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

Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29) - Burkina Faso (Ratification: 1960)

Article 2(2)(a) of the Convention. Work or service exacted under compulsory military service laws. The Committee previously noted that, under the terms of the legislation on military service (the Act issuing the general regulations of the national armed forces), within the context of national development service (SND), citizens of Burkina Faso could be called upon to perform work over and above the limits of the exceptions set out in the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29), and in contradiction with the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention, 1957 (No. 105).

The Committee notes with interest that Act No. 039-2024/ALT issuing the general regulations respecting the personnel of the national armed forces, adopted on 29 November 2024, henceforth limits the work of national interest that may be assigned to conscripts, within the framework of the performance of their active compulsory service, to cases of force majeure (section 21). Act No. 039-2024/ALT provides that every citizen of Burkina Faso may be required to serve in the national armed forces (section 5). Compulsory active service, of a duration of 12 months, is devoted to military and civic instruction (sections 20 and 21). The Act specifies that any member of the armed forces who has completed compulsory active service shall be considered to have met the national service obligations (section 22).

With reference to national development service, the Government reiterates, in its report provided under Convention No. 105, that national development service is based on article 10 of the Constitution, under the terms of which every citizen is required to undertake national service when called upon to do so. It adds that the legal texts on the status and organization of national development service are under review. The Committee also notes the adoption of Act No. 029-2023/ALT, of 17 August 2023 establishing national patriotic service (SNP), which replaces national development service. Act No. 029-2023/ALT provides that national patriotic service includes the civic and military obligations imposed upon any citizen of Burkina Faso for the performance of a service of general interest (section 2). National patriotic service is compulsory for all citizens aged between 18 and 35 years, if called upon to carry it out, and the procedures for its performance shall be established by regulation (sections 3 and 6). National patriotic service is of a civic and military nature, and may consist solely of a phase of productive service, or civic and military training supplemented by a period of productive service (section 4). The duration of national patriotic service is 12 months, and any period of national patriotic service is considered as time passed under the flag (section 7). The Committee further notes that, according to the internet site of the national development service, there are two categories of conscripts for national development service: employed conscripts, who are engaged in their service of origin; and voluntary conscripts, who have not yet carried out their compulsory service and wish to do so. The Committee requests the Government to provide fuller information on the operation of national patriotic service, including on the activities carried out within the framework of such service, and particularly during the course of productive phases and periods, and on the persons covered by the requirement to perform national patriotic service, with an indication of how they are called up, and it recalls in this regard that, under the terms of Article 2(2)(a) of the Convention, any work or service exacted in virtue of compulsory military services laws must be confined to work of a purely military nature, and that under Article 1(b) of Convention No. 105, such labour shall not be used for purposes of economic development. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate in detail the articulation between the obligations under national patriotic service and under military service. Please also provide a copy of the regulations respecting national patriotic service.

Article 2(2)(c). Work exacted as a consequence of a conviction in a court of law. In response to the request made by the Committee concerning the conditions under which work can be performed by prisoners for private enterprises (as permitted under section 190 of Act No. 10-2017/AN of 10 April 2017 on the prison system), the Government indicates that, in practice, work by prisoners for such entities is subject to their free and informed consent. The Government also refers to section 192 of Act No. 10-2017/AN, under the terms of which work by prisoners permitted to be placed outside the prison (defined by section 72 as the employment of a convicted person outside the prison on work performed for the benefit of public establishments or private entities) is governed by the Labour Code. The Committee further notes that section 198 of Act No. 10-2017/AN provides that the working conditions and remuneration of a prisoner who may be permitted to be placed outside the prison are discussed by the person concerned and the employer and submitted for approval by the Committee on the Application of Sentences. The Committee takes due note of this information and requests the Government to provide examples of agreements concluded between private enterprises and prisoners and approved by the Committee on the Application of Sentences, with an indication of the nature of the control exercised by that Committee. The Committee also requests the Government to indicate the measures envisaged to ensure that the legislation reflects the voluntary nature of work performed by prisoners for private entities.