This petition is being championed by the General Agriculture Workers Union (GAWU) of TUC Ghana and the All-Africa Students’ Union (AASU) as part of efforts to ensure that every child is Free, Safe and Educated, in unison with the Global March. Ultimately, the campaign intends to ensure child labour free zones in Africa.
Ahead of the World Child Labor Conference , 2022 in South Africa, both organizations are looking forward to proposing renewed strategies that will progressively eliminate the canker of Child Labour across the African continent.
AASU and GAWU believe that education is one of the most important investments a countryman make in its future. Education improves health and livelihoods, contributes to social stability and drives long-term economic growth. Evidence shows that each additional year of education increases a country’s GDP by 18 per cent.
Sadly, the right to education of many children in Africa stills remains unprotected or unfulfilled. Millions of children in the region are toiling in child labor, at the cost of their health, education and childhood. Sub-Saharan Africa has 87 million child laborers, i.e., more children in child labor than in rest of the world combined. Further, amidst the pandemic, child labor, early marriage, and teenage pregnancies are on the rise in the continent, meaning that millions of children, especially girls will never return to classrooms even when schools reopen.
We hope that you are able to sign this petition, which is asking African Heads of States (specifically; their Ministry of Employment and Labour Relations, Ministry of Education and Ministry for Gender, Child and Social Protection) and all other stakeholders to take the needed actions to prevent the further escalation of the child labour scourge.
