Anambra Ministry, NGO Partner to Combat Child Labour
The Anambra State Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Welfare has announced plans to partner with Bee-Charity Outlook Foundation, a non-governmental organisation, to intensify efforts against child labour and child trafficking across the state.
The Commissioner for Women Affairs and Social Welfare, Mrs. Chinyere Esther Onyekesi, disclosed this on July 1, during a courtesy visit by the Chairman of Bee-Charity Outlook Foundation and former Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Paul Nwosu, who visited to appreciate the ministry’s recent enforcement actions against child labour.
Mrs. Onyekesi said the ministry would support every lawful partnership aimed at eliminating child labour, describing child labour camps as breeding grounds for future criminality and social instability.
She expressed concern over the scale of the problem, noting that the rescue of 29 child labour victims from a single location in Nnewi, with the support of the local government chairman, underscored the urgency of sustained intervention.
The commissioner urged communities across the state to remain vigilant, identify suspected child labour camps and promptly report such cases to the ministry to facilitate the eradication of the practice.
Speaking during the visit, Dr. Nwosu, accompanied by a director of the foundation, Mrs. Iwuoba Blessing, commended the commissioner for moving beyond advocacy to enforcement in tackling child labour. He appealed for a formal partnership between the foundation and the ministry, a request that received the commissioner’s approval.
Dr. Nwosu said Bee-Charity Outlook Foundation has spent the past eight years campaigning against child labour through advocacy programmes conducted in Lagos, Abuja, Enugu, Awka, Onitsha and Ogbaru, with plans to extend its activities to Aba in Abia State and other industrial centres where child labour remains prevalent.
He praised Mrs. Onyekesi’s leadership, describing her efforts as unprecedented in Anambra’s fight against child labour and child trafficking syndicates. He also noted that the foundation already collaborates with the Nigeria Police in Anambra State and recently held strategic discussions with the command on the International Day Against Child Labour, observed on June 12.
He called on the police to ensure thorough investigation and prosecution of offenders while strengthening collaboration with the ministry to achieve lasting solutions.
