The Centre for Children’s Health Education, Orientation and Protection (CEE-HOPE) has commended the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for passing the Informal Sector Employment (Regulation) Bill, 2025 (SB.629), which seeks to protect the rights of domestic workers and other informal sector employees. The Bill was passed on the floor of the Senate on November 12.
Speaking on the development, Betty Abah, Executive Director of CEE-HOPE, described the move as “a long-overdue step toward justice, dignity, and recognition for millions of hardworking Nigerians, most of them women and girls, whose labour sustains households across the country but whose rights have remained unprotected for decades.”
According to the International Labour Organization (ILO), there are about 75 million domestic workers globally, with over 80% being women. In Africa alone, there are at least 10 million domestic workers, while Nigeria is estimated to have between 3 and 5 million, forming a significant portion of the informal workforce. Yet, the majority operate without written contracts, fair wages, or social protection, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation, abuse, and modern slavery.
Alarmingly, the ILO further estimates that 17.2 million children worldwide are engaged in domestic work — more than half under the age of 14 — with girls making up nearly 67 % of that number.
In Nigeria, several hundred thousand children, mostly girls from poor backgrounds, are believed to be engaged in domestic labour, often exposed to abuse, trafficking, and denied education and childhood.
Abah noted that beyond legislation, the protection of domestic workers requires “strong unionisation, collective bargaining, and public awareness.” She stressed that the new Bill offers an opportunity to formally recognise domestic work as decent work, aligning Nigeria with the ILO Domestic Workers Convention (C 189), which calls for fair treatment, decent working conditions, and the right to organise.
“CEE-HOPE is committed to supporting the formation and strengthening of a national union for domestic workers,” Abah added. “We believe that only through collective organisation can domestic workers effectively demand fair wages, safe workplaces, and respect for their humanity.”
CEE-HOPE called on the House of Representatives to expedite passage of its companion legislation, the Domestic Workers (Employment and Protection) Bill, 2025 (HB.1765), and urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to give prompt assent to make it law. The organisation also appealed to state governments, civil society, and international partners to begin preparing for robust implementation once enacted.
Since 2020, CEE-HOPE which works with at-risk young people and marginalised populations, has campaigned for Nigerian domestic workers’ rights through wide-ranging initiatives including awareness creation through multileveled media platforms, engagement of multi-sectoral stakeholders (activists, unionists, media representatives, community leaders, domestic workers, employers and others) including law makers.
“This is a defining moment for Nigeria’s labour and human-rights landscape,” Abah concluded. “By protecting domestic workers, we protect the dignity of our nation.”
