In 1998, the International Labor Organization (ILO) estimated that 12.5 percent of children between the ages of 10 and 14 in Ghana were working.⁷⁰³ The Core Welfare Indicators Survey conducted in 1997 estimated that 9.2 percent of children between the ages of 6 and 14 were working.⁷⁰⁴ Approximately 8.2 percent of boys and 10.2 percent of girls in this age group were working.⁷⁰⁵ A majority of child workers are found in rural areas.⁷⁰⁶

The majority of working children are unpaid and can be found on family farms and family enterprises.⁷⁰⁷ While traditionally, working on the family farm was seen as a means of training for adulthood, deteriorating economic conditions have led to an increase in the number of children working on a regular basis to earn a living for themselves or supplement family income. These children either forgo an education or combine work and school.⁷⁰⁸

Deteriorating economic conditions in rural areas and conflicts in northern regions of the country have led to increased migration of children into urban areas, particularly Accra.⁷⁰⁹ This migration has reportedly led to an increase in the numbers of street children and working children in urban areas.⁷¹⁰ In August 2000, Ghana’s Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare reported that out of 800,000 children working countrywide, 18,000 children were working in Accra. Seventy percent of these urban working children are estimated to receive no schooling, while 21 percent complete only their primary education.⁷¹¹

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) report that children as young as 7 years old work as trolley and head porters, domestic servants, street vendors, rock breakers in quarries, small scale miners, farmers and fishermen. In May 2000, the acting executive director of the Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC) expressed concern about the increasing use of child labor in inland fishing enterprises, especially in villages around the Volta Lake and the Volta River.⁷¹² Newspapers have reported that 10 to 12 year old boys often work for fisherman in exchange for a yearly payment to their families. This practice was found to be rampant in 156 fishing villages along the Afram River and in settlements along the Volta Lake in the Afram Plains.⁷¹³ Small children are used to dive down to the riverbeds for oysters, and there have been a number of reports of children drowning.⁷¹⁴

Some girl children migrate from rural areas to urban centers to serve as kayayoos , girl porters who carry goods on their heads as petty traders.⁷¹⁵ The girls are usually come from villages and towns in the poorer northern regions and end up living on the streets or in poor accommodations.⁷¹⁶ Children as young as 8 years old work as kayas . Earnings in the kayayoo trade are approximately 2,000-2,500 cedis a day (approximately US$1), with younger girls getting 50–100 cedis (US$0.02-US$0.05) per load and older girls and women getting 200-500 (US$0.10–US$0.25) cedis per load.⁷¹⁷ Kayayoos suffer from various skeletal and muscular problems which they often address by taking excessive drugs to numb the pain. Some kayayoos also reportedly practice prostitution to add to their earnings.⁷¹⁸

Ghana is both a source and a destination for trafficked children.⁷¹⁹ In a report commissioned by the International Labor Organization’s International Program on the Elimination of Child Labor (ILO-IPEC), a Ghanaian NGO found that the majority of trafficked victims are girls between the ages of 10 to 15 years who either dropped out of primary school or had not attended school at all.⁷²⁰ These girls, largely from rural areas, are frequently used as household help in Accra and the other major cities. Major complaints included mistreatment and poor working conditions, including little or no remuneration; beatings, rape and forced marriages were also reported.⁷²¹ Trafficking also occurs between Ghana and neighboring countries and is multi-directional. Cases of cross-border trafficking and abduction have been reported between Ghana and Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, and Nigeria, with boys and girls lured into prostitution or hard labor.⁷²²

There are reports of girls (some as young as 10 years old) being bound to shrines as part of a traditional practice known as the Trokosi system.⁷²³ In 1998, the Parliament passed legislation that banned the practice of Trokosi .⁷²⁴

