Accra, July 15, GNA - The West Africa Cocoa/Agriculture Project (WACAP) to stop the use of child labour on cocoa farms and other sub-sectors of agriculture in five countries within the West Africa Sub-Region was launched in Accra on Tuesday.

The WACAP is a three-year project that targets the withdrawal and education of about 10,000 children below the ages of 18 from exploitation on the farms. It would also train them in occupational safety and health.

The implementation of the project was necessitated by the threat of boycott of cocoa products by consumers in Europe and United States, who had expressed concern about the persistent reports of the engagement of children in cocoa production in the Sub-Region.

Delegates from Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Guinea, Nigeria, the EU and the United States joined their host, Ghana to set up the Project, which apart from the initial goal to get children out of the farms into schools, is also exploiting ways to ensure that the children, who could not make it to school were given gainful vocational training.

Speaking at the launch, the Senior Minister, Mr J.H. Mensah, said the government would do whatever was within its power to stop the practice not because of the threat of boycott of cocoa products, but in an effort to stem the enslavement of the children, which constituted a gross violation of human rights under the country's laws.

Mr Mensah debunked the idea that farmers were entrapped into using cheap child labour because of the unfair prices of commodities in the world market and urged the countries to eliminate the practice even in the face of falling prices.

The move to shun cocoa products was likely to put into jeopardy the economic viability of the countries, most of which depended highly on cocoa as a major foreign exchange earner.

Dr Angela Ofori-Atta, Deputy Minister of Manpower Development and Employment, said most children entrapped in child-labour had lost out and could not exploit their potentials to the full because they were denied education.

This, she said, had a negative impact on human resource development in the country.

She said the government had benefited immensely from a 2.3 million-dollar grant from the United States Agency for International Development to boost its efforts to eliminate the practice and give meaning to the future of children, who were victims of the canker. Dr Ofori-Atta said so far about 2,000 children had been withdrawn from working in hazardous environments.

Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister of Women and Children's Affairs, said forcing children to become economic agents early in life compromised their future and ruined their chances of progress in the global environment.

Mr Cornelius Dzapkasu, ILO Area Director, said there was the need to integrate the children into the society since it was insufficient to only withdraw them from the farms. Mr Kwasi Adu-Amankwah, Secretary-General Trades Union Congress, said family incomes should be enhanced to enable parents to forgo earnings from child labour, which had become critical for the survival of many families.

The International Labour Organisation estimates that more than 250 million children between the ages of five and 14 are engaged in economic activities globally, with about 70 per cent of them engaged in agricultural activities.

The project is being supported by funds from the United States Department of Labour and leading chocolate manufacturers, cocoa processors and respective trade associations in Europe and the US under the ILO International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour.

There are also plans to improve the income earning capacity of at least 500 adult family members and prevent about 70,000 children between the ages of 13 and 18 from engaging in hazardous work.

The target would be achieved through five key areas of intensive awareness creation, capacity building, social protection measures such as education and training, an effective monitoring system and information dissemination.