NDC says amazed at threat to close down FM Stations
Land disputes need sole courts - Woods
UK pledges support for African Union
Kofi Anan's initiative for socially responsible businesses
International Food, Drink and Family Fair launched
Peoples National Convention welcomes birth of African Union
Government urged to streamline operations of foreign dentists
Programme to curb child trafficking soon - Mrs Asmah
Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- The Youth Wing of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on Thursday said it was amazed that the National Communications Authority (NCA) was threatening to close down some FM Radio Stations because their programmes breached national interest.
The NDC youth wing feared the statement was "intended to put fear into the owners of FM stations and by so doing compel them to fall in line by behaving as propagandists of the NPP Government while denying non-NPP Ghanaians access to the airwaves."
A statement issued in Accra said: "Over the week-end of 5-7 July, this year, Major J. A. Tandoh (rtd), Acting Director-General of the NCA was reported to have said that there are too many FM stations in Ghana and threatened that the Authority would close down any FM station whose programmes threatened the national interest".
The NDC youth wing said it was amazed at the statement because the NCA was responsible for issuing frequencies and if it had over issued them then the NCA must take responsibility for it since it had recently granted a lot more frequencies.
The statement signed by Mr Iddrisu Haruna, National Youth Organiser of the NDC the Youth Wing said it had reason to suspect that there was something sinister behind the Director-General's threat.
It said there had been numerous veiled threats directed at talk show hosts and management of FM stations, who insisted on giving access and fair opportunity to all sides of the political divide as stipulated in the Constitution and in accordance with democratic practice.
The statement said; "the NPP is already in charge of the Executive. It has the majority in Parliament. It has packed the Supreme Court. If the media, the
Fourth Estate of the Realm, should also come under its control, then God Help Ghana"
It asked the National Media Commission to turn its attention to the issue and urged all "to speak out lest by their silence they be seen to be acquiescing in the unfolding plot to stifle the electronic media".
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Asantehene on private visit to London
Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- Otumfuo Osei Tutu 11, Asantehene on Thursday paid a courtesy call on President John Agyekum Kufuor at his residence to officially inform President John Agyekum Kufour of his visit to the United Kingdom.
The Asantehene, left Accra this morning on a two-week private visit to London. Nana Kwabeng Abrebrese, Atutuahene and spokesman for the Asantehene, said although it was a private visit, the Asantehene would take the opportunity to seek for more investors into the country.
President Kufuor briefed the Asantehene on the just-ended African Union summit held in Durban, South Africa. He wished the Asantehene a safe journey. Recently the Asantehene paid a week's visit to the Netherlands as part of activities marking the 300 years of relationships between Ghana and that country. Otumfuo osei Tutu used the visit to seek for investment opportunities for Asanteman and Ghana.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- All the 110 Metropolitan, Municipals and District Assemblies are to be dissolved by mid-night of Wednesday 31 July to pave way for new district assembly elections. "Accordingly, all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies in Ghana would cease to have effects as presently constituted by midnight of Wednesday 31 July".
A statement issued and signed by Mr Kwadwo Baah-Wiredu, Minister of Local Government and Rural Development, in Accra on Wednesday said the dissolution notice was applicable to all corresponding sub-structures, notably the Zonal, Sub-Metropolitan, Urban, Town and Area Councils and Unit Committees.
This, the statement said, was in accordance with Article 246 (1) of the 1992 Constitution and Local Government Act 1993 Section 5(3) which states that the life span of the district Assembly is four years. It said all presiding members were to ensure that the final sessions or meetings of the Assemblies were convened for the purposes of dissolution on or before Wednesday 31 July.
The Electoral Commission of Ghana is organising District Assembly elections on 30 July, this year and the Ministry of Local Government and Rural development is making preparation to inaugurate the new District Assemblies, within the shortest practicable time, the statement noted.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- President John Agyekum Kufuor on Wednesday said African leaders had resolved to ensure good governance, adherence to human rights and the improvement of the lives of its people, which were cardinal points of the Charter of the newly launched African Union (AU). He said with the peer review mechanism in place, the leaders could be beckoned to ensure that these cardinal principles were realised.
President Kufuor announced this to journalist at the Kotoka International Airport on his return from South Africa where he participated in the inauguration of the African Union, which replaced the Organisation of Africa Unity. He said African people should be actively involved in the implementation of the AU Charter, adding that "the AU belongs to the people of Africa and not a club of Heads of State as was perceived during the OAU days."
President Kufuor said the AU urged the developed countries to see Africa as the "continent of the 21st century" as it strived to promote sound economic policies to ensure that poverty and ignorance were eradicated.
