ILO Deepens Collaboration to Address Child Labour In Cocoa And Gold Mining Supply Chains In Ghana

The ILO, Ghana TUC, and its affiliates are collaborating to accelerate Ghana’s effort to end child labour and forced labour in cocoa and gold mining supply chains and promote decent work in the sector. The ILO provided technical and financial support with funding from the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and in partnership with the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations through Phase II of the ACCEL Africa Project. To this end, a three-day strategic planning meeting took place from the 14th to 16th August 2024 at RAYBOW Hotel, Takoradi, Ghana.

The three (3) days strategic planning meeting which was facilitated by Bismark Quartey, the National Project Coordinator of ACCEL Africa, Ghana and Inviolata Chinyangarara, ACTRAV Specialist provided the TUC and its affiliates the opportunity to understand the overall project design as well as to validate the worker’s component of the ACCEL Africa project following the National Stakeholder validation of the project workplan in May 2024. The meeting also assessed the strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOT) of the workers’ unions, as well as ACCEL Africa Gender Policy.

The meeting was not just about understanding the project, but also about taking proactive steps towards its implementation. It provided the workers organization with the opportunity to draft its work plan and map out stakeholders for effective partnership and successful implementation of activities in 20 project communities across Western and Western North Regions of Ghana, empowering them to take charge of their role in the project.

Participants took part in several exercises and discussed innovations aimed at improving workers’ approach to organizing and providing services for new members of the union. The meeting gave the TUC and its affiliates much insight into the ACCEL Africa Project and how they can help achieve project goals relating to workers unions. According to TUC Industrial Relation officer, “…The ACCEL Africa project will provide us an opportunity to co-create activities with other workers unions in other ACCEL Africa project countries participating in this project and learn while sharing as well.”

The participants indicated that the ACCEL Africa project provides an opportunity for the TUC and its affiliates to increase membership in new areas, as well as promote decent work for workers in the informal sector of cocoa and mining. The TUC and its affiliates GAWU and GMWU indicated their willingness to support the ACCEL project to promote social justice and decent work by implementing through innovation. The workers union were reminded on the collective plea to end child labour and forced labour, as a respond to the Durban Call of Action.

Representatives of the trade union congress and its affiliates in the two (2) project regions (Western and Western North) and officials from the head office in Accra attended the planning meeting.