Ghana launches Children’s Shadow Report
Nana Oye Lithur, Minister of Children, Gender and Social Protection, on Friday launched a 24- page Children’s Shadow Report on the Convention on the Rights of the Child.
The Report, which chronicles the state of child rights in Ghana, is a culmination of extensive efforts of children whose voices were articulated on their behalf by Alexander Tangombu and Hadijah Zakariah who were sponsored by World Vision Ghana (WVG) at the Universal Peer Review session in Geneva in August 2012.
Nana Oye Lithur, in a speech read on her behalf in Accra, at the joint launch of the Report and the WV Ghana 2012 Annual Report; said the Shadow Report was significant because it was written and presented by children.
She said the report would give additional information on government’s reports on human rights issues to specific committees, which publish concerns and recommendations.
She said the Ministry is committed to ensure the achievement of its mandate through appropriate policies, strategies and requisite social protection interventions, declaring that government views the concept of a Shadow Report on Children’s Rights as welcome news.
She said the Ministry with the help of the United Nations International Children’s Fund is vigorously following a road map for the development and launch of a National Child Protection Policy by the end of the year.
She stated that having recognized that there is some correlation between poverty and the violation of children’s rights, government has increased the benefits of the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty from 2000 in 2008 to 71,000 in 2013.
Nana Oye Lithur said: “It is our opinion that when families are better resourced, they are better equipped for the protection of children’s rights to education, health, child care and protection from vulnerability.”
She said it is about time the nation deepens engagement with children, traditional leaders and parents on issues of children’s right.
“As emerging socio-economic, cultural and technical trends make children more vulnerable, we have a responsibility to creatively design programmes and policies that respond to these emerging needs,” she noted.
She announced that the Ministry would soon roll out the Ghana Gender Dialogue; a programme aimed at providing a platform to discuss and fashion out solutions for critical issues, and top on the list is child prostitution.
Mr Hubert Charles, WVG National Director said the launch of the two reports was the first in the history of the Organisation in the country.
Source: GNA