Eliminating Child Labour in Ghana: ​​​​​​​ Let’s Renew our Commitment

The development of children is an irresistible human endeavor. Everywhere in the world, nation states, communities and families regard the wellbeing of children to be of paramount importance because children are the foundation of our future. The more they are well-equipped the brighter the chances of their countries to develop adequately. However, the wellbeing of children is encumbered with many challenges. Given that our children are the foundation of society, problems hindering their development are fundamental to the progress of our country and continent. One such problems is child labour. There are almost 152 million children are in child labour across the world. 70% of children i.e. (persons under 18 years of age) who are employed are in child labour. According to the latest Global Estimates of Child Labour released by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), which examined the trends in child labour from 2021 to 2016, “Africa ranks highest both in the percentage of children in child labour – one-fifth – and the absolute number of children in child labour – 72 million.” In sub-Saharan Africa, the trend shows that child labour increased from 2012 to 2016, while it decreased in other regions Africa seem to have more than a fair share of the world’s resources; therefore we should be producing a fair share of the world’s solutions, not an excess share of its problems.

Understanding the Concept of child labour
Not every work done by a child is child labour. Children can be engaged in activities that enhance their integration in society and increases their sense of responsibility and productivity. Such activities are to be done under appropriate conditions such as supervision from adults. Because children are vulnerable and may not be able to make the best judgements for their own welfare, they must be protected from potentially harmful task. Child labour is work that threatens the health, education or development of the child. According to the ILO Convention on Minimum age for Employment, child labour refers to children below the minimum age, which in Ghana is 15 years, who have been admitted into employment. In Africa, child labour is seen as exploitation of the child. The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child stipulates that “every child shall be protected from all forms of economic exploitation and from performing any work that is likely to be hazardous or to interfere with the child’s physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development.” Hazardous work hazardous refers to work which exposes children to physical, psychological or sexual abuse; work underground, under water or dangerous heights or confined places; work with dangerous machinery, equipment or tools, or which involves the manual handling or transportation of heavy loads; work in unhealthy environment which may, for example, expose children to hazardous substances, agents or processes, or to temperatures, noise levels or vibrations damaging to their health; work under particularly difficult conditions such as work for long hours, or during the night, or work where the child is unreasonably confined to the premises of the employer. Hazardous work and slavery or practices similar practices such as child trafficking, forced or bonded labour, engagement of children in armed conflicts, commercial sexual exploitation of children and illicit activities such as the peddling of drugs are absolutely unacceptable for children to do, and are thus referred to as Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL) under ILO Convention 182.

Child labour in Ghana
In Ghana, child labour is a constitutional breach of the fundamental human rights of the child. Article 28 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana indicates that children have a right to be protected from work that constitutes a threat to their health, education and development. In addition, the Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560) proscribes the engagement of children in night work. Night work is defined as work done between 8 pm and 6am. In spite of these legislative provisions, one out of every five children is in child labour; according to the 2014 Ghana Living Standard Survey Report by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) there are almost 2 million children estimated to be in child labour. The menace occurs in each of the ten regions and virtually in all districts and communities. some of the worst forms of child labour identified are commercial sex, child trafficking, domestic work, ritual servitude, agriculture, mining, fishing, kayaye, streetism and begging. Child labour occurs more in rural areas, predominantly in agriculture, including fishing. in the urban informal economy, the service sector is infested with the menace.

Causes and Consequences of Child Labour
The root causes of child labour include ignorance, negligence, apathy and poverty. These underpin intermediate causes such as insufficient awareness and social mobilization, poor law enforcement, adequate resources and low capacity, collaboration and coordination among duty-bearing agencies. Also, there seems to be a poor appreciation of the long term benefits, compared to the short term and meagre gains from child labour. For example, children and families engaged in hazardous work in the mining sector are reluctant to stop and attend school because they perceive child labour in mining as immediately responsive to their material needs. Yet the consequences of child labour are dire. On the child, it is an exposure to health risk: many children are injured in the line of work. The poisonous effect of mercury, the musculoskeletal injuries from carrying heavy loads, the human rights abuses in child trafficking, drowning, sexual abuse and the irretrievable loss of one’s childhood are but a few of the direct consequences to the child. Child labour produces low outcomes in education, the result of which is the acquisition of inadequate knowledge and skills for gainful employment. Therefore many child labourers end up as underemployed or unemployed adults who become poor. Such poor persons raise poor families and thus perpetuate a cycle of inter-generational poverty which cuts across whole communities. This is a mortgage of the future of such communities. child labour is a scare on the developmental conscience of our country. It steals away the high quality human resource we need to underpin national development, consigning us to mediocre achievements in all the sectors of our economy. child labour is a blight on our international image and a threat to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

National Plan of Action on the Elimination of Child Labour in Ghana

In May 2017, the President made a strong call for the elimination of child labour. He said it is “a shameful phenomenon and an indictment on all of us, and it is time to stop hiding under a so-called cultural practice to find excuses” emphasizing that “Children are children; they are our most important asset and deserve to be protected from being exploited in the labour field”. He promised that his government “will work with all partners towards the goal of eliminating child labour” and “to ensure that our children do not work under hazardous conditions to support themselves and their families”. And reminded us “ that child labour and child trafficking are not only crimes, but also now pose veritable threats to our national security.”

From 2009 to 2015, the first National Paln of Action (NPA) on the elimination of child labour was developed and implemented with mixed results. The present measurement from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicates that not much progress has been made, with 21% of children in child labour today.The 2018 National Budget makes provision for the implementation of the second National Plan of Action (NPA2). It is thus expected that this provision will see the light of day, and efficient systems and strategies will be applied to ensure that child labour is eliminated by 2021 as proposed. The Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations should continue to drive the national effort to deal with child labour, working with key partners like the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection as well as the Ministry of Local Government and Rural Development together with Workers and Employers organisations. Perhaps if we strengthen our law enforcement mechansms, build the operational capacity of the Child Labour Unit under the labour department, carry out massive media campaigns and provide viable alternatives for poor families and vulnerable children, we will not only achieve the elimination of child labour part score a double dividend of making significant gains towards the achievement of the millennium development goals (SDGs). Ghana must rise to the occasion again. Let’s just do it!

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