By Valentia Tetteh
The International Labour Organization reports that Ghana has one of the highest rates of child labour with about 21% of its childhood population, participating in some form of child labor.
As the world marks a day against child labor, advocates are hopeful that prompt action will be taken to eliminate child labour in all its forms.
Work that deprives a child of adequate education, health, leisure, and basic freedoms is child labor. The International Labour Organisation estimates that about 160 million children globally are involved in activities that can be described as child labour. Some of these children are exposed to work in hazardous environments, slavery and other forms of forced labour and the activities such as drug trafficking and prostitution as well as involvement in armed conflicts. In countries such as Tanzania and Congo, economic hardships have forced many children to work in gold mines.
South Sudan is also reported to have child soldiers endangering their lives at the battle front. The International Labour organization estimates that 2.1 Millon children work in cocoa production in Ghana and Cote D’Ivoire. Figures also show that about 21% of children ages 5-17 in Ghana are involved in some form of child labor and 14 per cent are engaged in hazardous forms of labor.
As the world marks Day Against Child Labor, advocates are calling for commitment and action to eliminate all forms of child labor.
In an interview with GBCNEWS the Regional Coordinator for Africa Global March Against Child Labor, Mr. Andrews Tagoe said Ghana has made some progress in ending child labour in some communities.
“We have succeeded in Kpando Torkor. The good news is that colleagues of Kpando Torkor are asking, how did they do it. So, we have now moved to Abotoase and some stakeholders are also assisting to make Abotoase also a child Labor free community. There are issues there.”
Mr. Tagoe is optimistic that by 2025, Ghana will make strides in becoming a child-labor free country. “
”Looking at the numbers and facilities, we all see that we are very optimistic that by that time we will have all our children back to school or out of child labor. We are going to have the systems in place to address child labor”.
”We will have the National Plan of Action, the improvement of the Children’s Act, we will have communities that will begin to talk about child labor we will have a general move away from denial to acceptance and a journey of a thousand miles begins with a step”.
”I believe Ghana has taken about 100 steps, but we haven’t gotten to a thousand yet so let’s join our hands and make Ghana a Child Labour free country,”, Mr. Tagoe explained.
The 12th of June each year, is marked as the International Day Against Child Labor. This year’s celebration is on the theme: Eliminating child labor: let’s act now and fast’.
