The Acting Chief Labour Officer at the Labour Department of the Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment, Danuda Ibrahim Braimah, has emphasised the need to protect children and vulnerable members of society against exploitation and other dangers that can affect the future of children.
Mr Braimah, who was addressing this year’s World Day Against Child Labour in Bibiani in the Western North Region, described child labour as the participation of children in economic and non-economic activities that affected their education, health and physical development and called on residents of the areas where the practice was prevalent, to provide information on parents who engaged children in the act for the necessary action to be taken.
Some of the activities, Mr Braimah cautioned parents not to engage their children included mining, agriculture, fishing and domestic work.
The event was on the theme: “Progress is clear, but there is more to do, let's speed up."
Social protection
Mr Ibrahim said the government had initiated significant social protection programmes aimed at addressing the root causes of child labour and also provided support for the affected children and families.
He mentioned, for instance, the introduction of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, Livelihood Employment Against Poverty (LEAP), and the Ghana School Feeding Programme as some of the interventions to provide essential support for vulnerable families to meet their basic needs without resorting to child labour as a means of survival.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Western North Regional Minister, Petty Wilbert Bentum, expressed his commitment to the fight against child labour in the cocoa growing and mining areas, in particular, and also within the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai municipality.
Commendation
Mr Bentum also commended the development partners, including local and international NGOs, agencies of the United Nations, community-based organisations, and the private sector contributors, for their unwavering support to reduce the menace.
He pledged to promote multi-stakeholder collaboration to ensure district assemblies, traditional authorities, community leaders, and NGOs work effectively with enforcement agencies and relevant stakeholders to strengthen their capacity to prevent, identify and respond to child labour cases within the region.
The Chief of Sefwi Ntakam and Akonmahene of Sefwi Traditional Area, Nana Kojo Somiah ll, who chaired the function, thanked the organisers for hosting this year’s National World Day Against Child Labour in Bibiani and urged traditional authorities and community leaders to join hands in the fight against child labour in their respective communities.