Children and women remain the foundation of every society – Mrs. Irina Adu

Mrs. Jane Irina Adu, Founder of the Potters Village, said at the weekend that children remain the foundation on which every society is built and therefore children in every family are expected to grow up to become matured and happy individuals.

She said children being citizens of tomorrow’s world; their protection and development were to be the primary goal of every family and every nation to enable them to become fully functioning members of their societies.

Mrs. Adu was speaking at the Mass Dedication and Naming Ceremony of The Potters Village at Dodowa in the Dangbe West District of the Greater Region.

She noted that children who were denied parental care, love and protection in Ghana were countless and called on Government to protect the nation's children, as they were the country’s future leaders.

Mrs. Adu said children were exposed to dangers that hampered their growth and development; many suffer as victims of neglect, violence, and exploitation and therefore abandon their homes and roots to end up on the streets.

"Taking their destinies into their own hands leads them to become drug addicts, armed robbers, prostitutes and murderers," she added.

She said the mission of the organization was to empower women and children and offer holistic training and tools, to ensure families lived in harmony and to provide a safe haven for victims of domestic violence and homeless.

Mrs. Adu said the organization also aimed at creating and ensuring peace and security for national socio-economic development for women and children in Ghana and abroad.

She said her vision to establish the Potters Village coincided with the New Patriotic Party's newly created ministry of women and children's affairs in 2001, and at that time the new ministry needed more foot soldiers in its quest to give practical meaning, direction and substance to the much talked about child's rights and women's emancipation and empowerment.

The Potters Village is a charity organization established in 2002 and registered with the Registrar General's Department and the Department of Social Welfare, to provide care and support to children and women, who are vulnerable in the Ghanaian society.**