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

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

Article 3(c) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Use, procuring or offering of a child for illicit activities. In its previous comments, the Committee noted with satisfaction that, under section 345 of the Penal Code, the procuring of minors for incorporation into criminal groups, associations and organizations, or the use of minors as part of a criminal structure, was punishable by imprisonment of 15 to 20 years.

The Committee notes with regret that the new section 345 of the Penal Code, as amended following the adoption on 30 March 2022 of Legislative Assembly Decree No. 337, no longer prohibits the use, procuring or offering of children for illicit activities. Furthermore, according to the joint statement of 13 February 2025 by the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) on the reforms to the Juvenile Criminal Act and the Prisons Act in El Salvador, the Committee notes that the reforms allow children under the age of 18 who are deprived of their freedom for crimes committed in the context of organized crime to serve their provisional detention or prison sentence in adult prisons administered by the Directorate of Prisons.

The Committee recalls that Article 3(c) of the Convention, read in conjunction with Article 1, requires immediate and effective measures to be taken to prohibit the use, procuring and offering of children for illicit activities, in particular the production and trafficking of drugs. The Committee also underlines the fact that children under the 18 years of age who are used by groups for illicit activities should be considered victims, not offenders. The Committee therefore requests the Government to take the necessary steps to expressly prohibit the use, procuring or offering of children under 18 years of age for illicit activities, in particular the production and trafficking of drugs, in accordance with Article 3(c) of the Convention, and to ensure the adoption effective and sufficiently dissuasive penalties. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on how it ensures that all children who have been used, procured or offered for the performance of illicit activities are considered victims and not offenders, and that they receive the necessary and appropriate 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 duly notes the Government’s indications that crime and violence in certain areas of the country have decreased, ensuring children’s safe access to education. The Committee also notes the various measures taken to provide access to education free of charge, including: (1) the continuation of programmes to provide uniforms, shoes and school supplies from early childhood to the end of secondary level in public schools; (2) the adoption of the Vaso de Leche (glass of milk) programme, which provides meals in all public schools to reduce the risk of dropping out of school owing to lack of resources; (3) the creation of the Consejería Escolar para la Comunidad Educativa (school counselling for the educational community) programme, which seeks to prevent violence in schools, detect social risks to children early on, and care for children who have experienced the worst forms of child labour and need support; (4) the creation of 11 “urban welfare and opportunity centres”, which involves, among other things, the construction and equipping of libraries, reading rooms, recreational areas, computer centres and children’s play areas; and (5) the Mi Nueva Escuela (my new school) comprehensive educational reform, aimed at ensuring that students complete their educational pathway and attend and remain in school.

The Committee also takes note of the data provided by the Government in its report on the application of the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), according to which the school attendance rate in 2023 was 90 per cent for children between 4 and 12 years of age and 87.6 per cent for children between 13 and 17 years of age. The Committee notes an increase by comparison with 2019 data, when 77.9 per cent of children attended school.

However, the Committee notes that the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR), in its concluding observations of 9 November 2022, expressed concern about the significant differences in school enrolment and retention rates among students from households of different income levels and disparities between urban and rural areas in terms of the quality of education and school infrastructure (E/C.12/SLV/CO/6, para. 60). The Committee requests the Government to continue taking steps to improve the education system, facilitating access to free basic education for children, including those living in situations of poverty or in rural areas. In this regard, the Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the results achieved, including the supply of up-to-date statistics on school attendance and retention rates for children at least up to the age of 14 years (the minimum age declared by El Salvador for admission to employment), disaggregated by age and sex, as far as possible.

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