Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2025, publiée 114ème session CIT (2026)

Convention (n° 182) sur les pires formes de travail des enfants, 1999 - Ghana (Ratification: 2000)

Articles 3(a) and 7(1) of the Convention. Worst forms of child labour and penalties. Sale and trafficking of children. The Committee notes the Government’s information, in its report, that it continues to take measures, in the framework of the implementation of the National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Human Trafficking in Ghana (NPA 2022–2026), to increase the capacity of certain officers of the Ghana Police Service in the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit, the Judicial Service, labour inspectors and immigration officers. The Government provides data on investigations, prosecutions and convictions under the Human Trafficking Act, 2005, according to which 623 investigations have been undertaken between 2021 and 2024, leading to 121 prosecutions and 58 convictions, with sentences ranging from 5 to 25 years of imprisonment. The Committee observes that there is no indication, in these statistics, of the age of the victims in question. The Committee 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, 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 provide specific information on the number of prosecutions, convictions and penalties imposed in cases of trafficking of children under 18 years of age.

Articles 3(d) and 7(2)(a) and (b). Hazardous work in cocoa farming and preventing children from being engaged in, and removing them from, such hazardous work. The Committee notes the Government’s information that the Ghana Accelerated Action Plan against Child Labour (NPA3, 2023-2027) is being implemented by various stakeholders to carry out activities aimed at protecting children from hazardous work. The Committee observes, in this regard, that the overall goal of the NPA3 is to build institutional capacity and empower communities to halve child labour by 2027, particularly in agriculture where almost 80 per cent of child labour occurs, with the aim to reach a child labour-free Ghana in the long term. The Government indicates that among the measures taken is the establishment of the Child Labour Free Zones (CLFZs) policy, which uses an integrated area-based approach in dealing with child labour to ensure the creation of systems and structures at the community level to immediately withdraw children when found to be in hazardous work. In this regard, the Committee notes that an ILO-led project funded by the Government of Japan was adopted for 2025–26 on Strengthening Resilience to Climate Change for the Elimination of Child Labour in Cocoa Producing Areas in Ghana, in the framework of which it is envisaged to create eight additional CLFZs in cocoa communities, along with other measures focusing on environmental sustainability. The Committee further notes that Ghana has developed a National Workplan to Eliminate Child Labour in Cocoa and Gold Supply Chains through Phase II of the ACCEL-Africa Project (Accelerating action for the elimination of child labour in supply chains in Africa). In addition, multi-stakeholder initiatives such as the Child Labour Monitoring and Remediation System (CLMRS) have been rolled out to help cocoa farmers and cooperatives report, monitor, and remediate child labour within supply chains.

The Committee welcomes the measures taken by the Government to protect children from hazardous work in agriculture, particularly in cocoa farming. It takes note of the statistics provided by the Government on the number of children who have been identified engaging in hazardous work between 2022 and 2024 (a total of 507) and who have been rehabilitated (a total of 97). The Committee strongly encourages the Government to continue its efforts to prevent children under 18 years of age from engaging in hazardous forms of work in agriculture, particularly in cocoa farming, and to ensure the removal, rehabilitation, and social reintegration of those already involved in such work. The Committee requests the Government to continue providing information on the measures taken in this regard, including specific data on the number of children identified in hazardous work in this sector who have been removed, rehabilitated, and socially integrated.

Article 4(1) and (3). Determination and revision of the list of hazardous types of work. Following its previous comments, the Committee notes the Government’s information that the Hazardous Activities Framework (HAF) was validated, and that its adoption into legislation is being considered in the framework of the current review of the Labour Act, 2003. The Committee observes, from the document on the HAF submitted by the Government, that the HAF covers a large number of hazardous activities, processes and occupations in a variety of sectors (e.g. agriculture, fishing, mining, cattle herding, scavenging, street hawking, hospitality work, and more), as well as in circumstances that make any work hazardous. The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that the HAF is adopted into law in the near future, as well as to provide information on the progress made in this regard.

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. Trafficking in the fishing industry and domestic service. The Committee notes the Government’s information regarding the development of the Employers’ Code of Practice and Action Plan for Eliminating Child Labour, Forced Labour, Modern Slavery and Human Trafficking in the Fishing Sector of Ghana, which is a comprehensive framework outlining the obligations of employers, workers, recruitment agencies and all stakeholders in the fishing industry to eliminate child labour and trafficking. The Code focuses on the prevention of exploitation of children, among others, through support for compliance with existing Ghanaian national laws, regulations and international labour standards. It includes provisions on such issues as ethical recruitment, minimum age requirements and occupational health and safety, as well as on protection from human trafficking. In addition, the Government indicates that the Child Labour Unit works closely with the Ministry of Fisheries and Aquaculture and NGOs to combat child labour in fishing communities, especially along Lake Volta. Programmes include community-based child protection committees, school reintegration, and livelihood support for parents. 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 requests the Government to provide information on the impact of the measures taken and results achieved in terms of the number of child victims of trafficking who have been removed and rehabilitated.

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