Mr Eric Okrah, a Child Protection Specialist, on Thursday advocated the strengthening of government institutions responsible for the implementation of policies and laws on children’s rights in the country.

He said Ghana had good policies and laws on children’s rights and was the first to ratify the International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Conventions 138 and 182 but the difficulty lies in the implementation process to protect these children.

Mr Okrah made the observation at the opening session of a three-day capacity workshop being organised by the ILO for its social partners, implementing agencies and the media on the elimination of child labour in Accra.

ILO international programme on the elimination of child labour is currently implementing four projects; ECOWAS I and II, Cocoa Community Project and the Public-Private Partnership in Ghana, Cote d’lvoire, Nigeria and Benin in support of the implementation of its National Plan of Action for the elimination of worst forms of child labour.

Mr Okrah said the Government needed to build the capacity of these institutions in terms of human capital development, infrastructure and provision of logistics to help implement laws for the protection of children, since they were the future builders of the country.

He urged parents and government to invest in the future of children for growth and development and called for support to break the cycle of poverty in the communities.

Mr Moses Asaga, Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, admitted that children were the assets of every country and the potentials of its future human resource capital.

“In this regard, it is imperative that their protection, health and educational development are offered maximum attention,” he added.

He said though children contributed to the development of their families and the nation, some of the activities that children undertake were hazardous, injurious, degrading and this demonstrated gross abuse, hence retarding their development processes.

Mr Asaga said:” The Government in pursuance of its commitment to the elimination of child labour over the years had taken steps through legislations, policies and other initiatives to ensure a holistic protection of children.”

The Sector Minister urged participants to give off their best in the decisions to achieve the set goal of eliminating the worst forms of child labour in the cocoa sector.

Participants would be taken through ILO Conventions 138 and 182, ILO Decent work country programme and child labour and national laws on child labour.**