By Tola Gbadamosi & Precious Oluwole
Stakeholders in Ondo State have reviewed ongoing efforts towards the elimination of child labour and its worst forms, reaffirming their commitment to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 8.7 target by 2030.
The stakeholders, under the State Steering Committee for the Elimination of Child Labour in Nigeria, made the commitment during the committee’s quarterly meeting held in the state.
Speaking after the meeting, the state Focal Person, Oni Celine, said the quarterly meeting was convened to assess progress made in the fight against child labour and review policy developments in line with global best practices.
She said the meeting also provided stakeholders with an opportunity to deliberate on strategies to enable the state meet the SDG 8.7 target of ending child labour and its worst forms by 2030.
According to her, Ondo State has been making progress in the campaign against child labour but needs to further align its activities with developments at the national level.
Celine said the newly developed National Policy and National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour in Nigeria had been aligned with the Marrakech Global Framework for Action, which provides a global direction for tackling child labour.
She explained that stakeholders were sensitised on the vision, mission and strategic pillars of the new National Action Plan during the meeting.
She added that the state was looking forward to the official launch of the National Action Plan, expected to take place during the National Dialogue scheduled for September 2026.
Also speaking, the state Controller for the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.Mrs. Olanike Mogboruko said the meeting was aimed at reviewing activities carried out by government agencies, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders during the previous quarter.
Mogboruko said the various organisations presented updates on their interventions and activities towards ending child labour in the state.
She noted that efforts in the state had improved significantly, stressing that stakeholders now had a clearer understanding of their responsibilities in the campaign.
According to her, the state has also improved its documentation and data collection on children rescued from child labour and those successfully reintegrated into schools.
She attributed part of the progress to the intervention of the ACCEL Africa project, which supported the quarterly meeting through LUDO, and expressed appreciation to the organisation for selecting Ondo State for its intervention.
Mogboruko expressed optimism that sustained collaboration among government agencies, civil society organisations and development partners would help make child labour a thing of the past in Ondo State.