Let’s end child labour: It affects children’s development

A child rights advocate organisation, Macee Foundation Ghana, has called for an end to child labour, saying the practice poses a threat to the growth and development of children.

Speaking at the "Unveiling of The Relay Flame Torch and Launching of Macee Foundation in Accra last Thursday, September 19, an Ambassador of the Macee Foundation Ghana, Mr Henry Ahorlu said child labour exposed children and their families to a permanent state of poverty and deprivation, adding that “it is a great threat to children's growth and development in all spheres of their lives."

The Director of Policy Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation at the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Mrs Emma Ofori Agyemang, who represented the sector Minister, Mr Ignatius Baffour Awuah, lit the relay flame torch to signify the launch of Macee Foundation Ghana and its “Stop Child Labour Campaign”.

Formative years

Mr Ahorlu, who made the appeal when he helped the guest of honour to lit the torch, said the formative years of children were important for their upbringing and for them to be properly developed through formal education.

He added that “subjecting children to hazardous activities such as illegal mining and menial jobs such as cattle herding deprives them of their universal rights to freedom and education. It undermines the sustainable growth and development of any country. Child labour deprives countries of their richest human source, their children.”

Quality education

He continued: “Children deserve quality education which affords them the opportunity to escape poverty, a chance to decent living and protects them from exploitation by child abusers."

He indicated that decisive action needed to be taken by child rights groups, civil organisations and other stakeholders to save more children from child labour to enable them to go through formal education.

He also called on the Ministry of Gender, Children & Social Protection and the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations to implement stringent measures to resolve the menace of child labour in the country.

Speaking on the government’s efforts to curb child labour in Ghana, Mrs Ofori Agyemang, who deputised for Mr Baffour Awuah, said the ministry in consultation with its stakeholders had developed a National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour Phase II (NPA2 2017-2021).

The action plan, according to her, would go a long way to help curb the menace of child labour.

She stressed that “awareness creation and sensitisation to the concepts of child labour, enforcement of laws and the strengthening of community systems are also essential to eliminating child labour.”

Mrs Agyemang commended the Macee Foundation Ghana and the private sector for their immense role in the fight against child labour, especially in the fishing, mining and cocoa sectors.

Background

According to the United Nations Children’s fund (UNICEF), about 21 per cent of all children in Ghana aged five to 17, were involved in child labour, with 14 per cent engaged in hazardous forms of labour.

In October 2017, the President of Ghana presented the Coordinated Programme of Economic and Social Development Policies (2017-2024) to Parliament.

This pivotal programme includes numerous planned interventions related to child and family welfare issues.