The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection through the Department of Children, in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Human Trafficking Secretariat, Plan Ghana, World Vision International and other partners will on Monday, August 31, 2020, celebrate National Children’s Day.
The day was instituted on August 31, 1979, as a key activity of the then Ghana National Commission of Children (GNCC) which was established to ensure the general welfare and development of children and co-ordinate all essential services for children in the country to promote the United Nations Convention of the Rights of the Child.
The GNCC in 2005 was converted to the Department of Children (DOC) by the GNCC Repeal Act, 2005 (Act 701) as an implementing Department responsible for implementing programmes and projects for the survival, protection, participation and development of children through advocacy, research, inputting into policy formulation through networking and collaborating with stakeholders to improve the welfare and full integration of Children into the development process.
The main focus for this year’s National Children’s Day celebration is to take stock of the achievements, challenges and way forward of the Child and Family Welfare Policy (CFWP) for its improvement under the theme “5 years of implementing the CFWP; the achievement, challenges and the way forward”.
The celebration is expected to be carried out at the Regional and National levels, with awareness creation on the need for the public to act now to protect children from teenage pregnancy, human trafficking and other forms of abuse amidst COVID-19 in Ghana throughout the country.
Two events have been scheduled to mark the day.
On Friday, August 28, 2020, a community sensitization on the need to end human trafficking using the tool kits will be held at Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem (KEEA) Municipal Assembly in the Central Region.
A national stakeholder’s forum on the theme will also be organised at the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) Hall, Accra on Monday, August 31, 2020.
In a statement to wish children well on the day, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection used the opportunity to congratulate all stakeholders who have delivered on their role in the policy to ensure the strengthening of the child and family welfare system in the country.
It further urged all to continue to strive for a better Ghana for children.
“Our children need protection now more than ever during this COVID-19 era, we must all endeavour to protect them by ensuring they adhere to the COVID-19 prevention protocols and ensure that, they continue to learn whilst at home”, the statement added.