Adiembra (WR),- The Friends of the Nation (FoN), a Socio-environmental advocacy NGO, has engaged the media in the Sekondi-Takoradi Metropolis on Child Work and Labour issues to commemorate World Day Against Child Labour.
The Executive Director for Friends of the Nation (FoN), Mr Donkris Mevuta, addressing Journalists, said this year’s commemoration was an opportunity for the public and stakeholders to understand the differences between Child Labour and Child Work.
It will also focus on actions taken for 2021, which is termed the International Year for the Elimination of Child Labour.
Mr Mevuta explained that children around the world were routinely engaged in paid and unpaid forms of work that were not harmful to them.
‘Child Work’ according to him, was merely the contribution to the Child’s development.
“However, when children are too young to work and are involved in hazardous activities that may compromise their physical, mental, social or educational development, that can be termed as ‘Child Labour’.”
Mr Mevuta mentioned that child development was a dynamic and interactive process being influenced by one’s environment.
Meanwhile, “a child is any person under the age of 18 years and hence anyone below that age bracket being made to work in a hazardous environment and exposed to physical, mental and emotional harm can be characterised as child labour.”
The Executive Director said large family size, illiteracy, poor parenting, weak community leadership, poverty and deprivation among others have enhanced child labour over the years.
He said the COVID-19 did not also spare children in the mining and fishing communities on hard forms of labour.
The Executive Director indicated Ghana in 2019 made a minimal advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour.
“The government is committed to the use of the Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Information System developed by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) to improve case tracking and inter-ministerial coordinated responses.”
He lauded the support of state agencies, Security Agencies, MMDA’s and Bilateral Agencies and Civil Society Donor organizations for their combined efforts in addressing the issues of child labour and combatting Trafficking in persons.
Mr Mevuta emphasized the need to prioritize child rights since “children are humans and not commodities to be traded.”
He appealed for a united front from all stakeholders to improve upon the well-being of children and stressed the need to secure children future.
He called on the Fisheries Commission to urgently implement the anti-CLaT( Anti-Child Labour and Trafficking) in Fisheries Policy Document adopted in 2017 and also urged Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies to incorporate the anti-CLaT issues in their Medium-Term Development Plans(MTDP 2022-2026).
“You must endeavour to resource Child Panels within the assemblies to work effectively and efficiently.”
The Executive Director for FoN also urged the media to help in the fight against Child Labour by educating and informing the public with resourceful news without sensationalism.
The World Day Against Child Labour is marked every June 12.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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