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

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

Article 3 of the Convention. Clause (b). Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances. The Committee notes The Government’s information that the Royal Eswatini Police Service (REPS) has not recorded any offences related to the prostitution or pornography of children under sections 13, 15, 16 or 24 to 28 of the Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Act (SODV Act) of 2018. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on the application in practice of the sections mentioned above of the SODV Act, indicating the number of prosecutions, convictions and penal sanctions applied for the offences related to prostitution and pornography involving children.

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. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information on the various efforts it continues to make for the improvement of the education system. The Government indicates that a Technical Committee on Education and Skills Development (ETSD) was established to assist the Ministry of Education and Training to drive the implementation of transformative interventions in education. The ETSD has many specific functions, including for instance ensuring the adequate monitoring of teaching and learning, the coordination of school retention interventions, and ensuring the development of a national assessment framework for general education.

The Committee observes, according to the statistics shared by the Government, that the primary and secondary enrolment rates appear to have remained stable between 2022 and 2024, with the 2024 statistics showing 225,566 children enrolled in primary and 120,940 children enrolled in secondary school. The primary and secondary school dropouts, however, appear to have slightly increased in that same period, going from 4,830 to 9,738 dropouts at the primary level and 3,068 to 6,758 dropouts at the secondary level. These statistics are corroborated by the 2024 National General Education Progress Report, according to which one of the main reasons for dropouts is attributed to having learners repeat a grade more than once. Considering that education is key to preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour, the Committee strongly encourages the Government to continue taking measures to improve the functioning of the education system, in particular to reduce school repetition and drop-out rates at both primary and the secondary levels. It requests the Government to continue to provide updated statistical information on the school enrolment and attendance rates as well as drop-out rates.

Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. Child victims of trafficking. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes, from the Government’s report under the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), that while the National Strategic Framework and Action Plan to Combat People Trafficking 2019–2023 ended in 2023, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Prevention of People Trafficking and People Smuggling has recommended its extension until 2026 because of some delays in planned activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Among other things, the Task Force is reviewing the shelter guidelines to identify the needs of victims of trafficking and house them in the appropriate shelters, such as child-friendly shelters. The Committee also notes the Government’s information, in its report, regarding the adoption the Children’s Protection and Welfare (Approved Residential Child Care Facilities) Regulations, Legal Notice No. 111 of 2023, which the Government indicates is part of the efforts made to strengthen children’s protection from becoming victims of trafficking and withdrawing child victims of trafficking and rehabilitating and socially integrating them. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken to prevent children from becoming victims of trafficking and withdrawing child victims of trafficking and rehabilitating and socially integrating them. It requests the Government to provide information on the number of children who have benefited from these measures, in particular the number of child victims of trafficking who have been identified, placed in shelters and rehabilitated and socially integrated.

Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Child orphans of HIV/AIDS. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister provides scholarships to orphans and other vulnerable children (OVCs), in an effort to keep them in school and protect them from the worst forms of child labour. The Government indicates that all OVCs in the country are provided sponsorships, even at the level of high school education, and provides a table which shows the significant increase in spending on school fees in this regard from the 2009–10 school year until 2023–24. The Government further indicates that the Deputy Prime Minister’s Office, through the National Disaster Management Agency (NDMA), is providing sustainable livelihood interventions for OVC households in order to build the resilience of these children to any shock and protect them from exploitation. To date, the programme has provided support to about 746 child-headed households with various interventions such as small-scale crop production, livestock farming, horticulture and vocational skills.

While taking note of this information, the Committee observes that, according to 2023 UNAIDS estimates, the number of orphans due to HIV/AIDS continues to increase, with the number now estimated at 70,000, as opposed to 58,000, in 2021 and 47,000 in 2015–2016. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to protect child orphans from HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable children from the worst forms of child labour. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the results achieved through these efforts, including in terms of the number of OVCs who have effectively been prevented from becoming engaged in the worst forms of child labour or have been removed from these worst forms.