NGO advocates for a comprehensive policy for child development

Accra, June 19, GNA- Compassion International, Ghana, (CIG), a Non- Governmental Organization (NGO), at the weekend, advocated for a comprehensive policy for child protection, which will spell out the responsibilities of all stakeholders in the country.

Reverend Jemima Amanor, Country Director of Compassion International, Ghana, said government should be proactive to entrench and enforce the laws protecting children, to curb the menace of streetism, child abuse, rape and child trafficking, which is on the increase in the country.

Rev Amanor said the NGO believed that the surest method of child protection was through education and that, equitable, affordable and accessible education, would lay a firm foundation for a better future for the poor and needy children.

She said this at the celebration of the International day of the African child, held at the Global Evangelical Church, Adonai Chapel in Madina, under the national theme

"All together for urgent action in favour of street children". The programme attracted Pastors as well as Child Development Centres of CIG and its Implementing Church Partners (ICP), in Accra.

The African Child day was instituted by the African Union, after the Soweto uprising in 1976, when about ten thousand poor black children protested against the poor quality of education and demanded equal education for all, leading to the shooting and killing of hundreds of them, as well as injuries. The day is to honour those, who participated in and lost their lives, as they fought for equal rights in education.

Rev Amanor said since the beginning of 2011, children of different ages have been murdered through various means; killed in road accidents, raped or physically and emotionally abused and abduction.

She expressed concern about a report of the Anti- Human Trafficking Unit of the Ghana Police, which said, it had rescued 116 children, across the country, from being trafficked.

"These innocent children are trafficked within Ghana into forced labour, such as, domestic servitude, sexual exploitation, farm hands, porters, as well as street hawkers", she added.

Rev Amanor said the International Labour Organization (ILO) reports that there are 120 million street children worldwide, of whom 30 million are in Africa, and that, about 33,000 Children are living on the streets in Ghana.

She noted that 75 per cent of the number lived on the streets of Accra and Kumasi, and that 71 per cent of them are illiterates, with about half the number being girls.

Rev Amanor said the NGO has 31,417 children registered on their Child Development programme, through the Sponsorship Programme (CDSP), and are receiving support for education, health, and socio-emotional care till they are able to earn a living or reach the age of twenty-two.

"If the necessary grounds are prepared for street children to be integrated into families and enrolled in schools, society would be the beneficiary and children, who would have become social misfits, will grow to be responsible adults" she noted.

Mr Amos Safo, Programme Communications Manager, CIG urged parents to live up to expectation by creating a better world for their children, through investing in their education.

Mr Safo said "parents should listen to God's voice and train the child the way they should grow in the fear of the lord to be useful adults in the society".

He said the home should be the best protection for the child and appealed to parents to ensure that their children do not go wayward.

Mr Safo also appealed to parents, who abuse their children in any form, to desist from it and learn to love and care for their children.

He encouraged students to study hard and learn to love God, as well as obey their parents and teachers, since that was the best way to succeed in life. Some of the activities to mark the day included poetry recitals, cultural performance, exhibition, drama and intercessory prayers for the students, who lost their lives in war-torn African countries.