A forum on the need to deal with child trafficking and uphold children’s rights, has been held in Tamale to map out strategies to promote the welfare of children.
The discussants touched on current approaches on rights of the child and trafficking and indicated the urgent need for effective collaboration and advocacy among various stakeholders in arresting the growing phenomenon, that sometimes resulted in the migration of children and adolescents from the northern sector of the country to the south, for menial jobs.
The workshop was organised by the Regional Advisory, Information and Network Systems (RAINS), a Tamale-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), in partnership with the Department of Children.
Participants were also drawn from the civil society organisations, the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit of the Ghana Police Service (DOVVSU), district assemblies, the Ghana Education Service and the media.
The Vice Chairman of the board of trustees of RAINS, Alhaji Bakari Nyari, indicated the need to shift focus from the welfare approach to handling issues confronting children.
“Since issues affecting children are mainly human rights issues, we are under an obligation to demonstrate responsibly that children are not objects of charity seeking help and compassion from society. Instead they are individuals who are entitled to protection” he said.
Over the years, RAINS under its “Next Generation” Programme (NGP), with funding from Comic Relief has responded to the needs of children in various forms.
According to Alhaji Nyari, RAINS has been supporting local communities to deal with issues confronting children, especially those who suffered abuse and deprivation. “We are particularly focusing on fostered girls to ensure that they have protection, as well as access to resources including education”, he added.
At the moment RAINS is supporting the education of 1,600 girls in basic schools and over 600 young girls with vocational and life skills in the Northern Region.
A number of children are also being assisted through Children Clubs to raise issues of child rights and protection. In addition, families are being provided with loans and micro enterprise support to enable them bring up their children responsibly.
In spite of all these efforts, Alhaji Nyari lamented that there were still widespread ignorance of the law as child rights are often tagged as acts of “insubordination” and alien concepts.
“There are also still some deep seated negative practices often branded as culture. I will be particularly interested in how we negotiate a balance between culture and legislation in relation to child rights,” he further stated.
The participants were also of the view that skills training and provision of material items were not enough to stop human trafficking and “Kayaye” and called for more sensitisation programmes to change attitudes. They also called on local authorities, especially district assemblies, to be at the forefront in the fight against child trafficking, abuse and labour.
The participants further noted the significant influence of chiefs, opinion leaders, assembly persons and youth leaders in the communities and that such influence could be harnessed and utilised in the fight against child labour and trafficking.
In a speech read on his behalf, the Northern Regional Minister, Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba, said it was the policy of the government to empower the youth to enable them develop their potentials and reminded the people that, children have the right to live, and be provided with food, clothing, shelter, protection, affection, good health and education.
No comments:
Post a Comment