Topic: 2024-Forced Labour
Country: Ghana
Delegate Name: Andrew Dylenski
International Labor Organization
Forced Labour
Ghana
Andrew Dylenski
Forest Hills Eastern
The topic of forced labour is one still in use today with nearly 25 million people experiencing this across the globe. By definition, forced labour is when someone is being exacted to do labor by force or under a penalty. In nearly all of the Western hemisphere, the act has been eliminated by the country’s governments. But, it is a different story in the East where various countries still exercise the practice. Various regions in Africa and Asia exercise forced labour upon their citizens, mainly in industries such as mining, agriculture, and fishing. With the introduction of COVID-19 in the past years, the number of people in forced labour has increased due to the economic hardships and debt bondage that has arisen due to the pandemic. The ILO must find a way to work with the various nations most affected by the problem and decrease forced labour for all the humans affected by it.
In around 1870, Ghana finally abolished the practice of slavery after nearly three centuries of the practice rooting back to the transatlantic slave trade. Even though the country officially abolished slavery and fully became independent from Britain in 1957, various uses of coerced labor still linger in the country. Trafficking, a serious problem in the country, involves the kidnapping of countless girls and boys across the country to work in forced labour, especially in the cocoa and fishing sector, where they are prone to violence by traffickers. The main form of forced labor in Ghana is through the use of child labor, which has been a prevailing problem in the country. The government in Ghana has recently introduced various measures to prevent human trafficking including increased investigations and training to police officers and other authorities for spotting out and handling human trafficking. Recently, the Ministry of Employment and Labor Relations launched a new 5-year plan that would work to reach SDG target 8.7 by enhancing social protection systems and providing employment options for those able to.
The ILO’s main priority has to be the long-term elimination of forced labor internationally. Governments in Eastern countries have to strengthen the legal framework regarding the punishment and prosecution of human traffickers and groups that exercise forced labour. In many countries, citizens are not able to recognize forced labour, therefore not being able to report it. If the ILO works to increase awareness internationally of the problem and signs of potential human trafficking, then citizens will be better utilized to help with the problem. Various organizations, such as Advocates for Freedom(AFF), work to promote victims’ rights and help end the problem of forced labour and human trafficking. Various countries in the EU and Western hemisphere have worked to pass legislation having various workforces publish slavery and trafficking statements which makes the company be transparent about the problem, phasing it out. These countries urge and have reached out to countries with the problem prevailing to follow these steps to decrease the number of people in forced labor.
