Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 2025, published 114th ILC session (2026)

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

Article 6. Programmes of action. Trafficking. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government that, following assistance from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), it is in the process of finalizing and adopting the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons. The Committee further observes that the National Action Plan is expected to enhance the strategic framework and ensure the implementation of comprehensive measures to effectively combat human trafficking. The Committee also notes from the Government’s Trafficking in Persons Secretariat website the implementation of the Commonwealth of the National Anti-Trafficking in Persons Strategy 2019–2023, which aims to promote coordinated action among stakeholders and secure financial support from local and international donors to combat trafficking in persons. The Committee once again requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in the adoption and implementation of the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons. It also requests the Government to provide information on the concrete measures adopted within the framework of the National Action Plan to Combat Trafficking in Persons and the National Anti-Trafficking in Persons Strategy 2019–2023, and the specific impacts of these measures to combat child trafficking.

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. The Committee further notes from the Government’s information the implementation of the following measures: (1) the Find Every Child Initiative, launched to address the high number of students missing from school after the COVID-19 pandemic, including the formation of a National Task Force in January 2021 to identify and reintegrate missing students; (2) technical support using data from the Bahamas Education Management Information System (EMIS), with officials conducting monthly visits to low-attendance schools; (3) deployment of 19 school attendance monitors, operating from Urban Renewal Centres, working within communities to locate and reintegrate school-aged children missing from the education system; (4) the implementation of EMIS and the Learning Management System (LMS) for online registration, attendance tracking, and student engagement; (5) the expansion of Virtual Schooling for Vulnerable Students for vulnerable students, including those hospitalized, chronically ill, incarcerated, and remote students to continue their education online; and (6) the digitalization of educational resources through the Department of Education’s Virtual School. The Committee further notes the Government’s statement that school attendance has reached 94 per cent, with the number of students missing more than 50 per cent of the school year decreasing from 6,811 to 425. The Committee welcomes the Government’s efforts and requests it to continue providing information on the measures taken to facilitate access to free basic education, including within the framework of the Find Every Child Initiative. It also requests to continue providing information on the progress made in terms of increasing the school enrolment and completion rates at primary and lower secondary levels and lowering school drop-out rates.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Haitian migrant children. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that various programmes and initiatives have been implemented to mitigate the risk of exploitation and engagement in child labour of Haitian migrant children, including: (1) community outreach programmes; (2) collaboration with non-governmental organizations; (3) the establishment of monitoring and enforcement mechanisms to protect children’s rights; and (4) the implementation of the Find Every Child Initiative, which has played a crucial role in identifying and supporting vulnerable children, including Haitian migrant children, by focusing on reintegrating students who have been absent or dropped out from the education system. Recalling that migrant children are at greater risk of becoming involved in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee encourages the Government to continue its efforts to implement effective and time-bound measures to protect Haitian children from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to continue to provide updated information on the measures taken in this regard, and on the results achieved, including in terms of the number of Haitian children who have benefited from such measures.