THE REPUBLIC OF THE GAMBIA’S COMBINED REPORT ON THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON HUMAN & PEOPLES’ RIGHTS & INITIAL REPORT ON THE PROTOCOL TO THE AFRICAN CHARTER ON THE RIGHTS OF WOMEN IN AFRICA economic exploitation or exploitative labour. Exploitative labour is defined by the labour Act, as labour that deprives the child of his or her health, education or development. Children below the age of 16 years are allowed to engage in light work, which is defined by the Labour Act as work which “is not likely to be harmful to the health or development of the child and does not affect the child`s attendance at school or capacity of the child to benefit from school work.” However, children are forbidden to work between the hours of 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. III Refugees and Asylum Seekers In July, 2013, the Government signed and ratified the United Nations Convention on the Status of Stateless Persons 1954 and 1961, and United Nations Convention on the Reduction of statelessness, 1961. The Gambia has also domesticated the provisions of the Convention relating to the status of Refugees, in the Refugees Act, 2008. The Gambia Commission for Refugee (GCR) which is responsible for the security and protection of refugees in The Gambia has been in existence since 2008. In its bid to provide a good protection environment to refugees, the Commission issues visitors pass (laissez passer), refugee ID cards and conventional travel documents to refugees which enables them to move freely within the ECOWAS member states. In realization of the precarious situation of refugees and being mindful of its commitments under the relevant international instruments and domestic legislations the Government continues to invest in refugee management issues with a view to providing them with minimum standards of protection. The financial resource allocation for The Gambia Commission of Refugees was increased from D 621,285 in 2010 to D 1,126,053 in 2014. Refugees are provided equal treatment in terms of cost of treatment in all Government hospitals and health facilities as stipulated Articles 12 - 30 of the Refugee Convention, which set out the rights and obligation of the receiving state and that of the refugees In collaboration with refugee host communities, the Government has been helping refugees to locally integrate in The Gambia by providing them with land to both build their homes and to farm on. 26