By Rachel Kakraba
Deputy General Secretary of the General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), Andrew Tagoes, says the union has intensified work in communities affected by the Akosombo and Kpong Dams Spillage in the Volta Region to ensure progress made in child labour elimination efforts is not eroded.
He said disruption caused to education owing to the floods in the communities is of concern to stakeholders in the child labour elimination drive, which calls for attention.
“There is hope, but there are some immediate measures. For example, children who are not able to access education because now they cannot cross to come to school because the Lake has expanded. So, steps are being taken immediately. Beyond this, we are also rolling out programmes that will ensure that every child is in school and every adult is in the classroom.”
Mr. Tagoe, who is also a child labour champion, said this in an interview with GBC NEWS in Accra.
GAWU has been rolling out modules to ensure that all agricultural enterprises across the country are child labour-free zones. It has, over the years, collaborated with farmers and community leaders to deliver that.
He said, “for us as a union, it’s Advocacy and then the children who are affected, we immediately see how we can get them back into the classroom.”
He added, “will be talking about how to improve safety within the fishing industry.”
“We are also looking at how, as a union, we can work with the fishermen there to increase their income. So, all those who matter in the area, the issue is that the fishermen must be assisted immediately, for the short term and in the long term, we must look at how this spillage from Lake Volta could be controlled.”
The General Agricultural Workers Union (GAWU), is a trade union representing workers in the agriculture sector in Ghana.