Government urged to enforce child protection laws

Government has been urged to enforce child welfare and social protection laws to effectively protect the rights and welfare of children.

Additionally, state institutions charged with the protection of children’s rights and welfare must be provided with adequate logistics and resources to enable them to discharge their duties efficiently at all levels.

Mr Louis Acheampong, the Executive Director of Social Support Foundation (SSF), a child-centred NGO, who made the call, said it was time government took bold measures to control child labour, especially in the mining communities.

Mr Acheampong was speaking at a stakeholders’ seminar at Obuasi to raise awareness of the growing incidence of child labour in mining communities.

It was organised by SSF, in collaboration with the International Labour Organization (ILO), under the “Caring Gold Mining Project,” being implemented at Adansi North in Ashanti and the Aowin District in the Western Region.

It aimed at raising awareness of issues confronting children engaged in mining activities and develop a plan to provide linkages whiles coordinating support services, that would aid the reduction of the negative impact of mining on children.

Poor parenting and neglect, poverty in mining communities and ignorance among parents, took a centre stage of the discussions, which were said to be factors that pushed children into mining activities.

Mr Acheampong said the stakeholder meeting would help develop an effective plan to manage the identified child labour related issues in the artisanal and small-scale mining operations in the two beneficiary districts.

The participants identified stronger parental care and control as a key solution to child labour, adding that parents played a pivotal role in any intervention to stop the menace.

They also called for the intervention of traditional rulers to curb the problem by introducing by-laws to ensure that all school going children were in school during contact hours.