Children, 'run away from promises and gifts given to entice you' - Adwoa Safo

Madam Sarah Adwoa Safo, Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), has advised children to be alert, avoiding close contact with strangers or questionable characters in their communities.

“Run away from any promises and gifts given to entice you and report to your parents,” she said.

The Minister made the call in a speech read on her behalf by Dr Afisah Zakariah, Chief Director, MoGCSP, during a Forum to celebrate the National Children’s Day which was on the theme: “Role of Community Based Structures in Protecting the Rights of Children” on Monday.

She called on parents to educate their children and protect them from all dangers since it was through such efforts that results would be forthcoming.

She expressed worry about baby-harvesting and child trafficking, especially in fishing and farming areas.

She called for an urgent attention from all stakeholders to address “this worrying trend.”

She said children of various ages and nationalities had fallen victims to perpetrators of child trafficking.

She informed that a close collaboration between the Ministry and the International Organisation for Migration led to the rescue and safe return of 13 child survivors of trafficking to Ivory Coast, their home country.,

According to her, there had been an operation by the Police, leading to the arrest of 11 suspects, including two doctors, four nurses, two mothers, two Social Welfare Officers and a traditional birth attendant for selling two babies.

Madam Florence Ayisi Quartey, Acting Director, Department of Children, MoGCSP, said the celebration focused on the need to strengthen community-based structures for the protection of children and highlighted the structures and the protection of children.

She said it was also to introduce the Inter-Sector Standard Operating Procedures (ISSOP) as a linkage to child protection case management between the formal and informal.

The Acting Director informed that the celebration was carried out at the Community, Regional and National levels to raise awareness on the important role of the community-based structures in child protection.

She added that the annual Children’s Day celebration was celebrated to seek the general welfare and development of Children in the country and to promote the Convention on the rights of a child.

Madam Quartey said earlier this year, through the assistance of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Child Protection Committees were formed in the Districts across the country to deliberate on community specific issues affecting children and propose best fit intervention for such problems.

In April this year, she said, with support from partners such as United States Agency for International Development, UK Aid, UNICEF and the Government of Canada, the Ministry through the Department of Children launched the first Standard Operating Procedure (ISSOP) for Child Protection and Family Welfare which contained the guidelines, tools and forms for casework and management.

She said the ISSOP brought under its umbrella all the actors including the police, judiciary and health experts in the child protection arena and directed them on how to approach every case.

The Acting Director said the Ministry would continue to track the progress made in the use of the ISSOP and work of the Child Protection Committees to realign or strengthen the system when required.

She called for commitment from key partners to properly disseminate the goals of the ISSOP at the community level.

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