WORLD DAY AGAINST CHILD LABOUR CELEBRATED AT MANSIN IN THE TANO SOUTH DISTRICT

The Tano South District version of the celebration of the world’s day against Child Labour has been held at Masin a suburb of Bechem, the district capital. The celebration took the form of a rally with school children parading through the Principal streets of the town before the commencement of the programme

In a speech to outline the purpose of the celebration and to throw more light on the form of child labour, the Tano South District Director of the department of Social Welfare, Mr. Abdulai Stephen Dapaah described child labour as a work that is mentally, physically, socially or morally dangerous and harmful to children, thus depriving them of school, by way of obliging to leave school pre-maturely or by requiring them to combine

school with excessive, long and heavy work.

Mr. Owusu Bediako Appah, the Tano South District Director of the Commission on Human Right and Administrative Justice, who spoke on the Rights of children said, children especially in Africa have long and continue to suffer a lot of abuses due to different perceptions. He said there is school of thought which holds that

· “The child must be seen but not to be heard.”

· “The child is seen as a property but not as an individual with rights and responsibilities.”

All these Mr. Appah said stem from the fact that the child must be taken care of.

He cited instances where the right of the child has been abused and said these and many tell the stories of the plight of tens and thousands of children far and near. Mr. Dapaah said a child is a person below 18 years and gave some rights of a child as welfare principle, non-discrimination, parental duty and responsibility, rights to parental property, and right to education.

In protecting children from all forms of abuses, Mr. Dapaah said the District Assembly should protect the welfare of children in the district and also help promote agencies such as DSW, CHRAJ and other partners to investigate issues of children and establish children panels.

Mr. Dapaah described worse form of child labour as all forms of slavery practices such as child trafficking, debt bondage, compulsory labour and recruitment in arm conflict and also gave two forms of worst form of child labour as unconditional and hazardous.

The Tano South District Chief Executive, Hon. Zakari Bukari Anaba in a speech read on his behalf by Mr. N.N.N. Acheampong, the Non Formal Education Director of the Tano South District said, the International Labour Organisatoion [ILO] launched the first world day against child labour in 2002 as a way to highlight the plight of children.

Hon. Zakari said thousands of girls and boys across Ghana are engaged in work that deprive them of adequate education, health, leisure and basic freedom. Of many childrenout of which more than half per cent are exposed to worst form of child labour such as farming, fishing, mining, and illicit activities such as drug trafficking and prostitution and said many of these children work in appalling conditions as most adults do nothing to save or protect these innocent children from danger or harm.

The District Chief Executive said it was beyond his imagination that even in this modern era children are forced to work in deplorable and often dangerous conditions at a time in their lives when they should be in the classrooms and playgrounds and said this act perpetrates a cycle of poverty that parents, families and nations from reaching their full potentials. Hon. Zakari described the children as future leaders as they would take over from the old and wondered if they are subjected to work that deprives them of better education and proper development, and how society can deal with the repercussion in the near future.

He hinted that the Tano South District Assembly is fortunate to be one of the districts in the country that would benefit from the child labour programme that aims at eliminating all forms of child labour in the country by year 2016, but said the task ahead is huge and there the need to work hard towards its achievement.

The DCE said, combating child labour is truly one of the profound moral challenges of our time and how well the society respond to these challenges are telling measures of how much the society really value children and said “let us stand united in opposition to child labour and recommit ourselves to ending it”. Responses were given to questions and contributions that came from the people who attended that function which was chaired by Nana Yaw Barima, a sub chief of Mansin.