Deputy Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Madame Zuweira Lariba Abudu, has stated that Ghana has made significant strides in child protection since becoming the first country to rectify the UN Convention on the rights of children.
According to her, a robust legislative framework to protect children and their rights have been developed, particularly through the Children’s Act 1998 Act 560.
“The Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560), the Children’s (Amendment) Act, 2016, the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694), the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act 732) and the Juvenile Justice Act, 2003 (Act 653). The Child and Family Welfare Policy (2015) and the Justice for Children Policy (2015).”
“All these documents identify key strategies to further promote and protect child rights, taking into account the specificities of the Ghanaian card context,” she said.
In a keynote address she delivered on behalf of the Minister at the launch of ten policy documents of the Department of Social Welfare to strengthen child protection, Madame Lariba Abudu indicated that the Ministry recognizes the family, pursuant to international and local legal framework, as the fundamental unit of society and the natural environment for growth and well-being of its members.
The Deputy Minister expressed her support for the implementation of a five-year road map for the deinstitutionalization of all children in Ghana and closing down all substandard residential care.
This, she said, will go a long way to address the unnecessary separation of children from their families.
She indicated that efforts have been made through several strategies to address challenges associated with the well-being of children, children at risk of separation, or already separated, and the need to strengthen alternative care options that promote family-based care.
According to her, improved policies and strategies for interventions have been developed and documented today for a standardized approach in handling cases concerning the child and family’s welfare.
The manuals that have been launched, she said, will therefore provide new guidance and instructions on how Probation Officers should carry out their work in the best interest of children and youth who come into contact or in conflict with the law.
They include Children Living in Residential Care in Ghana: Findings from a Survey of Well-being; The Social Welfare Service Workforce Capacity Assessment and Capacity Building Strategy for Social Welfare Services workforce; Probation Manual; Guidelines for Deinstitutionalization of Residential Homes for Children; and Training Manual for Caregivers of Children with Disabilities.
The rest are National Standards for Foster Care in Ghana; Special Guidance for Child Protection Case Management; Social Welfare Service Workforce Strategy Assessment; Capacity Building Strategy for Social Welfare Strategy; and Strategic Plan for the Department of Social Welfare.
The policy documents were developed by the Department of Social Welfare in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service and the Judicial Service.
The launch is a result of Ghana’s strategic partnership with the United States Government and UNICEF in a multi-year effort to develop these instruments and guidance and promote their use to strengthen the country’s social service workforce at the sub-national level.
The United States Government, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), has supported the Government of Ghana and UNICEF to develop the tools.
They were developed as part of a programme to accelerate the Care Reform Initiative between the Government of the United States and Ghana, which aims to ensure that children are living in a protective and loving family.
Chief Director of the Ministry, Dr. Afisah Zakaria, thanked UNICEF and USAID for the funding and technical support in the development of these documents and expressed hope the launching will not be an event but the documents will be used for their intended purposes.
The Ministry, she said, cannot implement these documents on its own and urged all to put hands on deck to help trickle down the knowledge to all Child protection Actors.
Source: My Publisher24.com