Child labour: NGO urges full implementation of Child Rights Act

GIRLS and Youth Re-Integration Network (GYRIN), an NGO, has called for the full implementation of the Child Rights Act to discourage child labour in the country.

Mrs Kehinde Awujoola, the President of the network, made the appeal while fielding questions from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.

Awujoola spoke against the backdrop of rising cases of child abuse and human trafficking in the society.

She said that the abuses and injustices going on affect the child beyond imagination.

“As child labour is so widespread and so complex, the only way we can put a stop to it is to all act together, at the same time.

“Governments, workers and employers, organisations, law enforcement agencies, teachers, parents must take a stance together, across the world, to demand the elimination of child labour.

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“Child labour is an abuse of children’s rights and it is a vast and urgent problem all around the world.

“Children as young as 10 are forced to spend long hours doing back-breaking labour, often in harsh weather and without access to health care,’’ the president of the organisation said.

She said that every parent should prioritise their children education and take it that education is one legacy.

Awujoola also urged parents to support the education of their children and to recognise the future benefits of training them in such things as technology.

According to her, education is what the parents owe the child and not hard labour.

Besides, she called on the government to help establish centres that provide schooling, recreational activities and health services for less privileged child.

She said that the exploitation of children in the workplace must end and recommended for more children to be in school as the best defence against child labour.