Looking at the status of women

Article: Salome Donkor
Ghana has a lot to talk about in relation to the enactment of laws, ratification of international treaties and the establishment of rules and procedures for enforcing rights of the child and parental obligations, care and protection of children, as well as the adjudication of judicial and quasi-judicial matters affecting children.
In 1998, Parliament passed the Children's Act (ACT 560) which provided a list of enforceable children's rights and obligations of parents towards their wards.
The United Nations declared 1979 as the International Year of the Child, which was referred to as the 1979 Declaration. The declaration called upon countries, local authorities, civil society organisations and parents to recognise and strive for the protection of the rights of children.
The declaration also influenced the passage of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and Ghana responded positively to the initiatives of the United Nations in being the first country to ratify the UN CRC.
An Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) Decree was passed on August 26, 1979 to establish the Ghana National Commission on Children (which is now known as the Department of Children) and August 31 was declared as the National Children's Day.
The commission is to see to the general welfare and development of children and co-ordinate all essential services for children in the country, with the view to promoting the rights of the child.
The first National Programme of Action dubbed, ‘the Child Cannot Wait’, was developed with set goals that gave a focus to the work by government and civil society organisations to enhance the progress for children in their survival, protection, participation and development.
To protect children against harmful traditional practices the 1992 Constitution included a whole chapter on the rights of a child.
With the passage of the Children's Act, the Ghana National Commission on Children and other public and private stakeholders have the legal backing to fight for the cause of children in Ghana.
Two important events pertaining to the welfare of children were observed in the country at the end of August. Ghana joined the international community to mark the International Day of the Child and the ceremony coincided with the 10th anniversary of the enactment of the Children's Act. The 10th anniversary on the Children’s Act is on the theme: "Children at the Centre of the Children's Act (Act 560)."
The National Children's Day has the objective of creating a platform for stakeholders to deliberate on pertinent issues concerning children and strengthening partnership with child-related agencies to address the concerns of children.
Other policies and programmes backed by legislative frameworks that offer strategies for the protection, survival and development of children in the country include, the 1960 Criminal Code (Act 29), Criminal Code Amendment Act 1998 (Act 554), Juvenile Justice Act 2003 (Act 653), Education Act 1961 that brought into being the Free Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE) programme and the Human Trafficking Act 2005 (Act 694).
To protect children against the six childhood killer diseases, National Immunisation Days (NID) have been instituted, while free medical care that existed for children under five, has been strengthened by the National Health Insurance Scheme and the free medical care for pregnant women, which took off in July, form part of measures to cater for the health needs of children.
Despite these laudable commitments by various governments to protect the rights and welfare of its children as well as develop its future human resource needs for the country's development, the challenges facing the Ghanaian child are still enormous.
A number of children have no shelter; they live dangerously on the streets and engage in hazardous work such hawking, illegal mining, stone quarrying and carry loads to earn income to fend for themselves. Some parents also engage in child trafficking despite legislations banning the practice while some cultural practices are inimical to the rights and protection of children.
The Director for International Desk (Children) of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOW), Mrs Marilyn Amponsah Annan, says she believes that the government is doing its best to ensure that children’s rights are protected and indicated that parents and guardians need to support the government’s efforts to make these efforts a success.
She said the government has improved infrastructural facilities in schools and also introduced the Capitation Grant and the School Feeding Programme in some schools to lessen the burden of the cost of education to parents and indicated that parents need to play their part by taking their children off the streets and sending them to school stop the children from working to earn income to support the upkeep of the home.
According to Mrs Annan, various programmes have been organised by MOWAC, the Ministry of Manpower, Youth and Employment and the Department of Social Welfare to sensitise parents and guardians to their rights and responsibilities, while a micro-credit scheme is being provided to support unemployed women to empower them economically.
Mr Bright Appiah, a child’s right activist, looked at four areas when asked to assess the 10 years of the operation of the Children’s Act in four areas.
He said in the area of protection, it is true that the law was enacted to protect children but indicated that a lot had not been done to protect children who come into contact with the law and mentioned in particular, lack of adequate protection for children who are defiled and inadequate measures to rehabilitate them
Mr Appiah said in the area of child mortality, the NID is yielding positive results and pointed out that since 2003, no child has died of polio but pointed out that there was the need to put in place measures to protect children with special needs, as well as orphaned and vulnerable children.
He said in relation to the issue of participation, more needs to be done to make children take part in initiation and implementation of decisions that affected their interest.
Mr Appiah pointed out that in looking at the operation of the Children’s Act after 10 years, “we have to look at actualisation of the law with the adoption of comprehensive institutional and administrative arrangements that facilitate effective sharing of ideas and information aimed at ensuring the total development, growth and protection of children.