In 1998, the primary net attendance rate for children between the ages of 6 and 11 years was 76 percent.⁷²⁵ Low attendance in school has been noted as a particular problem in certain areas of the country and among certain groups of children. In 1998, there was an 87 percent primary attendance rate in urban areas compared to a primary attendance rate of 72 percent in rural areas.⁷²⁶ Teachers’ salaries are considered inadequate and it is difficult to attract teachers to rural areas.⁷²⁷ Many teachers in rural areas earn their primary income through farming. In the past, teachers sometimes used students as a source of farm labor, a practice that has become less common with adverse publicity.⁷²⁸ In order to attract teachers to rural areas and supplement low salaries, the government has offered accelerated promotion and perks, such as bicycles, to teachers willing to take assignments in such areas.⁷²⁹

Expenses such as school fees and taxes, and associated costs such as books and uniforms, reportedly make education costly and preclude some children from attending school.⁷³⁰ In 1992, education costs accounted for more than 15 percent of a household’s mean per capita expenditure.⁷³¹

Although there is little or no systematic discrimination against female children in terms of basic education, societal and economic pressures increase girls’ dropout rates.⁷³² The government has actively campaigned for the education of girls and in 1997 established a girls’ education unit within the basic education division of the Ghana Education Service. According to government estimates released in September 1999, the percent of girls nationwide enrolled in primary school had increased from 75 percent in 1992 to 81 percent in 1997.⁷³³

The government strengthened legal protection of children by passing the Children’s Act of 1998 (Act 560). Act 560 incorporates the existing labor legislation’s minimum age for employment of 15 and prohibits exploitative child labor, defined as labor that deprives the child of health, education, and development.⁷³⁴ The act sets a minimum age of 18 years for hazardous employment and a minimum age of 13 years for light work.⁷³⁵ Act 560 requires employers to provide apprentices with a safe and healthy work environment, along with training and tools.⁷³⁶

Ghana’s Constitution prohibits slavery and the law also prohibits forced or bonded labor. Nevertheless, NGOs criticize the government for failing to put resources into enforcing these provisions, especially with respect to the trafficking of children.⁷³⁷ They allege that law enforcement agencies have regarded trafficking cases as falling under the domain of the Department of Social Welfare and that police in frontier posts lack the training and logistical support needed to take enforcement action.⁷³⁸ It is often difficult for law enforcement officials to identify victims due to the complex family relations that exist in some trafficking situations.⁷³⁹

Inspectors from the Ministry of Labor and Social Welfare are responsible for enforcement of child labor regulations and make spot checks when they receive allegations of violations. However, violators of regulations that prohibit heavy labor and night work for children are only occasionally punished in practice.⁷⁴⁰

Ghana ratified ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labor on June 13, 2000.⁷⁴¹

4. Addressing Child Labor and Promoting Schooling

In March 2000, the Government of Ghana signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with ILO-IPEC to initiate activities in Ghana. With financial support from the U.S. Department of Labor (USDOL), and in collaboration the Government of Ghana, ILO-IPEC country program aims to formulate a national policy and plan of action to combat child labor, with a focus on the worst forms of child labor, and has established a national steering committee.⁷⁴² Ghana is also receiving technical support from the ILO-IPEC Statistical Information and Monitoring Program (SIMPOC), with funding from USDOL, to conduct a national survey on child labor.⁷⁴³

In 1999, Ghana joined eight other countries participating in phase one of a 3-year ILO- IPEC regional project to combat the trafficking of children for labor exploitation in West and Central Africa. The project, with USDOL financial support, was a follow-up to the July 1998 subregional workshop on trafficking in child domestic workers sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the ILO. As a participant in this project, Ghana is developing concrete measures against trafficking of children at a variety of levels. Efforts will be made to channel identified children to NGOs which provide social protection and support services for victims of trafficking. During the project’s second phase, demonstration projects will provide rehabilitation services for child victims, raise public awareness, strengthen partner organizations, encourage multi-disciplinary preventive measures, and develop inter-country cooperation efforts.⁷⁴⁴

The Government of Ghana has initiated a number of policies and programs aimed at curbing the vulnerability of children to all forms of child labor exploitation. These include the promulgation of the Children’s Act of 1998, the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) program, and the Universal Children’s Law enacted out of the Constitutional provision on Children’s Rights. Furthermore, the Ministry for Employment and Social Welfare is attempting to address the problems of street children through the “Jobs for Africa” program, through direct grants to street children, and through tax exemptions for NGOs, which work with children in need.⁷⁴⁵ In addition, numerous donors have supported the FCUBE program that was designed to increase access for children of school-going age, targeting especially ages 6 through 9.⁷⁴⁶

