As today marks the International Day of the Girl child, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection in collaboration with the Ghana Education Service and some international agencies have held a durbar to celebrate Ghanaian children, particularly the girl child.
In the wake of recent cases of sexual harassment, some pupils from selected schools in Accra have been given peer training on how to manage issues of sexual abuse and its related vices.
The event which was held at the Wesley Methodist School in Accra, Friday October 11, 2019, highlighted some measures the Gender Ministry together with its agencies have put in place to curb instances of sexual abuse against children.
Chief Director of the Gender Ministry, speaking on behalf of her outfit at the event, pledged their unrelenting support for the well being of all children in the country, especially the girl child.
According to Dr. Afisah Zakariah, the celebration of the International Day of the Girl which began in 2012 in Ghana, is aimed at creating “awareness about inequalities in terms of the girl child and the boy child and in terms of education, nutrition…so that the children will know that these inequalities exist but they can bridge it...”
Highlighting some policies the Ministry has put in place to ensure the well being of the girl child against vices, she said, “the Ministry itself, we have put in place laws and policies covering the children and we’re enforcing them. We’re not working in isolation, we’re working with other ministries and agencies. In Ghana we have the police, as we identify cases we refer”.
On types of policies, she said, “we have the policy on the right of the child, we have the domestic violence policy, human trafficking policy, and all these ones protect the child.”
As part of the mentoring process, pupils were grouped and taken through some measures and policies initiated by the ministry and its agencies as well as the safe places available for victims of sexual harassment.
Pupils also made presentations to display the knowledge they have acquired through the peer training.
The International Day for the Girl was headlined with the theme; ‘Girl Force: Unscripted and Unstoppable.’
Every year on October 11, women globally come together to acknowledge and appreciate girls around for the niche carved in societies as well as inspire one another to break boundaries and take charge of their own future.
