Earlier this week in Accra, the International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), in collaboration with the Child Labour Unit (CLU) of the Labour Department under the Ghana Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment, officially launched Ghana’s National Compendium of Child Labour Indicators. This landmark tool establishes standardised metrics to streamline reporting and track progress on child labour issues across sectors in Ghana.
The development of the compendium marks an important milestone in advancing coordinated prevention, monitoring and reporting efforts, reflecting the shared commitment of government and partners to eliminate child labour through data-driven policy and practice. The compendium will also serve as a central reference framework ensuring all stakeholders, including the public and the private sector, operate from a unified baseline for measuring and reporting on child labour in Ghana.
Mike Arthur, Country Director of ICI Ghana highlighted the significance of the compendium as a critical tool for strengthening national efforts to address child labour more effectively.
“This launch marks an important milestone in Ghana’s efforts to tackle child labour in a more coordinated and data-driven way. With a nationally agreed set of indicators, all stakeholders can now work from a shared framework to better identify, monitor, and address child labour. ICI is proud to have supported this process and remains committed to strengthening systems like the Ghana Child Labour Monitoring System to advance child protection efforts in Ghana.”
The compendium complements ongoing efforts to strengthen national child labour monitoring systems, including the Ghana Child Labour Monitoring System (GCLMS), which is currently being operationalized by the Ministry. ICI played a key role in the development of the compendium as a member of the Technical Working Group (TWG) and actively facilitated the process. The initiative forms part of a broader project funded by the Swiss Platform for Sustainable Cocoa (SWISSCO), in partnership with ICI, UNICEF, Tony’s Chocolonely, and the Ministry of Labour, Jobs and Employment.
“By establishing a set of common, standardised indicators for child labour‑related activities, the Compendium enables all actors across the cocoa sector to collect, analyse, and report data in a consistent manner. Through SECO, SWISSCO is proud to support Ghana’s efforts to strengthen national systems. Our focus remains on improving data quality and ensuring that monitoring translates into meaningful action for children and their families. Sustainable progress can only be achieved through strong, nationally owned systems.” Dr. Joseph Bandana, Country Lead/Regional Advisor Africa- SWISSCO
ICI reaffirms its commitment to supporting national systems and strengthening collaboration among government institutions, industry actors, civil society, and development partners to synergized systems in the promotion of decent work in cocoa growing communities.
Consult the Compendium here: Compendium of Statistics on Child Labour in Ghana