Committee: United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund

Country: Nigeria
Delegate: Erick Salazar
Topic #2: Child Labour

Child Labour, an issue that has proven to be a dilemma throughout history, an issue that can be
overcomed. In our country, we have committed ourselves into taking actions of the reducement of child
labour amongst our population. Nigeria’s Poverty, broken families, cultural factors, and family sizes have
caused child labour throughout the nation. Despite this, our government has made significant
improvements regarding the reducement of child labour. The United States Department of Labor claims
that our country has established institutional mechanisms for the enforcement of laws and regulations
related towards child labor. It is of great importance that Child Labour is to be abolished throughout the
world, for there are various countries that to this day, struggle with this issue. As a country who faces this
issue, I ask of you all to let us work together, for we collectively can subside this issue, not just for my
nation but for your nation as well.

The United Nations has in fact taken action towards this issue in the past, to ensure the enforcement and
reducement of child labour. Such as, UNICEF which according to a report in 2006, has supported the
government of Nigeria with undertaking a mixture of activities to raise awareness and combat child
labour across the nation. This was a major focus during the return from the summit of 1991, the Federal
Government of Nigeria (FGN) pledged firm commitment to the goals of the summit and ensured the
preparation of a National Programme of Action (NPA). Upon return from the WSC in 1990, the FGN
established a National Child Welfare Committee in the then Ministry of Culture and Social Welfare in
February 1991 to formulate a national framework for implementing the goals of the WSC. The
Convention on the Rights of the Child was ratified in 1991 and our country signed the UN Convention on
the Rights of the Child in 1999 and the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child in
2001.Organizations such as National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and Other
Related Matters (NAPTIP) and Labor Inspectorate, Ministry of Labor and Employment (MOLE) have
helped on the behalf of enforcing laws to help victims suffering from Child labour.

Nigeria has taken various steps to improve the reducement of child labour among the nation. According to
the (DOL), there are 42 inspectors dedicated to child labor in the federal capital territory, In 2017,
inspectors conducted 4,694 child labor specific inspections and removed 275 children from child labor;
211 children were provided with vocational training, 100 children were enrolled in primary and secondary
schools, and 20 children were reunited with their parents. Nigeria is currently working with programs
such as, Decent Work Country Program II (2015–2018), UNICEF country program (2014–2017),
NAPTIP Shelters for Human Trafficking Victims program, and Safe Schools Initiative program to help
target child labour and its abolishment. We will continue to implement more solutions to this issue and
hopefully by 2020 child labour amongst our nation, will have been eliminated.
 Works Cited

United States DEPARTMENT OF LABOR ​“​Bureau Of International Labor Affairs​”​, A

​ ccessed 23

October 18. ​https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ilab/resources/reports/child-labor/nigeria​.

END- DECADE REVIEW (EDR) REPORT ​“​EXECUTIVE SUMMARY​”, ​Accessed 23 October

18. ​https://www.unicef.org/specialsession/how_country/edr_nigeria_en.PDF​.

Unicef Nigeria “Unicef Nigeria” Accessed 24 october 18. https://www.unicef.org/nigeria