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

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Guatemala (Ratification: 2001)

Articles 3(b) and 7(1) of the Convention. Use, procuring or offering of a child for the production of pornography or for pornographic performances; penalties. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, between 2022 and 2025, according to records of the judiciary’s court management system, ten convictions were issued for the offence laid down in section 190bis of the Penal Code regarding the seduction of children through the use of information technologies. The Government also states that the National Coordination Office of the Regional Prosecution Service against Trafficking in Persons located at the Public Prosecutor’s Office indicates that, also under section 190bis, six complaints were registered in 2022, eight complaints in 2023 (with six trials held and six convictions), 11 complaints in 2024 (with four trials and four convictions), and nine complaints between January and April 2025 (with four trials at the intermediate stage).

The Commission notes the Government’s indication that the Regional Prosecution Service against Trafficking in Persons reports that it has conducted investigations and prosecutions related to child pornography through international operations coordinated with authorities in France, Mexico, El Salvador and Honduras. The Committee notes that, on 14 April 2025, four cases under the title Casos Pretoria related to the sale, distribution and possession of child pornography were investigated. The Commission requests the Government to continue taking effective measures to combat child pornography and to provide information on the impact of these measures. It also requests the Government to continue providing information on the number of investigations carried out for offences related to the use, procuring or offering of persons under 18 years of age for pornography, particularly under section 190bis of the Penal Code, and to provide specific information on prosecutions carried out and convictions and penalties imposed for these offences.

Articles 3(d) and 5. Hazardous work and monitoring mechanisms. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the Inter-institutional Coordinating Committee against Labour Exploitation and Child Labour (CICELTI) continues to implement, through its member institutions, information, prevention and awareness campaigns aimed at the public, with the aim of preventing the participation of young persons in hazardous types of work, including the production and handling of explosive materials and products.

The Government indicates that the Secretariat against Sexual Violence, Exploitation and Trafficking in Persons (SVET) registered 33 complaints related to the production and handling of explosive materials and products between 2022 and 15 April 2025. Furthermore, the Labour Inspectorate at the Ministry of Labour is conducting inspections nationwide to verify that young persons are not employed in the fireworks and explosives sector.

The Committee notes the Government’s indication that, according to the report on the situation of child labour produced on the basis of the survey of living conditions for 2023 (ENCOVI 2023), of the estimated 865,149 children and young persons engaging in child labour, 397,778 perform hazardous work. Of these, 27.9 per cent are girls and 72.1 per cent are boys, with 182,397 working in extreme temperatures, 178,075 are exposed to smoke and dust, and 150,027 are working in damp conditions. The Government also states that, according to the results of ENCOVI 2023, a 38 per cent reduction in hazardous child labour has been recorded in the last decade. The Committee encourages the Government to continue taking the necessary measures to ensure that young persons under 18 years of age do not perform hazardous types of work. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the number of inspections carried out in this sector, the types of violations recorded and the penalties imposed as a result of these inspections.

Article 6. Programmes of action.The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures taken under focus area 3 of the “Public policy for the comprehensive protection of children and young persons 2017–32” to prevent and eliminate the trafficking of children.

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 Government’s indication that, through the Department of Community Participation and Support Services (DIGEPSA) at the Ministry of Education, support programmes are implemented, such as: the “School meals programme”, which has benefited some 7 million children; the “School supplies programme”, with 8 million beneficiaries; and the “Free education programme”, which reached 12 million students between 2022 and 2025.

The Committee notes the Government’s indicate that since 2022 the Department of Intercultural Bilingual Education has devised training processes aimed at mothers, fathers, and community leaders, with the objective of promoting school retention and supporting children with a view to completing primary education and continuing at the basic level.

