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

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

Articles 5, 6 and 7(2)(a) and (b) of the Convention. Monitoring mechanisms, programmes of action and time-bound measures. Preventing children from engaging in and removing them from the worst forms of child labour, and ensuring their rehabilitation and social integration. National Action Plan against Trafficking in Persons. The Committee notes the Government’s information on: (1) the adoption of the Second National Action Plan against Trafficking in Persons (PNCP) 2023–2026 and its Strategy, containing five focus areas, namely, institutional and legal support, prevention, protection of and provision of assistance to victims, legal action and partnerships and mobilization. The Plan also includes a section on rapid rescue, sustainable reintegration and protection of both potential victims and witnesses; (2) the Observatory for the Monitoring and Rapid Identification of Human Trafficking has adopted an International Organization for Migration (IOM) manual on standard operating procedures for combating trafficking, which provides guidelines for the identification and referral of and provision of assistance to victims and for the investigation and punishment of traffickers; and (3) senior and junior national police officers, and particularly the staff of the Department of Criminal Investigation and the Maritime Police, have been receiving training and capacity-building. While taking note of the information provided by the Government, the Committee notes the absence of information in reply to its previous comments with regard to the results achieved through the implementation of the first PNCP 2018–2021. It therefore once again requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved through the implementation of the PNCP 2018–2021 and to indicate if and how its evaluation informed the development of the new PNCP 2023–2026. The Committee further requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken, and the results achieved, through the implementation of the PNCP 2023–2026 and of the IOM standard operating procedures, in particular in terms of the number of children withdrawn from trafficking and who were provided with the necessary direct assistance for their rehabilitation and social integration.

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 takes due note of the detailed information provided by the Government with regard to the measures undertaken to improve the functioning of the education system. More specifically, it notes: (1) the adoption of the Strategic Plan for Education (2022–2026), designed to increase access to and continued enrolment in school, reduce regional disparities and ensure that more students achieve academic success; (2) the Cabo Verdean Foundation for Social Action in the Schools (FICASE), a public institution mandated to promote equality of opportunity in the education community, sponsors several programmes, including a school meals programme, a sponsorship programme, a school kits programme, student residences and school health services; (3) the National School Meals Programme (PNAE) provided meals to 90,725 pre-school, compulsory primary school and secondary school students during the 2021–2022 school year; (4) during the 2021–2022 school year, the Sponsorship Programme, which benefits children who come from poor or disadvantaged families, are orphaned, have special education needs or live far from their schools, provided 2,023 students with schoolbags, school supplies, uniforms, school transport and payment of school fees in all of the country’s municipalities; and (5) 7,640 students benefited from the School Transport Programme (PTE) during the 2021–2022 school year.

The Committee notes, from the 2023 Annual Report of the UNICEF Country Office, that the enrolment rate at the primary level remains stable at 77 per cent, while the transition rate from eighth to ninth grade dropped significantly (from 78 per cent to 54 per cent) with boys falling behind compared to girls (47 per cent of boys and 61 per cent of girls are enrolled in ninth grade). Noting the decrease in the transition rate from primary to secondary education, especially for boys, the Committee strongly encourages the Government to strengthen its efforts to improve the functioning of the educational system, particularly to ensure equal access to free, compulsory basic education to all children up to lower secondary education. It requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the measures taken in this regard, including within the framework of the Strategic Plan for Education (2022–2026); and (ii) the results achieved, including in terms of any increase in the school enrolment and attendance rates and a reduction in the drop-out rates at both the primary and lower secondary levels.

Clause (d). Identifying children at special risk. Street children. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Nôs Kaza centres in Praia and Santa Maria (Sal) continue to assist children in street situations, by providing them with treatment, accommodation, guidance and street-level monitoring which benefited 60 children in 2022. These centres also undertake home and school visits, academic guidance and monitoring for children and their families and referrals to other social support services. In addition, the Government indicates that: (1) in the principal urban centres of Praia, Mindelo, Santa Maria and Sal Rei, children in street situations are approached in an attempt to facilitate their return to school and to their families; (2) a vocational training project was developed and implemented by the Government, in cooperation with various stakeholders, and enrolled 184 adolescents, of which 149 successfully completed the training; and (3) in 2022, 462 children and adolescents received health, education and/or social assistance such as family and school reintegration, access to the labour market for adolescents and their families, access to family empowerment programmes and capacity-building for families in terms of caregiving and strengthening of their protection function. The Committee welcomes these measures and requests the Government to continue its efforts to remove children from the streets and provide assistance for their rehabilitation and social integration. In this regard, it requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of children removed from the streets and given education and assistance by the Nôs Kaza centres or pursuant to any other programmes.

Article 8. International cooperation and assistance. Poverty reduction programmes. Social protection. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that: (1) it has committed itself to eradicating poverty in the country by 2030; (2) it has adopted the Sustainable Development Plan (PEDS II), which has as one of its targets the elimination of abject poverty in Cabo Verde by 2026; (3) it has adopted the National Strategy for the Elimination of Abject Poverty (ENEPE) 2022–2026 with the goal of expanding eligibility for the social inclusion benefit (RSI, a direct cash transfer scheme) and ensuring that all dependent persons, are entitled to an income, have access to prescription drugs and benefit from reduced energy and water rates; and (4) as a result of the expansion of eligibility of the RSI to all families living in abject poverty, the RSI was granted to 37,000 people between 2020 and 2023 and to almost 9,000 families in 2024. 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 encourages the Government to continue its efforts to reduce the incidence of poverty in Cabo Verde and to implement social protection programmes to address the needs of low-income and vulnerable families and their children. It once again requests the Government to provide information on the results achieved, especially with regard to the effective reduction of poverty in vulnerable households and the impact observed on the elimination of the worst forms of child labour.