Child trafficking: ILO executes £28m project in Nigeria, four other African countries

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has begun a
28-million-euro project, sponsored by the Netherlands, to
accelerate the fight against child labour in Nigeria and four other
African countries.

This was announced by the Ambassador of Netherlands to Nigeria,
Marion Kappeyne van de Coppello, on the side line of a two-day
workshop on the project in Abuja on Friday.

The project, Acceleration of Action in the Elimination of Child
Labour in Supply Chains in Africa (ACCEL), was also being carried
out in Mali, Malawi, Cote d’Ivoire, Egypt and Uganda.

The ambassador said the project was a long term one which
focuses on the causes of child labour.

“Netherlands is financing this project; it is actually a project
that is going to be undertaken in five different countries in
Africa; Nigeria is one of them.

“The total funding for this project from the Netherlands for
these five countries is 28 million euros.

“It is a long-term project and is expected to take at least five
years to reach the results that are expected.

“We think that a child should have the opportunity to go to
school, to be a child but we also understand, we had the same
situation in Europe two centuries ago, that it is not just child
labour.

“It has to do with the whole of the economy, with the social
situation, the economic situation of the parents and so forth,” she
said.

She said that ILO was trusted by the government of Netherlands
to facilitate the project in African countries.

“It is a complicated project; that is why we are happy that the
ILO is taking this up, they have a good track record on joining
employers, employees and state authorities to work together.

“I also see here in this workshop, preparing the work for
Nigeria that all the stakeholders are present and that is
collaborative effort that will bring the most chance of success,”
she said.

Mr. Dennis Zulu, Director, ILO Country Office for Nigeria, said
the organisation had been working with the federal government to
develop a policy on child labour.

Zulu explained that the project would focus on the supply chains
in cocoa and mining in the country and work with local authorities
to facilitate the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals
(SDGs).

Addressing newsmen, ILO Chief Technical Adviser, ACCEL Africa,
Mr. Minoru Agasawara, said the project would work with stakeholders
according to the priorities identified in the different
countries.

“We are looking at legal framework, policy framework, capacity
building, awareness raising, community mobilisation and also
working with employers,” he said.

Subscribe ToNairalaw News!