The Federal Government is seeking support of market authorities in the battle against child labour.
The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, William Alo, at a rally organised by the ministry as part of events to commemorate the World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL), said market authorities could end child labour.
According to him, the authorities in the market can disallow child labour in markets and environs, and take steps to ensure that children are in school or get vocational training.
Alo also urged market authorities to report incidents of child labour to the Ministry of Labour and Employment for necessary action.
He defined child labour as “any work done in the market that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and dignity, and that is harmful to their physical, moral and mental development, such as hawking, among others.”
He said the theme for this year’s commemoration, “Children shouldn’t work in fields but on dreams,” meant that even if children had to be in the marketplace assisting their parents/guardians, they should not be denied basic education.
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Mines and Steel Development, Dr. Abubakar Muazu, said the adequate development of a child should be the utmost priority of any country, because children constituted the future of a people.
He urged stakeholders to accord importance and attention to the issues of stopping child labour.
Similarly, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Mohammed Bello Umar, represented by the Director, Food and Strategic Reserve, S.A. Haruna, condemned child labour, and called for proper legislation against the trend in Nigeria.
In a related event, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) has urged the international community to step up efforts to eradicate forced labour and child labour, and declared 2021 as Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.
The UNGA adopted a resolution declaring 2021 as the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour, and has asked the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to take the lead in its implementation.
The resolution highlights the member states’ commitments “to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour, including recruitment and use of child soldiers, and by 2025 end child labour in all its forms.”
The UNGA acknowledged the importance of the ILO’s Minimum Age Convention, 1973 (No. 138), and the Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999 (No. 182), which is close to universal ratification by the ILO’s 187 member states – as well as the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Argentina took the lead in advocating this global commitment as a follow-up to the IV Global Conference on the Sustained Eradication of Child Labour, in Buenos Aires in November 2017. Seventy-eight countries co-sponsored the resolution.
Argentina’s representative to the UN, Martin Garcia Moritán said: “We hope that this will be one more step to redouble our efforts and our progress to advance, day by day, towards a world in which no child is subjected to child labour or exploitation and a world where decent work for all will be a reality.
“The struggle against child labour has gained extraordinary momentum over the past two decades.
“Yet, 152 million children across the world are still in child labour. We obviously need to scale up action further, and the decision by the general assembly to declare 2021 the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour will be a great help in focusing attention on the millions of girls and boys still toiling in the fields, in the mines and in factories.”
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