Employment Ministry organizes quiz to mark World Day against Child Labour

The 2019 edition of the World Day against Child Labour (WDACL) has been marked with a quiz competition which was organized by the Employment and Labour Relations and Education Ministries with funding from the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI).

The purpose of the contest was to raise awareness about child labour in Ghana and increase the understanding of the participating schools and others present on child labour issues in Ghana and the available strategies being implemented to eliminate them.

The schools were selected from cocoa growing areas within the Sekyere East District of the Ashanti Region.

The Ntunkumso, Senchi, Nkwakwanua and the Ahensan Junior High Schools participated in the contest which focused on issues relating to child labour and what could be done to end the menace.

The Ntunkumso Junior High School emerged winners at the end of the contest with 61 points with the Nkwakwanua Junior High School coming second with 53 points.

The contestants from the winning school want more to be done to eliminate child labour in Ghana.

The winning and participating schools, as well as the contestants, were given prizes during a durbar to climax the day.

The World Day Against Child Labour, which is observed on June 12 every year, is intended to serve as a catalyst for the growing worldwide movement against child labour.

The day provides an opportunity to gain awareness and action to tackle Child Labour and also address the root causes of the menace Government and other Civil Society Organization are fighting against.

The theme for this year’s celebration in Ghana is “Consolidating efforts: Children must work on dreams, not in the field!”

This year World Day against Child Labour marks 100 years of International Labour Organization ‘s commitment to advancing Social justice and promoting decent work, as well as 20 years since the adoption of the ILO’s Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182).

In Ghana, over one million children are negatively affected by the exploitation of child labour and this generally affects national development.

Speaking to Citi News, Assistant Chief Labour Officer at the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Elizabeth Akanbonbire said key Government agencies and civil society organizations are committed and will continuously work together to fight against child labour in Ghana.

She revealed that in 2018, thirteen prosecutions were made while fourteen persons fined for 120 penalty points for engaging in child labour.

She said the prosecutions were done in the cocoa, fishing and child trafficking sectors after it was realized that the culprits were engaging in worse forms of child labour.

She said the Ministry has developed an action plan under which 36 institutions have been assigned roles and responsibilities that they will play to eliminate child labour in Ghana.

ICI’s intervention against Child Labour

The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), which partnered in organizing this year’s event and has provided financial support to the Ministry, said its target for 2020 is to reach not less than 375,000 children both in Ghana and Ivory Coast who are into child labour.

The organization said it has so far reached over 280,000 children and out of this number, 20,000 of the children have been redeemed from child labour related activities and have been sent back to school.

Project Manager for ICI Ghana, Andrews Asamoah indicated that the organization’s core mandate is to help children to work on their dreams and will continue to ensure these children are sent back to the classroom rather than staying and working in the field as child labourers.

He said over 10,000 children have also been rescued from the field and sent back to the classrooms to continue with their schooling in Ghana alone. According to him, the children who were beyond school going age are being enrolled in vocational and skills training programs to learn some skills.

Mr Asamoah called on parents and the general Ghanaian populace to support in the fight against child labour.

Source: citifmonline.com