The launch has taken place in Accra of a project known as “Accelerating Together Action Against Child Labour in Ghana”. The International Labour Organization (ILO), the government of Ghana and partners are strategising to reduce or prevent child labour through multi-stakeholder and multi-sectoral initiatives.
The project’s centre of activity is to strengthen existing systems in Ghana to address the root causes of child labour by promoting access to social protection, improving occupational safety and health, and enhancing the livelihoods of workers in lower tiers of supply chains.
In Ghana, nearly 28% of children aged between 5 and 17 years are engaged in child labour, with around 21% in hazardous working conditions. Statistics from the Ghana Living Standards Survey (2017) show that most working children were engaged in the agriculture, forestry and fishing sectors (78%).
Evidence shows that child labour is practiced in urban and rural areas, mainly among the poorest and those not in school. With financial support from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, the ILO has been implementing the
Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour Africa Project. The goal is accelerate the elimination of child labour in Africa through targeted actions in selected supply chains. The intervention in Ghana will focus on cocoa production and gold mining with direct interventions in three districts which include Wassa Amenfi East, Juaboso and Bia East.
The Minister for Employment and Labour Relations, Mr. Ignatius Baffour Awuah, says the New Ghana Accelerated Action Plan against Child Labour demonstrates the commitment and responsibility of the Government of Ghana to protect and advance the rights of every child.
The ILO, UNICEF, JAICA and the World Bank have affirmed their commitment to assist in tackling child labour, advancing towards achieving Target 8.7 of the SDGs to eliminate child labour in Ghana.
Ghana and Kenya have been added as new beneficiary countries of the Accelerating Action for the Elimination of Child Labour Africa project to advance further the objective of eliminating child labour in supply chains in Africa. By 2027, the project is expected to effectively put an end to child labour in Ghana.
