Exploring the Tension between the Rights of the Child and Parental Rights: Voices from Ghana

The principle of “best interests of the child” is firmly established in legal jurisprudence and has taken a firm hold on several domestic and global instruments. Generally, the courts rely on this principle in many cases of child custody, child work, child labour, and compulsory education. The norm of best interests of the child seems to be placed at the core of international law in relation to children’s rights by Article 3(1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Nevertheless, there is no one universal “best interests of the child” norm owing to cultural variations. In Ghana, this raises issues of conflicts between expectations in the rights and duties of the parent and the right of the child as expressed in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and offers a genuine opportunity for reform. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) adopted the rights of the child that can be classified into three groups: protection rights, provision rights, and participation rights. It appears the best interests of the child is at the centre of international children’s rights law which is articulated through Article 3(1) of the UNCRC. Presently, the advocacy of a child’s right to welfare grounded on human dignity has generated the present discussion on the rights of the child. Article 18 of the UNCRC provides that parents have a shared and core responsibility for the nurturing of their children and that in undertaking their child upbringing responsibilities, appropriate support shall be offered to parents and legal guardians by State Parties. Usually, the variation between children’s rights and parental rights, nonetheless, is not acknowledged by the UNCRC. Furthermore, the UNCRC views children to be competent individuals who should be an essential component of decision-making on issues affecting them. The parent/child contrast demonstrates that there is the need for cooperation that protects the rights of the child, the parent and defines the role of the state. There is the need to explore the best legal and judicial processes for realising this cooperation

Mining versus Farming: An Analysis of the Farmers' Livelihood System

The implementation and main objective of the community compensation package program for farmers in the Prestea mining area is to deal with some of the grievances emanating from the operations of Golden Star Resource Limited (GSR) in the Prestea community. Some of these reservations of the local farmers relate to the impact on the local people’s farmlands by the large-scale mining company’s operations. This has consequently led to violent conflicts sometimes resulting in the loss of life and property. There are well-known complaints including the destruction of farms and homes of local people through expansive activities of GSR and the digging of mining pits close to farms. The large-scale mining company has a compensation package that is normally given to the farmers for affecting their farms. It is therefore crucial to assess the livelihood system of local farmers including the community compensation program for farmers since the farmers appear not to be content with the program. This paper contends that many indigenous farmers have been deprived of their livelihoods and the farmers perceive the community compensation package program as a bad initiative in Prestea with many of them regarding it as mere public relations gimmick that does not take the welfare of the local people into consideration

Precarious work or sustainable livelihoods? Aligning Prestea's Programme with the development dialogue on artisanal and small-scale mining

Alternative livelihoods programmes (ALPs) are extensively executed in mining communities, often as models of development dialogue on artisanal and small-scale mining (ASM). This paper assesses whether Prestea's ALP aligns with the development dialogue on artisanal mining. The conceptual design of ALP in Ghana's Prestea is based on the notions of substitution, homogenous community, and impact scalability. This paper argues that the Prestea ALP is not aligned with the development dialogue on artisanal mining, and therefore it is difficult to understand the role and function of environmentally-damaging behaviours within livelihood strategies. The paper contends that it would be appropriate to concentrate on improving the existing artisanal miners’ operation of those most susceptible to resource access restrictions. Further, it may be more prudent to utilize livelihood-centered interventions that create strong connections with sustainable development as a way of creating regular community engagements. Additionally, this paper argues that the term for the intervention programme on artisanal mining should be replaced with the broader term ‘livelihood-centered intervention’. The replacement of the term ‘ALP’ avoids the tacit belief that ALP can adequately replace artisanal mining operations. Livelihood-centered intervention should not necessarily utilize alternative livelihoods as direct behavioural change instruments

Living with conflicts in Ghana's Prestea mining area: Is Community engagement the answer?

Large scale mines acknowledge that their continuous existence in indigenous communities is threatened without the cooperation and support of local people. In recent times, large-scale mines have attempted to secure Social License to Operate (SLO) and ensure sustainable development (SD) by reconciling business interests with local needs and aspirations. Accomplishing local cooperation and support without threatening business interest remains a top priority for the large-scale mines. Community engagement forms part of the broader Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) policy initiatives which are often promoted as a way of enhancing sustainable development. This paper examines the local perceptions of the design and application of Golden Star Resources' (GSR) community engagement program. This paper contends that this community engagement model has a positive impact on conflict management regardless of age, sex, education, marital status and occupation of participants. However, presently the model remains symbolic and has not yet attain the status of a real functional strategy since many of local grievances that result in clashes are unresolved. Furthermore, it is believed that GSR's community engagement program is not adequately developed, systematic or moulded to achieve the exact or intended community relation. This paper further contends that the dominant sources and causes of conflict in Prestea is land use conflicts and environmental impact issues

Causes of child labour: Perceptions of rural and urban parents in Ghana

The study focuses on parental perceptions of causes of child labour in rural and urban areas of Ghana. The research is grounded on qualitative research techniques by specifically utilising in-depth interviews, focus groups, and participant observation to collect the necessary data for the study. In this approach, the data gathering happened in Phases 1 and 2 of the research study at the research sites in rural areas, and urban areas. The 60 participants included government officials, representatives from NGOs, and both parents whose children were involved in child labour and parents whose children were not involved. Much theoretical and empirical evidence is presented to argue that child labour has a multiplicity of causes including cultural practices, socialisation, poverty, and lack of mechanisation of work. This paper finds that the socio-cultural contexts of child labour play a critical role in children's involvement in farming in the rural area while poverty also contributes to children's engagement in artisanal fishing work in the slum urban communities in Ghana. This paper recommends that child labour must be tackled in a coordinated manner on a cross-sectoral basis and there is the need to adopt policies that would address the category of work that falls within worst forms of child labour (WFCL). Additionally, policy-makers and NGOs must consider the link between economic deprivation and child labour when implementing programmes designed to combat the problem

