The head of the global Catholic Church and the sovereign of Vatican City, Pope Francis, has called for a collective effort to ensure that the abuses that are being meted out on children are eliminated.
In a post on his Twitter page on Sunday, June 12, 2022, which happens to be the World Day Against Child Labor, Pope Francis stated that our collective effort will not only eliminate the plague of children who are being forced into hard labor but will also go a long way to guarantee the fundamental human rights of every child.
“Today is the World Day against Child Labour. Let us all work to eliminate this scourge so that no child is deprived of his or her fundamental rights and forced or coerced to work.” His post reads.
Child labor is defined as the exploitation of children below 15 years through any form of work that robs them of their childhood, interferes with their ability to attend regular school, and is mentally, physically, socially, and morally damaging.
In Ghana examples of child labor includes Commercial sexual exploitation, illegal activities such as drug production and trafficking, as well as children in farming, especially in our farming communities.
The World Day Against Child Labor is an International Labor Organization-sanctioned holiday that was first observed in 2002 with the goal of raising awareness and activism to prevent child labor. It is commemorated every year on June 12th.