Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2022, published 111st ILC session (2023)

Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) - Ghana (Ratification: 2000)

The Committee notes the observations of the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) received on 1 September 2022, as well as the Government’s report. It notes that the ILO Technical Advisory Mission (TAM), requested by the Committee in its previous comments, took place in April 2022.

Article 3 of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour. Clause (a). All forms of slavery and practices similar to slavery. Sale and trafficking of children. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the ITUC’s observation that Ghana continues to be a source, transit and destination country for trafficking of persons, in particular the trafficking of boys and girls for labour and sexual exploitation, and that children are trafficked for exploitation in domestic servitude, the cocoa industry and exploited in harmful practices such as the trokosi system of servitude and debt bondage. The ITUC observes that the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions for cases of trafficking are insufficient in comparison to the scale and persistence of the worst forms of child labour in the country. The Committee further notes that, according to the report of the ILO TAM, the Worker representatives of the General Agricultural Workers Union indicated that one of its key conclusions of a mapping that was undertaken on issues of forced labour and trafficking was the low level of prosecutions in comparison with the number of arrests. Several representatives of the Government, Workers and Employers indicated that this was partly due to the inability to obtain sufficient evidence, but also to the level of capacity of law enforcement officials to address the issue of trafficking even when it is brought to their attention.

The Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, that from October 2021 to July 2022, 22 prosecutions were initiated and a total of 10 convictions involving 16 offenders were handed down. The Government provides information on the penalties applied, including several prison sentences, hard labour, and fines. While taking due note of this information, the Committee observes that the numbers appear to remain low in light of the prevalence of the issue.

In this regard, the Committee takes note of the Government’s information regarding the multiple measures taken to strengthen the capacity of the law enforcement officials, including the Ghana Police Service, the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit (AHTU), the Anti-Human Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons Unit of the Ghana Immigration Service (AHSTIPU), and prosecutors and judges. In addition, the Ghana Police Service has put in place several measures to further intensify its efforts in the fight against trafficking in persons, including the training of border officers on the identification of victims of trafficking; the establishment of anti-trafficking desk offices at the regional and district offices to assist in identifying child labour and child trafficking cases; and the confiscation of the properties of perpetrators and their prosecution in civil proceedings, alongside criminal proceedings. Furthermore, the Committee notes that one of the four main axes of the new National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Trafficking in Ghana (NPA) 2022–26, is to improve the effectiveness of prosecution efforts for trafficking/strengthen the legal and regulatory framework to combat trafficking, and that many actions are planned in this regard. The Committee therefore strongly encourages the Government to pursue its efforts to strengthen the capacity of the law enforcement officials, including in the framework of the NPA 2022–26, so as to ensure that thorough investigations and prosecutions of persons who engage in the sale and trafficking of children are carried out and that sufficiently effective and dissuasive penalties are imposed in practice. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this regard as well as specific information on the number of prosecutions, convictions and specific penalties applied on persons found guilty of trafficking children under 18 years of age.

Clause (d) and Article 7(2)(a) and (b). Hazardous work in cocoa farming and preventing children from being engaged in and removing them from such hazardous work. Following its previous comments, the Committee takes note of the ITUC’s observations that an estimated 10 per cent of children working on cocoa farms are engaged in hazardous activities and that the incidence of child employment in cocoa appears to be rising faster than elsewhere. Over 200,000 children in the principal cocoa-growing regions are exposed to hazardous work and suffering serious injuries. Considering the importance of the cocoa industry in Ghana (about 40 per cent of Ghana’s total earnings), child labour in its worst forms in Ghana also has implications for Ghana’s cocoa supply chains in the global economy.

The Committee notes that, according to both the report of the ILO TAM and the Government’s report, various measures were taken to prevent children under 18 years of age from engaging in hazardous work in the cocoa sector. In particular, the Committee notes: (i) the continuous sensitization of community members, including farmers and the general public, on child labour and its consequences; (ii) the implementation of several measures aiming to strengthen local level structures to support the elimination of child labour in the cocoa sector, through capacity-building of stakeholders including Community Child Protection Committees (CCPCs); and (iii) the public–private partnership for the elimination of child labour in cocoa growing areas called “Children first in cocoa” aiming to improve the lives of children living in the cocoa-growing regions of Ghana by 2025. Furthermore, the Government indicates that, under the Trade for Decent Work Project (T4DW Project) of the European Union, the CCPC members of five cocoa growing communities in the Eastern and Ashanti regions were trained on the basic concepts of child labour and child protection, identification, withdrawal and rehabilitation of victims. The Committee therefore strongly encourages the Government to continue its efforts to prevent children under 18 years of age from being engaged in hazardous types of work in this sector, as well as to remove them and rehabilitate them. It requests the Government to continue to provide information on the measures taken in this regard, as well as on the number of child victims of hazardous types of work who are removed from such work and rehabilitated as a result.

