Caring Gold Mining Project: Commemorates World Day Against Child Labour (WDACL), 2018 in Ghana

Accra (ILO News): The ILO Caring Gold Mining Project, as part of its support for national advocacy against child labour, provided technical assistance to the National Steering Committee in the planning of WDACL-2018 and participated in the main activities of the WDACL. The 2018 WDACL was celebrated under the theme “Resist Child Labour! Improve the Safety and Health of Young Workers towards achieving SDG 8” through a series of events

As part of the commemoration of the 2018 WDACL, on 5th June, a Media Launch was organized by the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) and its partners in collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA). In his address, the representative of the ILO Caring Gold Mining Project, Emmanuel Kwame Mensah commended Ghana for its consistent effort against child labour, having ratified all the Fundamental Conventions and pursuing the implementation of National Plan of Action to deal with the menace. He bemoaned the tragedy of child labour and charged all partners to work assiduously to make Ghana a leader in the fight against child labour in Africa. The Trade Union Congress (TUC-Ghana) and the Ghana Employers Association (GEA) also called for the elimination of child labour and the formalization of the economy to promote decent work for all. The President of the Ghana Journalists Association, Dr. Affail Monney during the welcome address, emphasized the need for journalists to give consistent coverage on child labour issues in order to advocate for its elimination in the Country

On 6th June, a “Sustainability Dialogue” was organized by the Child Labour Unit (CLU) of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) to create a platform to enhance efforts to sustain child labour interventions in Ghana, under the National Plan of Action. The Dialogue explored how to reinforce, among others, interventions in education and livelihood. The ILO representative, who made an address at the occasion, Emmanuel Kwame Mensah emphasized the need to review and consolidate the operations of the Ghana Child Labour Monitoring System (GCLMS) to ensure a cost-effective mechanism that addresses child labour anywhere in the country.

The commemoration series for the WDACL 2018 in Ghana concluded with a National Durbar in Cape-Coast on 12 June 2018 with technical support from the ILO. In his key note address, the Minister of Employment and Labour Relations (MELR) reaffirmed Ghana’s commitment to eliminate child labour, noting that the country had a clear direction to implement the National Plan of Action against Child Labour 2017-2021 (NPA2) which was launched in May 2018. He called upon parents, teachers, community leaders, traditional authority, workers and employers in both formal and informal sectors, to play their respective roles in ensuring that child labour is uprooted from Ghana. He encouraged children to take their education seriously and motivated them to participate in anti-child labour advocacy. The Ministry called for more collaboration between government and non-government organization in the fight against child labour.