Child labour is threat to West Africa – MP

Mr Joseph Amenowode, the Head of delegation for Network of West African Parliamentarians against child labour, has said child labour is a threat to the future of the sub-region.

Speaking at a durbar of the first conference of the Network at Mfranta, a farming community in the Ayensuano District of the Eastern Region, he urged stakeholders concerned about the welfare of children to join the fight in the eradication of child labour in the society.

Mr Antwi-Basiako Sekyere, the Regional Minister, said education is very essential and called on parents to honour their obligation and ensure that their children have access to quality education.

He said interventions like the school feeding programmes, free school uniforms and other free learning materials being provided to school children by government are ways of encouraging children from deprived homes to pursue education.

Mrs Stella Dzator, former International Labour Organisation (ILO), Cocoa Communities Project(CCP) Programme Officer, said as part of measures to curb the child labour threat, the ILO introduced CCP in 2011.

She said under the project, the Integrated Area Zone approach, was used and stakeholders in the communities were made to participate.

Mrs Dzator said 40 communities across the country in seven districts benefited from the project, adding that the communities were made to develop their own action plans for the period.

She said through the project, school children and the beneficiary communities under the project received bicycles, school uniforms, learning materials, school buildings and scholarships.

Mr Howanou Edoh Alhat, Deputy Commissioner of the Togolese Parliament, said every child must have the chance to go to school, adding that parents have a responsibility to ensure that, their children have the best of education, irrespective of the challenge.

Nana Amankrado Christian Annum, Chief of Mfranta, appealed for an ICT Centre for the community where the children could go and learn and get additional information and thanked the ILO for the numerous contributions they have brought to the community.

Source: GNA