UNICEF, Parliament lauch Parliamentary Caucus on children to strengthen child rights

Ghana has made important progress in advancing children’s wellbeing, but children’s priorities need to bemore consistently reflected in legislative debates, budget decisions, oversight processes and broader national development discussions. Despite the existing frameworks, many children's needs remainoverlooked across key sectors. Children aged 0-19 number approximately 15.1 million, which represents 45% of the national population. When children’s concerns are not fully considered in public decision￾making, gaps in protection, services and opportunities can persist. To help address this, the Parliament of Ghana collaborated with UNICEF Ghana and its partner, the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA) to establish the Parliamentary Caucus on Children. This dedicated non-partisan platform is designed to champion the rights and wellbeing of children through Parliamentary action (passing or amending laws that protect, fund and advocate for children). The Caucus brings together Members of Parliament to strengthen Parliament’s legislative, oversight, budgeting, representation and public engagement functions so that children’s needs are systematically considered across sectors and parliamentary processes. The Caucus is expected to help promote and protect children’s rights through parliamentary action; mainstreaming children’s issues across parliament's core functions, strengthening advocacy on child rights, and supporting evidence-informed decision-making and accountability for commitments affecting children. Key priorities of the Caucus include: • Promoting the integration of child rights into legislation, policies and budgets. • Advocating for increased investment in children and social sectors. • Strengthening oversight of programmes and services affecting children; monitoring Ghana’s obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child. • Promoting meaningful and safe child participation in governance; and fostering collaboration among parliamentary committees on cross-cutting child-related issues. The Caucus will be guided by principles of non-partisanship, the best interests of the child, non-discrimination, equity, child participation, transparency, evidence-informed decision-making, accountability and child safeguarding. Membership will be voluntary and open to Members of Parliament drawn from relevant committees, with balanced representation across political parties, gender, region, as well as urban and rural districts. Why this matters The Parliamentary Caucus on Children creates a stronger institutional platform for putting children’s issues at the centre of national decision￾making. By supporting more child-sensitive legislation, stronger oversight and better budgeting, the Caucus can help improve accountability for public resources and ensure that children’s rights are more consistently reflected in Parliament’s work. It also offers an opportunity to deepen bipartisan action on child wellbeing and strengthen the voice of children in governance. The Parliamentary Caucus on Children is a joint initiative of the Parliament of Ghana, UNICEF Ghana and the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA). Its expected outcomes include stronger parliamentary leadership on child rights, increased child-sensitive policy reform, improved oversight of child-focused programmes, greater allocation and accountability for public resources benefiting children, enhanced participation of children in governance processes and stronger collaboration among parliamentary committees. Afenyo-Markin responds to Finance Minister's 2026 Mid Year Budget Review presentation Source: UNICEF
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