By Emmanuel Akayeti
The government has been urged to increase the budgetary allocation for child protection to mitigate numerous challenges affecting the growth and development of children across the country.
This was disclosed by the Head of Research, Department of Children, Dr. Sylvester Kyei-Gyamfi, during the Upper East Regional Child Protection Committee meeting held in Bolgatanga.
The programme was sponsored by the United Nations Children’s Fund with the aim of sensitising members of the Committee on Ghana’s 6th and 7th report to the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Speaking to GBC Ghana Online, Mr. Kyei Gyamfi indicated that the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, which is the central management agency for children, has one of the smallest budgets in the government ministries. Yet, there are numerous challenges affecting the growth and development of children across the country.
Dr. Kyei-Gyamfi admitted that despite the progress Ghana has made since the ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child about two decades ago, many children continued to face various forms of abuse and exploitation.
He stated that the country had enacted various child protection laws and regulations, strengthened institutions, conducted research, built capacities of various stakeholders, created awareness, and proposed different policies, among others, but inadequate resources had left some interventions unimplemented. He further advocated for a special fund to be established dedicated to addressing only issues affecting children.
Ms. Yvonne Wonchua, Gender Desk, Upper East Regional Coordinating Council, noted that the region was still confronted with lots of child protection issues such as child marriage, teenage pregnancy, and sexual exploitation, among other forms of violence against children that were still prevalent, and urged parents to play critical roles in the upbringing of their children and the need for stakeholders to work collectively to address them.
Pe Thomas Asangehera Aluah, Divisional Chief of Kazigu in the Kassena-Nankana West, advocated for the ages of consent to sex and marriage to be reviewed to help fight teenage pregnancy and child marriage.
The Child Protection Committee was made up of; the Regional Coordinating Council (RCC), Departments of Gender, Children, and Social Welfare (DGCSW), Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Births and Deaths Registry, Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service, and advocacy civil society organizations, among others.