General News of Friday, 23 November 2007

Source: GNA

Laws on child labour must be enforced-CHRAJ

Ho, Nov. 23, GNA - The Volta Regional Directorate of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), in collaboration with NGOs, on Thursday called for the implementation of laws to curtail child labour in the country.

Mr. Joseph Nuertey, Assistant Legal Officer of the Commission, said this at a seminar it organized in Ho the ''Worst Forms of Child Labour'' such as child trafficking, hazardous labour and the engagement of children in pornography and prostitution in the region. He said NGOs and CHRAJ should come together to make efforts to reduce child labour to the barest minimum.

Mr. George Hornuvo, Principal Investigator of CHRAJ, said the objective of the Ghana Time Board Project Development was to contribute to the elimination of WFCL in Ghana.

He said, "Child Labour itself is work that is exploitative and deprives a child of his/her education, personal development and has the potential to endanger the child's physical health, morals and safety". During an open forum, participants complained of lack of funds to boost their efforts in implementing the project. The main forms of child labour identified in the region were truck pushing, kente weaving, farm labour, involvement in head porting, oyster hunting, fishing, cattle herding and stone cracking.