CRC General Comment No. 20 on the Rights of Adolescents
In 2015 the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child was considering the adoption of a General Comment on the Rights of Adolescents that would include for the first time a direct reference to the Minimum Age Convention concerning the Minimum Age for Admission to Employment of the ILO C138, 1973. The General Comment would become part of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. A group of academics and practitioners involved with issues related to children’s work and children’s well-being came together to present arguments to the CRC Committee as to why including a reference to ILO C138 would not be in children’s best interests. Members of this group were invited as representatives of the larger group to meet with the CRC Committee in Geneva during May of 2016 and to present some of these arguments in person.
Following the presentation, the CRC Committee asked the representatives and through them the broader group of researchers and practitioners to prepare an a report based on human rights principles rather than experience and evidence as to why ILO C138 should not be referenced in the General Comment on the Rights of Adolescents. The report (which can be accessed below) was developed through a collaborative effort of the broader group and submitted to the CRC Committee in September of 2016.
In addition to the principle argument a series of supplementary materials including several case studies (which can be found under ‘Case Studies’ on elsewhere on this website) were prepared and submitted.
The efforts to prevent the reference to ILO C138 in the General Comment on Adolescents were not successful however the informal group of researchers and practitioners decided to form the Children and Work Network and continue trying to influence children and work / child labour policies and programs.