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

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Mexico (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes the observations of the National Confederation of Workers (UNT), received on 5 September 2025. The Committee requests the Government to provide its comments in this regard.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (c). Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government that, in accordance with section 47(VII) of the General Act on the rights of boys, girls and young persons, and section 201 of the Federal Penal Code, between January and April 2024, a total of 822 victims were recorded of the crime of the corruption of minors, which includes labour exploitation begging, participation in illegal activities or armed conflict representing an increase of 9.9 per cent in relation to 2023. The Committee notes that, according to the Executive Secretary of the Public Security System, there were 3,064 cases of corruption involving minors.

The Committee notes that in 2023 the Office of the Attorney General of the State of Oaxaca obtained convictions against three people for the labour exploitation and begging on behalf of others of 13 young indigenous persons, with sentences of between 23 and 52 years of imprisonment being handed down for each victim, as well as fines. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the application of section 47(VII) of the General Act on the rights of boys, girls and young persons and section 201 of the Federal Penal Code for the use procuring or offering of children for illicit activities, including the number of violations reported and the penalties imposed, disaggregated by activity

Article 6. Programmes of action. Trafficking in persons. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government, according to which: (1) through the Citizens Safety and Protection Secretariat (SSPC) and the National Guard, interinstitutional collaboration has been strengthened to address cases of sexual exploitation and trafficking in persons targeting girls, boys, young persons and women, as well as through the training of cybersecurity units; (2) in 2023, the SSPC established the Working Group for the Prevention of Trafficking, with the objective of strengthening interinstitutional collaboration to address cases of the sexual exploitation and trafficking of persons; and (3) the National Forum for the Prevention of Trafficking in Persons in Mexico was held in 2023, with the participation of 1,080 representatives of Government bodies and civil society.

The Committee notes that in 2024 the National Migration Institute implemented an awareness-raising campaign on trafficking in persons and the worst forms of child labour in order to raise awareness of its forms, causes and consequences within the context of mobility and migration.

The Committee notes the observations of the CONLABOR recommending the implementation of national prevention campaigns focusing on children and young persons in relation to mobility, migration, indigenous communities and areas with high levels of informality. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the implementation and concrete results of the programmes that are currently being implemented, including the interinstitutional collaboration between the SSPC and the National Guard and the SSPC Working Group on the Prevention of Trafficking with a view to the elimination of the trafficking of boys, girls and young persons.

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 notes the information provided by the Government on: (1) the adoption of the National Development Plan 2025–30, which envisages extending school coverage, raising the school enrolment rate and ensuring retention at school through grants and support programmes; (2) the increase in the budget allocated to compulsory education and the Benito Juárez Basic Education for Welfare Grant Programme and the support for special education; (3) the implementation of the Programme of Educational Support for the Migrant Population, from which 2,969 students benefited in 2024; and (4) the measures adopted for the educational coverage of indigenous children, particularly through the Benito Juárez grants, which covered 789,073 students in 2023, although the figure fell to 779,515 in 2024 due to the demographic decline, with a drop-out rate of 0.1 per cent and an overall effectiveness rate of 97.9 per cent.

However, the Committee notes that, according to the National Institute of Statistics and Geography (INEGI) in its 2024 report on multidimensional poverty, 18.6 per cent of the population are behind in their education, with a higher rate in rural areas (32.2 per cent) than in urban areas (14.8 per cent). The Committee also notes the concluding observations of 10 July 2025 of the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women, in which it expressed concern at the continued high rate of school dropouts due to gender-based violence, unplanned pregnancies and the absence of a binding national protocol to guarantee re-entry into and retention in the education system (CEDAW/C/MEX/CO/10, para. 37(b)). The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to facilitate the access of all children to free basic education, and particularly to increase assistance and the completion of schooling and reduce drop-out rates, especially for children from underprivileged communities, remote areas and indigenous communities. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures adopted or envisaged in this regard, and the results achieved, including updated statistics on school attendance and drop-out rates disaggregated by age and sex.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Street children. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the measures adopted by the Comprehensive Family Development System (DIF) to remove children from the streets and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration, which include: (1) in Mexico City, the removal of 83 children from the streets in 2023, with 51 being placed in residential centres and 32 being reintegrated; (2) in Durango, the Juntos por la Niñez (“Together for Childhood”) operational programme under which, by the end of 2023, 25 children had been removed from the streets; and (3) the La Calle No Es Su Lugar (“The street is not for you”) programme, through which, from 2024 until June 2025, some 2,867 street children were identified. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measure adopted for the removal of children from the streets. It also requests the Government to provide information on the number of children that received assistance and the type of assistance provided to ensure their rehabilitation and social integration.

Article 8. International cooperation. The Committee takes due note of the detailed information provided on international and regional cooperation efforts for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including the holding of the annual meeting of the National Network of Local Commissions, in collaboration with the ILO, for the sharing of data on prevention and action to combat child labour. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the international and regional cooperation measures adopted to combat the worst forms of child labour and their concrete results