Juaso (Ash), Aug 31, GNA- The Asante-Akim North and South Districts have stepped up their fight and commitment against child labour especially in the cocoa industry.

Barely a year after the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment launched a campaign to eliminate worst forms of child labour in cocoa districts, the two districts have already developed action plans and also formed various committees, demonstrating their preparedness to combat the menace.

These came to light at a day's workshop organized by the Ministry under the National Programme for the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Ghana (NPECLG) for the two Districts at Juaso on Wednesday. The workshop, which was the second since the inception of the programme was to review the performances of the various Districts and also strategise the way forward.

Mrs Stella Ofori, Senior Labour Officer, Child Labour Unit at the Ministry, said the campaign against child labour did not mean parents could not engage their children in light work in their farming activities.

She explained that, "light work constitutes work which is not likely to be harmful to the health or development of the child and does not affect the child's attendance at school or the capacity of the child to benefit from school work".

Mrs Ofori stressed the need for parents to ensure the workload of children commensurate with the strength to ensure their steady development.

She said child labour creates and sustains the poverty cycle and urged District Assemblies and stakeholders in the cocoa industry to play their respective roles effectively to eliminate the practice. Miss Patience Dapaah, Communication Officer at the Ministry, said though the programme aimed at reducing child labour in the cocoa producing areas to the barest minimum by 2011, it had an immediate task of meeting the deadline of the Hakim-Engel Protocol by July 2008. She elaborated that the Hakim-Engel Protocol required Ghana to clamp down on child labour considerably in cocoa production by July 2008 or risk the banning of the product on the world market. Miss Dapaah observed that plans were underway to design and implement various interventions to discourage the use of children in cocoa farming.

According to her, the programme would also mobilize and train key partners including the media on the elimination of child labour as well as existing national and international laws on the practice. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the two Districts and the NPECLG was later signed spelling out the action plan to be executed.