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From Adanna Nnamani, Abuja
In a bid to guide practices of companies in the organised private sector to eliminate child labour, the Nigeria Employers Association (NECA), has launched a Code of Conduct.
NECA President , Mr Taiwo Adeniyi, disclosed this during the inauguration on Tuesday in Abuja.
The event themed “Promoting Employers Cooperate Social Responsibility (CRS) Initiatives, Human Rights Due Diligence towards Elimination of Child Labour’’was organised by NECA with support from the International Labour Organisation (ILO), on Accelerating Action for the Elimination (ACCEL) of Child Labour supply chain in Africa.
The ILO estimates 160 million children globally are Child Labourers and may increase before the end of 2022 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Adeniyi said the development of the Code was to guide the practices of companies in the organised private sector towards the elimination of child labour in the country.
According to him, it is also a practical document that gives insight into steps to be taken by companies to address child labour impacts on companies and their global supply chains.
Adeniyi said NECA had deployed some interventions, in collaboration with the ILO, to stem the practice of child labour and global supply chains in Nigeria.
“This is to accelerate progress on the elimination of child labour in the cocoa, artisanal and small scale gold mining, especially in the supply chains in Nigeria, through the ACCEL Africa project.
“ACCEL Africa, a South African project is a four-year project being funded by the Dutch Government, and which is being implemented in Nigeria, from May 2019 to Oct. 2022.
“The project is the fallout of the decision of the world leaders in Sept. 2015, to adopt the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 associated targets of the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.’’
“Many children work for long hours in dangerous and unhealthy environments, carrying so much responsibility for their age.
“They work with little food, small pay, no education and no medical care; that establishes a cycle of children rights violation.
“The number of working children in Nigeria has increased over the years and has been worsened by the COVID 19 pandemic.
“This is in spite of Nigeria’s ratification of the ILO’s Child Labor Convention 188 on the minimum age of admission to employment, and Convention 182 on the worst forms of child labour,’’
Also speaking , Ms Kachie Daju, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, called all employers to take immediate action to facilitate the integration of child labour concerns into company policies.
According to Daju, the endorsement of guiding principles on business and human rights by the UN Human Rights Council 2011, provides companies with a practical framework for meeting this responsibility.
“Based on the guiding principles, enterprises are to assess their policies and processes against the key elements of corporate responsibility in relation to the prohibition of child labour.
“The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Labour and Employment, hereby calls on all employers of labour to take immediate action,’’ Daju said.
The ILO Country Director to Nigeria, Vanessa Phala, called on employers of labour to increase CSR as a response to issues surrounding working children in Nigeria.
According to Phala, increased CSR that focuses on eliminating child labour, will also reduce the vulnerabilities of children to the scourge.
“As employers of labour, we must consistently without fear, without favour, monitor our production and supply chains, and show decent practices.
“That is by contributing to the act, to the complete exclusion of children from anywhere, that would harm their physical, mental and moral development, or keep them away from school.
“We can achieve this by increasing funding for existing interventions and showing continuity in executing policies related to child labour, by supporting school to work in transition and encouraging child participation,’’ Phala said.
