Stakeholders at a day's workshop held in Bolgatanga on Friday, observed that the best way to deal with child migration, child labour, and child abuse in the Region, was for them to collaborate with one another.
The Workshop organized by Afrikids Ghana, a Child Rights Non -Governmental Organization working in Northern Ghana, was aimed at evaluating and assessing the impact of the activities the NGO had undertaken since 2005 in the Region.
It attracted stakeholders from the Ghana Education Service (GES), Ghana Health Service (GHS), Department of Social Welfare, the Security Agencies and other NGOs working in the interest of children's rights in the Region.
The Participants stressed that there should be a child rights network or organization involving the GES, GHS, Department of Social Welfare, traditional authorities, Afrikids Ghana and other child rights NGOs to deal with the problem.
Participants called on district assemblies to establish child panel wing in their districts and also encourage the protection of child rights
clubs in schools.
Participants called for the need for more sensitization programmes to educate pregnant women to visit anti-natal clinics for pre and post natal services.
Speaking at the function, the Executive Director of Afrikids Ghana, Mr. Nicholas Kumah said issues relating to child labour and child migration was very high in the Region.
He indicated that in 2007, Afrikids Ghana worked in collaboration with the GES and Department of Social Welfare, to withdraw 155 children from mining activities in the Talensi-Nabdam District, who were engaged in the worse forms of labour.
He explained that majority of the children who were withdrawn from the mining sector at that time were children of school going age, so were
reinstated in schools to continue their education with support from Afrikids Ghana.
The Executive Director explained that Afrikids Ghana was able to withdraw only 155 children from the communities in which it was working, but there were still more children in other communities in the area, who had also abandoned schooling and were engaged in mining activities.
Mr. Kumah indicated that another area which his outfit was working was the issue of migration and said Afrikids Ghana in 2006 brought back 160
youth from southern Ghana who had gone there to search for non-existent jobs.
He said they have provided them with skills training and established them through the provision of start-up capitals.
He indicated that many of the beneficiaries had in turn trained many people, especially the youth who might have migrated to southern Ghana to do "kayaye" for living.
Mr. Kumah expressed worry that many of the youth in the Region were still migrating to southern Ghana, and reiterated the need for collaborative efforts to deal with the problem, since Government alone could not deal with the issue.
He noted that another issue of concern was that some communities in the region were killing children perceived to be "spirit children" and said the practice is against the fundamental rights of children and should be addressed at all cost.
He noted that Afrikids Ghana so far had saved 27 "spirit children" who would have been killed in some communities in the region and that a lot of sensitization programmes have been undertaken, but there was still the need to do more and entreated the stakeholders to collaborate well to deal with the problem once and for all.
Ms. Pauline Wilson, an External Evaluator engaged by Afrikids, commended Afrikids Ghana for the good performance and said there were still more to be done to support the people in the area, to engage in income generating activities to reduce the level of poverty in the area.