Safeguarding Ghana's future: The Department of Children takes on Independence Day's call to reflect, review and reset

As Ghana gears up to celebrate its 68th Independence Anniversary on March 6, 2025, the nation is rallying under the theme “Reflect! Review! Reset!”—a bold invitation to take stock of its journey, confront its challenges, and chart a fresh course for progress. For the Department of Children, under the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection, this theme isn’t just a slogan, it resonates as a battle cry to secure the future of Ghana’s youngest citizens. With the stakes higher than ever, the Department is seizing this moment to weave together the threads of cultural heritage, positive parenting, and responsible media into a safety net for the Ghanaian child.

 Looking back: A legacy of collective care

Ghana’s past offers a powerful lens for reflection. Long before modern policies, the nation’s strength lay in its communal approach to raising children. Extended families, clans, and villages banded together to instill values of respect, grit, and duty. The Department of Children has leaned on this ancestral blueprint, championing laws like the Children’s Act of 1998 and the Child and Family Welfare Policy of 2015. These frameworks tackle the modern scourges of child labor, trafficking, abuse, while echoing the ethos of collective care.  

But the cracks are showing. Urban sprawl and the digital age have frayed these traditional support systems, leaving many kids adrift from their cultural moorings. Storytelling sessions by the fireside and rites of passage are fading, replaced by screen time and globalized influences. The Department sees the warning signs: without urgent action, Ghana risks losing the very heritage that once shaped its resilient youth.  

Taking stock: Where we stand

A hard look at today’s reality reveals a child protection system at a tipping point. The Department is juggling the preservation of Ghana’s identity with the demands of a fast-changing world. Community dialogues are buzzing with efforts to blend time-honoured traditions like Akan storytelling with modern parenting tactics that ditch violence for dialogue. Partnerships with chiefs and queen mothers aim to revive these practices, potentially weaving them into school curriculums and local programs to halt cultural erosion.
  
Then there’s the media conundrum. TV and smartphones bombard kids with foreign content, drowning out local narratives. The National Media Commission’s Children’s Television Policy demands 60% local programming, a solid idea that’s gathering dust due to lax enforcement. Shows like “Yolo” tv drama that advises and directs the youth concerning the challenges they face in their adolescence. A television series produced and directed by Ivan Quashigah blends folklore with life skills, or the nostalgic “By the Fireside”, hint at what’s possible. The Department wants more, pushing for stronger ties with content creators to reclaim the airwaves for Ghanaian values.  

Enforcement remains the Achilles’ heel. Robust laws exist, but Child Protection Committees at district and regional levels are starved of resources, struggling to curb streetism, child labor, and the rising tide of online exploitation. The Department knows it cannot do it alone; collaboration is the name of the game.  

A bold reset: Action for tomorrow

With the 2025 theme as its north star, the Department is rolling up its sleeves. Community-led parenting is top of the agenda, with plans to scale up the Positive Parenting program. The Department envisions radio jingles, TV dramas, and local influencers spreading the gospel of non-violent communication especially with children. Traditional leaders, chiefs, queen mothers, assembly members will double as child rights champions, bridging old ways with new.  Cultural reconnection is next. Think school clubs and programs funded by NGOs and development partners, breathing life back into Ghana’s heritage. On the media front, the Department is pushing for stricter local content quotas and grants for educational shows. The Department of Children envisions a system where telcos can offer free access to child-friendly Ghanaian content online, tech meeting tradition head-on.
  
Speaking of tech, the Department is eyeing a digital overhaul. Expanding the Child Protection Information Management System (CPIMS) could let communities report abuse in real time via mobile apps. A UNESCO tie-up might bring digital literacy to classrooms, arming kids to navigate the wilds of the internet responsibly.  

None of these comes cheap. The Department is banging the drum for bigger budgets, rallying NGOs, faith groups, and the diaspora to fund mentorship programs. It’s a unified front involving, government, media, traditional leaders, and families marching to the beat of “no child left behind.”  

A Nation at 68: The call to rise

As Ghana turns 68, the Department of Children stands as the torchbearer of this vision. By tapping the nation’s cultural riches, wielding modern tools, and rallying its communal spirit, the nation is laying the groundwork for children to grow into proud, tough, and creative leaders. This Independence Day is not just a celebration but a call to action, a challenge to do more. A call to Reflect on what’s worked, review what’s broken, and reset for a future where Ghana’s children don’t just survive but thrive. The Department can’t do it alone. Will the nation step up? This is a call to action on all duty bearers in Child Protection.

The Writer is a Principal Information of the Information Services Department and currently a PRO at the Department of Children of the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection.
Email: ewadanyina@gmail.com
Tel: 233556311441