GHANA GEARS UP FIGHT AGAINST CHILD LABOUR

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Nearly 22 per cent of the about eight million children translating into one out of every five children within the age range of five and 17 years in Ghana are engaged in child labour in different sectors of the national economy. The situation is seriously impacting on the personal development, education and health of such children and undermining school enrollment. 

To address the problem, the Ministry for Employment and Labour Relations and its partners are taking pragmatic steps to withdraw all children illegally engaged in any form of employment anywhere in the country. The sector Minister, Ignatius Baffuor Awuah, gave the assurance in an address read for him in Kumasi at a day’s National Stakeholders’ Dialogue on the Creation of Child Labour-Free Zones in Ghana.

The National Dialogue which was on the theme: “Building Momentum; Sharing Practices and Inspiring Stakeholders towards the Creation of Child Labour-Free Zones in Ghana”. It aimed at seeking the input and support of major stakeholders in the subject towards the formulation of a workable National Action Plan for the elimination of the canker of child labour with the creation of specific geographic areas across the country as Child Labour-Free Zones as one of the key strategies. 

Among the participants of the National Stakeholders Dialogue were representatives of the Ghana Agriculture Workers Union, GAWU, some civil society organizations involved in the crusade against child labour, traditional leaders, some withdrawn child labourers, the Department of Social Welfare, Department of Labour and foreign development partners. 

The Paramount Chief of Kumawu in Ashanti, Barimah Sarfo Tweneboah Kodua, called for a national action plan that would deal with factors that encourage child labour while finding an operational definition for child labour.

The Deputy Ashanti Regional Minister, Madam Elizabeth Agyemang, described child labour as any engagement that negatively affects the welfare and education of the child involved while reducing school enrollment. She lauded the Child Labour-Free Zones initiative since it would allow for the gradual and systematic withdrawal of children from any form of employment in the designated areas.

 A Co-Founder of Action Against Child Exploitation, ACE, an international NGO, Madam Tomoko Shiroki, explained that her NGO has prioritized the elimination of child labour, particularly from cocoa production to ensure fairness in the production processes.

In an address read on behalf of the Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, the Chief Director of the Ministry, Rudolph Kuuzeh, described the formulation of a National Action Plan against child labour as very critical in the national crusade against the problem.

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