From Ernest Best Anane
The various Municipal, Metropolitan and District Assemblies (MMDAs) have been entreated to prioritise women and children in their yearly budgetary allocations, and make provision for them, especially, the less privileged, to help reduce violence against children.
They have been urged to place special focus on sexual exploitation to help eliminate the increasing number of street children and child labour among the girl child in society.
Dr. Oppong Appia-Adjei Ampong, Director of Defense for Children International-Ghana (DFI-G), a non-governmental organisation, noted that the rate at which the number of street children and the less privileged in society is growing was alarming and must be a concern to the government, stakeholders, and well-meaning Ghanaians who should ensure that such acts are stopped or eliminated to ensure equal treatment to every Ghanaian child, irrespective of tribe, origin or religious background.
The DFI-G focuses on the main forms of physical, psychological and sexual violence against girls and young women for resolution and reduction of violence against children, with special focus on sexual exploitation of children in the Kumasi Metropolis and Asokore Mampong Municipality.
Dr. Ampong said the objective of the NGO is to strengthen civil society organisations in advocacy, and lobby for improved protection of children against violence, including sexual exploitation.
He told stakeholders, including Nananom, the leadership of Muslims and Christians in the Asokore Mampong Municipality in the Ashanti Region, at a meeting, which deliberated on issues affecting the less privileged and street children, that there was the need for Ghanaians to embark on monitoring and collaborate with one another in dealing with issues of maltreatment and child trafficking, to make sure every Ghanaian enjoyed life to its fullest.
He called for an attitudinal change in the way we perceive the less privileged, and the government, through MMDAs, is to make sure every child of school-going age was in school, by putting in place pragmatic measures in identifying parents whose wards are on the streets of our cities and towns, and educate them on the need for the such children to be in school towards the elimination of child labour and trafficking.
The Executive Director of DFI-G also called for government-community partnership with religious bodies and youth groups to help improve upon policies that protect children from child labour or maltreatment, child trafficking, and all forms of issues affecting children and women’s development through advocacy.