The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration has sworn in six child ambassadors who would be traveling to the Republic of Colombia to promote and participate in activities designed to foster cultural exchange and dialogue.

The Child Ambassador Project, a joint initiative by PLAN International Ghana and the AU Diaspora Africa Forum (AUDAF), is to give the children from rural Ghana, the opportunity to experience different countries and cultures.

The Chief Director of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Mr L.K.Christian, thanked PLAN Ghana and AUDAF for sponsoring the Child Ambassador Programme, adding that it was imperative that the younger generations got the needed global outlook.

Mr Christian said the future of every country was in its younger generation, and it was important that critical attention be paid to the education and grooming of the future generation.

He noted that Ghana’s co-operation with the Republic of Colombia transcended traditional diplomatic engagements to real life changing initiatives, such as the Child Ambassadors initiative.

He expressed gratitude to the AUDAF for organizing the programme for the second time, adding that those who benefited from the maiden edition were doing well in education.

“Two are currently in the medical school, three on presidential scholarship, and one is a trained professional teacher.

“Clearly the child ambassador programme is achieving its expected outcome of encouraging the younger people to aim higher and also inspire their communities as agents of change.” he said.

Mr Christian, therefore, challenged the new ambassadors to be worthy ambassadors of Ghana, having in mind the need for higher heights and the expectations of knowledge transfer to their individual communities and Ghana as a whole.

Dr Erieka Bennet, Head of Mission, AUDAF in her address, said the programme would change the lives of the children to be confident and be able to sell the rich culture of Ghana abroad.

She said over the past few weeks, the children had been taken through Spanish lessons to enable them to communicate in the language, including building their confidence level, and football training, to help them in their new task.

Mr Prem Shukla, Country Director, PLAN International, said it was an important initiative that would allow the children to explore other parts of the world to bridge the gap among continents.

He urged the children to remain united to be able to promote the country’s culture to other parts of the world, so as to generate interest among other participants.

Ms Carolina Herrera Gonzalez, representative of the Colombian Ambassador in Ghana, said the initiative was important to the Colombian Embassy, since it would strengthen partnership that existed between the two countries.