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The Deputy Minister of Employment and Social Welfare, Mr Antwi Bosiako Sekyere, has urged district assemblies to provide leadership to help bring down worst forms of child labour, particularly in cocoa growing communities. He said they needed to do more to ensure that child protection committees are not only formed in all communities but also functional. "Ghana cannot simply afford to attract negative international media coverage for inaction to tackle the problem of engaging children to work on farms," he said. Mr Sekyere said this when he toured the Atwima Mponua District, a key cocoa growing district in the Ashanti Region. He said the Ministry, working in concert with the Ghana Cocoa Board, the Finance and Economic Planning Ministry and other partners had so far trained 500 people to sensitize people in 47 identified cocoa districts where Child labour is more pronounced. The Deputy Minister said they have planned to extend the coverage to 17 other districts. "Ghana is cocoa and cocoa is Ghana and therefore any attempt to thwart the development of the cocoa sector must be tackled head-on," he said. Mr Sekyere appealed to parents to see to it that their children are in school and that they should discourage them from activities that could be harmful to their health and development. Mrs. Rita Owusu Amankwa, National Programme Manager for Elimination of Worst Forms of Child Labour in Cocoa, said children under the age of 18 years should not be used on the farms especially, for clearing and bush burning, handling of agro chemicals and harvesting of overhead cocoa pods with hooks. Mrs Theresah Adomako Tawaih, the District Chief Executive, said 15 communities in the area had formed child protection committees and had received bicycles and a motor bike to enhance their operation.