Menace of child labour - Worst form of child exploitation globally
The menace of child labour is one of the greatest challenges facing Ghana and Africa as a whole. The issue, which was hitherto not seen as a canker, has eaten deep into society and is becoming one of the worst forms of child exploitation globally.
It is estimated globally that about 168 million children are still wallowing in child labour, with quite a substantial number involved in the worst forms.
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Poor parents
The role of poverty in child labour cannot be gainsaid, as it accounts for the highest percentage of child labour cases. Poor parents who find it difficult to make ends meet make their children their source of income. These children, aged between five and 14 years, engage in all forms of unscrupulous activities such as factory work, mining and quarrying, fishing, street hawking, just to mention but a few.
A few years ago, some children who were engaged in fishing at a community near the White Volta were thrown into the water due to a heavy storm that capsised the canoe in which they were fishing. These unfortunate children had to work because their survival and that of their families depended on it.
A walk through some of the streets of Accra reveals immigrants from the Republic of Chad who have come all the way to Ghana for survival. Some of the parents even carry the infants on the streets to earn money from begging. This practice is very common in neighbouring Togo, Benin and also Niger, Somalia, Djibouti and so on. Africa accounts for about thirty-two per cent (32%) of child labour cases in the world.
Child prostitutes
A number of these children have ended up as child prostitutes, armed robbers and other social deviants. Some have also become bonded children as they have been used as collateral for loans for their families.
It is ironical that poor families rather have many children, so it becomes very difficult for them to survive. The Planned
Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG) should continue to educate and encourage families on control of fertility so that they are not burdened by large numbers of children.
A step in the right direction to curb child labour as a result of poverty is for the restructuring of Third World Debt by the developed countries. In this, Highly Indebted Poor Countries in Africa should be made to redirect the repayment of their foreign loans into spending on local health and education and providing logistics for income generating activities.
The educational structure is a hidden contributory factor to child labour. Education and schooling should remain the central policy instrument for allaying child labour in Africa. Most children living along the coast of Ghana do not attend class during the fishing season. Others living in farming communities also do not attend class during the agricultural or farming seasons. This is as a result of the fact that they have to either help their parents at sea or on the farms or work as farm hands instead of being in school.
School drop-out rate
These result in a high school drop-out rate as the children tend to attend class seasonally. Also these schoolchildren as a result of money accrued from these activities lose interest in formal education and finally lose focus in life, which in the long run affects their future.
While it is important to improve the quality of education, such adjustments should be made when schools are on vacation during the farming and fishing seasons, since most African countries are either located along the coast or have inland water bodies.
If the school session is not adjusted to the farming seasons, the alternative costs of having the children attend class during those seasons become very high since they cannot combine farming or fishing with class work. This issue can be accommodated at the local government level by introducing appropriate flexibility in school hours and holidays.
Inadequate legislation banning child labour by past and present African governments has contributed greatly to the widespread of the practice on the continent. The cocoa industry in West Africa for example is one of the notorious employers of child labourers. Children as young as nine (9) years work in inhumane conditions to harvest cocoa beans to sell. The International Labour Organisation’s Convention of 182 bans the worst forms of child labour.
Enforcement of existing laws
Enforcement of existing laws and conventions needs to be improved in other to deter people from profiting from the worst forms of child labour. Child Rights International can assist countries through its capacity building and other technical assistance programmes to effectively enforce laws and regulations that can reduce the harmful forms of child labour.
Poverty reduction strategies to reduce general poverty and increase incomes are likely to have a positive effect on reducing child labour in Africa and Ghana. African governments should assist their rural folks in improving the quality of education. Communication and sensitisation is very crucial as most Africans do not accept the UN Convention for the Rights of the Child.
SDGs
Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Target 8.7 calls on all to take immediate and effective measures to eradicate forced labour, end modern slavery and human trafficking and secure the prohibition and elimination of all forms of child labour as an essential step to achieving decent work for all, full productive employment and inclusive and sustained economic growth.
Let us all take some steps in this direction so that we can put smiles on the faces of these little ones and make the world a beautiful place for the Ghanaian and African child to live in.
The writer — She is at the Research & Policy Unit of the Ghana Revenue Authority