To supervise and coordinate the issues of child labour in Liberia by ensuring the development of policies, regulations and or national framework document aim at addressing child labour issues, developing programs and soliciting funding for programs and project implementation, develop a comprehensive monitoring and reporting system on child labour activities across the country, and enhance collaboration and coordination amongst stakeholders towards the fight against child labour.

Mandate of the Division of Child Labour
The overall mandate of the Division is to sustain the fight against child labour by putting in place the right laws, policies and programs that would address the cause-and-effect factors of child labour, and as well foster stronger collaborations at both national and international levels to curb the situation of child labour in the country.

Th Child Labour Division was established by an Administrative Act in 2004, upon the ratification of the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention #182 by Liberia, in June 2003. This Convention calls for the prohibition and elimination of the worst forms of child labour. Liberia, in furtherance of her commitment ratified ILO Convention # 138 in September 2019. This convention sets the minimum age for admission to work. Conventions # 138 and # 182 set the basis for the fight against child labour by all ILO member states, and call on member states domesticate these conventions as a means of accentuating their commitments to action.

Major Achievements of the Division

• 2019, endorsed and launched a National Action Plan (NAP) Document for the elimination of the worst forms of child labour in the country. The process to develop the NAP began in 2015 with financial and technical supports from ILO and the WinRock International CLEAR II Project.

• 2022, endorsed and launched the Hazardous and Light Work list for children in Liberia. A list that outlined permissible and non-permissible work for children in Liberia, was launch at the 2022 celebration of the World Day Against Child Labour (June 12).

• 2021-2022, hired the services of approximately Fifteen (15) Local NGOs who are partnering with the Ministry in the areas of child labour and human trafficking to conduct awareness raising and sensitization on child labour and human trafficking issues across the country. Funding for these activities were provided by the Ministry of Labour, and the exercise was done in three phases (Six months each).

• 2022, drafted a child labour law specifically to address the issues of child labour. The drafting of the law took into account several symposiums and consultation of partners and legal practitioners to arrive at the final draft copy, which is currently before the National Legislature for passage into Law.

• February-March 2023, conducted community Leadership mapping exercise within the 17 electoral districts of Montserrado County. The purpose of the exercise was to document the name, position and contact information of community leaders and profile same, so as to reference for the community awareness outreach activities on child labour and human trafficking issues. At the end of the exercise 1,814 Leaders were documented. This exercise was jointly funded by the Ministry of Labour and the WinRock International ATLAS Project. Forty-Seven mobilizers were hired to conduct the exercise for 15 days.

2018-2023 conducted several capacity building trainings on Child Labour Concepts and Identification, Referral, Prosecution and other child protections issues for Labour Commissioners and Inspectors, Social Workers, National Steering Committee Members, Child Labour Monitors, and Media Practitioners. Technical and Financial Assistants were provided by ILO and WinRock International Organization.