He said, it was unfortunate that children who were the future leaders of the country continued to suffer all forms of abuse. Mr Essuman gave the advice while addressing a durbar organised by International Needs a non-governmental (INGH) organisation, with the vision to transform lives and change communities to commemorate this year’s Day of the African Child, held at Abeadze Kyeakor in Mfantsiman Municipality.

Abeadze Kyeakor is one of the 16 communities the NGO is implementing a two-year project, which aimed at protecting, empowering and stimulating community action to end child marriage.

The day on the theme: “Accelerating protection, empowerment and equal opportunities for children in Africa by 2030,” which was sponsored by UNICEF,  was an event that is celebrated annually to discuss challenges and opportunities facing the full realisation of the rights of children in Africa.

Mr Essuman stated that, children were assets of the nation and their rights and welfare should be paramount and properly groomed to become patriotic citizens and useful to the state.

The Assembly will collaborate with the chiefs to put in place laws and regulations to drastically deal with people who abuse the right and welfare of the children, he stated.

Ms V. Elikem Awuye Programme Officer of INGH in her address said, Africa Day of the child is celebrated annually in memory of students uprising in Soweto, South Africa in 1976 of which students who marched in protest against introduction of Afrikaans as medium of instruction in the local schools by the then apartheid regime were massacred.

“We are celebrating the day geared towards the protection, empowerment and other interventions for the progress of the child,” she said.She said the project being executed by INGH was to promote an enhance safe and protective environment for children that would prevent and respond to child marriages and other forms of child abuse and exploitation at the community level.

It is criminal to push a child into early marriages, engage them into force labour, commercial sex activities, maltreat and neglect them, she said.She said, child marriage impeded the child’s education, exposed her to child abuse and increase the risk of maternal mortality among others.

Madam Martha Acquah, Mfantsiman Education Director stated that, accelerating protection, empowerment and equal opportunity for the African child would be a mirage, if critical look was not taken by African Heads of State and governments on good health care, quality education, law enforcement, culture and tradition.

“Children are gifts from God and in respect of that all and sundry are answerable to Him, on how we have taken care, protected, empowered and given equal opportunity to them,” she added.Detective Police Sergent Benjamin Wilson, a representative from Central Regional Directive of Domestic Victims Support Unit said it was illegal to mete out any form of abuse to the child, saying it is the responsibility of all and sundry to be bold to report offenders to the appropriate state institutions such as the Police.

He underscored the need to create safe environment and opportunities for children to receive quality education, have access to healthcare and decent accommodation.He urged chiefs and opinion leaders to join the campaign at creating a safer and conducive environment to safeguard the rights of the child.