GJA joins ILO to fight child labour

Accra, Nov. 14, GNA - The Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) is collaborating with partners to undertake a project aimed at strongly integrating the media in the fight against child labour.

The project dubbed; "Social Mobilisation Partners Against the Worse Form of Child Labour ", (SOMOPAC) is funded by the International Labour Organisation (ILO).

It would provide GJA the opportunity to develop interest of journalists who wish to specialize in child labour and provide a platform to access and evaluate information for public awareness. The project would collaborate with the Ghana Employers Association, Faith based organisations, the Trade Union Congress and other non-governmental organisations to create awareness about the negative impact of child labour on the development of children.

Speaking at the launch of the project in Accra, Mr Affail Monney, Vice President of the GJA, said the role of journalists in fighting societal problems was crucial, saying, "no meaningful change can take place in a society without both their cooperation and critique". " This association see as a social responsibility", he said, and that the media could not perform its role efficiently unless it was well acquainted with the problem and armed with required information to inform and educate society. He noted that the collaboration between the GJA and the ILO would strengthen the relationship between the media and civil society to fight for policies and programmes that would enforce child rights and child development.

Mr. Monney stated that child labour was no longer a social issue, because its effects on the economic, legal and the political system were enormous.

He therefore urged all partners to commit themselves to the project to curb the menace.

Mrs. Akosua Frema Osei-Opare, Deputy Minister of Manpower, Youth and employment mentioned the introduction of the Capitation Grant, School Feeding Programme, and the free bus ride for pupils in the metro mass transport system as some government interventions to encourage parents to enroll their children in school instead of engaging them in hazardous work.

She said the Ministry had also embarked on an exercise to clearly define child labour taking into consideration the medical, legal and cultural context to eliminate the menace while preserving tradition and culture as well. Mrs. Osei-Opare called on the media to carefully crosscheck reportage in order to avoid over sensationalism and mount a public service crusade to tackle the issue.

" We need to make a conscious effort to highlight the situation as it is and promote better appreciation of the problem as a major step to eliminate the practice", the Deputy Minister added.

Mr. Emmanuel Kwame Mensah, ILO Project Officer, said although there had been strong advocacy by non-governmental and faith based Organisations, as well as civil society, the impact on community mobilization was minimal. Mr. Mensah said, this therefore called for a strong networking approach among all partners to achieve a cost effective impact through societal mobilization, hence the project. Mr. Dave Agbenu, Organising Secretary of the GJA said a training programme for the journalists and other interested groups would soon take off. He said the secretariat, which was currently housed at the Ghana International Press Centre was linking with the partners in its efforts to increase awareness and advocacy. 14 Nov. 07