National Plan of Action against worst forms of child labour launched

Accra, June 13, GNA - The National Plan of Action (NPA) for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL) in Ghana and the ILO Convention on minimum age of employment was launched in Accra on Monday with a call on implementing agencies to come on board to make it a success.

Professor Kofi Awoonor, Chairman of the Council of State, said the implementation of the NPA demanded coordinated efforts from the Ministries of Employment and Social Welfare and Women and Children's Affairs and the security agencies.

He commended both social and development partners for supporting the project and expressed the hope that the implementation of the document would help to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in Ghana by 2015.

The launch was to commemorate this year's World Day against Child Labour, which fell on Sunday.

The International Labour Organization (ILO) has set aside June 12 every year to celebrate the day, which is aimed at providing an opportunity to gain further support of governments and the ILO social partners (employers' and workers' organizations), civil society and others, including schools, youth and women's groups as well as the media, in the campaign against child labour.

This year's event was under the theme, 93Warning! Children in Hazardous Work: End Child Labour."

It was expected to renew national action against child labour, especially its worst forms and effective social mobilization for attitudinal change for the elimination of child labour and WFCL.

The main objective of the NPA is to reduce the worst forms of child labour to the barest minimum by 2015, while laying strong social, policy and institutional foundations for the elimination and prevention of all other forms of child labour in the longer term.

The WFCL prioritized for elimination by 2015 are child trafficking, mining and quarrying, fisheries, ritual servitude, commercial sexual exploitation of children, carrying of heavy loads, child domestic servitude, agriculture and street hawking and begging.

There were solidarity messages from ILO, UNICEF, United States of America, Ghana Employers' Association, organized labour and Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs.