Providing School Supplies to 100 Children in Ghana

On 9^th March 2020, the new Child Labour Free Zone (CLFZ) system came into effect in Ghana. The system will be used to monitor, verify and certify that areas have eliminated child labour and have the mechanisms in place to continue to protect children from hazardous work, as well as safeguard other fundamental children’s rights. Eligible areas are to be certified as CLFZ and the system is set to be expanded nationwide.

The concept is not in itself new, however, until now there have never been standardised rules on how to determine an area as child labour-free, who has the authority to do so, and how it would be maintained. Ghana has now officially established the CLFZ system guidelines and incorporated them into their National Action Plan II. It is the first time a country has, as a nation, established and systematised specific operating rules in the fight against child labour. This is a key moment in history in the fight to protect children from hazardous forms of work. ACE collaborated with the Ghanaian government to provide our technical expertise and field experience running the SMILE Ghana project, in the formulation of these national guidelines.

Child labour arises from a combination of various problems meaning that resolving it is not a simple matter of building a school, for example, and as such the guidelines are complex and detailed. However, the fact that these guidelines are equal to institutionalisation, means that: "the stakeholders involved in child labour are no longer working separately, rather they are all working together to certify and expand the number of CLFZ areas and ultimately eliminate child labour from Ghana.”

Child Labour in Ghana

According to the most recent report on the state of child labour in Ghana and the Ivory Coast, there are 770,000 child labourers in Ghana as of 2018/2019 (University of Chicago 2020). 710,000 of those children are involved in dangerous work. This is definite progress compared to the last comprehensive report in 2015, in which there were a reported 920,000 child labourers. However, this means there are still over 700,000 children either being forced to work far away from their families, carrying cocoa fruits weighing more than 20 kilograms, performing dangerous tasks with sharp tools, and sometimes being trafficked for labour. These are called "the worst forms of child labour" and are robbing children of their future.

Of course, the Ghanaian government is not doing nothing. A number of efforts have been made to eliminate child labour  and work toward the achievement of SDG Goal 8.7, in particular, to "end all forms of child labour by 2025”. Back in 2017, the government announced their National Action Plan for the achievement of the SDG Target 8.7, and one of its strategies was to establish and disseminate the Child Labour Free Zone.

A closer look at the Child Labour Free Zone 

The system literally names an area as "child labour free." Does that really mean that, 1. There is no cases of child labour in the area, and 2. If an area is found to not have cases of child labour at a certain point in time it can be named child labour-free?

The simple answer to both questions is no. A certified CLFZ means an area is verified as having sustainable, comprehensive, and consistent interventions in place to protect children from dangerous work and ensure their rights and welfare. Just because an area does not have any cases of child labour does not make it child labour-free. Similarly, an area with several cases of child labour which has the mechanisms in place to address them should not be discounted. An area that has a well-functioning system in place to protect children from hazardous work and sustains a safe environment that enables them to live in peace of mind is a child labour free zone. 

The CLFZ system includes the operation of:

• A routine child labour monitoring system (at community & district level)

• A system that manages school enrolment and attendance (for compulsory education)

• A system that monitors workplaces and prevents children’s involvement in dangerous work 

• A system that cracks down on and tries illegal cases in accordance with the law

• Municipal institutions that provide financial support to vulnerable families and farmers

• Local government-level policies, yearly plans, and ordinances for the elimination of child labour

Only the Ghanaian government has the authority to grant the certification.

ACE activities contributed to the establishment of the Child Labour Free Zone system

In fact, the Child Labor Free Zone initiative was adopted following the collaboration of numerous stakeholders and in particular, ACE, the Ghanaian government, trade unions, and the ILO. Child labour is a problem involving numerous components including poverty, education, labour, human rights, health, agriculture, and business. Since child labour free zones involve a "region", it was often difficult for everyone from different political positions, such as the community, local government, and central government, to work together – even though it is necessary to fully address the problem. In spite of this, until now, NGOs and organisations have been working independently to eliminate child labour, and calling an area "child labour free" could mean many different things.The fact that Ghana has, as a country, overcome these difficulties and began institutionalising an approach to, and procedures for, realising the Child Labor Free Zone is an extremely momentous event.

