Challenging Heights, a child rights NGO together with the police in the Volta Region has rescued 24 children from child labour on the Lake Volta.

The rescue operation brings the total number of children rescued by the organization since January, 2015 to 40.

Speaking after the rescue operation, the Advocacy Manager of the NGO, David Kofi Awusi said the children were being forced to work and denied access to education.

“All these children aged 6 to 16 years old are supposed to be in school but that was not the case. Instead they were forced to do menial jobs; spending an average of 17 hours a day working under hazardous conditions on the Volta Lake,” he said.

According to him, the practice is an evidence of the perpetration of social injustice against children and has to be stopped.

“It is the right of every child of school going age in Ghana to have access to quality and affordable education but in Ghana children are still being trafficked. The good news is that as a country we have long known exactly what to do in order to eliminate it, with clear activities captured in the 2011-2015 National Plan of Action (NPA) towards the Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour (WFCL) but with the NPA due to expire in less than two months, about 75% of what was planned has not been achieved,” he said.

Challenging Heights is thus calling on the Government through the various Ministries, Agencies and Department to render accounts to Ghanaians of what the achievements are in the National Plan of Action towards the Elimination of Worst forms of Child Labour as the December, 2015 deadline draws nigh.

The Manager of the NGO, David Kofi Awusi told Joy News his outfit intends to provide education for the children and reintegrate them into society.

“Following each rescue, Challenging Heights provides temporary rehabilitation support to all the children at the Challenging Heights Hovde House. Once they complete the rehabilitation process, we reintegrate them back to their families and follow them up through planned monitoring for two years, providing educational support to the children and livelihoods support to carers to ensure they remain safe,” he explained.