15 children petition Gov’t on “Action 2015”

As part of activities to demand full realization of the Millennium Development Goals dubbed “Action 2015” and its aftermath, 15 children from the Abibigroma Foundation have petitioned government through the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Ministry of Environment to put their interest at the center of the post 2015 development framework.

The post-2015 development framework targets promises all children care, support and services which work together for the best start of life.

Presenting the petition on behalf of her colleagues, Ms. Priscilla Abrefi said “we want a world where justice is ensured, where all persons are able to realize their rights and the citizenry are able to democratically participate freely and fully in decision-making that affects their lives”.

She echoed the need to addressing challenges posed by economic and political systems that favor the elite and concentrate power and wealth in the hands of a few and government, international institutions, private sector, civil society and other power holders are accountable to the community.

“We need to transform the patterns of production and consumption so that they would not interfere with the lives of people and the planet,” Ms. Abrefi opined.

According to her, “By 2030 we will be adults and may have children of our own, our generation might not be the ones making decisions today but we will be the ones to make sure that our leaders take full responsibility for the action they take this year. We ask that you make choices dictated by needs of future generation and not by short-term policies.

The petition further demanded the President, John Mahama to join hands with world leaders during the September andNovember United Nations General Assembly to formulate legal binding framework to fight climate change, reduce Poverty and inequality to ensure that a sustainable development goal that promises every child actualization of his potential is achieved by 2030.

Receiving the Petition, a Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Mr. John Alexander Ackon said government had the protection of the vulnerable at heart and as such, re-named his ministry to oversee to persons who fall into such category.

He mentioned the Livelihood Empowerment against Poverty, (LEAP) as one of the many measures government had instituted to tackle the extremely poor and the vulnerable.

The sector Deputy Minister explained that the Leap targets 103 districts to cover persons such as orphans without support, extremely poor 65 years amongst others.

At the Ministry of Environment the Director of Finance and Administration Mr. Alexander Kwaning received the petition on behalf of the sector Minister saying “these are issues being addressed globally ”.

He said, “to get to the highest level as a nation, there must be something to propel ‘Action 2015” and admitted that a lot of African Children were facing poverty, hunger and malnutrition”.

The Director was of the view that some of the concerns in the petition had not been tackled as of now as a nation due to certain circumstances beyond control”

The Coordinator of Action 2015-Ghana, Mr. Kenneth Amoateng said Action 2015was a global campaign movement made up of organisations, coalitions and partnerships from around the world that want to see concrete action and ambitious agreements to tackle the root causes of inequality, injustice, poverty, and climate change in 2015.