W/R Communities to eliminate Child labour

Forty one (41) communities in the Wassa East District in the Western Region have made by-laws in their various communities to eliminate Child Labour.

The by-laws stipulate that, children under the age of eighteen should not be engaged in activities that would impact negatively on their education, health and deprive them of proper childhood development.

Activities such as small-scale mining, popularly known as “galamsey”, carrying of logs, working in stone quarry sites and exposure to chemicals used in spraying cocoa farms were regarded as dangerous to the child’s development.

Those who engage their children in such activities would be sanctioned by paying a fine depending on each community.

This was made known at a district exhibition held on Friday, at Daboase, organised by the Help Advance Community Opportunity Goal (HACOG), a non-governmental organisation, based in the district.

The NGO’s operations in the district are aimed at sustaining labour standards of inhabitants and eliminating child labour in cocoa growing areas.

The exhibition was to showcase an action plan developed by the various communities to eliminate child labour, worst forms of child labour and improve quality education in the district.

Mr. Charles Okoampong, Project Coordinator of the NGO, revealed that the by-laws were made by members of the Community Child Protection Committee (CCPC), comprising key stakeholders in the district.

He noted that the programme was to enable the communities to assess their achievements and failures, and make provisions for improvement.

Mr. Daniel Asamoah, Civic Education Officer of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), stated that his outfit had conducted monitoring exercises across the district to assess the impact of HACOG in the communities.

He observed that the percentage of children’s enrolments at the basic education level had increased with improvement in academic performance of pupils, due to the activities of the NGO in the area.

Mr. Asamoah added that there had been a reduction in Child Labour issues in the district since 2002, especially on cocoa farms and “galamsey” sites.