The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has called on media practitioners and the National Orientation Agency (NOA) to support its campaign on the total elimination of child labour in the society, especially in Ondo State.Mrs Vanessa Phala, Director of the ILO Abuja Country Office for Liberia, Sierra Leone, Ghana, Nigeria and Liaison office for ECOWAS, made the call on Tuesday in Akure at a four-day workshop on child labour, for the media and NOA in Ondo State.Phala, who was represented by Mrs Agata Kolawole, National Program Coordinator, Acceleration Action for the Elimination of Child Labour in Supply Chains in Africa (ACCELAfrica) project, said that it had became imperative for the media and NOA to join in the fight against child labour in Nigeria.
She stated that ILO was confronted with the harsh reality that the alarming rate of child labour in Ondo State may increase if nothing was done to immediately arrest the situation.The director explained that a joint ILO and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) study had indicated a potential increase to the 160 million children trapped in child labour globally.“Already, 72.1 million of them are found in Africa, where COVID-19 has significantly affected economies and more children are burdened with responsibilities beyond their physical and mental thresholds.“
The impacts of child labour on our collective safety and development cannot be overemphasized.“Therefore, as custodians of society, it’s our responsibility to secure the future by communicating effectively, using a synergy of messaging harmonized into the single ambition to eliminate all forms of child labour in Nigeria by 2025,” she said.Phala, who said that ILO had engaged with relevant stakeholders and partners in its fight against child labour, added that 45 media practitioners and staff of NOA in Ondo State would be trained to reach out to the community with the right information needed to ensure behavioral change.“Today, we begin a significant interaction designed to deliver our messages consistently across all channels of communication to achieve behaviour change, policy change, improved implementation of laws regarding the protection of children, and standard labour practices in Ondo State.“
At the end of our interaction, we expect accelerated action at the community level towards the promotion of decent work and elimination of child labour in the agricultural sector, especially the cocoa supply chain.“
At the core of addressing culture, values, practices and behaviour is ‘reorientation’, which is critical in influencing collective responsibility across the cocoa value chain where child labour is prevalent,” she said.Phala, therefore, called on the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, the Ministry of Agriculture, Ministry of Women Affairs, Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress, Investors, Farmers, community leaders, institutions, Opinion Leaders, Researchers, the Media, Non-Governmental Organizations and the children to help eradicate child abuse.“
It is our collective effort to Achieve SDG 8 Target 7, through the elimination of child labour in the cocoa and ASGM supply chains in Nigeria,” she said. (NAN)
