COURTESY CALL BY THE NATIONAL COMMITTEE OF ICI TO ASSIN FOSO MUNICIPAL ASSEMBLY

The International Cocoa Initiative (ICI) is Geneva-based nonprofit organization that focuses on addressing child labour in cocoa production in west Africa. They carry out awareness creation on child labour & child rights working in areas such as education, health, water, sanitation and rural livelihoods in over 890 cocoa growing communities in Cote d’voire and Ghana. They also provide training on child protection and child labour to stake holders including cocoa traders, government agencies, farming cooperatives and local NGOs to strengthen their understanding and capacity to prevent and tackle child labour. Their ultimate goal is to eliminate child labour and forced labour in the cocoa supply chain, promoting a sustainable and responsible cocoa industry. Consequently, ICI is using the landscape approach to create a more functional collaboration and synergy between cocoa companies, NGO’s, farmer groups and national and local government services to pool resources to tackle child labour and improve child protection in the Assin landscapes comprising (Assin North, Assin Foso and Assin South) Districts in Ghana.

The national child protection committee paid a working visit to the MCE and MCD of Assin Foso Municipal Assembly to brief the assembly of the ongoing project within the municipal. In the meeting, they assured the MCE and MCD of their continuous collaboration with social welfare and all NGOs within the municipality to eliminate child labor in the municipal and also partner with all cocoa companies in the municipal to help eliminate child labor.

Their main work during their stay is to monitor the progress of the various projects in the municipal and to ensure that all interventions are in line with government policy in eliminating child labor. The MCE assured them of the continuous support that the assembly was already providing and its his desire to educate and eliminate child labor from the municipality