Article 4(1) and (3). Determination and revision of the list of hazardous types of work. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes that the Government representatives indicated, during the ILO TAM, that both the Hazardous Activities Framework for the cocoa sector, developed in 2008, and the General Hazardous Activities Framework, covering 17 other occupations and developed in 2012, have been reviewed, validated, and merged into one Hazardous Activities Framework (HAF). In this regard, the Committee notes both the information contained in the report of the ILO TAM and the Government’s information on the series of steps necessary to ensure the adoption of the HAF into a legislative instrument, including sending it to the Attorney-General for review and instructions, submitting it to the authorities (Cabinet and Parliament) for approval, and converting it into a decree or regulation pursuant to the revised Children’s Act, which is currently before Parliament for adoption. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the HAF is adopted in the near future. It requests the Government to continue providing information on the progress made in this regard and to provide a copy of the HAF, once it has been adopted into law.

Article 7(2). Effective and time-bound measures. Clauses (a) and (b). Preventing the engagement of children in the worst forms of child labour and providing the necessary and appropriate direct assistance for the removal of children from the worst forms of child labour and for their rehabilitation and social integration. 1. Trafficking in the fishing industry and domestic service. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the ITUC’s observation that the Government must ensure that children who are rescued from the worst forms of child labour are rehabilitated and reintegrated into society.

In this regard, the Committee takes note of the information contained in the report of the ILO TAM and of the Government’s information regarding the measures taken to combat child trafficking, including for the purpose of the exploitation of their labour in hazardous work in the fishing industries and in domestic servitude, such as the establishment of one-stop shop centres (shelters) for victims of violence, including domestic violence, where there are a number of in-house professionals to help reintegrate victims. The Government indicates that, in 2021, 660 children (149 girls and 511 boys), were rescued from trafficking, including in fishing-related activities. The child victims were provided a range of support services, which included shelter, food, medical care, psychological support, counselling, legal services, family tracing, COVID testing, and more. The Committee further notes that two of the four main axes of the NPA 2022–26 are to prevent trafficking and protect its victims, through various measures aiming to improve advocacy, develop capacity-building, ensure provision of comprehensive care to victims of trafficking, and enhance family strengthening interventions for rescued victims and their families. The Committee strongly encourages the Government to continue its efforts to prevent children from becoming victims of trafficking and to remove child victims from the worst forms of child labour and ensure their rehabilitation and social integration. It also requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken in this regard and the results achieved in terms of the number of child victims of trafficking, disaggregated by age and gender, who have been removed and rehabilitated.

2. Trokosi system. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the ITUC’s observation that, while the Government announced that the traditional practice of trokosi was proscribed by law and, consequently, there is no official data on it, this harmful practice of servitude and debt bondage is still ongoing and thousands of children are suffering the consequences of it. The ITUC observes that the Government must ensure that, in practice, children are not subjected to it and must put in place measures to monitor the enforcement of the law in practice, to carry out an appropriate statistical evaluation system.

The Committee notes that both the Government and social partners stated, during the ILO TAM, that they were not aware of any cases of trokosi being reported. The Government adds, in its report, that the practice of trokosi has been outlawed in Ghana, and that there is no official data on this practice in the country. In this regard, the Committee notes the observation of the Worker representatives made to the ILO TAM that visits into the trokosi communities should be conducted in order to verify these allegations at the national level. The Government indicates, in the meantime, that it continues to conduct sensitization campaigns in order to prevent this practice from resurfacing. The Committee requests the Government to take measures to verify the prevalence of the practice of trokosi in the country, including through the collection of data on this issue. It requests the Government to provide information on the progress made in this regard and the results achieved. It also encourages the Government to continue its sensitization measures and to provide information on their impact on preventing girls under the age of 18 from becoming victims of this practice.

Application of the Convention in practice. The Committee notes that, according to the mission of the ILO TAM, many of the constituents indicated the need to improve data collection and that the Government should work on the national production of statistics on child labour and its worst forms, considering that the last survey on child labour was conducted in 2003. The Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the availability of sufficient data on the worst forms of child labour in the country, particularly as regards child trafficking and hazardous work, and to provide information on the nature, scope, and trends of these worst forms, and on the number of children covered by measures giving effect to the Convention. To the extent possible, this information should be disaggregated by gender and age.

The Committee is raising other points in a request addressed directly to the Government.