The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development in the Ayawaso North Municipality has sensitized residents on child protection to raise responsible future leaders in the Municipality.
The Municipal Director of NCCE, Madam Eunice Nkrumah, underscored the important role that parents play in the protection of children, citing child trafficking, parental neglect, child marriage, female genital mutilation, child prostitution and drug abuse as forms of child abuse that must be addressed.
According to her, affected children are left with permanent scars that hinder their development and affect how they interact with others in society, in addition to having to bear the trauma of the abuse alone.
“The abuse of children through child neglect, defilement, exploitation and forced labour indicates that more needs to be done to strengthen child protection systems at both the family and community levels.
It is for this reason that the 1992 Constitution established the rights of the child and also provided the framework for the enactment of appropriate legislation to protect the rights of children,” she stressed.
Madam Nkrumah noted that the collaborative upbringing of a child can prevent negative social vices such as robbery and teenage pregnancy among others.
She, therefore, called on community leaders and stakeholders to emphasize the importance of child protection in their respective communities.
On her part, the Senior Social Development Officer, Madam Rosemond Aboagyewaa Opoku, noted that the training of a child does not only depend on the biological parents but also on the community where the child lives.
She urged members of the community, in particular husbands, to support their wives in raising their children.
“We need to break through the culture of silence around child sexual abuse and report all cases of child abuse to the Department of Social Welfare and the Police Child Welfare unit for redress in the best interest of the child,” she added.
Patience Anaadem, ISD
