The federal government with support from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), has launched the National Child Labour Website and the Child Labour Reporting App, a digital platform designed for real time reporting and tracking of child labour cases across Nigeria.
The initiative, launched under the National Steering Committee on the Elimination of Child Labour (NSCCL) seeks to address Nigeria’s growing child labour crisis, which is the highest in Africa with an estimated 24.6 million children between ages of 5 to 17 in child labour.
ILO Director-General, Mr Gilbert Houngbo who spoke at the launch, explained that the initiative represents not just a technological advancement, but a firm commitment to transparency, accountability and collective action in eradicating child labour from our society.
While commending the efforts undertaken by Nigeria to address the crisis, Houngbo however said eliminating child labour requires collective action from parents, teachers, religious leaders, business owners, and community members.
He said: “Nigeria as the economic powerhouse of the (West Africa) region is at the center of this crisis, more than 39% of Nigerian children, approximately 24.6 million, are engaged in child labour, with an important proportion working under exploitative conditions in agriculture and mining, the two sector worldwide, where child labour is pervasive.
“What we are doing today is a bold step, a step forward in launching this data platform to bridge the gap towards knowledge, knowledge sharing and referrals. The National Child Labour website and the reporting App that was referred to a few minutes ago, I hope it will serve as a comprehensive hub for data collection and for knowledge sharing.
“It will help in real time reporting of child labor cases. It will also promote the visibility of child labour interventions and the operations both the government and all partners are doing, including ILO itself. I do take note of the existence of a national referral mechanism for the elimination of child labour to guide and to aid the usage of this reporting app.”
Minister of Labour and Employment, Muhammad Maigari Dingyadi said Nigeria has made giant strides in its commitment to address the challenge of child labour by ratifying the ILO conventions 138 and 182 that are instrumental to the elimination of child labour.
Represented by the minister of state, Onyejeocha Nkeiruka, he noted that other actions being undertaken by the government includes; the development of the legal framework that addresses the issues of child labour, the National Policy and the National Action Plan on the elimination of child labour and other structures, such as the Steering Committees, at the national, state, and the Local Government levels, as well as the community monitoring committees on child labour.
“Despite our progress however, millions of Nigerian children remain vulnerable to exploitation. This digital platform will serve as a centralized hub where cases of child labour can be reported instantly, enabling authorities and stakeholders to take immediate action.”
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