A radio project to promote child's rights launched in Ghana

Gomoa Abasa (C/R), July 4, GNA - An international project to use radio to create awareness on the rights and responsibilities of the child, was on Thursday launched at Gomoa Abasa, in the Central Region. Plan International, a child-centred community development organization in partnership with Nokia, cellular phone manufacturing company, are sponsoring the project known as: "Plan/Nokia Kidswave Project" in 10 countries in the West African sub-region. Inaugurating it, Mrs Aminatu Sar, Senegalese Co-ordinator of the Project in the sub-region, stressed the need to prepare children adequately for their roles as future leaders. Mrs Sar noted that this could best be done through their encouragement to participate in decision making process in the home, the community and in the nation as a whole.

She said children should not be regarded as nonentities as they have a lot of wisdom and qualities. Mrs Emelia Allan, Plan Ghana Southern Sector Manager, who represented the organizations Country Director, said Plan Ghana had initiated a number of interventions since the past three years to promote the rights of the child in the country. Some of which were formation of children's clubs in 190 communities and Children and Youth in Broadcasting, also known as Curious Minds. Mrs Allan explained that Plan/Nokia Kidswave Project was expansion of the Children and Youth in Broadcasting programme to reach out to more children, have live programmes recorded in the communities and also involve Nokia as a partner. She said the project was to develop a website to upload radio programmes to reach out to larger audience and across boundaries through the internet.

Miss Susana Mensah, a student of Gomoa Abasa Presbyterian Junior High School called on Ghanaians to discard the notion that "a child must be seen but not heard" which tend to suppress their views. She called on parents, who betrothed their daughters to elderly men with wives without the consent of the girls, to stop such practice. "When will children feel the impact of summits, conferences and seminars which are organized by world leaders with the aim of creating a better world for children," Miss Mensah asked. Mrs Augustina King, Deputy District Director of Education, advised children to take their education serious to become good scholars to enable them to play meaningful leadership roles in society.