Ghana receives high commendation at ILO conference

The Director of the International Standards Department of the ILO, Cleopatra Doumbia-Henry, has commended Ghana for the serious efforts the country is making to meet international standards of labour.

She made the commendation at an impressive ceremony at the ILO headquarters in Geneva last Tuesday, during which certificates were presented to Ghana for the ratification of three ILO conventions.

The Conventions are the Minimum Age Convention 1973 (No. 138) which prohibits child labour: Tripartite Consultation Convention, 1976 (No. 144) which encourages cooperation among Government, Employers and Employees and the Safety and Health in Agriculture Convention, 2001 which prohibits children from undertaking hazardous work (No. 184)

Director Doumbia-Henry said that the occasion was historic for Ghana for a number of reasons. She said that with the ratification of the three ILO Conventions, Ghana has now met all the fundamental requirements of the International Labour Organisation.

She also said that the presence of Ghanaian parliamentarians at the function clearly demonstrated that Ghana was committed to meet the needs of her own citizens and the standards of the UN body.

Equally, the presence of employers and labour at the ceremony was significant as it demonstrated Ghana’s determination to bring all relevant stakeholders into the fold in the management of labour relations to achieve high productivity in the Ghanaian economy.

Receiving the Certificates on behalf of Ghana, the Minister for Employment and Social Welfare, Mr. E. T. Mensah assured the international community that Ghanaians loved their children too well to put them at risk merely to gain some temporary advantage in international trade.

He thanked the ILO for its support to Ghana in the past and invited the organisation to help Ghana to strengthen the Labour Department of the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare to meet the current challenges in labour administration and inspection.

Geneva,