REPUBLIC OF GHANA

Mainly covers the period June 1998 to April 2001 as well as including some earlier information.

  • Population:
    – total: 19,678,000
    – under-18s: 9,917,000
  • Government armed forces:
    – active: 7,000
  • Compulsory recruitment age: 18
  • Voluntary recruitment age: 18
  • Voting age (government elections): 18
  • Child soldiers: none indicated
  • CRC-OP-CAC: not signed
  • Other treaties ratified: ACRWC; CRC; GC/API+II; ICC; ILO 182
  • There are no indications of under-18s in government armed forces.

GOVERNMENT

National Recruitment Legislation and Practice

According to Article 41(h) of the 1992 Constitution "[i]t shall be the duty of every citizen to defend Ghana and render national service when necessary". In its initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child the government reported that there is no law on conscription, thus the Ghanaian armed forces consist purely of volunteers. The minimum age for recruitment is 18.759 The UN confirmed in 2000 that there is no conscription in Ghana.760

However according to other sources a form of conscription was established through the 1980 National Service Act (Act 426), according to which all graduated students over age 18 must perform two years of national service including an eight-week period of military training. Recruitment procedures and training are based on the British model.761

There is no evidence of underage recruitment in Ghana.762 However, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed its concern over the fact that in many rural areas regulations on birth registration are not fully implemented.763 Lack of proper documentation can pose difficulties in enforcing minimum recruitment age requirements.

DEVELOPMENTS

International Standards

Ghana hosted the West African Regional conference on war-affected children in May 2000 which launched several regional initiatives for the protection of children in armed conflict but, at the time of publication, had not yet signed the CRC-OP-CAC.

759 Initial Report of Ghana to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, UN Doc. CRC/C/Add.39, 19/12/95.

760 Report of the Secretary-General, UN doc. E/CN.4/2000/55, op. cit.

761 Horeman and Stolwijk op. cit.

762 According to Social Service International.

763 Concluding observations of the Committee on the Rights of the Child: Ghana. UN Documents. CRC/C/15/Add.73, 18/6/97.

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