Ghana has begun rolling out a new digital system to help government agencies and other stakeholders identify, document and follow up on cases of child labour.

The Ghana Child Labour Monitoring System (GCLMS) is expected to strengthen the monitoring and referral of child labour cases, particularly in sectors such as agriculture, artisanal and small-scale mining, domestic work and other areas of the informal economy where children may be exposed to hazardous or exploitative work.

The system has been designed to work with other child protection systems in Ghana to improve the referral of cases and coordination among agencies responsible for child protection.

From September 15 to 18, 2026, the International Labour Organisation (ILO), through its ACCEL Africa Project, in partnership with the Child Labour Unit of the Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment, trained selected regional and district stakeholders in the ACCEL Africa project areas on the use of the new system.

The four-day training was aimed at equipping officials involved in child labour identification, monitoring, referral and case management with the skills needed to use the system.

Speaking during the training, Bismark Quartey, National Project Coordinator of the ILO’s ACCEL Africa Project in Ghana, stressed the importance of reliable data in addressing child labour.

“Reliable and timely data is fundamental to effective action against child labour. The new GCLMS provides stakeholders with a common mechanism to document cases, understand their characteristics and underlying causes, initiate appropriate interventions and follow up on children and families receiving support,” he said.

The GCLMS was developed with funding from the ILO through the ACCEL Africa Project and other development partners, in collaboration with the Government of Ghana through the Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment.

It provides a common system for collecting, managing, analysing and reporting information on child labour cases.

Regional and district officers are expected to use the system to maintain case records and track cases from identification through referral and follow-up.

During the training, participants took part in practical exercises on registering and documenting cases, updating information, managing data, generating reports and monitoring follow-up actions.

Frederick Osei Agyemang, a participant from the Social Welfare Department in Bibiani, said the training had improved his understanding of how to use the system.

“The training has strengthened my understanding of how to use the GCLMS to document cases from identification through referral and follow-up. It will help us at the district level to improve the quality of information we collect and ensure that identified cases receive appropriate support,” he said.

The system’s interoperability with other child labour monitoring and child protection systems is also expected to improve information sharing and coordination among relevant agencies.

The rollout is expected to help authorities make more timely decisions based on data and track whether interventions are reaching children and families in need of support.

The initiative forms part of broader efforts to strengthen Ghana’s systems for preventing and eliminating child labour and protecting children from work that could threaten their safety, development and wellbeing.