Gabon to host meeting on children trafficking next week
A sub-regional meeting on the development of strategies against the trafficking of children workers in Western and Central Africa will be held in Libreville, Gabon from 22 to 24 February, pan-African news agency PANA reported, quoting official sources.
The participants, including labor, social affairs and justice ministers from 20 countries of the region, will look at the issue of trafficking children workers and various forms of children labor in the area.
The meeting is co-organized by the UNICEF regional bureau for western and central Africa and the International Labor Organization (ILO).
The meeting follows a workshop on the trafficking of girl workers held in July 1998 in Cotonou, Benin.
The Libreville meeting will also assess measures undertaken since the Cotonou workshop to develop and adopt strategies for the protection of children workers, in line with international standards, including the convention on the rights of the children and the ILO convention on the minimum age for workers.
For three days, participants will discuss the UNICEF global program on the banning of children labor and the role of the media in the struggle against the illegal trade.
Benin, Burkina Faso, Cape Verde, Cameroon, Congo, Cote d'Ivoire, Gabon, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea-Conakry, Equatorial Guinea, Mauritania, Nigeria, the Central African Republic, The Democratic Republic of Congo, Rwanda, Sao Tome and Principe, Senegal, Chad and Togo and national and international NGOs will attend the meeting.