NGOs, churches, and other religious organizations have a variety of programs targeting needy children. The Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child (GNCRC) was established in response to the 1995 report by the Government of Ghana to the U.N. Committee on the Rights of the Child.⁷⁴⁷ The GNCRC works with NGOs, the Ministry of Education and Social Welfare, and the Ghana National Commission on Children on such issues as HIV/AIDS, child labor, basic education, health, environment, and advocacy for children. The GNCRC has conducted an educational series on child labor, including television commercials aimed at informing the public.⁷⁴⁸ It has trained NGOs in the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child.⁷⁴⁹

Both the Trade Union Congress (TUC), the largest trade union confederation in Ghana, and the Ghana Employers’ Association (GEA) have devoted increased attention to the problem of child labor in Ghana. The TUC held a leadership seminar on child labor and street children in June 2000.⁷⁵⁰ In collaboration with the ILO, the GEA organized four regional workshops during July 2000 on combating the worst forms of child labor.⁷⁵¹ With help from the ILO, the GEA is also undertaking a research project on child labor, which will include an establishment survey to complement the household survey that SIMPOC and the Ghana Statistical Services are conducting.⁷⁵²

A Ghanaian NGO reporting for the ILO on trafficking in children noted that while many NGOs focused on street children and their rehabilitation, there were no specific programs by either the government or NGOs to address the concerns of trafficking victims.⁷⁵³ The Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC) has noted that the problems of street children, child labor, and prostitution are worsening. Yet, judges are often unfamiliar with the law or with sentencing guidelines for cases of child rape and defilement. The GNCC sees the education of law enforcement officials as critical and is working with police units to familiarize them with the Children’s Act of 1998.⁷⁵⁴

Six years of primary education and three years of secondary education (through grade nine) are free and compulsory in Ghana.⁷⁵⁵ The government continues to strive to provide free compulsory basic education through the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) program for grades one through nine, and aspires for the attainment of this goal by the year 2005.⁷⁵⁶ The FCUBE program is supported by a variety of donors and is reviewed every 2 years.⁷⁵⁷

The government has supported a variety of initiatives to make education more affordable. The “Needy Child Fund” helps up to 50 children in each of Ghana’s 110 districts qualify for help with basic school needs.⁷⁵⁸ The government has allocated 2 million cedis (approximately US$340) to each district for this program.⁷⁵⁹ The Ghana Education Service (GES) has emphasized girls’ education and that enrollment for girls has improved.⁷⁶⁰ The GES has also placed increased emphasis on making sure students progress from one school grade to another.⁷⁶¹ The Department of Social Welfare runs some vocational schools for the disadvantaged but, due to budget limitations, does not have formal programs to help these children attend school.⁷⁶²

Districts are responsible for providing school infrastructure and receive assistance from international NGOs and donors to construct new classroom facilities and infrastructure.⁷⁶³ The World Bank is aiding districts to open approximately 80 new primary schools.⁷⁶⁴ Other NGOs conduct school meal programs, provide in-service training to teachers, provide management training to district education officials, and help families defray the cost of children’s school fees and other expenses.⁷⁶⁵ The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is also implementing an education program to reduce the dropout rate among girls. USAID reports increased evidence that individual communities are taking an active interest in their schools.⁷⁶⁶

The following bar chart presents selected government expenditures expressed as a percentage of gross national product (GNP). The chart considers government expenditures on education, the military, health care, and debt service. Where figures are available, the portion of government spending on education that is specifically dedicated to primary education is also shown.⁷⁶⁷

While it is difficult to draw conclusions or discern clear correlations between areas of government expenditure as a percentage of GNP and the incidence of child labor in a country, this chart and the related tables presented in Appendix B (Tables 14 through 19) offer the reader a basis for considering the relative emphasis placed on each spending area by the governments in each of the 33 countries profiled in the report.

