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

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

Articles 3(a) and 7(2)(a) and (b) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour and effective and time-bound measures. Prevent the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and provide the necessary and appropriate direct assistance to remove them from the worst forms of child labour and to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. Child trafficking for labour and sexual exploitation. The Committee takes due note of the figures provided by the Government on cases of labour exploitation found between 2021 and 2023, but observes that these figures do not refer to cases of child trafficking.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Inspectorate for Work by Children and Young Persons and Evidence of Labour Exploitation (DITIAIEL), under the National Labour Inspectorate, actively participates in three of the four pillars of the National Plan against Trafficking and Exploitation of Persons 2022–2024, relating to prevention, prosecution and institutional strengthening. The Committee also notes the National Plan Management Report 2022–2024, which sets out the evaluation of the National Plan and highlights, inter alia, that: (i) 92 of the 100 activities were carried out; and (ii) a large number of agreements and pacts with public and private bodies, as well as with civil society organizations, trade unions, professional associations and others were concluded.

Further, the Committee notes the Government’s information on: (i) numerous training activities for key players such as labour inspectors, representatives of the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Security, national gendarmerie officers and social partners, through various meetings and training sessions; and (ii) the establishment in 2021 of the Standing Interministerial Working Group on coordination of actions against the crime of trafficking in persons and forced labour, aimed at establishing coordination and cooperation to standardize criteria to ensure the effectiveness of the relevant public policies, among others. The Committee welcomes the Government’s efforts to improve the detection of cases of trafficking of children for labour and sexual exploitation, including through the training carried out, and requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken in this respect. It also requests the Government to provide statistical data on: (i) the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions under Act No. 26842 in relation to the trafficking of children for labour and/or sexual exploitation; and (ii) the number of children who have been victims of trafficking and who have benefited from direct assistance for their rehabilitation and social integration.

Article 7(2)(d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Migrant and indigenous children. The Committee notes that the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its 2024 concluding observations, expressed its concern about the high rates of poverty and extreme poverty among migrant children and indigenous children (CRC/C/ARG/CO/7, paras 40 and 46). In addition, it notes that in its 2023 country office annual report, UNICEF indicated that 9 per cent of migrant children do not go to school. The Committee requests the Government to indicate the measures taken to protect migrant children and indigenous children, and to ensure that they are not exposed to the worst forms of child labour.

Article 8. International and regional cooperation. The Committee notes the detailed information provided by the Government on international cooperation measures, including: (i) the continued participation in Alliance 8.7 and the Regional Initiative for a Latin America and the Caribbean Free of Child Labour; (ii) the organization of the Regional Meeting of National Working Groups against Trafficking in Persons concerning prevention, victim assistance and regional cooperation, attended by representatives of the executive and the judicial authorities that deal with trafficking and exploitation of persons in Brazil, Chile, Bolivia (Plurinational State of), Uruguay, Ecuador, Colombia, Peru, Paraguay and Argentina, the main outcome of which was an agreement on the need to establish a platform among the countries of the region to serve as a mechanism for the exchange of good practices, aimed at improving assistance and protection for victims of trafficking in persons; and (iii) the establishment, through MERCOSUR Resolution No. 40/22, of border zone working groups aimed at strengthening action in the border zones, and serving as a local body to bring together the social partners, representatives of local official bodies in border zones, territorial representatives of national bodies and civil society actors, to jointly and comprehensively address the issue of prevention and elimination of child labour. The Committee requests the Government to continue to provide information on international and regional cooperation to prevent and eliminate the worst forms of child labour, and on the concrete results achieved.

Measures to alleviate poverty. The Committee notes that, in their observations, the General Confederation of Labour of the Argentine Republic (CGT RA) and the Confederation of Workers of Argentina (CTA Autonomous) warn of the situation of increasing poverty, which affects six in ten children and forces them to work for the upkeep of their family. The Committee also notes that, in its concluding observations, the CRC expressed that it was highly concerned about: (i) the persistently alarming high levels of children living in poverty and the increase in extreme monetary child poverty; and (ii) the 57 per cent of children who live in homes that are unable to cover their non-food related needs, such as transport and clothing (CRC/C/ARG/CO/7, para. 40). Recalling that poverty reduction programmes contribute to breaking the cycle of poverty, which is essential for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, the Committee requests the Government to provide information on the specific measures taken to reduce poverty, and the impact of these measures on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour in the country.