Stakeholders at a three day workshop on Action Against Child Labour in Agriculture in West Africa (ACLAWA) Project, have called for an implementable and workable action to address the rising cases of child labour.
Hosted by the International Labour Orgaisation (ILO), in Abuja, the workshop is a new project, aimed at rendering support to the ECOWAS Commission in implementing the Regional Action Plan for the elimination of child labour.
The ILO believes that the Plan will also constitute support to national governments in the implementation of the National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour and the State Action Plan.
Addressing participants at the three day workshop tagged “Action against child labour in Agriculture in West Africa, ACLAWA Project: Comprehensive Monitoring Evaluation CMEP Development Workshop”, the Country Director of the ILO, Dr Vanessa Phala, said for the first time, the ILO through the project, will be supporting to develop Community Action Plans CMPs towards eliminating child labour in some identified pilot communities.
“The project will also strengthen the various national, State and communities level monitoring structures to ensure the effective elimination of child labour in the cocoa producing areas of Ondo State.
“ACLAWA intends to address the root causes of child labour through the provision of social benefits. ACLAWA will support the social protection scheme by providing social benefits and decent work opportunities to vulnerable households with children or at risk of child labour,” Phala said.
She expressed the hope that at the end of the workshop, the ACLAWA result framework and the Performance Monitoring Plan will be validated and ready for implementation.
“The CMPE is expected to guide ACLAWA project implementation, monitoring and evaluation.”
Latest global estimate shows there are now more children in child labour in Africa than in the rest of the world put together, adding that in the ECOWAS region, nearly 23 percent of all children are estimated to be in child labour.
For instance, recent data by the National Bureau of Statistics Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey MICS 2021, estimates that about 31 percent of children in Nigeria aged between 5 and 17 are engaged in child labour while the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment puts the figure at more than 15 million.
The report also shows that the agriculture sect accounts for 70 percent of children in child labour, followed by 20 percent in services and 10 percent in industry.
In response to eliminating the scourge of child labour and ensuring decent work environment free of exploitation, the ILO in collaboration with its partners, is implementing three projects namely, Accelerated Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in the supply chains in Africa (ACCL phases 1 and 2), Global Accelerator lab 8.7-Intensifying Action Against Forced Labour and Child Labour through Innovation Project (GALAB) and Action against Child Labour in agriculture in West Africa (ACLAWA).
Declaring the workshop open, the Minister of State of Labour and Employment Mrs. Nkiruka Onyejeocha, in a message described the ACLAWA Project as a very strategic step taken in the right direction, going by the recent Global estimate of Child Labour in the west African sub region, in which 23% of children are affected by Child Labour.
“We are aware that Child Labour remains a significant challenge in Nigeria as it does not only deprive children of their childhood, education, health and future prospects but also undermines the country’s economic development.
“Already, the Government of Nigeria, through the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment has made giant strides in combating the menace and creating an enabling environment by putting in place the relevant laws, regulations, polices and the ratification of the key and relevant ILO Conventions that are instrumental to the elimination of Child Labour, specifically, the ILO convention 138 on the minimum age and convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour.
“Also other structures, such as the establishment of the National and State steering committees on child labour across the 36 states and FCT, establishment of the Child Labour Desk Officers across the 36 States of Nigeria and the FCT,” she said.
“Our focus, today ladies and gentlemen is to ensure full participation and effective review and input of all relevant stakeholders into the CMEP documents for validation, which will serve as an important resource for information –based and evidence -based decision – making and implementation adjustments.”
There were good will messages from the ECOWAS Parliament, the United States of America and the ILO’s social partners.
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