With the cooperation of Deloitte Tohmatsu Consulting, ACE worked for over a year and a half in 2018-2020 with the Ghanaian government, the ILO, the Ghanaian Agricultural Workers Union, and CRADA (our local partner of the Smile Ghana Project), to establish this system. The first National Stakeholder Dialogue (National Stakeholders' Meeting) was the first step in the process and saw the coming together of 80 people from various fields related to the cacao industry and child labour. However, at the event ACE Managing Director Tomoko Shiroki stressed that, "Many people from various different sectors have been working toward achieving the elimination of child labour, but efforts have not seen much success. After all, success cannot be realised without a national budget. A lot of people already know that. "

At the same time, our experience operating the Smile Ghana project has taught us the importance of involving the community in order to eliminate child labour in the area. We also know that, with some ingenuity, utilising existing local systems and strengthening corporation between stakeholders can produce results without a huge budget. Efforts such as reforming schools and PTAs, restoring trust in schools, supporting productivity improvement, supporting poor families, and addressing labour shortages must all come as a set package. On top of that, a support system for these communities, schools, and households at the smallest administrative unit - the District- is crucial. These were key lessons that ACE inputted in the creation of the Child Labour Free Zone system.

Creating the system is not the final goal

Since November 2018, ACE staff have gone to Ghana five times. During this time, the rules and procedures for realizing the Child Labour Free Zone were discussed in detail and carefully formulated. Finally, on March 9^th, 2020, the official document, Establishing Child Labour Free Zones in Ghana: Protocols and Guidelines was completed. Now that the guidelines have been completed and have come into effect, all future activities to eliminate child labour in Ghana will be required to refer to these guidelines.

It was a very valuable experience for ACE to be involved in the creation of the national system for the first time. However, the establishment of the guidelines was not our final goal. The next step is to ensure the guidelines are implemented properly and the villages that have graduated from the Smile Ghana Project are soon set to be assessed and certified as Child Labor Free Zones. 

Our longer-term goal is that the Child Labour Free Zone is functioning nationwide, and Ghana is able to become a child labour-free country. The SMILE Ghana Project has been vital to working toward these long-term goals. Thank you to everyone who continues to support such important work.

My name is Akira Kondo, and I am the Ghana Project Manager for ACE. Thank you so very much for supporting our efforts to end child exploitation in the world.

Covid-19's Impact on our Project Communities in Ghana

Lockdown measures were in place in targeted areas of Ghana from March 20th to April 20th; the area where our project is currently operating was not included and people were able to carry on as usual.

However, all schools are currently closed across the country, including in the project villages, and as of yet there is no prospect of them reopening any time soon. The Ghana Education Service (GES) announced that it will introduce online classes nationwide, but most of the households in the project area do not have internet access, and as such it will be difficult if not impossible for children in these communities to complete the school curriculum. We worry that this will affect their examination results and the ability to enter the next grade.

Children in the villages are predominately helping out at home and carrying out light activities on the farms, playing outside with friends, and playing soccer in the schoolyard. 

Current Status of Project Activities

The school closure means that the project’s Child Dignity Club is also suspended. This is unfortunate in itself but it also means that we are unable to get an update from teachers regarding the educational status of the children.

Fortunately, our agricultural training sessions and CCPC activities (Community Child Protection Committees formed by local volunteers) are still operating as usual. In addition, local administrative functions in the project area are still conducting business as usual, signifying that activities to formulate the ordinances for the "Child Labour Free Zone” system have not been affected. 

Field officers residing in the project area are able to work as usual, but staff staying in Kumasi, where the lockdown curfew is effective, are working from home until the lockdown is lifted. Even after it is lifted, we will be implementing measures to prevent infections including social distancing, hygiene practices such as hand washing, and frequent disinfection.

About our Future Strategy

Interviews with local people conducted by local NGO staff have shown that children are at a higher risk of returning to child labour due to their inability to go to school. In addition, since the “Blue Sky Market”, where larger numbers of people gather to buy and sell products, is currently closed, local cash income is decreasing. This undeniably increases the risk of children being forced to return to child labour. Moreover, although June is the final semester of the school calendar and there are children who are preparing to attend the next school year, under these circumstances, more and more families are worried whether they can safely and realistically send their children back to high school.

Given the circumstances, we are considering how to adjust our operations in the project area to support local people. Our top priority is to protect children's rights and prevent child labour re-emerging, and this will remain our top priority and the basis of our future strategy.

Thank you again for your continued support!  Any further support that you can give will be much appreciated.