The Department held a one day Community Education engagement and sensitization on Child Labour at Apemanem Kokoben on Monday, 11th April, 2022.The purpose of the programme was to engage and sensitize the residents of Apemanem Kokoben and the general public on the dangers associated with Child Labour. The sensitization also aims at increasing preventive efforts in combating child exploitation. It also seeks to bring all stakeholders in the District together to understand the issues of child labour to improve the living conditions of children.A total number of seventy- two (72) community members attended the programme of which seventeen (17) were males and fifty-five (55) were females.
Below is the breakdown.
| S/N | NUMBER OF MALES | NUMBER OF FEMALES | TOTAL |
| 1 | 17 | 55 | 72 |
For Child Labour to reduce to the barest minimum, sensitization Programmes need to be organized to educate the people and also understand the situation as it is. It was said issues of children working especially on farms among others, has raised many questions and requires a lot of attention. The department lamented that children are very vulnerable and need to be protected from all forms of harm whether physical, emotional, and psychological and any other forms that obstruct the child’s education and upbringing.It was however stated emphatically that child work conforms to normal training and upbringing where children help out in all and even support the livelihoods of their parents / guardians, however if the work becomes harmful and dangerous and it is not age appropriate it becomes child labour. It becomes more serious when someone deceives a parent / guardian, use false promises to move these children just for the purpose of exploiting them into labour.Children should not and are not a source for cheap labour. They must be in school, hence it is against the law for anyone to facilitate in any way and this includes the role of drivers, family members, friends play in transporting these children from source communities to destination areas to be exploited for Labour work.Child Labour’ does not encompass all economic activity undertaken by children. Rather, it refers to employment or work carried out by children that does not conform to the provisions of national legislation, such as the children’s act, 1998(act 560), nor provisions of international instruments.It was highlighted that over 60% of children not attending school are engaged in Child Labour, (35.4%) or its worst forms / hazardous work (28.3%) keeping children in school for quality education is an effective antidote to Child Labour. Many children are combining working with school attendance. Many working children engaged in child labour and other forms of hazardous work are often exposed to various forms of abuses at the workplace. The Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) report that about nine in every ten children (9%) who suffered forms of abuse were involved in Child Labour while 87.4% of such children were engaged in hazardous forms of Child Labour.Child Labour courses poverty, lowers education outcomes and it has an effect on the health and safety of children. Many boys and girls in illegitimate work do not attend school. More than 60% of children who are attending school are engaged in Child Labour or its worst forms. In some sectors such as artisanal Small-Scale Gold Mining (ASGM), where Child Labourers make relative high incomes, the desire of children and families to make quick money obscures their appreciation of the long term benefits of education. As a result of today’s child Labourers become tomorrow’s poor adults, with families they cannot cater for such families engage their children in labour as a coping mechanism, thus perpetuating the poverty cycle. Communities consisting of such families are deprived and trapped in perpetual poverty.The department concluded that, the 1992 constitution states that every child has the right to be protected from engaging in work that constitutes a threat to his health, education or development”, child labour is a breach of the fundamental human rights of the child. The clear delineates of child labour from other activities of children, leaves no room for misconstruing it as acceptable.Child labour is wrong because it;
- Is illegal and contravenes the law
- Affects health
- Infringes on the rights of the child
- May result in dropping out of school
- May lead to sexual abuse and exploitation
- It undermines all the fundamental principles of rights of work and the sustainable development
Below are some pictures during the sensitization programme. SOURCE:DEBORAH NSIAH UNIT HEAD SOCIAL WELFARE & COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
