Officials of the Social Welfare Department have embarked on a campaign to educate cocoa, mining, quarrying and fishing communities about the effects of depriving children of good health, education and clean environment.
It is on the theme, “Give girls a chance: End child labour now”.
At a sensitisation programme to mark World Day Against Child Labour at Tumentu in the Western Region, the Metropolitan Director of Social Welfare, Mrs Deborah Daisy Kwabla, said ensuring early development of children was very important for children to grow into healthy and responsible adulthood.
She said children involved in fishing, mining, quarrying, carrying heavy loads and those working in hotels, markets and entertainment spots were exposed to immoral practices, describing that as a major setback to their development.
Mrs Kwabla said the theme for the campaign was to draw attention to the issue of child labour, which include exposing children to chemicals through the use of fertilisers and other insecticide applications on the farm.
She said the focus this year was on the girl child, since in most cases, the girl child was the worst victim in child labour, adding that the aim was to give the girl child equal rights.
“As we mark the World Day Against Child Labour, our focus should be drawing the attention to this social canker and trying to minimise it if not eradicate it,” the metro director said.
She said the reason for celebrating the day at Tumentu was to ensure that the message got to the community and also for the department to listen to them so that together, they could help address the problem of child labour.
The community leaders expressed gratitude to the Social Welfare officials for choosing Tumentu for the celebration and assured them that they would change their attitude towards children, especially the girl child.
No comments:
Post a Comment