Lessons learned

Topic:	The Time-Bound Programme for the Reduction of Child Labour in Ghana. Child Labour Committes and Community-Based Information and Monitoring Systems.
Author:	FAO, Rome (Italy) Humboldt University, Berlin (Germany)
Background document providing these lessons learned:	FAO, Humboldt University, Child Labour and Children’s Economic Activities in Agriculture in Ghana, 2009 (forthcoming)
Applied Participatory Approaches:	Community Child Labour Committees Community-Based Information and Monitoring Systems Community-level Child Protection Teams

The Study

The goal of the study on “Child Labour and Children’s Economic Activities in Agriculture in Ghana ” was to address knowledge gaps on child labour in agriculture and to prepare recommendations on how to address them in the policies and programmes of various stakeholders. Various initiatives and practices have been identified and assessed. A selection of them has been considered in this study, in relation to their impact in addressing issues of child labour, especially in those sectors - cocoa production, fishing and cattle herding - in which a considerable number of children work.

Rapid and action-oriented assessment methods were used to reach “a reasonable compromise between statistical precision and impressionistic data gathering”. During the three months of field research, a total of 73 experts were interviewed. 169 interviews were held with children and parents/guardians/employers and 14 focus group discussions were conducted. The following districts were selected as research sites: Ketu South and Keta (Volta Region), Kwahu North (Eastern Region) and Pru (Brong Ahafo) for the fisheries sector. Tolon Kumbungu and North and South Tongu in the Northern and the Volta Region for cattle herding.

 

The ILO Time bound programme

One of the most comprehensive efforts to reduce the worst forms of child labour in Ghana is the Time-Bound Programme (TBP) carried out since 2006 by the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment and ILO/IPEC in 20 districts. Different types of assistance are offered to the children and, to some extent, to their parents, who are provided with skills training and financial support aimed at enabling them to start a small-scale business. In recent years, several hundred children have received support in the framework of the TBP , in relation to their work, education, health and advancement.

Child Labour Committees

A first step within the Time-Bound Programme was to nominate Child Labour Committees at district and community levels. The District Child Labour Committees comprise several departments of the district administration, mostly social welfare, education and labour. The Community Child Labour Committees are made up of five or six members proposed and chosen by the community, whose involvement is voluntary.

The ILO funded their initial training, which included information on the concept of child labour and on legislation concerning children’s work as well as on tools for collecting data on child labour. Meanwhile, in all cooperating districts Community Child Labour Committees have been established in selected pilot communities. The main aim is to withdraw children from worst forms of labour, to remove the risks for children who are legally old enough to work and to protect children at risk of child labour

To get an overview of the number of working children, the committees carried out an Administrative Census – a register of children in, or at risk of, worst forms of labour – in their communities, by visiting the areas where children work and by talking to parents and employers. The Census was not a representative study, although the data give an impression of the incidence of child labour. Quite a high number of children in, or at risk of, worst forms of child labour were identified. As the communities are involved in the data collection, the surveys can contribute to awareness raising and discussions on the kinds of children’s work that should be regarded as hazardous or exploitative.

Once the local Child Labour Committees have identified children in, or at risk of, worst forms of labour, they then follow up each case. The district assemblies and different departments work in partnership with NGOs and in one instance with the Ghana General Agricultural Workers’ Union.

The district departments, NGOs and Community Child Labour Committees which support the children try to keep track of the beneficiaries and monitor further developments, for example by visiting schools or homes and having discussions with teachers and parents. Whereas some of the committees are very active and accepted by their communities as, for instance, n Adina in Ketu South, others “fell dormant” for several reasons. In Blekusu, in Ketu South, the activities of the Community Child Labour Committee slowed down considerably after the initial phase because its members had higher expectations in relation to income generation measures. In the case of the island community of Dzaiakpoi at the Volta Lake (Pru District), intervention was delayed because the members of the Community Child Labour Committee had been threatened by fishers.

In North and South Tongu , in particular, the activities to reduce child labour have led to a controversial debate in the communities. The Child Labour Committees have tried to persuade cattle owners to withdraw boys from work. The Volta Region Cattle Farmers Union supports this objective up to a point and calls for cattle owners to allow the boys to go to school. Its constitution even has a paragraph on the prohibition of child labour. In South Tongu alone, the union has more than 1,000 registered members and could therefore wield influence. However, many members do not agree with the egislation against child labour. Some cattle owners stated that their business depended on the labour force of children and saw the efforts to withdraw them as an ”attempt to crash local economy“ (Afenyadu 2008).

Child Labour Monitoring System

One of the aims of the Time-Bound Programme is to develop Child Labour Monitoring Systems. Eight areas have been identified in which worst forms of child labour might be found. Relevant to the agricultural sector are trafficking, head portage, fishing and commercial agriculture. The Child Labour Monitoring System has been conceived as “a concrete and practical tool against child labour … meant to generate information … and documenting the trends and levels of child labour at local, regional and national levels” (ILO/IPEC 2008). By identifying and registering working children in the framework of the Administrative Census, the committees have begun to make regular and systematic observations. The data and information collected can be used as a basis for immediate intervention or – when transferred to stakeholders at district and national level – for appropriate future action and the improvement of current policies and programmes.

