- Safiu Kehinde
Devatop Centre for Africa Development has called for the protection of Child Domestic Workers’ (CDWs) rights and dignity while urging the Nigerian government to strengthen policies.
The Executive Director of the youth-led anti-human trafficking and human rights organisation, Joseph Osuigwe, made this call at a stakeholders’ policy dialogue in Lagos on Saturday.
He emphasised the need for effective policy implementation to safeguard CDWs.
He explained that the dialogue addressed child domestic worker exploitation, policy gaps, and effective implementation.
Osuigwe stressed that protecting children from exploitation is a civic duty, not charity.
He expressed optimism that the dialogue would yield practical plans to strengthen policy implementation.
“Devatop has made significant progress through training programmes, community engagement, and support services.”
He said that the efforts so far include: Training CDWs and their guardians on child rights and safeguarding, and establishing the CDWs Rights Forum in two communities with over 80 participants.
Others, he said included training 40 community influencers as child rights champions and launching a forum to promote child protection and responding to reported child abuse cases and engaging community influencers in awareness campaigns.
On her part, Comfort Agboko, Lagos Commander of NAPTIP, called for strong synergy amongst stakeholders and partners to create a child-safe environment.
She emphasized effective coordination and collaboration between state and non-state actors.
Agboko advocated for training law enforcement officers and judges, increasing access to justice for children, and rebranding law-enforcement units handling children’s issues.
Representatives from key organisations, including the Freedom Fund, Ministry of Labour, and National Human Rights Commission, attended the event, demonstrating their commitment to addressing CDW exploitation.