Ministry of Gender launches campaign against violence against children

General News of Sunday, June 2, 2019

Source: ghananewsagency.org

2019-06-02

A study conducted by the Children's Department of the Ministry of Women, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) found that children were victims of violence in school. Just over 80% of children reported that the corrective method used was cane.

The research also indicated that other corrective methods included additional duties of 7.34%, 5.87% counseling, 3.52% physical exercises, 2.04% suspensions / expulsions, reprimands of 0.76% and refusals of food of 0.02%, 50.8% of children are victims of violence in the home.

This was revealed at a meeting to validate the key findings of the Ghana Children's Situation Analysis, undertaken in 2018.

In this work, the children themselves express their most secret and intimate thoughts and fears, their hopes and dreams.

It is for this reason that the Ministry of Gender Equality, in collaboration with OAfrica and the European Union, has launched a Stop Violence Against Children campaign in the country.

This campaign is an important initiative of OAfrica, which aims to draw public attention to the removal of any act perpetuating violence against children at home, at school, at the workplace, in schools, judicial and social institutions and in community settings.

Ms. Cynthia Morrison, Minister of Women's Affairs, Children and Social Welfare, in a speech read on her behalf by the Director General, stated that children were not supposed to be punished, but corrected, because the punishments deform them.

Ghana values ​​children and has, over the years, promoted their well-being in their communities through programs and innovation policies, she said.

She said that although the country had made progress in defending children's rights in the areas of health, education, social protection and justice, much remained to be done to ensure of all children in Ghana.

Ms. Morrison stated that the study conveyed children's perspectives on issues that affected them, highlighting comprehensive details about the quality, accessibility and availability of child care facilities and services. education, health, water supply, sanitation and social welfare.

The findings of the report, however, indicate that 51.2% of children in the sample did not have a birth certificate, which demonstrates the need to further strengthen the capacity of the register of births and deaths for childbirth. Ensure that every child has this document, said the minister. .

"Another important revelation of the study is that some children are still dropping out of school for various reasons, despite the various social interventions instituted by the government.

According to sample children, corporal punishment still prevails in schools, despite the harsh stance adopted by the Ghana Education Service (GHG) to ban it, a- she declared.

The minister called on all child rights and child protection actors to find appropriate strategies to address the needs of children, including allocating the necessary resources at the national, regional, local and household levels.

"The new Ghana Education Service guidelines require that sugar cane not be used in schools. We therefore identified a significant gap between policy and implementation. We will focus on this for our second campaign, "she added.

Mr. Christian Ashiagbor Platini, representative of O Africa, said during the event that this form of corporal punishment drove them away from families.

Mr Platini said that violence against children had to stop because beating a child did not serve his interests, but against their fundamental rights.

He therefore advised parents to demonstrate good values ​​for their children to learn and also urged teachers to propose appropriate measures to protect and eliminate cane.

The representative of the European Union congratulated the Department of Children for its findings, adding that this would reduce the gap between legislation and practice.

She said Ghana should create a country free from violence and violence against children, which is essential for their future development.