The Chairperson of the National Commission on Child Labour, Charles H. Gibson, has stressed the need to develop a distinct Child Labour Law that will have several soft spots and taking into consideration the tradition of Liberia but at the same time bordering on social dialogue as well as penalties for violations.
Labour Minister Gibson said the issue of child labour is not dealt with sufficiently in the Labour Law of Liberia and as such, there is a need to develop a new law on child labour.
Minister Gibson was speaking on Wednesday, June 8, 2022, when the visiting Project Director of ATLAS, Winrock International Project Mr. Chris Wooley paid him a courtesy call at his Labour Ministry office in Monrovia.
The Minister informed Mr. Wooley that child labour is very visible in Liberia and as such, the Government of Liberia through the National Commission on Child Labour is looking forward to working with international organizations and partners to reduce it.
He noted that before the celebration of the World Day Against Child Labour on June 12, 2022, the draft of the new Child Labour Law will be submitted to the office of the President of the Republic of Liberia or the Legislature.
He said that all stakeholders in the fight against child labour in the country are expected to meet on Friday of this week to look at the final draft of the law and added that the President will deliver a special statement during the celebration of the Child Labour Day in Monrovia.
He said that Labour Commissioners in the 15-counties of the country have been instructed and empowered to carry out celebrations of the Day across the country.
The Chairman of the National Commission of Child Labour said that the fight against child labour is being elevated like that of human trafficking and stressed the need for more support and participation of Winrock International and other partners in this direction.
In response, the Winrock International Project Director, thanked the Government of Liberia through the National Commission on Child Labour for the support and actions in the fight against child labour and trafficking in persons.
He praised the government for improving on the Human Trafficking Law as well as hazardous work list of children in Liberia. He expressed his institution’s preparedness to working with the Ministry of Labour and the Commission on issues concerning child labour in Liberia.
Winrock International/ATLAS project is an international organization working with government in the fight against child labour and its worst form with the support or funding from the United States Department of Labour.
