Begging To Feed The Adult; A Case Of Child Labour In Ghana?

Every year, Ghana joins other nations around the world to observe the International Day of Families, a day set aside to raise awareness of the role of families in promoting early childhood education and lifelong learning opportunities for children and youth.

Family as a social institution, is a very important social structure that dictates how people learn important life skills and beliefs for their self-development. It is the place where people carve their true identity which helps them to safely captain the ship of life.

Unfortunately, the (over) concentration on nuclear families which in some cases has resulted in the breakdown of the extended family system- where a child was seen as a communal property whose welfare was the duty of the entire community.

The growing spate of street children, begging on the streets, prostitution, armed robbery and the likes have assumed a worrisome dimension. The rise of these social ills can be comfortably laid on the doorsteps of the breakdown of the family system and in some cases the inability or unwillingness of the guardian to do right by the children.

For instance, it is estimated that there are over 90,000 street children in Accra alone and over 10,000 in Kumasi, two of Ghana’s biggest cities. The multiplier effect is that these children are denied their right to education, health and human dignity.

Sadly, state institutions that have the mandate to ensure the welfare of these children have been incapacitated due to inadequate resources.

Laws
Interestingly, Ghana has very impressive record when it comes to its eagerness to fashion out policies that protect the rights of its vulnerable and the socially-handicapped population.

For instance, the Children’s Act of 1998, the PNDC Law 111, and the Disability Act of 2006 are few but some of the giant strides the country has made in response to protecting certain class of its citizens.

The country is also a signatory to many international conventions and treaties aimed at protecting the vulnerable population of the world. Ghana being a signatory to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention on worst forms of Child Labour, the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the UN Convention on the Right of the Child (UNCHRC), one still wonders why we still have a ballooning statistics when it comes to street children.

Curiously, Ghana was the first country to ratify UNCHRC. Article 32 of the Rights of the Child (CRC) 1989, ratified by 191 countries, states that every child “has the right to be protected from work that threatens his or health, education or development”.

Despite this provision, many children are yet to feel protected under the law. Many of them have been turned into street beggars who toil to feed their families.

The spectacle on the streets
The practice of people soliciting for alms is a growing phenomenon in most of Ghana’s big towns and cities. When one walks or drives along some streets in Ghana, one is likely to be swarmed by a large army of beggars who will not yield till you pat them with some coins.

The most ghastly spectacle however is the practice where children are used to beg for alms. Ghana has become a fertile begging grounds for many immigrants from neighbouring West-African countries including Mali and Niger. On many principal streets in the capital, it is common to be accosted by these children who have been charged by their parents to engage in such hazardous practice.

The sad tale is that these children often meander through traffic jams and swerve speeding vehicles in the sweltering sun while their parents relax comfortably under shades. When they manage to get some money, they run and give it to their parents and return to business! In effect, they have been turned into breadwinners for their families.

Per my layman’s understanding, the laws of Ghana remains supreme and every individual who enters our soil irrespective of creed or colour is subjected to these laws. The only people who enjoy some waivers are perhaps foreign consulates in our country.

It is therefore surprising that the law enforcement agencies have failed to arrest these foreign nationals for the abuse of these innocent children’s right. If our laws do not allow parents to use children as labours, why have we as a country allowed foreign nationals to flout our laws with impunity?

The SOS Children’s Villages intervention

Recognizing the challenges children go through, the SOS Children’s Villages Ghana has for the past four decades rescued children who have lost parental care or are at risk of losing parental care.

Through its Family Strengthening Programme (FSP), the organisation has supported more than 8,000 children and their families in over 30 communities across Ghana. Several thousands of others continue to receive care under its Family Based Care (FBC) programme.

The welfare of children is a collective responsibility, thus, all actors both government and non-governmental organizations should reactivate and step-up their efforts to ensure the safety and welfare of children.

By Abdul-Karim Mohammed Awaf
Sponsorship, Communication & Fundraising Officer

SOS Children’s Village Kumasi