The Child Protection Alliance Ghana (CPA Ghana), a network of Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) which works for the good of the Ghanaian child has blamed the government of Ghana for the inability to resource state agencies and institutions to function well.

According to them, the Department of Social Welfare, Department of Children, Ghana Legal Aid, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) that are responsible for child protection services have failed to exercise their mandate effectively due to inadequate resources.

The Alliance stated that there is very limited support and care for children and families who have experienced forms of maltreatment.

This was contained in a statement issued and signed by its Interim Steering Committee Chairperson, Hussein Rahman.

The statement said “government’s budget is mostly for recurrent costs, not programs, and this affects the implementation of child related programmes whilst allocations to several key Ministries, Departments and Agencies with mandate and responsibility for child and family welfare are largely inadequate”.

It added that, the National Legal Aid Scheme is expected to provide free legal services for vulnerable persons including children but they also lack human and logistical resources at both the regional and district levels.

The statement further noted that girls and boys in Ghana still experienced frequent and multiple forms of physical, emotional, verbal abuse and violence.

CPA Ghana in the statement said, the Alliance is currently designing a programme that will help to promote and provide a safe environment and peaceful co-existence for children in conflict-prone areas.

It will also enable children to undertake peace-building and non-violence initiatives within and between their communities. 

“The project will enhance human security by developing local capacity for holistic community-based approach to child abuse prevention,” the statement added.

CPA Ghana therefore appeal to child-focused international organisations such as UNICEF, UNESCO, Plan International, Care International, World Vision and Save the Children among others to support the Alliance with both technical and financial support to enable it carry out its mandate.

They also urged the government to urgently ensure provision of adequate human, technical and financial resources required for the proper functioning of the Child and Family Welfare System at all levels.

“This, we believe, will help such institutions and agencies to design child and family welfare programmes and activities to effectively prevent and protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation,” the alliance stressed. Joy Online