Best wishes to our mothers and children

Story: Salome Donkor
The common theme running through the messages of all those who have the interest of Ghanaian women and children at heart during this festive season, and the years ahead is the desire to see the end of problems militating against the development of women and children.
A gender activist and a columnist of the Daily Graphic, Nana Oye Luther, wrote in her column in the Tuesday, December 22 issue that her Christmas wish for women in Ghana “is for the better economically endowed Ghanaian woman to reach out of her comfort zone and give a Christmas present to a rural disadvantaged woman. Give her a package to help educate her children”.
The report of the Parliamentary Committee on Gender and Children on the 2010 annual budget estimates of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), presented to Parliament recently by the Chairman of the committee, Mr Sampson Ahi, urged the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) to re-prioritise its activities in order to provide skills training for women’s groups under the ministry’s budget allocation for 2010.
The committee stated that in reviewing the performance of MOWAC in 2009, it realised that no skills training and economic support was provided for women’s groups, adding that providing skills training and economic support for women’s groups was a means of empowering women financially and thereby accelerating the socio-economic development of the country.
In her Christmas message, the Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Akua Sena Dansua, called on the citizenry to reflect on the various problems militating against the development of women and children in Ghana, such as parental irresponsibility, child neglect, child abuse, human trafficking, domestic violence and rape, among others.
She said in spite of the many interventions put in place by the government to make education accessible to all, such as the Capitation Grant, the School Feeding Programme and the provision of free uniforms and exercise books to pupils in all public basic schools, some irresponsible parents failed to enrol their children in school, adding “ these children end up on the streets with some growing to become social miscreants engaging in armed robbery, drug abuse and prostitution, among others”.
“Women and children face rape and physical abuse daily. These experiences lead to psychological trauma, depression, the spread of Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STDs), including HIV and AIDS, physical disabilities and sometimes, even death”, the minister lamented.
She, therefore urged all to use the Yuletide to reflect on the problems and also work out ways in which all Ghanaians could assist to end “these social cankers”.
She said it was the responsibility of every Ghanaian to report perpetrators of rape and other abuse on women and children to the police and security agencies, stressing that “parents should take the education, welfare and protection of their children seriously to ensure that they grow up to become responsible adults”.
Ms Dansua indicated that the government for its part would continue to put in place the necessary interventions to address women and children’s issues and ensure that women and children in the society would be able to develop their full potential without any social, cultural or economic impediments and also offer maximum protection to enable them to grow up to become productive citizens.
“As we celebrate Christmas and also prepare for the New Year, I wish, on behalf of the ministry and on my own behalf, to extend our gratitude and best wishes to all Ghanaians, especially our stakeholders, who have supported us this year to advance the cause of women and children in Ghana” she said.
A message from the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service urged parents and guardians to remain committed to the upbringing of their children.
Speaking to the Daily Graphic, the Public Affairs Officer of DOVVSU, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Freeman Tettey, said Christmas was a period of showing love, understanding and giving, and advised parents who had neglected their parental responsibilities to honour their duties to God and humanity and ensure that their children were provided with food, clothing and shelter, the basic necessities of life.
He said records of cases received by DOVVSU indicated that child non-maintenance was on the ascendancy and pointed out that the issue had a correlation with the crime rate, since children who were neglected and left on the streets tended to engage in all kinds of anti-social vices.
According to him, child non-maintenance cases constituted 458 out of the total of 12,456 cases reported to the unit between January and December this year, and described the situation as a serious threat to the foundation of society.
Mr Tettey, therefore advised parents to be very responsible and also remain vigilant during the festive period so that their children would not fall victim to perpetrators of rape, defilement and other violent crimes against women and children.
He appealed to the public to co-operate with the police to fight violence against women and children by reporting people who commit such crime to the police.