Child Labour: Russia has ratified both ILO Convention 182 [worst forms of child labour] and 138 [minimum age of employment]. Although the conventions have been ratified, there is no National Plan of Action for their implementation, but there are national strategies. The new Russian Labour Code of 2001 strengthened the minor protection from harmful labour [hazardous occupations] conditions.
Further, supplements to the Criminal Code [Federal Law No. 162] were made, meaning a reinforcement of criminal liability for making pornographic materials involving children. The law also stipulates stiff punishment for exploiting children for pornographic purposes.
There are no specific data on child labour situation in Russia.
Education: The rate of out-of-school primary aged children in 8 per cent and 7 per cent of girls not going to school. 93 per cent of girls and 92 per cent of boys are in primary school in Russia.
The public spending on education as percentage of GDP it is a meagre 3.6 per cent, while it is 12.9 per cent of the total government expenditure. There are no special allocations for primary education. Further, there is no special focus on girl’s education for the reason of accepted gender equity in learning.
Poverty: More than 12 per cent of the population lives below $2 a day. This situation is further compounded by an annual inflation of over 12 per cent making lives harder for the poor people to even reach their daily subsistence.
Russia develops the Poverty Reduction Strategy Papers, but these do not mention the concern for child labourers, and neither is there an integrated policy on child labour elimination linked with education for all and poverty alleviation. |
