The Ashanti Regional Director of the Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mrs. Mercy Larbi, has called for concerted effort to give more protection to children and shield them from abuse and forced marriages.
She said their fundamental rights could not continue to be violated with impunity.
Speaking at the launch of a Girl Child Advocacy Project in Kumasi, she condemned the pervasiveness of child marriage in the country, saying it was adversely affecting the health and education of many young girls.
The five-year project, spearheaded by the Defence for Children International, Ghana (DCI) – a child rights advocacy organization, aims at helping girls and young women to have better understanding of their fundamental rights and how to safeguard them.
It is being piloted in Ashanti Region.
Present at the official launch of the project were chiefs, religious leaders, security agencies, teachers, students and civil society organizations.
Mrs. Larbi called on Ghanaians to be bold to report persons who abused children to the appropriate state institutions for swift action.
She underlined the resolve of the Commission to work diligently to make sure that abuse victims received justice.
The Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Susanna Dery, Ashanti Regional Deputy Commander of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), said through the collaboration with DCI, the police had been able to rescue about 50 teenage girls from commercial sex trade.
She spoke of the need to strengthen inter-ministerial coordination – to dialogue on issues of child marriage, sexual violence and abuse, and ways to enhance the implementation of child protection laws.
Dr. George Oppong, the DCI Director, said his organization was working to complement government’s effort towards protecting the rights of the Ghanaian child.
He called on traditional leaders to scrap outmoded customs that were detrimental to the growth and development of the girl-child.
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Source: GNA