ILO to End Child Labour and Human Trafficking in Nigeria

International Labour Organisation to End Child Labour and Human Trafficking in Nigeria

A 4-day workshop was carried out at Dover Hotel, Lekki by the technical committee of Alliance 8.7 to develop communication strategy to eliminate human trafficking, child labour and forced labour in Nigeria as a way of promoting economic growth, productive employment and decent work for all.

At the Opening Ceremony, Country Director, International Labour Organisation (ILO) for Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Liaison Office for ECOWAS, Mr. Dennis Zulu, said ending child labour, human trafficking and forced labour will require integrated thinking, coordinated actions, effective policy making and efficient use of resources. 

He defined Alliance 8.7 as a Road Map towards the development of the communication strategy that would promote ownership and ensure the smooth running of the project in Nigeria. This according to him will foster significant and positive results in the fight against forced labour, child labour, human trafficking and modern day slavery.

“Alliance 8.7 is an inclusive global partnership that provides coordination and platform for governments, workers and employers organisations, UN agencies, regional organisation, partners for development, private sector, civil society organisation, academia, experts, the media and other actors,” he added.

These actors came together to share information, experiences, best practices, lessons learned to aid efficient and effective interventions and demonstrate progress towards the achievement of SDG 8.7. Presentations delivered at the workshop include a paper by Ms. Theresa Odoh, Head of the Child Labour Unit of the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, addressing Child Labour in Supply Chains.

UNODC, as part of Alliance 8.7 technical committee in Nigeria headed by Federal Ministry of Labour, was part of the 4-day meeting towards deploying all intervention needed with strategic plans towards ending child labour, forced labour, human trafficking and modern day slavery in Nigeria.

In an interview with Ms. Abimbola Adewunmi, a National Project Officer and expert in human trafficking and illegal migration in the United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime, UNODC, she explained that, the workshop was able to develop communication strategies on how to target each of the consistencies that is needed in order to achieve Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8.7. 

“The discussion was a robust one as different levels of intervention was designed to meet people at the policy making level, at the family level and at every other level to ensure everyone is working together through the civil society sector coming together to make sure Nigeria achieves SDG 8.7.”

Overarching Media Message

The government via existing laws and policies protects the right of persons at risk against child labour, forced labour, human trafficking and modern day slavery.

A summary of the communication issues for which strategies were developed:

1.     Existence of organised and opportunistic crime

2.     Review of tactics for responding to human trafficking issues

3.     Create enabling space for development of inadequately employed or unemployed

4.     Building strong working partnerships at all levels including law enforcement agencies

5.     Identification and updated surveys of vulnerable persons

6.     Study exchange to facilitate shared experience

7.     Development and implementation of referral mechanism 

8.     Community intervention targeted at the grassroots

9.     Advocacy for sanctions to uproot supply chain and disseminate best practices

10.  Review, track and document legislation to ensure protection of at risk demographic.

Beyond developing road map and looking at critical areas of focus in 2020, the committee is saddled with the responsibility of presenting communiqué from the workshop to partners in order to validate communication strategies so that it becomes binding on all members towards successful implementation.

For the UN agencies in Nigeria and also for members of Alliance 8.7, the import of the workshop is to support Nigeria through different interventions including providing technical support to ensure all programmes meet the focal audience so that it is not just all talks and no action.

One of the participants, Dr. Omolola Omoteso asked that there was a visible reduction in child labour from 2012-2016, but this has since slowed down, how would the committee go beyond mere rhetoric to ensure significant sustainable results?

In her response, Ms. Abimbola Adewunmi said, “We will use innovative approaches also to ensure that the issue of child labour becomes a thing of the past in Nigeria. One of those innovations is Alliance 8.7 which is bringing UN Agencies, government partners, civil society organisations and the media together to say that we need to start talking about this issue to ensure that in Nigeria, no child is put in forced labour.”

Dr. Agatha Kolawole of ILO shared the role of ACCEL AFRICA (Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in Supply Chains in Africa), who took a cue from SDG 8.7 and is now working towards reducing the prevalence of child labour in Sub-Saharan Africa with 50% coming from Nigeria. She explained that Alliance 8.7 is linked to the SDG and stakeholders. According to her, the slower down slope in the reduction of child labour in Nigeria from 2016 necessitated an intervention to achieve eradication or substantial reduction by 2025.

The government has provided a legal framework to eliminate child labour with the National Policy in Child Labour and ACCEL’s continuous support through intervention and strategic innovative approaches is to make child labour and other aggravating ills a thing of the past. To ensure it is not all talk, she buttressed that the goal is to actually see a remarkable reduction in child labour, forced labour etc. and with ACCEL’s emphasis on partnership especially with civil society and the media, commendable outcome is expected.

The Technical Workshop for the Development of Communication Strategy and Finalisation of the Road Map for the Deployment and Effective Implementation of Alliance 8.7 in Nigeria featured stakeholders focused on interventions by their agencies to curb or end child labour, forced labour, human trafficking and modern day slavery. Representatives include Federal Ministry of Labour, NAPTIP Nigeria, United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime (UNODC), United Nations Migration, International Labour Organisation and United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR Nigeria)

Report by: 

Mrs. Funmi Ajumobi, Vanguard Newspaper

Dr. Omolola Omoteso, Media/PR Consultant