Ghana ratifies ILO work in Fishing Convention   

Ghana has become the 22nd member State of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) to ratify the Work in Fishing Convention (C188).  

The ILO Convention 188 is designed to improve the well-being and rights of fishers by ensuring safer and fairer working conditions within the fishing industry.   

The Convention officially came into force on November 16, 2017.  

ILO commends Ghana for its strong commitment to promote decent work in the fishing sector, which is one of the high-risk sectors for labour violations, including forced labour.  

The implementation of the Convention commenced on August 28, 2025.  

For effective implementation of the Convention, the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA), in collaboration with ILO, held a two-day training workshop for Maritime Inspectors of the Authority and Operations Managers from Fishing Enterprises.  

The focus of the workshop was to provide training on the ILO Convention 188: Work in Fishing, 2007.  

The workshop was, particularly timely as Ghana ratified the Convention,  to ensure decent work by improving living and working conditions on Ghanaian fishing vessels by promoting labour standards.  

Fishing vessels that meet the labour standards after labour inspections by the GMA will be issued with Maritime labour certificates which will serve as one of the requirements for the issuance of a Fishing Licence by the Fisheries Commission.  

The 8.7 Accelerator Lab, together with ILO Sectoral Policies Unit has been supporting GMA and other stakeholders for the past years in understanding about C188 and in building capacities, including tools, to apply it in practice.  

Source: GNA