Mr Hackman Owusu-Agyemang, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who accompanied the President, said the summit which was attended by 43 Heads of State and Mr Kofi Annan, UN Secretary General, discussed the controversial issue on Madagascar. The summit also charged President Thabo Mbeki of South Africa, who had become the first Chairman of AU to pursue the matter further with the Madagascar leader, Ravalomanana for a constitutional solution.
According to him President Kufuor held bilateral discussion with the UN Secretary General on efforts the government was making to move Ghana forward. President Kufuor also met with the Deputy Foreign Minister of Italy, where a reconfirmation of a 10 million dollar soft loan for agro-processing and a 500,000-dollar grant for studies on small-scale industries in Ghana was discussed.
Mr Owusu-Agyemang said the President also met with potential investors in the Railway industry on how to assist the industry in Ghana and re-equip the Ghana Police Service. The meeting appointed the former Secretary-General of the OAU, Salim Ahmed Salim as the Acting Chairman of the AU Commission, while 25 per cent of the membership of the Commission was allotted to women.
At the airport to meet the President were the Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Ministers of State, the Inspector General of Police Mr. Ernest Owusu-Poku, the Chief of Defence Staff, Lieutenant-General Seth Obeng and Mr Ibrahim Omar, Dean of the Diplomatic Corps.
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Ave-Dzadzefe (Volta Region) 11 July 2002- Ninety Trokosi women from various shrines in the Ave Traditional Area of the Akatsi district in the Volta Region were on Tuesday liberated from servitude at an elaborate ceremony at Dzadzefe.
This was as a result of negotiations between the International Needs Ghana (ING), International Programme on the Elimination of Child labour (IPEC), the Akatsi District Trokosi Monitoring and Advocacy Committee and the Priests from the various shrines in the area.
Trokosi is a cultural practice, which prevails in shrines whereby, a person is subjected to ritual servitude for the atonement of offence committed by some other person who might be an ancestor or a living relative.
The Reverend Walter Pimpong, Executive Director of ING, a Non-governmental Organisation told a motley crowd of priests, opinion leaders, liberated Trokosi women and school pupils that the occasion was unique, because, apart from it being the last in the area, it was stressing the importance of educating the children of the women and the community at large.
He said ING, with other partners were working to make individuals, communities and policy makers realise that the Trokosi problem was not only a human rights issue, but a developmental issue, because girls sent to the shrines, as well as their children are denied the right to education, thus perpetrating poverty in the community.
Rev. Pimpong said: "we have reached a stage that requires that we all wake up to the reality that until we move away from looking at the Trokosi problem as a religious or cultural practice, we would be loosing the battle against poverty." He said the ING was trying also to assist women who are liberated from the shrines to be re-integrated into the society.
ING, he said, provides vocational training for liberated Trokosi women and their children as well as other women in the communities at the ING vocational training centre and that some of the 90 liberated women would benefit from the package. Some of the vocations include Batik, Tie and Dye making, soap manufacturing, confectioneries and powder making and sewing. The women, he said, would be supported after their training with equipment to enable them to utilise their skills.
Rev. Pimpong regretted that in spite of efforts to rid the country of the Trokosi problem, very enlightened people were kicking against it by supporting recalcitrant priests to perpetuate the gross human rights abuse problem. He asked: " With the passage of law banning the practice in Ghana, the question is how long can these priests continue their recalcitrant posture?" He appealed to law enforcement agencies to take steps to implement the law banning Trokosi to save women from the harmful cultural practice.
Parliament on 12 June 1993 passed the criminal code (Amendment Bill) making the social evil of customary servitude such as Trokosi a crime. Under the law, anyone who sends or receives at any place, any person or participants in any ritual commits an offence and would be liable to conviction of a prison term not less than three years.
Mrs. Sylvia Hinson-Ekong, the National Programme Manager of ILO/IPEC praised the priests for taking the bold initiative to release the women to give them a chance to lead a free life of their choice. She also commended them for releasing the children of the women to go to school, saying, " you have prevented many more innocent young girls who stood the risk of being sent to the shrines in future and given them a chance to go through proper childhood and to develop themselves".
Mrs Hinson-Ekong said the International Labour Organisation (ILO) with its programme on the elimination of child labour, funded the programme because it had been mandated by member countries, including Ghana, to abolish forced labour and slavery practice of any kind. Most children of Trokosi women have to slave with their mothers on farms.
She said in the past, liberation of Trokosis focused attention on the girls and women and neglected their children, most of whom do not go to school but slave with their mothers on farms.
At present, she said, about 605 of such children have been placed in schools with the collaboration of the Ghana Education Service at Akatsi and that with the present liberation ceremony an additional 200 children would be placed in school. She said the education of the children offers an escape from the poverty trap by increasing the probability of finding wage employment and attracting a higher wage once in employment.
