Nigeria moves to support the expansion of social protection for vulnerable communities at risk of child labour

Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria (ILO News) – A strategic planning meeting held in Akure, Ondo State, Nigeria from 24–26 March 2025 marked a major step forward in Nigeria’s efforts to extend social protection to vulnerable communities, with a specific focus on vulnerable individuals and households at risk of child labour.

The meeting, organized by the ACCEL Africa project in collaboration with national and state institutions, brought together key stakeholders to develop actionable plans for expanding social protection coverage in communities in Ondo and Osun States.

Africa has the lowest social protection coverage in the world—just 17% of the population is covered by at least one benefit, compared to 84% in Europe and Central Asia. A joint ILO–UNICEF study (2022) confirmed that higher levels of social protection significantly reduce the prevalence of child labour.

Based on this, discussions focused on the urgent need to include cocoa farmers, miners, informal workers, and other at-risk groups in social protection schemes such as non-contributory and contributory schemes to enable them have access to conditional cash transfers, health, and informal worker insurance programmes. These efforts align with ACCEL Africa’s mandate to address the root causes of child labour through strengthened social protection.

Building on the outcomes of the strategic meeting, Osun and Ondo States have developed concrete action plans to update their Social Registers and extend social protection coverage to households at risk of child labour. In Osun State, the focus is on identifying vulnerable households in cocoa farming and artisanal mining communities, integrating them into the State Single Social Register, and facilitating their seamless access to social protection programmes. Similarly, Ondo State’s plan emphasizes updating the Social Register, enrolling identified households into health insurance schemes, and linking them to other social intervention programmes. Both states have set up timelines and responsibilities for field validation, sensitization campaigns, and joint monitoring mechanisms to ensure the effective inclusion of vulnerable individuals in social protection systems.

These updates aim to ensure that vulnerable individuals and households are included in government support systems, such as Conditional cash transfers and periodic poverty alleviation and humanitarian support.

Follow-up actions include working closely with focal persons in State Operations Coordinating Units (SOCU – Ondo and Osun) and National Social Safety Net Coordinating Office (NASSCO) to implement the newly developed action plans, supported by the Technical Working Group.

This strategic engagement reflects growing momentum to build inclusive social protection systems in Nigeria and tackle child labour at its source.