MoGCSP COMMEMORATES WORLD CHILDREN’S DAY

On Friday 19th November 2021, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) in collaboration with UNICEF, Plan Ghana, World Vision International, UNHCR, International Needs, and GACA, commemorated the 2021 World Children’s Day

The Day is celebrated on 19^th November every year to promote the ideals and objectives of the UN Charter and the welfare of all children around the world. It is also observed to promote international togetherness and awareness among children worldwide.

This years’ celebration was under the theme; “Reimagine a better post- COVID world for every child”. The theme called for stakeholders to leverage on vital opportunities and lessons that the COVID-19 pandemic has drawn attention to.

The objectives of this year’s celebration are to:

– empower children and provide them with a voice to express their concerns;

– draw the public’s attention to the new challenges confronting children and advocate for drastic changes from all stakeholders;

– educate the public on issues of concern including the digital divide that is affecting quality education for all, youth mental health, discrimination in our societies and climate change, and how these issues affect the implementation of the Convention on the Right of the Child (CRC) and the SDGs.

Delivering the keynote address on behalf of MoGCSP’s Caretaker Minister, Hon. Cecilia Abena Dapaah, the Chief Director, Dr. Afisah Zakariah, indicated that the impact of constraints caused by COVID19 continue to create multiple forms of child rights crisis. In addition, progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) is also slipping further backwards with children paying the steepest price.

Climate change she said, has become more topical as it has the ability to derail all progress made. “Typical evidence is the recent tidal wave that swept away a number of schools and properties in some communities in Keta which has left many people homeless”. She noted.

The Chief Director disclosed that about 14.4% of surveyed households in Ghana reported having overdue and unobtained vaccinations for children 2 years or younger when Covid peaked. Again, for children attending senior high schools, 45.3% households lacked access to basic tools like computers or phones, 27.6% lacked learning materials, including textbooks and 25.6% lacked access to the internet.

“These constraints and several others emanating from the pandemic have made children’s situation even more complicated than before and requires more innovation and effort”. She stressed.

She therefore urged stakeholders to collaborate to bridge the digital divide between the rich and poor Ghanaians as well as boys and girls since Covid-19 has shown how critical digital knowledge and skills are as drivers of education and national development.

Dr. Afisah Zakariah also called for more engagements and empowerments of children and young people on climate, energy and the environment since action on climate and the environment is best driven by the energy of young people.

She passionately pledged Government’s commitment to upholding and protecting the rights of children as enshrined in CRC. Also, Government will continue to take bold, concrete, actionable and time-bound steps towards the full implementation of CRC and SDGs.

UNICEF Representative in Ghana, Anne-Claire Dufay task stakeholders to advocate, invest, and protect the rights and well-being of every child in Ghana, adding that more equitable opportunities should be provided for all children to champion their rights and also promote gender equality.

The celebration also marked the 3rd session of the Children’s Parliament where ‘child parliamentarians’ discussed, among many issues the effect of COVID-19, climate change, discrimination, youth mental health on children and how Ghana can mitigate their impact. The purpose was to obtain outcomes that address the needs of children.

Source: MoGCSP