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Technical Cooperation Project Summary

Project Title

Support for the Implementation of Timebound Measures for the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labor in ghana

Region/Country

AFRICA/Ghana

Project Duration

September 30, 2004 – June 30, 2009

Fiscal Year & Funding Level

FY 2004: USD 4,750,000

Problem to be Addressed

Approximately 40 percent of 5 to17 year olds are economically active in Ghana, a large number of whom are engaged in the worst forms of child labor including child domestic work, fishing, head portering (kayaye), commercial sexual exploitation, customary or ritual servitude, mining and quarrying, and commercial agriculture.

Targets

The project targets a total of 10,000 children for withdrawal and prevention from exploitive work through the provision of educational services. The project targets 4,700 children for withdrawal and 5,300 children for prevention, and targets the following sectors: agriculture, fishing, commercial sexual exploitation, domestic work, ritual servitude, head portering (kayaye), and the informal sector. In addition, 3,500 families of targeted children will be provided with assistance for economic empowerment.

Project Objectives

To contribute to the elimination of the worst forms of child labor and the creation of strong institutional and socio-economic bases for dealing effectively with all exploitive child labor in Ghana.

Immediate objectives include:

  • The Government of Ghana, social partners, community organizations, and NGOs will have the mandate and capacity to undertake effective action against the worst forms of child labor with minimal external financial and technical assistance;
  • Improve the enforcement of the legal framework on child labor in Ghana;
  • Ghanaian society will be more aware of child labor and its negative consequences and will increasingly support the fight against it;
  • Enhance and expand apprenticeship and skills-training systems to contribute to the elimination of the worst forms of child labor;
  • Expand the knowledge base for planning, designing, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating child labor interventions in Ghana; and
  • Develop models for intervention for withdrawal, prevention, and rehabilitation of children in the worst forms of child labor in target areas and ensure they areavailable for replication and scaling up.

Summary of Activities
  • Provide technical assistance to the government to fully address child labor issues in the Ghana Poverty Reduction Strategy (GPRS), and to facilitate the leveraging of resources for implementing GPRS strategies against child labor;
  • Establish Child Labor Committees and a Child Labor Monitoring System in target districts;
  • Provide technical and logistical support to the government and its social partners through documentation and training workshops;
  • Provide support to the government to strengthen apprenticeship, skills, and vocational training programs;
  • Review existing child labor related legislation to determine needed instruments and assist in drafting;
  • Translate legal texts into local languages;
  • Conduct initial fact-finding study, including an assessment of public opinion and attitudes;
  • Adapt the SCREAM methodology to the Ghanaian context;
  • Conduct research on child labor, including baseline studies, and disseminate results;
  • Organize stakeholder workshops to develop and agree on strategies and implementation guidelines; and
  • Develop awareness-raising materials adapted to community needs.
  • As of February 28, 2009, 11,079 children have been withdrawn or prevented from exploitive child labor as a result of this project.

Grantee

The International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC)

Implementing partners

Charity Care Foundation; Center for Rural Enterprise Development; Volta Care Organization; Royals Health Organization; Handi-Vangelism Ministries Ghana; Ghana National Commission on Children; Mission of Hope for Society; Center for the Development of People; Pro-Link Organization; AFRIKIDS; Today’s Choices; Skills and Entrepreneurship Development Foundation; Ghana Journalists Association; Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice; Ghana Police Service; Small Business Services Network; Development Fortress Association; Rural Information Network of Ghana; Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child; International Federation of Women Lawyers Ghana; Legal Resources Center; Oktukid Foundation; Missahoe Charity Home; Bureau of Rural and Urban Mobilizers for Development; Parent and Child Foundation; LAWA Ghana Alumnae; Ghana Employers’ Association; Hope for Future Generations; the Ministry of Manpower, Youth, and Employment; and the following District/Municipal Assemblies: Awutu-Efutu-Senya, Cape Coast, Ajumako, Twifo Herman Lower-Denkyira, Wassa-West, Jasikan, Kpando, North-Tongu, South-Tongu, Ketu, Kwaebibirem, Obuasi, Kumasi, Techiman, Pru, Tolon-Kumbungu, Talensi Nabdam, Bolgatanga.

Contact Information

Office of Child Labor, Forced Labor and Human Trafficking (OCFT)

(202) 693-4843