Child rights promotion not a call disobedience - Plan Ghana

Mankessim (C/R), July 2, GNA - Mr Sulemana Gbana, the Mankessim Programme Area Unit Manager of Plan Ghana, has appealed to Ghanaians not to misconstrue the promotion of children's rights to mean a call for disobedience.

Speaking at the annual review of the Plan Ghana activities in the area for 2008/2009 financial year, Mr Gbana explained that Plan Ghana promoted the rights of the child because it was a child centred community development organisation.

"We are concerned with the creation of enabling environment for the child to develop his or her potentials freely," he said. The manager said Plan Ghana had spent GH¢268,382 on projects and other activities in the area from July 2008 to June 2009. He said the unit covered 82 communities in the Mfantseman Municipality, Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese and Ajumako-enyan-Essiam Districts. Mr Gbana said the amount was spent on education, health, water, and sanitation, scholarships for needy children, livelihood projects and on the rights of the child.

He commended the partners of the organisation and the volunteers for a good work done for the year under review. The manager explained that even though the global economic recession had affected the organisation's budget leading to a cut in the allocation, Plan Ghana would strive to honour its responsibilities to the total development of the child. He mentioned delays in signing agreements with partners, implementing planned activities, submission of financial and activity reports by partners, lack of maintenance culture and unavailability of motivation for community volunteers as some of the challenges facing Plan Ghana in the area.

Mr Anthony Bainson of the Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Education Service, appealed to parents to see to it that children learn at home saying "Children are taught at school and learn at home". Mrs Margaret Morrison of the Municipal Directorate of the Ghana Health Service, expressed gratitude to Plan Ghana for its continued support for child programmes especially in the National Immunization and de-worming exercises.

At Abura Dunkwa where a similar review programme was held, Mr Gbana announced that Plan Ghana had instituted Village Savings and Loans Scheme in which the people themselves decided on how much contributions they should make in a "susu" form. They also decide on how much they should give out to contributors as loans and the interest they should charge. Besides, they shared the contributions they had made together with the interest accrued from the loans given out.

He said the organisation had instituted a programme dubbed "Learn without Fear" to allay the fears of children, especially girls from sexual harassment and other forms of abuse.