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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Myanmar (Ratification: 2020)

Article 1 of the Convention and application of the Convention in practice. National policy. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the information provided by the military authorities, in their report under the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182), that the National Committee on the Elimination of Child Labour (NCECL) continues to implement the National Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour (NAPCL 2019–2033). The military authorities indicate, in an annex to that report, that the eight working committees of the NCECL continue to take measures, in particular the Working Committee on Removal and Rehabilitation of the Worst Forms of Child Labour, which undertook some activities on child protection and awareness-raising. The Committee also takes note of the information contained in the April 2024 ILO fact sheet outlining good practices generated through the Myanmar Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (My-PEC). These good practices include capacity development of various stakeholders to formulate the NAPCL; comprehensive, community-based and localized direct support services for children engaged in, or at risk of entering, child labour; and building local capacity for monitoring through mandatory direct beneficiary monitoring and reporting (DBMR), with transition from DBMR-based support to the use of the Child Labour Monitoring System (CLMS) planned for 2024.

The Committee notes, from the ILO analytical report on endline knowledge, attitudes and practices study on child labour in Myanmar (2022), that child labour, including in hazardous work, will remain a serious problem in Myanmar for years to come as low-income households face increasing financial hardships in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic and the 2021 military takeover. In a significant proportion of the households sampled in the context of this study, children began working at a young age, with 56 per cent of parents with working children reporting that their child started working at the age of 14 or younger. Children worked for an average of nine hours per day, and six days per week. Working in the family business was common across the sample, and it was also common for children to sell items on the street, at markets or in shops, and to work in restaurants or teashops.

Moreover, in an ILO study of Mon, Kayin, Kayah and Shan States on trends in child labour in Myanmar 2021-24, it was revealed that, since the military takeover, the risk of child labour appears to have increased, with the deteriorating situation causing more children to live in poverty. There has also been a noticeable shift in attitudes towards child labour in Myanmar, primarily driven by a desire to avoid conscription, with many families now regarding child labour as a means of keeping their children safe from recruitment into armed conflict. Based on its findings, this study recommends stepping up action to prevent, address and end child labour in Myanmar by addressing the underlying drivers of child labour – some of which are specific to the conflict situation, and some of which pre-date the military takeover. Therefore, the study recommends initiatives that focus on such actions as continued child labour monitoring and referrals; support for education, including alternative and non-formal education and vocational training; ensuring safe migration; supporting families’ economic resilience; supporting continued awareness-raising on child labour; providing psychosocial support to children and young people; and ensuring the physical safety of children and families, as well as community workers, other professionals and volunteers who provide to children and families.

While acknowledging the difficult situation prevailing in the country, the Committee expresses its concern about the high number of children involved, or at risk of being involved, in child labour, including in hazardous conditions. The Committee therefore urges the military authorities take the necessary measures to ensure the effective implementation of the NAPCL, including by taking all possible action to address the issues that have been identified as the main drivers of child labour, including the conflict situation and its impact on the economy and education, and shifting attitudes towards, and lack of knowledge about, child labour. The Committee requests the military authorities to continue to provide information on the activities of the NCECL and the eight working subcommittees with regard to the elimination of child labour, and on the results achieved.

Article 2(1) and (3). Minimum age for admission to employment or work and compulsory education. The Committee recalls that the minimum age for admission to employment or work in Myanmar is 14 years, but that the age of completion of compulsory schooling appears to be 11 years. Pursuant to sections 16 to 18 of the National Education Law (NEL), 2014, only primary school from ages 6 to 11 is compulsory in Myanmar. The Committee regrets the absence of information on this point. It recalls the importance of aligning the minimum age for admission to employment with the age of completion of compulsory schooling, in order to prevent any gap that could expose children to economic exploitation. The Committee therefore requests the military authorities to take the necessary measures to make education compulsory until the minimum age for admission to employment, namely 14 years.

Article 2(1). Scope of application and labour inspection. The Committee notes the information contained in the military authorities’ report under Convention No. 182, according to which the Factories and General Labour Laws Inspection Department (FGLLID) is providing awareness-raising trainings and carrying out inspections to monitor the application of both the Factories Act, 1951, and the Shops and Establishments Law, 2016, including as regards the prohibition of employment of children under the age of 18 in dangerous work under section 14(d) of the latter. The military authorities provide no information on the outcomes of the inspections conducted, nor do they provide information on any activities conducted by the police to monitor the implementation of the Child Rights Law, which provides a minimum age for employment or work of 14 regardless of sector, and for the prohibition of hazardous work for all children under the age of 18. Noting with regret the absence of information on this point, the Committee once again requests the military authorities to provide information on the manner in which the provisions of the Child Rights Law regarding the minimum age for employment or work of 14 and the prohibition of hazardous work to children under 18 years are being applied in practice in all sectors of the economy, and by which law enforcement body. The Committee once again requests the military authorities to provide information on the application of the Factories Act, the Shops and Establishments Law and the Child Rights Law in the informal economy and on children working on their own account.

Article 3(2). Determination of types of hazardous work. In their report under Convention No. 182, the military authorities indicate that activities are being carried out with a view to issuing a list of hazardous types of work prohibited to children under 18 years of age, pursuant to section 49(a) of the Child Rights Law. These include workshops, consultations with the NCECL and relevant ministries, discussions at national-level tripartite meetings, and requests for comments from the Office of the Attorney-General. The Committee urges the military authorities to take the necessary measures to ensure that the draft list determining the types of hazardous work prohibited for young persons under 18 years of age is adopted in the near future. It requests the military authorities to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

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