Churches pledge to lead child protection campaign in Asante Akim North

Churches in the Asante Akim North District have pledged to lead the crusade against child abuse and other related issues in the area.

Reverend Prince Bennett Ameyaw Bediakoh, the General Secretary of the Local Council of Churches (LCC), said member churches were embarking on intensive educational campaigns for their members on the need to protect the rights of children in their communities.

He said the educational campaign, which was being carried out in collaboration with World Vision Ghana (WVG), would seek to improve the wellbeing of children and help end violence and abuses such as child labour, child trafficking, early child marriages among others, which were prevalent in the area.

Rev. Bediakoh was speaking at a District Child Protection Committee (DCPC) meeting held at Agogo.

He said the LCC which was an active member of the DCPC would go all out to intensify efforts to reach out to all the communities in the District through the churches and educate community members on the need to seek the welfare of their children.

He said children were gifts from God and should therefore be catered for well in order to secure the future of the nation.

Rev. Bediakoh said member churches had already embarked on activities such as child evangelism and child educational programmes over the years with support from WVG, adding that, LCC was riding on those initiatives to help curb child abuses and related social issues in rural communities.

Mr. Joseph Kwogyenga, the Sekyere East Cluster Manager of WVG, said similar collaboration was being done with the local Muslim Council to reach out and improve the wellbeing of all children irrespective of their religious background.