Parental perceptions of the nature of child labour in rural and urban Ghana : Cultural versus economic necessity

There is nearly universal consensus that child labour is harmful to the development of the child, however, widespread contention exists on whether child labour is cultural or economic necessity. This paper aimed to ascertain parental perceptions of the nature of child labour in rural and urban Ghana. The sample size of this study was 60 participants, all of whom were parents. Participants included: government officials; NGO representatives; and both parents whose children were involved in child labour, and parents whose children were not. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with parents (10) and stakeholders (10). and Focus groups (30); and participant observations (10) were also utilised. A purposive sampling technique was employed across rural and urban areas in Ghana. Interviews were recorded and transcribed. A framework approach was utilised as the main qualitative data analysis method. Parents in the rural areas indicated that the nature of child labour is cultural because children are not working because of economic necessity but for cultural reasons. On the other hand, children engage in child labour in the urban area for economic necessity since child labour is a very important component of the local economy. Understanding the socio-cultural and economic factors that drive child labour is necessary to design and execute the most suitable mechanisms for intervention and prevention

Poverty and mine’s compensation package: Experiences of local farmers in Prestea mining community

The design and application of compensation package by the major large-scale mining company in Ghana's Prestea has not done enough to alleviate poverty of local farmers. This claim is made in the light of occasional food shortage and poor living conditions of local farmers. The mining company is to compensate and alleviate the poverty of local farmers for impacting on their farmlands has put a package together. Although expansive activities of the company have resulted in gold boom, unemployment and poverty have intensified in view of loss of farmlands to the large-scale mining company. Moreover, there are minimal prospects for local people to secure wage employment in the company's resuscitated gold-mining industry. It is therefore crucial to assess the capacity of the compensation package as part of the company's corporate social-responsibility (CSR) program to alleviate poverty of local farmers. This paper interrogates the strength of the package by rating its efficacy and impact on poverty alleviation. This paper demonstrates that the compensation is inadequate in alleviating poverty because the package is not commensurate with the value of the profitable farming industry

Parental perceptions of child labour and human rights: A comparative study of rural and urban Ghana

Considering the inherently hazardous nature of some artisanal fishing and farm work in Ghana, there is sometimes a thin line between what is considered child work and child labour. I drew on literature exploring cultural relativism and human rights and the concept of the margin of appreciation in considering whether child labour violates human rights. I aimed to establish parental perceptions of child labour and human rights in rural and urban Ghana amongst 60 government officials, NGO representatives, and both parents whose children were/were not involved in child labour. The average age of participants was 31 years. Semistructured interviews were conducted with parents (10), stakeholders (10), focus groups (30); and participant observation techniques (10) utilised to gather the needed data and purposively sampled across rural areas (Ankaase, Anwiankwanta and Kensere), and urban areas (Jamestown, Korle Gonno and Chorkor) in Ghana. Interviews were recorded, transcribed utilising a framework approach as the main data analysis method. The paper finds that children are engaged in work to teach them work ethics as most parents consider work socialisation as beneficial for children and society. The paper also finds that knowledge of human rights makes parents more committed to children's welfare. Overall, the paper finds that sensitivity to the economic and cultural context is important in understanding the issue of child labour and, more generally, in applying the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) and working out the parenting policies and practices that are in the best interests of the child

Potential Conflict between the Rights of the Child and Parental Expectations in Traditional Child rearing Patterns: Resolving the Tension

This paper aimed to ascertain whether the rights of the child conflict with traditional child-rearing patterns in rural and urban Ghana among 60 participants. Qualitative exploratory study was undertaken using semi-structured interviews with parents of children who both were and were not involved in child labour (10), and stakeholders, including government officials and NGO representatives (10); focus groups (30); and participant observation techniques (10) in order to gather the needed data. Participants were purposively sampled across rural areas (Ankaase, Anwiankwanta and Kensere), and urban areas (Jamestown, Korle Gonno and Chorkor) in Ghana. The average age of parents interviewed was 31 years. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and a framework approach was used as the main data analysis method. The discussion shows that inconsistencies between parental expectations in traditional child-rearing patterns and participation rights as expressed in Article 3 (1) of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC) are reconcilable and provides a genuine prospect for reform

Child labour versus realising children's rights to provision, protection and participation in Ghana

The need to establish universal standards to protect children led to the development of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). I drew on literature exploring the UNCRC and children’s rights to provision, protection, and participation. This paper aimed to ascertain challenges of enforcing children’s rights to provision, protection, and participation in rural and urban Ghana drawing on the experiences and perceptions of 60 government officials, NGO representatives, and parents. Semistructured interviews were conducted with parents (10), stakeholders (10), focus groups (30); and participant observation techniques (10) were utilised to gather the required data and purposively sampled across rural and urban areas in Ghana. Interviews were recorded, and transcribed utilising a framework approach as the qualitative data analysis method. Acceptance of childhood as understood in the UNCRC is different from traditional child-rearing patterns in rural and urban Ghana