Respect rights of children
A child rights advocacy organisation, Right To Play, has called for respect for the rights of children irrespective of their circumstances.
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The Project Co-ordinator of the organisation, Mr Samuel Oppong Kwabiah, said child abuse was still rampant in parts of Ghana, noting that the ineffective operation of child rights protection institutions or even the absence of such institutions in some parts of the country, had left children in those areas vulnerable.
The Wa East District of the Upper West Region, for instance, has no office for the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), and, therefore, relies on the facility in the Wa municipality.
Mr Oppong Kwabiah has consequently called on teachers in particular “to support children to know their rights and responsibilities so that they can protect themselves and report abuses and violent cases against them” to the appropriate authorities.
“It is important that the rights of all Ghanaian children, irrespective of where they live, are respected and protected as outlined in the Children’s Act, Act 560,” he said.
The power of sports
Right To Play, a child-centred non-governmental organisation, uses the transformative power of sports and play to educate and empower disadvantaged communities with a focus on enhancing the quality of education, transforming health practices and building peaceful communities.
It is currently working to address challenges affecting the promotion of child rights and protection in 33 communities within two districts of the Upper West Region.
Currently, the organisation is implementing the ‘Creating Safer Communities for Children Project’ in the Upper West Region, in partnership with Plan Ghana and a coalition of key state child protection-focused institutions, including DOVVSU, the National Commission for Civic Education, the Department of Social Welfare, and the Department of Children.
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Leadership training
At a leadership training programme for school-based child rights clubs at Funsi in Wa East, children participants confirmed the findings of a baseline survey conducted by the coalition of state child protection-focused institutions when they admitted that teenage pregnancy, early marriage, child prostitution, child labour and poor healthcare, among others, were factors that affected their rights.
A primary six pupil mentioned that since April this year, five of her classmates had dropped out of school because of pregnancy and early and forced marriages, and expressed fears that the situation could be worse in neighbouring communities.