Mrs. Florence Quartey, an Assistant Research
Officer at the Department of Children, on Thursday called for the vigorous pursuit of the Human Trafficking Act to protect the vulnerable and punish the villain (traffickers).
"The government and other partners needed to make adequate provision of financial, human and material resources for the effective combating of human trafficking and also protect and seek the welfare of children.
Mrs. Quartey who made the call at a day's consultative workshop on the "United Nation's (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child(CRC)" in Cape Coast, bemoaned the insufficient and limited budget allocation for children which make it virtually impossible for the ministry to respond to the protection and promotion of children's activities.
The workshop was organised to solicit the views of stakeholders on children and evolve measures to have them incorporated into the nation's development agenda to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
She said Ghana should consider ratifying the protocol as recommended by the United Nation's Convention on the Right of the Child (UNCRC) to prevent as well as punish perpetrators of such acts.
On standard of living, she said Ghanaians living below the poverty line had declined from 52 per cent in 1992 to 28.5 in 2005/06 while the
population living in extreme poverty dropped from 37 per cent in 1992 to 18 per cent in 2007 adding, this was as a result of interventions successive governments put in place to address the issue.
The Information Research and Advocacy Division (IRAD) head, Mr. Sylvester Kyei Gyamfi, said the Ministry of Employment and Social and
Welfare (MESW) in collaboration with the Ministry of Women and Children (MOWAC) and other child-focused MDAs had drafted a five-year action plan to combat child labour in the country.
He said the phenomenon of child labour which was rife in almost every part of the country was an issue of great concern to the MOWAC and that it
had together with its partners been carrying out programmes to help stem the practice.
He educated the participants on the civil rights and freedoms of children, family environment and alternate care, basic health and welfare, education as well as protective measures for children.
The Acting Central Regional Director for the Department of Children (DOC), Mr. Israel Akrobortu noted that Ghana has a huge youthful population and must therefore shape the lives of its children early to facilitate a good foundation for their future.
He said Ghana was the first country in the world to ratify the UNCRC following the first world summit on children in 1990 and stressed the need for the country to protect its children and ensure their welfare.
Mr. Akrobortu said the DOC with support from UNICEF is undertaking regional consultations in all the ten regional capitals to solicit the views
of the general public on the child rights situation in the country.
The National Acting Director of the DOC, Mrs. Mariama Yaya, said in order to domesticate laws to conform to the rights of the child, domestic legislations were reviewed which led to the passage of among others, the Children's Act, Criminal Code, Domestic Violence Act and the Juvenile Justice Act.
She said her outfit will also ensure that all children of school going age are enrolled in schools, well catered for in terms of health and
nutrition and also see to the elimination of corporal punishment in Ghanaian schools.