The United States Department of Labor has issued its report on the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Ghana. In 2017, Ghana made a moderate advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labour. The government secured at least five convictions for offences related to the worst forms of child labour and launched the National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Human Trafficking in Ghana. The government began extending the Ghana School Feeding Program to include schools in refugee camps and ratified the Minamata Convention on Mercury, which obligates signatory countries to incorporate strategies to prevent the exposure of children to mercury in gold mining sites. However, children in Ghana continue to engage in the worst forms of child labour, including in fishing and cocoa harvesting as a result of human trafficking. Although the government made meaningful efforts in all relevant areas during the reporting period, prohibitions related to the commercial sexual exploitation of children and the use of children for illicit activities do not meet international standards. The government also has not acceded to the UN CRC Optional Protocol on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography, and resource constraints severely limited government social protection agencies’ abilities to fully implement social programs during the reporting period.
Read ICI’s note on the findings of the Worst Forms of Child Labour in Ghana 2017 here