On 8 June 2020, the Government of Myanmar deposited with the International Labour Office the instrument of ratification of the Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138). Myanmar is the 173rd ILO Member State to ratify Convention No.138, a fundamental Convention which requires States party to set a minimum age under which no one shall be admitted to employment or work in any occupation, except for light work and artistic performances and to prohibit hazardous types of activities for young persons under 18.
According to ILO global estimates, approximately 85 million children worldwide are engaged in hazardous work, including 33.9 million in Asia and the Pacific.
This ratification represents another positive development in the country’s continued efforts towards the full respect of fundamental rights at work. With the ratification of ILO Convention No. 138, Myanmar, which has already ratified ILO Convention No.182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention in 2013, reaffirms its commitment towards the fight against the scourge of child labour and to protecting children from work for which they are too young and from work that jeopardizes their health, morals or psychological wellbeing as well as their access to education. Moreover, by ratifying the Convention, Myanmar is moving ahead towards the achievement of decent work and the delivering at the country-level of the2030 UN Sustainable Development Goals, in particular SDG target 8.7, which aims at the complete eradication of child labour by 2025 and calls for immediate action to prohibit and eliminate its worst forms.
At the country level, the Government has taken significant measures to develop the legal framework for combating child labour, including the adoption of the Child Rights Law on 23 July 2019. Other initiatives taken to eradicate child labour include the approval of the national action plan on the elimination of child labour by the Myanmar National Child Labour Eradication Committee in January 2019, as well as the significant reduction of child labour in pilot target communities in 2019 with the support of the ILO.
