Date of Award
2024
Document Type
Thesis
Publisher
Edith Cowan University
Degree Name
Master of Laws
School
School of Business and Law
First Supervisor
Prafula Pearce
Second Supervisor
Mostafa Naser
Third Supervisor
Joshua Aston
Abstract
Child labour is prevalent in Ghana, especially in the agriculture industry where children engage in work that is harmful to their health, morals, and safety. Such harmful work has been defined by the ILO Convention No. 182 on the Worst Forms of Child Labour, 1999 as constituting the worst forms of child labour. These children have human rights stated in the laws of Ghana but have become victims of human rights violations because they cannot access the protections provided for under the international conventions and national laws of Ghana.
Using doctrinal legal research, this thesis reviews the legal framework of Ghana on child labour and its worst forms and explores select government policies aimed at tackling the problem to determine Ghana's compliance with the principles and standards of the United Nations Common Understanding for a Human Rights Based Approach (HRBA). It answers the research question, ‘How compliant is the legal framework of Ghana with the PANEL principles of the HRBA?’ It explores the HRBA as a tool for delivering the human rights of the victims of the worst forms of child labour and examines Ghana’s compliance with the PANEL principles upon which the HRBA is based.
It argues that the HRBA ought to be applied by Ghana in all legislation and policies for the elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL) and adopted as a national policy for delivering rights to claim-holders. It also illustrates the timeliness of adopting the HRBA in Ghana to resolve the problem of the WFCL and addresses the gaps in some policies that do not apply the HRBA.
The findings from the thesis reveal that even though Ghana’s legal framework is largely complaint with the PANEL principles of the HRBA, there are challenges with implementation of the principles and hence this is not reflected in the lives of victims of the WFCL. Compliance with the HRBA requires full enjoyment of the rights of claimholders and not only compliance with the black-letter law. This thesis therefore proposes the need to adopt the HRBA as a national approach to resolving the problem and proposes law reform in terms of the adoption and implementation of legislation specifically for the elimination of the WFCL and other forms of human rights infringements labelled as “modern slavery”.
DOI
10.25958/6nk1-rg14
Recommended Citation
Aglagoh, R. A. (2024). The legal framework for the protection of victims of the worst forms of child labour in agriculture in Ghana: A human rights based approach. Edith Cowan University. https://doi.org/10.25958/6nk1-rg14