Togbe Koku Ayim IV, Paramount Chief of Ziavi Traditional Area, has commended the Volta Regional Child Protection Committee for its efforts in protecting and promoting the rights and well-being of children in the region.
He said conscious efforts must be made to ensure the holistic development of children to prepare and position them well as responsible citizens to take up the mantle of leadership of the country in the future to accelerate its socio-economic growth.
Togbe Ayim, who said these at end of year Child Protection Sector Review Meeting in Ho, urged the committee not to relent in its efforts but rather continue with the good work to ensure the safety and protection of children for the betterment of the country’s future.
Mama Kuma II, the Queen mother of Ho-Ahoe and Secretary to the Asogli Queen Mothers’ Association, lamented the high level of rape cases in recent times and charged men to desist from pestering young girls for sex.
Mr Israel Akrobortu, Volta Regional Director, Department of Children, said, the session provided the committee with an opportunity to take stock of its activities within the year under review.
He said it was also to take members of the committee through the contents of the Sixth and Seventh Consolidated Report on the Right of the Child, which Ghana has submitted to the United Nations.
Mr Akrobortu bemoaned the rate at which children were being defiled and the reluctance of parents to report such cases to appropriate authorities to deal with.
He charged victims and parents not to shield perpetrators of such crimes, but rather report them to appropriate authorities to face the law to serve as deterrents to others.
The Director said the situation was worrying and called on relevant stakeholders to support the committee to nip it in the bud as it was jeopardising the life of potential future leaders of the country.
He disclosed that the Department with support from Compassion International Ghana, an NGO, would be providing training for teachers on signs of abuse and where to report such cases for quick and timeous redress.
Traditional, opinion and religious leaders within the operational areas of the NGO, he said, would also be trained on how to liaise with appropriate State agencies to address issues affecting children in the communities.
Madam Salomey Yeboah, Agotime-Ziope Area Programmes Manager, World Vision Ghana, said they collaborated with the Department of Children to establish a district child protection committee with a responsibility to safeguard the welfare of children in the district in the year under review.
She said the organisation also launched the “End Child Marriage Campaign” as part of the effort to help end the increasing child marriage situation in the Agotime-Ziope District.
“We also established child parliament, a platform to teach and encourage children to become assertive, and trained kindergarten and primary teachers to help the pupils develop good reading skills,” she said.
Madam Yeboah said all the 19 area communities of the organisation benefited kids’ clubs with well-trained facilitators in the spiritual nurture of the children to develop their morals and inculcate in them Christian values and principles.
Mrs Thywill Eyra Kpe, Volta Regional Director Department of Gender, revealed that the Department, in partnership with the Ghana Education Service, tracked its mentees for 2021 in five districts under its adolescent empowerment programme in the year under review.
She said the Department also engaged and sensitise over 2,500 children on their sexual reproductive health rights, sexual and gender-based violence and child marriage.
The Director said the Department also established parents’ advocacy support net groups in three districts to promote parental responsibilities and the rights of children.
