The Chief Director of the Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Mr. Kizito Ballans, has challenged journalists to make issues of child labour and forced labour a major priority.
According to him, the country risks losing its major export product (cocoa) due to misconceptions and misreporting of child labour issues in major cocoa-growing towns in Ghana.
Speaking at a day-long training workshop organised by the Ministry for members of the Social Mobilisation Partners Against Child Labour (SOMOPAC) in Accra, Mr. Ballans said the ministry is worried about the exaggeration of reporting of child labour issues without recourse to the cultural context.
“So the idea is that with your help, we will be able to educate people to understand yes there may be some amount of child labour but not every single thing that the child does constitutes Child Labour,“ he stated
He said it is our prayer and hope that you will help us educate people to understand and together “we can fight and protect our country from misconceptions.”
SOMOPAC is a body of trained journalists on the country’s Child Labour and Forced Labour issues.
Speaking on the Concept of Child Labour, a representative from the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Mawuli Avutor, said Child Labour has become a major issue around the country and it is time journalists and media houses make a conscious effort of speaking and reporting about it.
Explaining Child Labour, Mr Avutor said is a type of work that affects the child development, denies them from access to education, puts them at risk and affects their health and general well-being.
He averred that the President of Ghana, Nana Akufo-Addo has on many occasions described the menace as a threat to national security which needs collective effort to address.
On her part, the Head of the Child Labour Unit at the Department of Labour, Mrs. Esther Ofori Agyemang also charged journalists and members of SOMOPAC to be advocates of Child Labour and Forced Labour issues in the country.
According to her Ghana technically has only a year to meet the target of the Sustainable Development Goal of eliminating Child Labour by the end of 2025.
Mrs Agyemang tasked journalists to make the Ghana Acceleration Action Plan Against Child Labour their Bible and propagate the plan to all Ghanaians.
She said the National Action Plan (NPA) for the elimination of Child Labour is the latest addition to ensure that all district, municipal and metropolitan assemblies across the country make a conscious effort to develop a reporting mechanism to track child and forced Labour issues in the country.
We are counting on you to help the Ministry spread the news because the Ministry and Ministry is keen on ensuring that the country meets the target of ending Child and Forced Labour by 2025,” she stated.
The Deputy General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union and Convener of SOMOPAC, Mr Andrews Tagoe said with the impacts of SOMOPAC in many communities in the country, its advocacy will help realise the national vision.
He called on the members to ensure issues of child and forced labour become a major focus.
SOMOPAC which was established in 2007, for the past 16 years has worked to unite families and rescue children from the Volta Lake and other communities across Ghana hitherto were involved in Child Labour.