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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Ethiopia (Ratification: 1999)

Article 1 of the Convention. National policy and application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government in its report on the ongoing efforts to progressively eliminate child labour, including: (1) the implementation of the National Action Plan (NAP) 2021–2025 for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, in collaboration with CARE-Ethiopia, the Confederation of Ethiopia Trade Unions, and the Norwegian Confederation of Trade Unions (LO-Norway); and (2) the implementation of the “She Thrives: Reducing Child Labour in Ethiopia’s Agricultural Sector Using a Gender-Focused Approach” project, jointly led by the Ministry of Labour and Skills and CARE-Ethiopia. The Committee observes from the 2024 Interim Evaluation of the She Thrives Project that child labour in Ethiopia’s agricultural sector, particularly in the informal economy, declined from 97.9 per cent to 64.8 per cent.

The Committee observes from the ILO Statistics Harmonized Microdata that the share of children aged 5 to 17 engaged in child labour declined from 42.2 per cent in 2015 to 22.3 per cent in 2021. It notes that 19.2 per cent of children aged 5 to 11 are in child labour, as are 31 per cent of children aged 12 to 14 and 20.6 per cent of children aged 15–17. The Committee takes due note of the decrease in child labour and requests the Government to pursue its efforts to progressively eliminate child labour. It also requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken in this regard, particularly within the framework of the National Action Plan (NAP) 2021-2025, and the results achieved.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and labour inspection. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that 64 labour inspectors have received training on mechanisms to detect, monitor and report on child labour cases, and that efforts are under way to digitalize the labour inspection system. It also notes the Government’s indication that limited capacity among labour inspectors and law enforcement authorities continues to pose a challenge.

The Committee further notes from the information provided by the Government that, through the labour inspections conducted, 432 children were found in child labour in family and small-scale agricultural holdings. It notes that, among those 432 children, 70 children were admitted to rehabilitation centres and 122 were reintegrated with their families. The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to strengthen the functioning and capacity of the Labour Inspectorate in order to monitor and detect all cases of child labour, including children working in agricultural undertakings and in the informal economy. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this regard, and on the results achieved, including by providing updated statistical data on the number and nature of inspections carried out, as well as the number of violations detected with regard to child labour, and the penalties imposed. Noting the absence of information provided on this point, the Committee once again requests the Government to indicate the number of complaints related to child labour received and handled by the Complaints Handling Mechanism within the labour inspection service.

Article 2(3). Age of completion of compulsory schooling. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that a draft proclamation on general education, which includes provisions for free and compulsory primary education, has been prepared for possible adoption by the competent authority. The Committee notes with regret that, though it has been raising this issue since 2009 and despite the conclusions of the Conference Committee on the Application of Standards in 2019, no legislative measures have yet been adopted to ensure that education is made compulsory up to the minimum age for admission to employment or work, namely 15 years, as required by Article 2(3) of the Convention. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary legislative measures to ensure that education is made compulsory up to the minimum age for admission to employment or work (15 years), in accordance with Article 2(3) of the Convention. It requests the Government to provide information on any progress made in this regard.

Article 3(2). Determination of hazardous work. The Committee notes with interest that Directive No. 813/2021 Restating the Activities Prohibited to Young Workers prohibits the engagement of young workers under the age of 18 years in hazardous work, determines the list of such hazardous activities (section 5) and sets out penalties in case of violations (section 10).

The Committee notes, from the ILO Statistics Harmonized Microdata that in 2021, 13.8 per cent of children were engaged in hazardous work. The Committee requests the Government to take all the necessary measures to ensure that Directive No. 813/2021 is applied in practice and that children are not engaged in hazardous work in the country. It requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken in this regard, as well as on the results achieved, including by providing data on the number and nature of violations detected and the penalties imposed.

Article 3(3). Admission to hazardous types of work from the age of 16 years. The Committee observes that, according to section 7 of Directive No. 813/2021, the prohibition to engage in hazardous work for children under 18 does not apply to young workers who are engaged in training and practice under educational and vocational institutions. In this regard, the Committee recalls that Article 3(3) of the Convention allows an exception to the prohibition of hazardous work for young persons from the age of 16 years and on the condition that their health, safety and morals are fully protected and that they have received adequate specific instruction or vocational training in the relevant branch of activity. Accordingly, the Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken or envisaged to ensure that only young persons who are at least 16 years of age are authorized to perform such work, on the conditions that their health, safety and morals be fully protected and that they receive adequate training, in conformity with Article 3(3) of the Convention.

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