The International Labour
Organisation (ILO) has called on the Federal Government, communities and
parents to ensure the elimination of child labour in the country.
Mr Denins
Zulu, ILO Country Director to Nigeria, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on
Monday in Abuja that the elimination of child labour was the responsibility of
everybody in the society.
“The whole issue of child labour
is beyond government really; it is you and I, parents, it is the communities,
it is the law enforcement agencies; it is everybody working together to ensure
that children are not doing work when they are supposed to be in class.
“Enforcement
is not just about the police; enforcement or monitoring is each one of us. If
you see your neighbour’s child is being abused for instance, you need to take
it upon yourself to report to the appropriate authorities.
“The
neighbours should be reporting these; the communities can be looking out for
each other to see that there is nobody in the community practicing child labour
because government cannot be everywhere.
“Therefore,
the communities and parents need to be looking out to ensure that they do not
force children into doing things that they are not able to,’’ he said.
Zulu said there had been increase
in the prevalence of child labour due to poverty and most parents saw the act
as a complementary family income.
He decried
the situations where children are forced to become soldiers or prostitutes in
conflict areas.
Zulu said
that the ILO was working with the Ministry of Labour and Employment to
formulate a child labour policy that would tackle the issue.
“Child labour is indeed a
problem; children are being trafficked across states and across the country;
child labour is a symptom of poverty.
“Government’s
work in this regard must involve the different stakeholders in the country to
reduce the levels of poverty.
“But it’s
not just about reducing the levels of poverty, it’s about sensitisation;
sensitising the parents, sensitising the communities, sensitising the children
themselves.
0 comments:
Post a Comment