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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Democratic Republic of the Congo (Ratification: 2001)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy and application of the Convention in practice. Further to its previous comments, the Committee takes due note of the Government’s information, in its report, according to which, since November 2022, it is one of the Pathfinder countries for Alliance 8.7. In this context, the Government indicates that a total of 5,034 children (2,858 boys and 2,176 girls) were identified and registered during a pilot project being carried out in Haut Katanga and Lualaba provinces, in ten mining sites. In 2024, in Lualaba province, a total of 1,145 girls and 1,004 boys aged from 5 to 7 years, 452 girls and 511 boys aged from 8 to 13 years, and 574 girls and 839 boys aged from 14 to 17 years were identified, with a view to their reintegration into school or work.

The Committee also notes the information on the website of the Global Accelerator on Jobs and Social Protection for Just Transition, led by the ILO, that the Democratic Republic of the Congo joined the Global Accelerator in April 2024 in the context of the Decent Work Country Programme (DWCP) 2021–24.

The Committee also notes the adoption of Decree No. 22/36 of 20 October 2022 on the organization and functioning of the National Council for Children, with a view to ensuring the implementation of the governmental policy on the promotion and protection of the rights of the child.

However, the Committee notes, from the 2021 UNICEF report on child protection and combating violence in the DRC, that: (1) 15 per cent of children from 5 to 17 years are engaged in child labour (with children aged 5 to 14 the most affected); (2) 13 per cent of children from 5 to 11 years are involved in economic activities and 6 per cent in domestic tasks; (3) 14 per cent of children from 12 to 14 years are involved in domestic tasks and 3 per cent in economic activities; and (4) 12 per cent of children work in urban areas compared to 17 per cent in rural areas. While noting the measures taken by the Government, the Committee expresses its deep concern at the number of children exposed to child labour. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to ensure the progressive elimination of child labour. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress made, particularly within Alliance 8.7 and the DWCP 2021–24. In this regard, it requests the Government to provide statistics, disaggregated by sex and age, on the employment of children and young persons.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and labour inspection. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that a task force was created within the framework of the project of support for progress in labour standards in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (SPNT) 2022–25, in collaboration with the ILO and the United States Department of Labor. This task force is made up of 11 labour inspectors (eight men and three women) who received training pertaining to the construction sector and formal enterprises, and who also participated in the planning and implementation of a monitoring policy for the construction sector. In this regard, the Government indicates that these specialized inspectors in turn trained 113 inspectors on the construction sector and formal enterprises and that, through the SPNT project, training was also carried out for employers’ and workers’ organizations on international labour standards and self-assessments were conducted in the labour courts, among others.

The Committee also notes the Government’s indication that sectoral labour inspection procedures have been developed with the support of the International Bureau for Children’s Rights, with a view to improving the identification of situations of economic or sexual exploitation in the informal sector. The Committee requests the Government to continue taking measures to adapt and reinforce labour inspection services to guarantee the supervision of child labour and ensure that all children enjoy the protection afforded by the Convention, including those who work in the informal economy. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of the sectoral labour inspection procedures with a view to improving the identification of situations of economic or sexual exploitation in the informal sector. In addition, it requests the Government to provide information on the results of the activities of the above-mentioned task force and of the inspectors who have been recently trained in child labour.

Article 2(3). Age of completion of compulsory schooling. Further to its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that, since 2019, the implementation of the policy of free education has allowed for the integration into the education system of over 4 million children who have not reached the minimum age of 14 years for admission to employment or work.

In addition, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that, in the context of the Project for the Alternative Welfare of Children and Youth Involved in the Cobalt Supply Chain Project (PABEA-Cobalt): (1) in 2022–23, a total of 8,254 out of 14,850 children were identified for the above project, 3,284 of whom (1,467 girls and 1,817 boys) from Haut Katanga province and 4,970 (2,173 girls and 2,797 boys) from Lualaba province; and (2) in 2023–24, a total of 9,016 children (4,434 girls and 4,582 boys) received direct social care, 3,777 of whom from Haut Katanga and 5,239 from Lualaba. In view of the fact that compulsory education is one of the most effective means of combating child labour, the Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to ensure the entry into the education system of children who have not reached the minimum age of 14 years for admission to employment or work. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the specific measures taken or envisaged in this regard.

Article 3(3). Admission to hazardous work from the age of 16 years. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that the Government planned to supplement the provisions of Ministerial Order No. 12/CAB.MIN/TPSI/045/08 of 8 August 2008, establishing conditions of work for children, in such a way as to bring the regulations on admission to hazardous work from the age of 16 years into line with Article 3(3) of the Convention.

The Committee notes with regret that the Government has not responded to its previous comment. In this respect, the Committee notes, from the 2021 UNICEF report on child protection and combating violence in the DRC, that, in practice, 13 per cent of children aged 5 to 17 years work in hazardous conditions. The Committee recalls that the flexibility clause established in Article 3(3) of the Convention allows the competent authority to authorize hazardous work from the age of 16 years only if the following requirements are met: (1) prior consultation is held with the employers’ and workers’ organizations; (2) the health, safety and morals of the young persons concerned are fully protected; and (3) the young persons in question have received adequate specific instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity. The Committee once again urges the Government to take the necessary regulatory measures to ensure that the performance of hazardous work by young persons between 16 and 18 years of age is authorized only if the requirements of Article 3(3) of the Convention are met.

Article 7. Light work. In its previous comments, the Committee noted that section 17 of Order No. 12/CAB.MIN/TPSI/045/08 contains a list of light and healthy types of work authorized for children under 18 years of age but does not set a minimum age from which children may perform light work or establish the conditions under which light work may be performed. The Committee once again requested that the Government take the necessary steps to ensure that the types of work referred to in section 17 of the Order No. 12/CAB.MIN/TPSI/045/08 are authorized only for children who are at least 12 years of age, provided that the requirements set out in Article 7(1) and (4) of the Convention are met.

The Committee notes the Government’s information that section 17 of Order No. 12/CAB.MIN/TPSI/045/08 will be submitted to the forthcoming National Labour Council to examine the terms that ensure that the types of work referred to in this section are authorized only for children who are at least 12 years of age. The Committee once again reminds the Government that Article 7(1) and (4) of the Convention is a flexibility clause under which national laws or regulations may permit the employment of children between 12 and 14 years of age in light work, or the performance by these children of such work, provided that it is: (1) not likely to be harmful to their health or development; and (2) not such as to prejudice their attendance at school, their participation in vocational guidance or training programmes approved by the competent authority, or their capacity to benefit from the instruction received. The Committee once again requests that the Government take the necessary steps to ensure that the types of work referred to in section 17 of Order No. 12/CAB.MIN/TPSI/045/08areauthorized only for children who are at least 12 years of age, provided that the requirements set out in Article 7(1) and (4) of the Convention are met.