Lack of funds frustrates child protection efforts

Ho, June 10, GNA - The Multi-Sectoral Committee on Child Protection in the Volta Region, on Thursday asked the Government to provide funds for the fight against child abuse, to give meaning to the enactment of the Children's Act.

The call was made by participants at a meeting, organized by the Department of Children in Ho, to among other issues review the situation of child protection in the Region.

It was attended by representatives from the Department of Social Welfare, Department of Community Development, Department of Women, Ghana Immigration Service, the Ghana Police Service, Ghana Health Service, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, National Commission on Civic Education, Ghana Prisons of Prisons and Community Water and Sanitation Agency.

The participants called on chiefs to support their people in protecting the rights of children.

They said agencies charged with the responsibility of protecting children were grappling with financial difficulties.

The participants cited the lack of funds for securing the safety of children rescued from traffickers and under aged girls liberated from forced marriages.

Mrs Felicia Okyere-Darko, Chief State Attorney and a member of the Committee, appealed to parents to send their children to school instead of releasing them to child traffickers and for early marriage.

She stressed that parents should take advantage of Government's social intervention programmes such as School Feeding Programme, free distribution of school uniforms and Capitation Grant and enrol their children in school.

Mrs Okyere-Darko asked the Police to intensify their fight against child abuse and child trafficking.