By Moses John
Abuja
International Labour Organisation (ILO) has stated that no fewer than 1.3 billion children around the world were not under social protection cover.
The Assistant Director-General and Regional Director of ILO, Mrs. Cynthia Samuel-Olonjuwon, who disclosed this yesterday during an official launch of World Social Protection Report 2017-2019 in Abuja, said out of the figure, hug numbers were from Africa and Asia.
She said the word Social Protection Report was essential to monitor Sustainable Development Goals (1.3), adding that “SDGs target commits countries to implement nationally appropriate social protection systems and measures for all.”
“There are almost 1.3 billion children globally that are not covered by social protection. Sadly, most of them live in Africa and Asia. This flagship report provides a global overview on recent trends in social protection systems, including social protection floors. Based on new data, it offers a broad range of global and regional country data on social protection coverage, benefits and public expenditures on social protection,” she said.
On the huge gab in Africa in terms of social protection, the ILO assistant director-general lamented that an estimated 10 million health workers were needed to achieve universal health coverage and human security.
Also speaking, the Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Prof. Stephen Ocheni, gave the assurance that the federal government was committed to domesticating social protection for her citizens.
According to him, ILO is an important partner in Nigeria’s efforts to promote inclusive growth and economic development.
“We recognise the need for synergy in strategies, policies and outcomes as the best option for the attainment of decent work for sustainable development,” he said.
