By
Prosper K. Kuorsoh, GNA
Wa, July 20, GNA – Civil Society Organisations
(CSOs) in Upper West met on Thursday to discuss ways of strengthening advocacy
on child protection and economic empowerment of girls.
The meeting was prompted by reports of
increasing rates of early and forced marriages, teenage pregnancies and
commercial sexual exploitation among others which stakeholders say it is
inimical to the growth and development of children in the nation’s youngest
region.
It was spearheaded by Social Initiative for
Literacy and Development Prgramme (SILDEP) in partnership with Plan
International Ghana under its Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) project sponsored
by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
The coordination and alignment meeting with
CSOs and donors is geared towards working to improve the implementation of
several acts and frameworks that protect child rights and young women.
These include Domestic Violence Act, the
Children’s Act, the Child and Family Welfare Policy, Justice for Children
Policy, the National Strategic Framework on Ending Child Marriage, and the
National Plan of Action Against Child Labour and Women Economic Empowerment.
Mr Moses Dramani Luri, the Executive Director
of SILDEP, told the gathering that proper implementation of the laws, policies
and strategic frameworks would ensure fair and just communities that would be
more responsive to the needs and development of children, girls and young
women.
He said the task of achieving compliance of
the laws was huge and could not be borne by one CSO, hence the need for
collaboration to intensify advocacy on the matter.
He said it is an effort to get responsible
state institutions, traditional rulers and religious leaders to act and help
bring the desired change.
The collaboration brought about greater
participation, ownership and commitment, which Mr Luri said, was the right
approach to remove social and economic barriers impeding development of the
victims.
Mr Edmund Alofe, Plan Ghana GAA Upper West
Region Coordinator, said the project targeted 100 million girls and young women
to give them equal rights and opportunities.
Mr Jonas Tia, SILEP GAA Project Coordinator,
said the project focus was on four thematic areas; child marriage, teenage
pregnancies, commercial sexual exploitation and girls access to Technical and
Vocational Education and Training.
At the end of the meeting, the CSOs agreed
that to be able to collaborate effectively, they needed to encourage
information, skills and experience sharing to reduce duplication while
maximizing their efforts.
GNA