General News of Thursday, 19 July 2018
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
2018-07-19
Florence Ayisi Quartey, Acting Director, Department of Children – Gender Ministry
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Child Protection has introduced a data gathering system; Child Protection Information Management System (CPIMS), which seeks to ensure accurate and timely information on key child welfare concerns.
CPIMS, which is at the initial stages seeks to address the problems of children’s rights – including the right to health, education, family life, play and recreation, adequate standard of living, and protection from abuse and harm – through enactment of relevant laws and provision of services.
At a stakeholder consultation workshop organized in Accra, the Ministry stated that the successful implementation of child protection and social welfare services is dependent on the availability and use of relevant data.
Such data, the Ministry indicated, would provide information on the scope of cases being reported, and dealt with by child protection related institutions, government, and non-governmental sectors.
Speaking at the forum, Acting Director, Department of Children, Florence Ayisi Quartey said the overall goal for setting up the system is to reduce vulnerabilities and improve the well-being of girls and boys through more accessible, effective, responsive and timely delivery of social welfare services at the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assembly (MMDA) level.
She said, “The CPIMS is a great opportunity to improve our capacities in data production to enhance planning, program implementation and policy formulation adding that the development of CPIMS will bridge the child to staff ratio gap since the system will provide “reliable data and platform to address child protection issues in a coordinated approach to promote efficiency for cost reduction.”
The Child Development Director craved the indulgence of stakeholders for critical inputs in the child protection sector for its design to meet current trends and forecast the future for effective implementation.
Deputy Representative of UNICEF Ghana, Fiachra McAsey, lauding the initiative stated that children are at the hearts of the SDGs, which is why the human rights institution welcomes the development of the CPIMS as a significant milestone in Ghana’s efforts to advance CRC and AEG-focused policies and programs for children.
According to him, “Better information will also quickly contribute to strengthen the quality of services that promote well-being and protect children from harm.”
He added, “Such services include family support, early intervention, health and nutrition services, social protection schemes, child protection services that address abuse, neglect, sexual and gender based violence, probation and other justice administration services and alternative care solutions for children in need.”