code No. 6/2019; and (2) it is in the process of compiling data on child labour and intends to request ILO technical assistance in this regard.

The Committee further notes that the CRC, in its concluding observations, expressed concern over the inadequate data collection on child labour and the lack of enforcement of child labour laws, in particular in the informal economy, and of accountability in the case of violations (CRC/C/STP/CO/5-6, paragraph 49). Considering all the above, the Committee notes with regret the absence of child labour cases reported or detected by the labour inspectorate despite the fact that children continue to be engaged in child labour in the country. The Committee requests the Government to take all the necessary measures to strengthen the capacity and expand the reach of the labour inspectorate services to adequately monitor and detect cases of children engaged in child labour, including in hazardous work and the informal economy. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in this respect as well as on the number of inspections on child labour carried out by state labour inspectors and by other agencies, and on the number and nature of violations detected and penalties imposed in this regard. Finally, the Committee once again recalls the importance of statistical data to assess the application of the Convention in practice and requests the Government to provide statistics on the employment of children under the age of 15 years, as well as on the employment of children under the age of 18 years in hazardous work, disaggregated by age, sex and sector of economic activity.

The Committee recalls that the Government may avail itself of ILO technical assistance in this regard.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.