⁷⁰³ World Bank, World Development Indicators 2000 [CD-ROM], Washington, D.C., 2000 [hereinafter World Development Indicators 2000 ].

⁷⁰⁴ Country Statistics in Ghana, Core Welfare Indicators Survey, 1997 (www.ucw-project.org) [hereinafter Core Welfare Indicators Survey, 1997]. This figure includes children who were working only and children who combined work and school.

⁷⁰⁵ Core Welfare Indicators Survey, 1997 .

⁷⁰⁶ Sudharshan Canagarajah and Harold Coulombe, Child Labor and Schooling in Ghana (Washington, D.C.: World Bank, 1997) [hereinafter Child Labor and Schooling in Ghana ].

⁷⁰⁷ Ibid.

⁷⁰⁸ The Ghana National Commission on Children. The First Decade of the Ghana National Commission on Children (Accra: The Ghana National Commission on Children, 1990).

⁷⁰⁹ Interview with Mrs. Margaret Sackey, executive director, Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC), by U.S. Department of Labor official, Accra, August 4, 2000 [hereinafter Sackey interview].

⁷¹⁰ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2000 (Washington, D.C.: U.S. Department of State, 2001), Section 6d [hereinafter Country Reports 2000—Ghana ].

⁷¹¹ Ibid.

⁷¹² Sackey interview. Also cited in Country Reports 2000—Ghana .

⁷¹³ U.S. Embassy Accra cites June 1999 report in Country Reports 2000—Ghana.

⁷¹⁴ Sackey interview.

⁷¹⁵ Seema Agarwal et al., Bearing the Weight (Legon: Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana, May 1997), 1 [hereinafter Bearing the Weight ].

⁷¹⁶ Ibid at 3.

⁷¹⁷ Ibid at 10.

⁷¹⁸ Nana Araba Apt and Ebenezer Q. Blavo, Street Children and AIDS (Legon: Centre for Social Policy Studies, University of Ghana, May 1997).

⁷¹⁹ Country Reports 2000—Ghana at Section 6f.

⁷²⁰ African Centre for Human Development, Ghana Country Study: Combating the Trafficking in Children for Labour Exploitation in West and Central Africa, Accra, Ghana, April 2000, 6 [hereinafter Combating the Trafficking in Children for Labour Exploitation ].

⁷²¹ Ibid. at 7.

⁷²² Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labor Exploitation in West and Central Africa (Phase II): Ghana Country Annex , ILO-IPEC, 2000 [hereinafter Combating the Trafficking in Children for Labour Exploitation, Phase II ].

⁷²³ Found primarily among the ethnic Ewe group, the practice involves young girls who are indentured by their families to a fetish shrine for several weeks or years as a means of atoning for offenses committed. The girls, known as Trokosi or Fiashidi , become the property of the shrine and are under the direction of the fetish priest. See U.S. Embassy Accra, unclassified portion of telegram no. 002509, October 1, 2001.

⁷²⁴ Country Reports 2000—Ghana at Section 3.

⁷²⁵ USAID, DHS EdData Education Profiles for Africa: Data from the Demographic and Health Surveys, Ghana DHS EdData Education Profile, 1993 and 1998 [hereinafter Ghana DHS EdData Education Profile].

⁷²⁶ Ghana DHS EdData Education Profile.

⁷²⁷ Interview with Emmanuel Acquaye, director of basic education, Ghana Education Service, by U.S. Department of Labor official, Accra, August 1, 2000 [hereinafter Acquaye interview]. Also attending were Chris Dokiuna- Hammond and Yaw Danso, deputy director of basic education.

⁷²⁸ Interview with Janet Leno, senior education specialist, World Bank, by U.S. Department of Labor official, Accra, August 3, 2000.

⁷²⁹ Acquaye interview.

⁷³⁰ Ibid. See Also Child Labor and Schooling in Ghana at 11.

⁷³¹ Child Labor and Schooling in Ghana at 11.

⁷³² Country Reports 2000—Ghana at Section 5.

⁷³³ Ibid. at Section 5.

⁷³⁴ Government of Ghana, Act 560, The Children’s Act, 1998, Part V, Employment of Children, Sub-Part I, Child Labour, 27 [hereinafter The Children’s Act, 1998].

