E/C.12/COL/CO/6
40.
The Committee urges the State party to review its legislation on trade union
rights and bring it into line with article 8 of the Covenant and with the ILO Freedom
of Association and Protection of the Right to Organise Convention, 1948 (No. 87), and
the ILO Right to Organise and Collective Bargaining Convention, 1949 (No. 98). It
also calls on the State party to strengthen, as a matter of urgency, existing
mechanisms of protection for the members and leaders of trade unions whose lives
and physical integrity are at risk. In addition, it urges the State party to conduct
thorough investigations of all allegations of violence, harassment, threats and
attempted killings targeting the leaders and members of trade unions, while also
ensuring that the perpetrators are duly punished.
Social security
41.
While recognizing the efforts made by the State party to strengthen its social
protection system, the Committee is concerned that a significant number of people are not
covered by the social protection system, in particular workers in the informal economy,
self-employed workers and workers in rural areas who are not paid the minimum wage (art.
9).
42.
The Committee recommends that the State party continue making efforts to
develop a social security system that guarantees coverage of universal social
protection and provides appropriate benefits for all persons, especially those
belonging to the most disadvantaged and marginalized groups, with a view to
ensuring that they have a decent standard of living. The Committee also encourages
the State party to redouble its efforts to set a social protection floor that includes basic
social security guarantees. The Committee draws the State party’s attention to its
general comment No. 19 (2008) on the right to social security and its statement of 2015
on social protection floors as an essential element of the right to social security and of
the Sustainable Development Goals.
Protection of children and adolescents
43.
While it acknowledges the National Strategy for the Prevention and Eradication of
the Worst Forms of Child Labour, the Committee is concerned that the Strategy does not
effectively address the economic exploitation of children and adolescents in illegal mining
activities. The Committee is also concerned at reports of shortcomings in the
implementation of the measures taken to prevent the recruitment of children and
adolescents by illegal armed groups and reintegrate those children and adolescents after
they have demobilized, particularly in terms of access to education, health and psychosocial
support (art. 10).
44.
The Committee recommends that the State party take effective measures to
prevent and counter the economic exploitation of children and adolescents by
ensuring that child labour legislation is actively enforced, strengthening child labour
inspection mechanisms and providing support to poor families to make sure that their
children attend school. It also recommends that the State party intensify its efforts to
effectively prevent children and adolescents from being used by illegal armed groups
and take the necessary measures to ensure that all demobilized children are
considered victims and have access to education, health and psychosocial support. In
addition, the State party is urged to ensure that all cases of economic exploitation of
children and the recruitment of children by illegal armed groups are thoroughly
investigated and that those responsible are duly punished.
Violence against women
45.
The Committee is concerned that despite the measures taken, violence against
women persists in all environments and that the rates of impunity remain high. The
Committee is also concerned that many women victims of violence, including victims of
domestic violence, do not have timely access either to health services and shelters or to
effective remedies, including means of obtaining reparation and compensation (art. 10).
GE.17-18290
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