National Workshop on Child Labour in Agriculture held in Niger: Strong commitment to create a national steering committee on child labour in agriculture
A national workshop held by the Ministry of Agriculture and FAO on Child labour in Agriculture took place in Niamey on July 23-24 (2014). There were 70 participants from all over the country representing a wide range of key stakeholders: technicians and officers from the Ministry of Agriculture, the Ministry of Employment, Labour and Social Protection, the Ministry of Population, for the Promotion of Women and the Protection of the Child, representatives from producers and farmers’ organizations, from civil society organizations, from technical and financial partners and international organizations.
The national workshop has been an opportunity to broadly reflect and take further action on the issue of child labour in agriculture in Niger thanks to the initial findings of a case study conducted on child labour in rice growing areas along the Niger River.
The event has been opened by the FAO representative and the ILO focal person in Niger, under the auspices of the State Minister from the Ministry of Agriculture. The current policy framework in Niger pertaining child labour and the findings of the case study were discussed. Participants identified activities aiming at the prevention and reduction of child labour in agriculture in Niger.
As a result of this national workshop, concrete recommendations have been agreed upon and formulated with an explicit timeline of implementation. Ultimately, the creation of a national steering committee on child labour in agriculture has been unanimously approved.