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

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Comoros (Ratification: 2004)

Articles 3(a)–(c) and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Penalties. Sale and trafficking of children. Use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution, for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances, or for illicit activities. The Committee notes, according to the Government’s report, that the new Penal Code was adopted in 2020. It notes with satisfaction that: (1) under section 328 of the new Penal Code, anyone who makes, or attempts to make, a child under 18 years of age work in one of the worst forms of child labour specified in section 131(a)–(c) of the Labour Code, that is to say, the trafficking of children or the use, procuring or offering of a child for prostitution or for illicit activities, shall be punishable by a fine of 500,000 to 5 million Comorian francs (KMF) and imprisonment of one to ten years; and (2) under section 266-11 of the Penal Code, trafficking in persons, where it has been committed for the exploitation of young persons under 18 years of age, shall be punishable by 10 to 20 years imprisonment and a fine of KMF 30 million. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number and nature of offences reported, investigations conducted, prosecutions initiated, convictions handed down and criminal penalties imposed pursuant to the above-mentioned provisions regarding the prohibition of the worst forms of child labour. As far as possible, this information should be disaggregated by the age and sex of the victims.

Article 5. Monitoring mechanisms. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the Government’s indication that issues relating to the worst forms of child labour are in practice never brought to the attention of the labour inspectorate. The Committee once again notes with regret that the Government says nothing about the mechanisms for monitoring the employment or use of children in the worst forms of child labour. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary steps to establish mechanisms for monitoring the worst forms of child labour, including by providing for an additional monitoring mechanism within the labour inspectorate regarding the application of Article 3(a)–(c) of the Convention covering criminal offences. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on this matter.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clause (d). Identifying and reaching out to children at special risk. Child domestic labour. The Committee once again notes with regret that there is no information on this matter in the Government’s report. It also notes that, according to the 2022 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), 4 per cent of children between 5 and 11 years of age and 8 per cent of children between 12 and 14 years of age perform unpaid domestic tasks for at least 21 hours per week. The Committee urges the Government to take effective and time-bound measures to protect children engaged in domestic work, particularly girls, against the worst forms of child labour and the various forms of abuse to which they may be exposed, and to provide information on any measures taken in this regard.

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