2001 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor - Burundi

Government Policies and Programs to Eliminate the Worst Forms of Child Labor

The Government of Burundi is participating in a regional ILO-IPEC program to prevent the participation of children involved in armed conflicts in Central Africa, which is funded by USDOL.^[378] At a UN Summit on the Rights of the Child in 1990, Burundi announced the establishment of a national plan of action for the survival, development, and protection of rights of children. In the national plan Burundi set the following objectives to accomplish by 2000: (1) ensure basic education for children between 7-12, with full enrollment of children 7 years old; (2) increase the net primary enrollment rate to 80 percent; and (3) facilitate the reinstatement of street children in school.^[379] In December 2000, Burundi reported on progress toward the goals. According to the report, only 47 percent of school age children attended school, with significant differences between urban and rural areas (67 percent in urban areas and 46 percent in rural areas) and between the north (42 percent) and other areas of the country (54 percent in the south and 52 percent in the west).^[380] According to testimony before the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Burundi undertook a children's rights awareness campaign throughout the country. By holding seminars and establishing Provincial Committees, the initiative looked to engage civil society on the protection and promotion of children's rights.^[381]

Incidence and Nature of Child Labor

In 1999, the ILO estimated that 48.6 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Burundi were working.^[382] Children are engaged in subsistence agriculture, family-run enterprises, and the informal sector.^[383] In rural areas, children under the age of 16 engage in heavy manual labor during the school day.^[384] Soldiers also force children to work as domestics or as porters. Children as young as 12 years old have been recruited as soldiers in the civil war between the Tutsi-dominated security forces and the Hutu-dominated armed opposition groups.^[385] Children also work as prostitutes.^[386]

Education in Burundi is compulsory for six years, between the ages of 7 and 13.^[387] In 1998, the gross primary enrollment rate was 62 percent, and the net primary enrollment rate was 37 percent.^[388] Primary school attendance rates are unavailable for Burundi. While enrollment rates indicate a level of commitment to education, they do not always reflect children's participation in school.^[389] The government attempts to provide for most of the costs of education through grade six.^[390] An inequitable distribution of educational resources favors children in the south and central regions of the nation.^[391] Discrimination against females has resulted in differential access of girls to education.^[392] More than a quarter of the country's primary schools were destroyed in the war, and many teachers have been killed. Teacher training has been interrupted and it is difficult to recruit teachers to provincial areas affected by fighting.^[393]

Child Labor Laws and Enforcement

The Labor Code sets the minimum age of employment at 16 years in "an enterprise," even for apprenticeships. Under the Labor Code, children less than 16 may engage in occasional work that does not interfere with their schooling or cause harm to their health.^[394] The Penal Code prohibits facilitating the prostitution or corruption of a person who appears to be younger than age 21. Violations are punishable by up to 10 years of imprisonment. More severe penalties may result for exploiting or facilitating the prostitution of minors younger than age 18. There is no law specifically prohibiting trafficking in persons.^[395] Article 50 of the Constitution calls upon every citizen to participate in the defense of the country and the age of compulsory recruitment is between 16 and 25 years. In 1996, Burundi established a compulsory civic service for all young people who have completed secondary school, but according to the UN Special Rapporteur the service is more of a military than civilian nature.^[396] Burundi ratified ILO Convention 138 on July 19, 2000, and has not ratified ILO Convention 182.^[397]

[378] ILO, Phase I: Regional Programme on the Prevention and Reintegration of Children Involved in Armed Conflicts in Central Africa, project document (Geneva: 2001) [on-file].

[379] The report also indicated that of the 80 percent of children who enter first grade, 20 percent drop off by fifth grade. See Enquete Nationale d'Evaluation des Conditions de vie de l'Enfant et de la Femme au Burundi, Ministere de la Planification de Developpement et de la Reconstruction, Institut de Statistiques et D'etudes Economiques de Burundi, Rapport Preliminiare, ENECEF-Burundi, December 2000 [hereinafter Enquete Nationale d'Evaluation des Conditions].

[380] Enquete Nationale d'Evaluation des Conditions at 5.

[381] UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, Summary Record of the 645th Meeting, Burundi, CRC/C/SR.645 (Geneva, September 26, 2000).

[382] World Development Indicators 2001 (Washington D.C.: World Bank, 2001) [CD-ROM].

[383] Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 – Burundi (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2000) [hereinafter Country Reports 2000], Section 6d, at http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2000/af/703.htm.

[384] Ibid.

[385] Ibid at Section 6c. Girls may become the property of particular soldiers and are used for domestic labor and sex. See also Coalition to Stop the Use Of Child Soldiers, Global Report 2001: Burundi [hereinafter Global Report 2001], at http://www.child-soldiers.org/report2001/countries/burundi.html. See also Worst Forms of Child Labour Data: Burundi [hereinafter Child Labour Data] at http://www.globalmarch.org/worst formsreport/world/burundi.html.

[386] Country Reports 2000 at Section 6d

[387] UNESCO, "National Education Systems," Institute for Statistics, at http://unescostat.unesco.org/statsen/statistics/yearbook/tbles/Table3_1….

[388] UNESCO, Education for All: Year 2000 Assessment (Paris, 2000) [CD-ROM].

[389] For a more detailed discussion on the relationship between education statistics and work, see Introduction to this report.

[390] Country Reports 2000 at Section 5.

[391] Ibid.

[392] International Women's Rights Action Watch at http://www.igc.org/iwraw/publications/countries/burundi.html.

[393] Country Reports 2000 at Section 5.

[394] Ibid. at Section 6d.

[395] Ibid. at Section 6f. See also The Protection Project: Commercial Exploitation of Women and Children, A Human Rights Report – Burundi.

[396] The government states that in practice no one under age 18 is recruited, but there has been no qualification regarding the practice of accepting those under age 18. See Global Report 2001. See also Child Labour Data.

[397] ILO, Ratifications of the Fundamental Human Right Conventions by Country, at http://www.ilolex.ilo.ch:1567/english/docs/declworld.htm.