ICI pushes for strong collaboration on fight against child labour & forced labour in cocoa sector
Source:Isaac Amoah /tntnewspapergh.com
International Cocoa Initiative (ICI), a leading organisation tackling child labour and forced labour in the cocoa sector of West Africa, has encouraged Ghanaian journalists and news editors to focus more on advocacy reporting against child labour and forced labour, especially in the cocoa sector.
The members of the inky fraternity have been urged to take keen interest in pitching stories around child labour and forced labour in the cocoa sector so as to help fight against the menace, especially in the cocoa sector.
Participants in a group photograph
The call was made by stakeholders, especially officials from ICI during a two-day workshop dubbed “News editors’ experience sharing” held at Royal Lee’s Hotel in Mampong-Akuapim in the Eastern Region from 2nd to 3rd October 2025.
The workshop was organised by ICI, which is dedicated to protecting children in cocoa-growing communities.
Communications Director for ICI, Katie Bird
ICI collaborates with the cocoa industry, civil society and governments to ensure a brighter future for children and eliminate child labour.
Recognising the crucial role of the media in this effort, ICI has been training Ghanaian journalists since 2017, resulting in many collaborations over the years.
As part of its continued collaboration with the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), ICI organised two separate workshops for journalists, firstly in Kumasi dubbed: “Journalists’ experience-sharing workshop.”
The first session was mainly intended to provide journalists the opportunity to reflect on the impact of these training workshops on their reporting work, share practical experiences, challenges and explore further support or needs that may enhance their continued reporting on child and forced labour issues.
The News Editors’ session was tailored around for news editors and focused on strengthening editorial commitment to child labour stories.
It also sought to explore strategies to increase the visibility of such stories in newsrooms, understand editorial constraints or concerns among editors on best practices and opportunities for improvement.
The participants in the news editors’ workshop were taken through topics such as “Media Landscape and Child Labour Reporting in Ghana” by Mr Kingsley E. Hope, the immediate-past Ashanti Regional Chairman of GJA, who doubles as the Ashanti Regional correspondent for “Ghanaian Times”.
The Deputy News Editor for Kessben Media, Madam Ernestina Oppong, also made a presentation on “How to Pitch a Story on Child Labour”.
The ICI training and Safeguarding Manager, Nancy Agatesa, made presentations on Knowledge Assessment on Child Labour and Forced Labour, Training on Child Labour Concepts, Training on Forced Labour Concepts, as well as Child Safeguarding.
According to the Communications Director for ICI, Katie Bird the organisation provides guidance and raises awareness through the provision of support to prevent and remediate, identify child labour and follow up with children.
She explained that child labour and forced labour are not limited to Ghana only but a global concern.
She, therefore, appealed to ICI and other stakeholders to sustain and step up advocacy against child labour and forced labour in the cocoa sector.
Activities they do to help fight child labour include educational support, helping the farmers to improve household income, cash transfer to households, apprenticeships targeting teenagers, etc.