Other awareness raising activities

Apart from offering direct support to children and their families, the district assemblies departments, NGOs and Community Child Labour Committees organise awareness programmes including community meetings, discussions with specific groups such as fishers and cattle owners, teacher training and projects for children in schools. At the meetings, participants are given an overview of the law relating to children’s work and are informed that – at a later stage – persons using child labour may be prosecuted. In addition, they are told of the importance of education for the children’s future success. Some teachers and NGOs members have received training to enable them to work with the ILO Stop Child Labour Education Pack & Resources “SCREAM”. One aim of the awareness programmes is to integrate children’s rights policies into the work routines of the district administrations.

 

Study findings on the reduction of child labour in Ghana: the outcomes of the Time-Bound Programme

In general, Ghana has a comparatively progressive child labour law; enforcement, however, is still inadequate. Since the 1990s, the government has carried out various initiatives to protect children from exploitative and hazardous work. It has implemented legislative reforms, developed interventions for rural and urban areas and is now in a process of mainstreaming child labour concerns into policy approaches such as Poverty Reduction Strategies. Whereas until now, the policies and activities to reduce child labour have been largely sectoral or in selected districts, in 2008, the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment drafted a National Plan of Action for the Elimination of (the worst forms of)Child Labour2008-2015 as an overall strategy and basis for cooperation between institutions and organisations. However, it has yet to be assessed how far legislative reforms, programmes and activities have contributed to a reduction of child labour.

At the moment, in fact, the impact of policies and interventions for the reduction of child labour is difficult to assess. Some of them have been implemented only recently as in the case of the ILO Time-Bound Programme.

According to interview partners, the Time-Bound Programme was evaluated positively as it provides a basis for mapping out strategies to reduce child labour. Quite a number of children received assistance, as did their families in some cases. However, it appears that many of the children receiving support under the TBP , although now enrolled in schools, are still working. It is difficult to assess the extent to which their work load has been reduced or their general situation improved. In general, interview partners considered the time frame of the programme – two years with a possible extension – too short and there is concern that the district assemblies might not be able to continue the Child Labour Monitoring Systems with their own budgets and present capacities. Furthermore, ILO funding for the assistance of the children and their families is thought to be too low.

During the research phase, the team found several policies and activities on national, regional and district level that might contribute to the long-term reduction of worst forms of child labour. Promising are efforts to mainstream child labour issues into existing policies and programmes because this enlarges capacities and helps to lay the basis for cooperation and networking between institutions and organisations. An example is the establishment of Child Labour Monitoring Systems at district and community level with the aim of documenting the incidence of child labour and development trends. The data and information collected can be used as a basis for immediate interventions or – when they are transferred to stakeholders at district and national level – for appropriate future actions and the improvement of current policies and programmes. Apart from approaches aiming at capacity building in institutions and organisations and/or data collection, it is relevant to give immediate support to children in, or at risk of, worst forms of labour. One good practice example is the provision of transitional schools, because they open up new opportunities for working children. The other example is the direct action approach to withdrawing children from the worst forms of labour (in fishing and other occupations) as long as law enforcement remains inadequate.

Finally, many of the interview partners stressed that efforts to eliminate or reduce child labour can only be effective in the long term if they are embedded in general development and poverty reduction strategies. Several interview partners were onvinced that, in districts where fishing is a major activity, the prevention of child labour will also depend on the furtherance of sustainable fishing and farming as well as on alternative livelihood options.

 

Good practices and lessons learned for the Reduction of Child Labour in Ghana

1) Innovative Elements

The voluntary involvement of community members in information gathering and monitoring is a key element of success of TBP . The committees or teams contribute to the identification of children at work and to the sensitisation of parents and employers. This creates ownership and acceptance within the communities of the programmes for the reduction of child labour. Within the different programmes committee and team members receive capacity building and in turn transfer their knowledge and skills to others in the community. As stated by a GAWU representative: “The sustainability of the interventions lies in the use of the local people who have acquired skills to implement them” (Andrews Tagoe, interview 9.9.08). The innovative elements of the Child Protection Teams are the involvement of children and the holistic approach used. They address not only the problem of child labour but also other issues relevant to the protection of children. Linking Community Child Labour Committees to local unions seems to be particularly innovative because it strengthens awareness on child labour within the unions but also, given the influence of the unions, helps to make committee actions more effective.

2) Impacts

The collection of data, which is common to the different approaches, invites discussion on what kind of work is acceptable for children, which is more likely to bring about a change in attitudes than regulations simply imposed from above. Moreover, the collected data serves as a basis for programmes and policies against the violation of children’s rights. The establishment of Child Labour Monitoring Systems is generally combined with activities to withdraw and support children found in worst forms of labour. To some extent, poorer parents or guardians also receive assistance. With the Community Child Labour Committees and Child Protection Teams children have a first point of contact, if they are in the need of help. Several stakeholders such as Ghanaian ministries, district assemblies, international organisations, development agencies or NGOs can utilise the information and data gathered to adapt their work to local conditions. Moreover, in order to enforce the law it is necessary to have a detailed picture of the number and kind of offences committed.

3) General Success Factors

The participative approach, the partnership building and the ownership that are the major components of the community-based information and monitoring systems can contribute to the success of programmes for the reduction of child labour.

4) Problems Remaining to be Solved

Whereas ownership and acceptance in the communities have been identified as success factors, it is also true that efforts will fail if community members reject or oppose the committees or teams. In some villages committee members were even threatened by fishers or cattle owners employing children. Another problem may arise from the fact that work on the committees is voluntary. Since committee members receive hardly any compensation, their motivation may decrease as the work is time-consuming and demanding.