Over thirty (30) Labour Inspectors of the Ministry of Labour have received certificates from a Training of Trainer Workshop organized by Winrock International-CLEAR II-Liberia Project, VERITE in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour on the fight against child labour in Liberia.
The workshop was also intended to help relevant stakeholders to appreciate the importance of addressing child labour in their work; clearly see their role in protecting children from exploitation as well as understanding the definitions, legal framework and best practices for addressing child labour issues.
A new curriculum on best ways to identify, address and prevent child labour was introduced to the Labour Inpsectors and stakeholders in the fight against child labour and child protection in Liberia by VERITE during the training.
Speaking during the close of a five-day Training of Trainer’s workshop, Assistant Labour Minister for Trade Union Affairs and Social Dialogue Hon. Togba R. Croyee Porte thanked VERITE (Fair Labour Worldwide) a branch of WinRock International for the training of Labour Inspectors and other stakeholders in fight to eliminate the worst form of child labour in the county.
Minister Porte said it was important that the Ministry of Labour as the eye on Child Labour issues in the country recognized the partnership with VERITE, WinRock International, in providing training for Labour Commissioners, Inspectors and other stakeholders in the sector to enable them understand child labour issues.
He used the occasion to thank participates for their level of engagement during the entire workshop and reassured VERITE, WinRock International and other stakeholders in the sector of the Government of Liberia continuous commitment to fight against child labour.
He informed the Ministry of Labour international partners of efforts on the part of government to eliminate the worst forms of child labor as being well on course. He spoke of a finalization of the draft National Action Plan on Child Labor and the launch of a National Child Welfare and Protection Policy that focuses on the implementation and enforcement of child labour laws.
The Assistant Labour Minister however hopes that developers of the new curriculum to address child labour issues in Liberia took into consideration the cultural norms of the people of Liberia.
For her part, Madam Lisa Cox, Program Director, VERITE noted that they came to Liberia two years ago and did an assessment which took into account the cultural of the people and came up with a recommendation that more training is needed.
“Therefore, we have come here to introduce a new curriculum on the best ways to identify child labour and to address it, noting that once it’s identified how and it be prevented from happening in society. We created this new curriculum mainly for Liberia and we want to introduce it to Labour Inspectors and others who are involved with child labour and child protection issues in the country to enable them understand how it is structured and how they can use it to train others.”
She said her institution is working with CLEAR II-Liberia Project which is a government capacity building project that is being funded by the United States Department of Labour (USDOL). “We are working in six different countries on this project around the world; Nepal, Bukina Faso, Belize, Panama, Jamaica and Liberia. The reason we are working in those countries is because their governments including the Government of Liberia requested assistance in area they recognized to do better in addressing such as child labour and committed to it. So, we are partnering with them to provide technical assistance.”
Madam Cox lamented that institutions and individuals that are committed to reducing the problem of child labour including the government, worker unions, the private sector, locals and civil society organizations, but cannot as a result of capacity gap.
She expressed happiness over the Government of Liberia commitment to working with all partners in the elimination and prevention of the worst forms of child labour in the country. She maintained that this new curriculum is going to be turned over to the government to be institutionalized for their own training processes.
Speaking on behalf of the participants, Labour Inspector Mr. Napoleon Dukuly thanked WinRock International-VERITE of organizing such a workshop that is intended to build the capacity of Labour Inspectors and others in addressing child labour issues. He described the training as being meaningful and called on the Government of Liberia through the Ministry of Labour to continue to engage partners to provide more training opportunities for members of the labour sector.
Facilitator of the training which is to be held at Corina Hotel in Monrovia include: Madam Lisa Cox of VERITE, Madam Patience Heah, Coordinator, National Commission on Child Labour/Ministry of Labour and Mr. James Yeke, Country Director, CLEAR-II Liberia Project.
Workshop was sponsored by USDOL through Winrock International-CLEAR II-Liberia Project, VERITE in collaboration with the Ministry of Labour and it runs from Monday, December 3, to Friday, December 7, 2018.
Signed: J. Kortu Nyandibo/Dir/Comm./MOL
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