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Maternity leave in Ghana to be extended to 14 weeks

By Maame Aba Afful
Maternity leave in Ghana to be extended to 14 weeks
Maternity leave in Ghana to be extended to 14 weeks
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The Ministry of Employment and Labour relations has disclosed its plans to extend the maternity leave of nursing mothers from the current 12 weeks to 14 weeks.

Deputy Employment and labour relations minister, Bright Wireku-Brobbey while addressing citizens during the commemoration of the International Women's day hinted that the ministry was preparing a  Maternity protection bill to present to parliament which will allow nursing mothers to spend two more weeks at home to cater for their babies.

According to him, per the International Labour Organization, ILO Convention 103 of which Ghana is part, it is stipulated that maternity leave should be granted for a minimum of 14 weeks. This, he believes, means that Ghana is lagging behind with its current 12 week period for maternity leave.

“We have 12 weeks. But then we are advocating that in the new Bill which we are seeking to produce we will go to 14 weeks, to begin with,” he said.

The Maternity Protection Bill is the result of a tripartite consultation between the Organised Labour, the government and Employers Association.

Advocacy for extension of Maternity Leave

Meanwhile, several groups and individuals have been advocating for at least six months maternity leave for working mothers in Ghana. The Ghana Medical Association in November 2012 called for the review of labour laws to grant mothers six months maternity leave and a mandatory establishment of nurseries in all public and private institutions.

Over 4,000 Ghanaians have also signed a petition over the years to review the labour laws. The petition, which was submitted to Parliament by civil society group leader, Kojo Bedu Addo stated that "Our current labour laws provide just 3 months for our working mothers and wives to spend time with our newborn children before returning to work. This is simply not good enough for the productive years of the newborn and the overall productivity of the nation. It's also a barrier to motherhood and work. Let's take the progressive step to change this legislation."

First Lady, Mrs Rebecca Akufo-Addo in 2017 also called for the extension of maternity leave from the current three months to five months.

The extension, according to her will conform with provisions of the International Labour Organization’s Maternity Protection Convention which Ghana is a signatory to.

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