⁷³⁵ Ibid. at Sections 89, 90.

⁷³⁶ Country Reports 2000—Ghana at Section 6d. The Children’s Act 560: Violation of any subpart pertaining to child labor of the Children’s Act 560 is liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding 10 million cedis or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years, or both. And failure to register children commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding 500,000 cedis.

⁷³⁷ Combating the Trafficking in Children for Labour Exploitation at 25.

⁷³⁸ Ibid.

⁷³⁹ For example, acquaintances of an older age may be referred to as “auntie” even when no blood relation exists.

⁷⁴⁰ Country Reports 2000—Ghana at Section 6d.

⁷⁴¹ For a list of which countries profiled in Chapter 3 have ratified ILO Conventions No. 138 and No. 182, see Appendix C.

⁷⁴² IPEC Summary of Individual Country Programs: National Program on the Elimination of Child Labor [hereinafter National Program on the Elimination of Child Labor].

⁷⁴³ Ibid.

⁷⁴⁴ Combating the Trafficking of Children for Labour Exploitation, Phase II.

⁷⁴⁵ Statement by The Honorable Ms. Ama Benyiwa-Doe, deputy minister for employment and social welfare, delivered at the opening of a photographic exhibition by Catholic Action for Street Children and Street Girls Aid at the British Council, Accra, August 2, 2000.

⁷⁴⁶ Acquaye interview. Also attending were Chris Dokiuna-Hammond and Yaw Danso, deputy director of basic education.

⁷⁴⁷ Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child: Membership Directory, 1999-2000 (Accra, Ghana: National Democratic Institute for International Affairs).

⁷⁴⁸ Interview with Susan Sabaa, national coordinator, Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child (GNCRC), by U.S. Department of Labor official, Accra, August 3, 2000.

⁷⁴⁹ Ibid.

⁷⁵⁰ Interview with Kwesi Adu-Amankwah, deputy secretary general, Trade Union Congress (TUC), by U.S. Department of Labor official (Accra, August 1, 2000). Also attending from the TUC were Mr. S. O. Nunoo-Quaye, head of the International Department, and Mr. James Anquandah, deputy head of the Organization Department.

⁷⁵¹ Interview with Kwasi Ampadu Yeboah and Alex Frimpong, industrial relations managers, Ghana Employers’ Association, by U.S. Department of Labor official, Accra, August 4, 2000. Regional workshops were held in Accra, Takoradi, Kumasi, and Tamale.

⁷⁵² Ibid.

⁷⁵³ Combating the Trafficking in Children for Labour at 29.

⁷⁵⁴ Sackey interview.

⁷⁵⁵ Acquaye interview.

⁷⁵⁶ U.S. Embassy-Accra, unclassified telegram no. 003474, June 27, 2000 [hereinafter unclassified telegram 003473].

⁷⁵⁷ Unclassified telegram 003473.

⁷⁵⁸ Meeting of U.S. Department of Labor official with Mr. Emmanuel Acquaye, director of basic education, Ghana Education Service, August 1, 2000. Also attending were Chris Dokiuna-Hammond and Yaw Danso, deputy director of basic education.

⁷⁵⁹ Acquaye interview.

⁷⁶⁰ Ibid.

⁷⁶¹ U.S. Embassy-Accra, unclassified telegram no. 00042, January 2001.

⁷⁶² Interview with Bridget Katsriku, chief director, Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare (MESW), by U.S. Department of Labor official. Also present were Mr. J. Y. Amankrah, project manager, the SIMPOC child labor survey, and deputy director for statistics, MESW, Accra, August 2, 2000.

⁷⁶³ Plan International, World Vision, and the European Union have helped with the provision of classroom facilities. Acquaye interview.

⁷⁶⁴ Acquaye interview.

⁷⁶⁵ Unclassified telegram 003473.

⁷⁶⁶ Ibid.

⁷⁶⁷ See Chapter 1, Section C, 5, for a fuller discussion of the information presented in the box. See also Appendix B for further discussion, and Tables 14 through 19 for figures on government expenditure over a range of years.