Mr. Chairman,

National Programme Manager of the NPECLC,

Distinguished ladies and gentlemen,

I recall that in August, 2010 the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare organized a national conference on child labour monitoring for stakeholders with the objective of reviewing and harmonizing the various child labour monitoring systems that have operated at one time or other in this country into one system to be used by all.

If my memory serves me right, the following child labour monitoring systems were known to us at the time:

• The Central Tracking Database of Ex-Working Children, conducted by the Ministry of Employment and Social Welfare between 2001 and 2003
• The Mono-sector Decentralised CLMS, implemented by the ILO/IPEC between2003 and 2006
• The Integrated-Child Labour Monitoring System, also operated by ILO/IPEC between 2006 and 2009, and
• The Community Child Labour Monitoring System developed by the NPECLC in 2008

The objective in harmonizing the various systems was to draw on the best practices and lessons from all of them and standardize the design, operations and management of child labour monitoring in Ghana. That was the inception of what has become known as the Ghana Child Labour Monitoring System (GCLMS). But what was produced at the end of that conference was just the broad outline of ideas which needed to be translated into a realistic concept that works.

Many of you have put in days, weeks and months of toil, bringing your training, expertise and experience to bear on giving substance to the ideas mooted , which has evolved into a manual on the GCLMS. You have also developed questionnaires for data collection which we term "tools" and a data capturing software. The NPECLC has just finished pre-testing them in the Kwaebibirem District of the Eastern Region, and l am happy to learn that the exercise was successful. But I know, getting this far has not been easy.

It has been a process which called for considerable diligence in working towards our vision - sometimes recasting what you formulated only days earlier, at times amending them and, constantly, fine-tuning them as you went along to ensure that you produced what is technically acceptable and also meets our aspirations.

This day marks the end of the process for which many of you have sacrificed so much; it is a day which shows that all our sacrifices have not been in vain. I believe l can say: "So far, so good!" Indeed, so very good! l think we should all feel proud of how far we have come; certainly, we are getting towards our vision. What your expertise has produced will certainly live as a testimony of your hard work.

At this point, l wish to acknowledge the support and assistance of the COCOBOD, the ILO, UNICEF, the World Cocoa Foundation, the International Cocoa Initiative, DANIDA and many others, without which all our thoughts, goodwill and enthusiasm towards addressing the challenge of child labour in our Ghanaian society would have been stillborn . I am optimistic that we can count on their continued support.

We are here today to validate both the tools and the training manual, after which will actually start piloting what we have developed. Obviously, we have not yet come to the end of our mission. As you are no doubt aware, the GCLMS is unique and historic in the annals of child labour monitoring in the world, and Ghana will probably carve an enviable position for herself if the System works effectively.

I therefore entreat you to not rest on your oars, but to contribute to the implementation of the pilot programme with the same positive attitude that has brought us this far and work towards perfecting the GCLMS. Then shall we say we have produced something great; then shall we really have reason to beat our chests with pride.

We should be mindful of the fact that no one person is the sole repository of knowledge or wisdom. As usual, we should give everyone here the chance to express their views, for we have now become a family and we all seek the same goal: to ensure that this country progresses by laying strong foundations for our children to fully develop their potentials.

I know l can count on you. Indeed, you have given me reason to be so hopeful of the Ghana Child Labour Monitoring System. And I know the Almighty God will not fail to reward you for what you have faithfully put in for the sake of the children of this country.

On this note, and on behalf of the Hon. Minister for Employment and Social Welfare, it is my pleasure to declare the validation workshop of the Ghana Child Labour Monitoring System officially opened.

Thank you and may God bless us all and the children of Ghana.