Committee condemns engagement of children for dangerous jobs

Accra, June 12, GNA - The Tripartite Committee on Friday condemned the engagement of children in activities that are injurious to their health, total development and prevent them from benefiting fully from education, and called for urgent action to tackle the worst forms of child labour in the country.

In a statement issued in Accra to mark World Day Against Child Labour, the Committee noted that although Ghana had ratified the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention on the Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL), children continued to be engaged in dangerous jobs such as trafficking, agriculture and commercial sexual exploitation, child domestic work; carrying of heavy loads, customary or ritual servitude, small-scale mining and quarrying, and illicit activities such as pick-pocketing.

"Others are found in the urban informal economy; in transportation, particularly as drivers' mates, traditional restaurants, begging and petty trading, with street children becoming an increasingly visible phenomenon in the main cities," the statement said. This year's celebration is on the theme: "Give Girls a Chance: End Child Labour."

The statement was signed by Mr Stephen Amoanor Kwao, Minister of Employment and Social Welfare and for Mr Kofi Asamoah, Secretary General of the Trades Union Congress and for Mr Victor Atta-Amponsah, Acting Executive Director of the Ghana Employers' Association. The committee warned that the continuous engagement of children of school-going age in child labour had grave consequences for the children, their families and the nation at large. The committee said it recognised the serious danger child labour posed to the rights and well-being of the children of Ghana; and its negative consequences on the drive to achieve important national goals in areas such as education, human resource development and poverty reduction.

It noted that child labour was a challenge to Ghana in achieving the Millennium Development Goals, especially Goal 2 on universal primary education and Goal 3 on promoting gender equality and the empowerment of women, as well attaining middle income status by 2015. The committee said over the past decades, a number of interventions had been implemented in the areas of national policy and legal framework, awareness creation and social mobilization, education and skills training, and capacity building. Others of improvement include knowledge-base and direct action to children and parents through the provision of basic education and training materials and empowerment of parents. "Despite the gains in the last few decades, there are still some negative forms of the worst forms of child labour that need extensive and intensive sensitisation, education and advocacy. We pledge to help in this direction.

"Girls especially, still face multiple burden of combining household chores and some form of economic activities with education. This can have negative impact on opportunities for school attendance, retention and achievements, as well as training." The Tripartite Committee re-affirmed its commitment to address the causes of the worst forms of child labour with emphasis on girl- child education; greater attention to the education and skills training needs of adolescent girls; the finalization and implementation of the National Plan of Action for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Ghana; and target measures to protect poor households with children from the effects of the economic crisis and prevent an erosion of gains made in the fight against child labour.

The Committee called on all stakeholders, including: policy makers and implementers; other civil society organizations, including the media; the clergy, research institutions; security agencies, teachers, parents and children, to join hands to halt and reverse the canker. 1