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

Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138) - Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (Ratification: 1997)

Article 2(1) of the Convention. Minimum age for admission to employment or work. The Committee notes the Government’s confirmation that section 129(2) of the Code for Children and Young Persons and its related sections (130(3); 131(1), (3) and (4); 133(3) and (4); and 138(1)) that set the minimum age for admission to work at 10 years in some cases, have been derogated by ruling No. 0025/2017 of the Constitutional Court of 21 July 2017. In this regard, the Committee takes due note that under sections 130, 131, 132, 133(3) and (4), 138(1) and (2), 140(b), 188(ff) and (gg) of Act No. 1139 of 20 December 2018, which amends the Code for Children and Young People, the minimum age for admission to employment or work is 14 years, which is in conformity with the minimum age specified at the moment of ratification of the Convention.

Article 3. Hazardous work. The Committee notes the absence of information in reply to its previous comments. The Committee therefore once again requests the Government to provide information on the application in practice of section 136 of the Code for Children and Young Persons, prohibiting the engagement of young persons under 18 years of age in hazardous types of work, particularly on the number and nature of violations detected and penalties imposed.

Hazardous work and labour inspection. The Committee notes that, according to the figures published on the website of the National Statistics Institute (INE), in 2019 there were 140,000 children in some kind of hazardous work or activity, which is a decrease compared to 2016 when there were 154,000.

The Government also indicates that, through resolution No. 1444/23 establishing the General Regulations for Labour Inspection, labour inspectors carry out comprehensive inspections, which include analyses of the existence of forced labour, child labour and human trafficking. Where the labour inspector identifies evidence of forced labour, child labour or human trafficking, he or she must report it to the relevant legal authority. In addition, the Committee notes the data provided by the Government on the number and nature of inspections relating to child labour carried out in 2020–23: (1) two inspections in 2020 (due to the COVID-19 pandemic), 225 in 2021, 430 in 2022, and 450 in 2023; (2) in 2023, the inspections conducted did not detect children in situations of child labour; and (3) the Ministry of Labour, Employment and Social Welfare conducts comprehensive inspections in urban, suburban and rural areas. The Committee notes the absence of cases of child labour detected by comprehensive inspections, despite the INE reporting that 9.7 per cent of children are in child labour. The Committee therefore requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the measures taken to adapt and strengthen the labour inspection services, in order to adequately monitor and detect cases of child labour, including hazardous work; and (ii) the number and nature of the violations detected by labour inspection, and the penalties imposed, in relation to child labour.