National Action Plan on the Elimination of Child Labour

What Is This Policy?

The National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour and Its Worst Forms (NAP-CL 2021–2025) is Nigeria's strategic roadmap for accelerating action towards eliminating the worst forms of child labour by 2025 and all child labour by 2030. It is the second phase of Nigeria's national child labour framework, revising and updating the original 2013–2017 NAP following a joint ILO evaluation that found progress to be slow and unequal across the country's six geo-political zones. It also incorporates forced labour as a distinct dimension of the response, aligning Nigeria's obligations as an Alliance 8.7 Pathfinder Country under SDG Target 8.7.

Who Does It Target?

Children in or at risk of child labour and its worst forms, including forced labour, trafficking, and armed conflict involvement Families and communities vulnerable to poverty-driven child labour, particularly in endemic and conflict-affected areas Government Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) at federal, state, and local levels with child protection mandates Civil society organisations (CSOs), faith-based organisations, and the private sector International development partners, particularly the ILO and the Government of the Netherlands States yet to domesticate the Child Rights Act and those with inadequate law enforcement capacity

What Does It Aim to Achieve?

Eliminate the worst forms of child labour across Nigeria by 2025, and all forms of child labour by 2030 Strengthen legal frameworks including harmonising the minimum age of work and enforce child labour laws at all levels Build institutional and governmental capacity to identify, withdraw, rehabilitate, and reintegrate child labour victims Mainstream child and forced labour issues into social protection, education, employment, and emergency response systems Improve data, monitoring and evaluation systems to support evidence-based policy and programming

Key Features

Policy, Legal Framework & Enforcement: Update and harmonise all laws, domesticate outstanding ILO conventions (including C-189 on Domestic Workers), and enforce minimum age of work across states Systems Strengthening: Strengthen National, State, and Local Government Steering Committees on Child Labour (NSCCL, SSCCL, LGSCCL); build capacity of desk officers and all institutional partners Advocacy & Awareness: Coordinated national and sub-national campaigns; IEC materials in local languages; commemoration of World Day Against Child Labour (June 12); social media engagement Social Protection & Employment: Link social protection programmes (CCT, School Feeding, N-Power) to child labour endemic communities; strengthen vocational and technical education systems (TVET) Treatment of Victims: Identification, withdrawal, case management, psychosocial support, family tracing and reunification, and reintegration for all victims of child and forced labour Education: Address out-of-school children (est. 10 million); enforce free basic education; develop non-formal schooling pathways; incorporate child labour into the national curriculum Conflict & Emergency Response: Protect children in IDP camps across the North-East; integrate child labour measures into emergency and peacekeeping responses; draw on Alliance 8.7 conflict frameworks Child Participation: Involve children as active stakeholders; mainstream anti-child labour activities into Child Rights Clubs; empower the Nigerian Children's Parliament; use the SCREAM approach

Current Status

Rollout Stage: Active — implementing Phase 2 of the National Policy on Child Labour (2021–2025) in collaboration with ILO and the Netherlands Government Scale of Problem: ILO estimates approximately 15 million children under age 14 work in Nigeria; progress under the 2013–2017 NAP was slow and geographically unequal Institutional Structures: National (NSCCL), State (SSCCL), and Local Government (LGSCCL) Steering Committees on Child Labour are operational Legal Gaps: 11 states are yet to domesticate the Child Rights Act; ILO Convention 189 on Domestic Workers is yet to be ratified; minimum age of work remains inconsistently defined Worst Forms: Children engaged in quarrying, commercial sexual exploitation, armed conflict involvement, and forced labour remain the priority targets Education: Nigeria acknowledged as having the world's highest number of out-of-school children, UBEC estimates approx. 10 million primary-age children out of school as of 2019 Monitoring: Quarterly, bi-annual, and annual reporting through the NSCCL/SSCCL hierarchy; M&E units established at national and state levels

How to Access

Government Institutions: Engage through the NSCCL or relevant State Steering Committees; incorporate child labour activities into institutional work plans and budgets Civil Society & NGOs: Apply for programme implementation support through the NSCCL and development partners (ILO, Government of the Netherlands) Communities: Work with Child Protection Networks (CPN), Local Government Steering Committees (LGSCCL), and Community Development Associations (CDAs) to report and support child labour cases Private Sector: Engage through the Nigeria Employers' Consultative Association (NECA) and incorporate child labour elimination into corporate social responsibility frameworks Contact: Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment — Inspectorate Department, Child Labour Unit, Abuja

Important Terms

Worst Forms of Child Labour: Defined under ILO Convention C-182 includes slavery, trafficking, debt bondage, use in armed conflict, prostitution, and hazardous work harmful to health or safety Alliance 8.7 / SDG Target 8.7: SDG 8.7 requires countries to end the worst forms of child labour by 2025 and all child labour by 2030; Nigeria is a designated Pathfinder Country in the Alliance 8.7 framework Mainstreaming Obligation: All MDAs with child protection mandates are required to incorporate child labour elimination into their institutional work plans, budgets, and reporting frameworks Minimum Age of Work: Currently inconsistent across Nigerian legislation; the NAP mandates full harmonisation in line with ILO Convention C-138 (minimum age 15, or 14 in developing countries with exceptions)

Impact & Metrics

~15 million children under age 14 estimated to be working in Nigeria (ILO) one of the highest in Africa ~10 million primary school-age children are out of school (UBEC, 2019), directly linked to child labour vulnerability The 2013–2017 NAP was evaluated as having slow and geographically unequal implementation, the 2021–2025 NAP is designed to address those gaps Nigeria's North-East continues to face a humanitarian crisis generating up to 647,000 IDPs, elevating child labour, trafficking, and forced recruitment risks School Feeding Programme and Conditional Cash Transfer schemes identified as key social protection tools to be linked to child labour endemic areas

Official Resources

Contact: Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment — Inspectorate Department, Child Labour Unit, Abuja Technical Partner: International Labour Organization (ILO) — www.ilo.org | ACCEL Africa Project Policy Document: National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour and Its Worst Forms 2021–2025 — available via the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment Summary prepared using the Policy Summary Template | Source: NAP-CL 2021–2025 (Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, ILO, Government of the Netherlands) | February 2026

Legal Framework

The National Action Plan for the Elimination of Child Labour (2021–2025) operates under the Child Rights Act 2003, the Labour Act, and the Trafficking in Persons (Prohibition) Enforcement and Administration Act 2015. It aligns with the Compulsory, Free Universal Basic Education Act 2004, Nigeria's ratification of ILO Conventions 138 (Minimum Age) and 182 (Worst Forms of Child Labour), and the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (Articles 32 and 34).