The Committee observes that the United Nations (UN) Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), in its concluding observations of 14 November 2023, expressed concern at the low educational attainment of girls, whose schooling is equivalent to 5.3 years on average, the high rates of drop out from school among girls owing to poverty, unpaid domestic work, early pregnancy and child marriage, and the deficiencies in school infrastructure, since only 66 per cent of state schools have adequate basic facilities (CEDAW/C/GTM/CO/10, para. 34(a) and (d)). The Committee requests the Government to continue its efforts to improve the functioning of the national education system and increase school assistance at the primary and basic secondary education levels, taking account of the situation of girls. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information with up-to-date data on school enrolment, retention and completion rates for boys and girls up to the basic secondary education level.

Clause (d). Children at special risk. Street children. The Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the programmes aimed at preventing and addressing the situation of children at risk of being on the streets. The Government indicates that the Social Works Secretariat of the Spouse of the President of the Republic (SOSEP) implements the “Community homes programme”, aimed at improving the living conditions of families with children under seven years of age in situations of economic and social vulnerability. The programme provides comprehensive care in terms of nutrition, preventive health, psychosocial development, protection and pre-school education, in two forms: community homes, which cater for groups of 10 to 12 children, and childcare and development centres, which provide food, preventive health and pre-school education services to some 20 children in each centre.

The Committee also notes that the Social Welfare Secretariat (SBS) at the Office of the President of the Republic implements the “Programme for school support and prevention of living on the streets (REPREDEC)”, aimed at children between 7 and 12 years of age from working families or in situations of vulnerability. It is noted that 118 young persons were catered for in the childcare centres run by the programme up to 9 June 2025, while 9,710 young persons received food assistance under the same programme between February and May 2025.

The Committee also notes that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 21 June 2024, recommended that the Government, among other things: (1) assess the number of children living and/or working on the streets, update studies on the root causes of their situation and adopt sustainable medium- and long-term measures to address those causes; (b) prevent the institutionalization or criminalization of children in street situations; and (3) protect them from recruitment by non-state armed groups and promote their family reintegration or their placement in alternative care (21 June 2024, CRC/C/GTM/CO/7, para. 48(a), (b) and (c)). The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the steps taken to identify and remove children from the streets and the results achieved in this respect, including the number of children rescued and of those who received assistance.

Children belonging to indigenous peoples. The Committee notes the Government’s indication that the SVET has developed awareness-raising and training processes in coordination with indigenous communities and authorities, including preventive workshops such as the one held in 2024 to mark the World Day Against Child Labour, aimed at students between 6 and 12 years of age at the Cerro Alto mixed rural school.

The Committee also notes that the Ministry of the Interior, through the Under-Ministry for the Prevention of Violence and Crime and the Unit for the Community Prevention of Violence, has promoted children’s rights in contexts of significant social, economic, and cultural vulnerability. It is noted that, within this framework, the Safe Schools Section conducted workshops and fairs on the prevention of child labour in municipalities prioritized by the child labour risk identification model (MIRTI), benefiting approximately 3,500 children and young persons belonging to indigenous peoples.

The Committee notes that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 21 June 2024, expressed concern at the limited progress in the recognition of the rights of indigenous and Afrodescendent children, at the high level of poverty among them, and at the obstacles they face in accessing culturally sensitive healthcare, education and justice services (CRC/C/GTM/CO/7, para. 46). The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the specific measures taken, in conjunction with the indigenous peoples, to prevent the engagement of indigenous children in the worst forms of child labour.

Children vulnerable to climate change. The Committee notes the Guatemala Operational Update for July–September 2025 published by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), which indicates that some 685,000 people are internally displaced as a result of disasters related to weather phenomena, according to data from the National Institute of Statistics on internal displacement in Guatemala.

The Committee notes that the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC), in its concluding observations of 21 June 2024, expressed concern at the high level of vulnerability of children owing to the impact of climate change and at the fact that national policies on climate change and disaster risk management do not take sufficient account of their specific needs (CRC/C/GTM/CO/7, para. 40). The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the time-bound measures taken to protect children from the worst forms of child labour resulting from the effects of climate change.