ERNEST ADU YIRENKYI

COURSE: UWRT 1101

INSTRUCTOR: RHODA LUKENS
DATE: 4TH NOVEMBER,2014
TOWARD CHILD LABOUR ELIMINATION: HAVE GHANAIAN LEADERS AND
ORGANISATIONS DONE ENOUGH?
Child labor is a pervasive issue that has attracted much attention from people all across the
world. Although child labor is an old problem, international campaigns against it have intensified
in recent times. Worst forms of child labor have been reportedly linked to developing countries.
Evidence from Ethiopia, Zimbabwe, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan, and Somalia
corroborate these reports (Luke, 2012).
Ghana is among top countries struggling with child labor issues. In Ghana, children have been
reportedly used in mining, domestic activities, road and building construction, sexual
exploitation as well as in agricultural enterprises. Children have also been engaged in various
forms of servitude in forced labor and debt bondage, child soldiers in other parts of the world.
Cocoa from Ghanaian farmers was blacklisted from entering the European market due to the
utilization of child labor on cocoa farms from 2004-2007 (Philip, 2012). Over the past ten years,
various legislations have been developed as well as national policy aimed at fighting child
problem. Despite these initiatives by government, child labor still remains a problem in the
country. This research deals with factors that are responsible for the non-eradication of child
labor in Ghana and looks at government efforts at addressing the problem.

The objectives of this research are to provide country-specific information on the extents
and developments of child labor in Ghana. It examines the causes of this problem; explores
national and international legal obligations affecting (working) children, and how these have led
to the protection of the rights of children or otherwise; assess the role of government,
international and national NGOs in upholding these rights. Findings and recommendations from
this research will benefit students, child labor organizations worldwide and teachers. It will also
contribute to the body of knowledge and trigger further research into the subject matter.
The International Labor Organization (ILO) cited in Chiketo (2012) defined child labor as
work that deprives children of their childhood, their potential and their dignity, and that is
harmful to physical and mental development. 218 million children between 5-17 years are
involved in child labor worldwide in 2013(ILO, 2013). UNICEF estimates that around 150
million children aged 5-14 in developing countries are involved in child labor, representing 15
percent of all children in this age group. Sub-Saharan Africa has the largest proportion of child
laborers (27% of children aged 5-14 years). Children in Ghana are engaged in the worst forms of
child labor in agriculture, in cocoa farming and fishing (UNICEF, 2013). A research conducted
by Tulane University in the Ghanaian cocoa sector during the 2008-2009 harvest season, shows
that 997,357 children aged 5-17 were projected to be working. Fifty-four percent of this
estimated number were also estimated to be reporting injuries from dangerous activities.
Child labor is a complex issue and various factors dictate whether children work or not. There
is a widespread agreement that poverty is the major cause of child labor ( Basu and Van 1998).
Bradshaw (2007), states that poverty is the lack of necessities such as food, shelter, medical care
and safety. Other factors are:

Access to education In situations where education is not affordable or parents see no value in
education, children are sent to work, rather than to school. Culture and tradition with few
opportunities open to children with more education, parents are likely to share a cultural norm in
which labor is seen as the most productive use of a childs time. Children are often expected to
follow in their parents footsteps and are frequently summoned to help other members of the
family, often at a young age. Demand for child labor Employers may prefer to hire children
because they are cheaper than their adult counterparts, can be dispensed of easily if labor
demands fluctuate and also form a docile, obedient work-force that will not seek to organize
itself for protection and support. Inadequate/poor enforcement of legislation and policies to
protect children child labor persists when national laws and policies to protect children are
lacking or are not effectively implemented (Addo, 2010; Basu and Van 1998).
Ghana is a member of the United Nations and UNICEF. It has accordingly ratified all the
UN conventions on child labor Elimination (ILO, NORMPLEX, 2014) and has been making
efforts to fulfill this mandate.
Making of national laws in line with the UN conventions, setting up of the Gender, Children and
Women Protection Ministry have been some government approaches in dealing with child labor
issues. The Ministry since its inception in 2001 has collaborated with NGOs to rescue children
from hazardous labor, domestic violence etc to the admiration of most Ghanaians. NGOs like
Child Rights International Ghana have also done a lot in their quest to reduce child labor. They
have used seminars, workshops, formation of anti-child labor clubs in second-cycle schools and
direct frontline rescuing efforts to fulfill their objectives. NGOs and government agencies have
also partnered to chalk some successes on this path to reduce child labor in the country.

The ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and
ILO Convention 182 by Ghana all corroborate the countrys commitment to stop child labor.
ILO unanimously adopted the convention concerning the prohibition and immediate Action for
the Elimination of the worst forms of child labor convention (No. 182). It called for state to
prevent the most damaging child exploitation practices or the worst forms that currently exist.
Also, the enactment of the Childrens Act 1998(Act 560) and the 1992 constitution of Ghana are
some legal instruments that is in place to protect children. Formation of the National Programme
for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in Cocoa (NPECLC) to meet the Harkin
Engel Protocol, Cadbury Cocoa Partnership, and the development of Hazardous Child Labor
Activity Framework (HAF) are some actions the government has instituted to check the
incidence of child labor. The Ghana Child Labor Monitoring System (GCLMS) is also another
measure by government. GCLMS exists to obtain comprehensive information on all children in
or at work and those in worst forms of child labor and also supporting national efforts to meet its
obligations under the ILO convention 182. GCLMS covers areas such as child trafficking,
mining and quarrying, commercial sexual exploitation of children, child domestic servitude and
agriculture.
Furthermore, the government has established measures to coordinate its efforts to address
child labor, including its worst forms by forming National Steering Committee on Child Labor
(NSCCL) to oversee coordination, implementation, and monitoring of National Plan of Action
for Elimination of worst forms of child labor 2009-2015; National Partners Forum (NPF) to
discuss interventions to address worst forms of child labor in cocoa sector and the Human
Trafficking Management Board(HTMB) to advise the Minister of Gender, Children and Social
Protection on trafficking policy and promote prevention and rehabilitation strategies.

According to the ILO, national approach to address issues on child labor should, at least,
capture the following five elements: national plan of action, research, awareness creation,
institutional capacity building and broad social alliance. From the information given in this
paper, Ghana has done well in four of the indicators in the fight against child labor elimination.
However, in the area of research, academic and other civil society organizations have not really
done much to determine the periodic state of child labor. Most of the research have been
conducted by international organizations and foreign governments or agencies such as United
States Agency for International Development (USAID).

In 2013, Ghana made moderate

advancement in addressing worst forms of child labor through various schemes (Government of
Ghana, 2014). Ghanas child labor elimination strategies were the first in West Africa to be peer
reviewed and applauded by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS, 2014).
Ghanas efforts towards fighting child labor has yielded good results and tremendous
commendations from various regional and world bodies. Although successive governments have
done their parts in addressing the problem, there is still much that must be done.
Decentralization of government efforts throughout all the 170 districts of the nation,
intensifying child labor education, improving logistical support to the District level offices of
Gender and Child Protection Ministry, could all bolster the progress towards reducing child labor
within the medium term. With limited resources and the myriad of problems the government has
to solve, international allies of the child labor elimination campaign must commit resources and
expertise to assist the government of Ghana and Non-governmental organizations to enhance
their activities in this regard. A plethora of evidence exists, that with structured support, the
battle can be won completely. There is also need for broad social alliance on the part of

government to ensure that its functions are not only limited to policy and law formulation, but
rather moving to enforcement of those laws.
Child labor in Ghana is a threat to child freedom anywhere in the world and privileged
countries and bodies should partner with developing ones like Ghana to win the fight against the
problem.
REFERENCES

United Nations (2012). The Millennium Development Goals Report 2012. New York: United
Nations
Tulane University (2014). Child Labor in West Africa Cocoa Growing Areas. Project Status
Report. New Orleans
Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations (2014). Self-Assessment of the Child Labor Unit of
Interventions in Ghana to Eliminate Child Labor. Accra-Ghana
Economic community of West African states (2014). ECOWAS Peer Review of Child Labor
Elimination Activities in Ghana. Abuja, Nigeria
Government of Ghana (2012). Submission to Child Labor Cocoa Coordinating Group Annual
Report 2012. Accra, Ghana.
Government of Ghana (2011). Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare. Ghana Child Labor
Monitoring System Validation Report from Workshop of August 23-25, 2011. Accra,
Ghana

Government of Ghana (2014). Final Submission to Child Labor Cocoa Coordinating Group
Annual Report 2013. Kumasi-Ghana.
Basu, Kaushik, and Pham Hoang Van (1998). The Economics of Child Labor. American
Economic Review, 88(3), 412-27.
United States Department of Labor. Ghana: 2013 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor.
Moderate Advancement. From http://www.dol.gov/ilab/reports/child-labor/ghana.htm .
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Chiketo B (2012). A Study On the Earn and Learn Schools in Zimbabwe, Chipinge. From
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Government of Ghana (2009). Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection. Accessed
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http://npeclc.gov.gh/Downloads/GCLMS%20Data%20Collectors%20Training%20Repor
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