A/HRC/45/8/Add.1
economy to achieve strong, sustainable, resilient, inclusive growth that creates decent jobs
and improves social welfare”.
98.
The National Development Plan 2018–2022 integrates 48 prioritized Sustainable
Development Goal targets, and reportedly aims to accelerate economic growth, strengthen
economic infrastructure, improve access to basic social services in health, water and power,
promote financial inclusion, gender equity, and social and environmental protection, and
promote more balanced, participatory and sustainable development.
99.
The Special Rapporteur recognizes the efforts of Togo in this regard, but she
remains concerned about a lack of information about the existence and effectiveness of
concrete procedures focused on identifying the children in the most vulnerable situations,
including those at high risk of child marriage and child labour. As observed during the
Special Rapporteur’s visit, the majority of initiatives in this area continue to be
implemented in a largely fragmented manner, which affects access to comprehensive and
quality services and assistance.
100. Furthermore, the Special Rapporteur is concerned that the development and
investment programmes in Togo are not sufficiently based on a human rights-based
approach – which leads to poverty reduction responses that lack effectiveness, participation
of the rights holders, inclusiveness and transparency. Overall, the Special Rapporteur
observed that poverty reduction strategies were developed with a focus on economic
opportunities and resources, but failed to incorporate objectives designed to facilitate an
environment where the most vulnerable individuals enjoyed an adequate standard of living
and accessed fundamental rights effectively, which is key to preventing contemporary
forms of slavery.
Birth registration
101. The Special Rapporteur noted that despite the Government’s efforts to ensure that all
children were duly registered at birth, only 40.9 per cent of children under 5 years of age
had a birth certificate.43 This significantly exposes them to the risk of becoming victims of
child labour, child marriage and other forms of exploitation, as children without a birth
certificate are generally more vulnerable to human rights violations and experience
disproportionate limitations in accessing their rights.
VII. Conclusions and recommendations
A.
Conclusions
102. Worst forms of child labour, such as domestic servitude, constitute
contemporary forms of slavery. In Togo, not all forms of child labour observed during
the Special Rapporteur’s visit amount to slavery, but in some cases, the experiences of
children working under the confiage system, for example, are slavery-like practices.
Such children commonly do not have effective access to education and to basic healthcare services.
103. The Special Rapporteur remains concerned that labour inspectors have
insufficient capacity and resources to conduct effective and systematic monitoring in
all settings where child labour may be prevalent and to identify individual cases.
Furthermore, labour inspectors are not allowed to access private homes, which means
that domestic servitude remains a largely hidden and unaddressed issue, resulting in
continued impunity. Also, complaints against the employers of domestic servants are
rarely filed, because they are often family members. Corruption was mentioned as a
factor, which in certain instances obstructs prosecution of perpetrators of child
43
16
Institut National de la Statistique et des Études Économiques et Démographiques, and UNICEF,
“Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey, Togo 2017”, preliminary report.
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