The Akatsi District Chief Executive, Mr Nicholas Coffie Negble, whose speech was read by Mr Innocent Cudjoe , the District Information Officer, said it was not only the Trokosi system that violated human rights, as there were other customary practices which were dehumanising and incompatible with the norms and values of a "modern progressive African society" and have to be abolished or transformed.
He said it was the duty of all and sundry to get rid of customs and cultural practices, which are a draw back to the rich culture and traditions for the country's benefit. As part of the ceremony, 400 school children, some children of the Trokosi women and some from the community received school uniforms and educational materials.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- Justice Georgina T. Woods, an Appeal Court Judge on Wednesday advocated the re-establishment of courts reserved wholly for the trial of land cases so that judges in those courts would be more focused to research into that branch of law. She said with such specialisation, land disputes would be speedily disposed off to de-congest the courts that were overburdened with so many land disputes.
Justice Georgina Woods, who was presenting a paper on, "The Courts and Land Dispute Resolution in Ghana: Situation, Problems and the Way Forward" also called for the automation and mechanisation of all the high courts to deal with the interminable delays in disposing of land cases.
It was organised by the Legal Pluralism and Gender Project of the German Technical Co-operation (GTZ), a pilot project initiated by the German government to enhance the rule of law and gender equity in Ghana's plural legal system.
She said the Fast track courts in their present forms, could not be of much help to land disputants, unless their disputes were investment related, making land litigation so painfully frustrating that it denies justice to a large number of the citizenry.
Justice Woods said statistics obtained from the Central Registry put the Accra figures alone at 719 for 1998, 636 for 2000, 608 for 2001 and for January to June this year, the figure stood at 378. "Only 30, 27, and 16 respectively out of the total number of cases filed were disposed of in the years under reference," she said.
Justice Woods said it took a minimum of three to five years and a maximum of eight to 15 years for a case to go through the trial courts to the Supreme Court, leaving a lot of backlog. She said these delays could be minimised if the year 2000 Phase 2 World Bank funded legal Sector Reform programme could be repeated on a yearly basis to de-congest the courts.
The project, which was undertaken country-wide by the Judicial Service, was able to deal with 96 per cent of 4694 cases identified as backlog, out of which 36 per cent were land disputes.
Justice Wood called on legal practitioners who issue writs on behalf of their clients to act professionally in processing their cases and some bailiffs who, acting in collusion with some parties have put obstacles in the way of judges, lawyers and their clients. She said judges should act firmly and refuse to entertain unmeritorious applications that limited their life span and impose conditions in deserving cases.
Justice Woods said the land Commission must establish a legal department made up of knowledgeable lawyers in land law to defend the commission in court.
Professor Kasim Kasanga, Minister of Lands and Forestry said effective conflict resolution called for an amendment to the Courts Act 1993 (Act 459) and rules of court to make for publication of all land cases. He said land ownership patterns were not clear to the general public and some people had accused the Ministry of returning lands to stools, families, clans and individuals.
The Minister said the 1992 Constitution recognised that stools, families, clans and individuals owned 78 per cent of all lands in Ghana, 20 per cent were vested in the state while two per cent vested in the President on behalf of stools, clans and families that government intended to review.
He said land administrators have in the past not done enough research on ownership for documentation adding that the system had been ran without sometimes querying the basis of doing things inadvertently thus perpetrating past mistakes.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- The United Kingdom (UK) on Wednesday congratulated African leaders for creating the African Union (AU), saying the launch on 9 July, marked a historic step.
A British High Commission statement in Accra said the UK shared the wish of Africa's people to see peace and security, good governance and economic and social development spread throughout the continent.
"I trust that the African Union will dedicate its self to this task, and that its establishment will mark a strengthening of the African voice in international affairs," the statement quoted Foreign Secretary Jack Straw as saying. It said Britain recognised the significant challenges ahead of the AU and would offer her full support to the Union as it sought to meet them.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- Twenty-two organisations have signed up as members of United Nations' s Global Compact that aims at balancing the goals of globalisation based on respect for human rights, decent labour and best environmental management.
The initiative, launched by the UN Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan two years ago, brings together a number of corporate organisations to uphold nine principles that include the elimination of all forms of forced labour and discrimination in respect of employment and occupation.
Seven of the organisations, including the Trades Union Congress, The Private Enterprise Foundation and the Association of Ghana Industries, Stanchart and
Domod, signed as new members at a ceremony on Wednesday, at which Vice-President Aliu Mahama, launched the initiative. Ashanti Goldfields Company, however, signed up earlier with 100 multi-national corporations and 1,000 other companies around the world.
Last month, an Advisory Committee, involving some sector ministers and representatives from the Council of State, Trades Union Congress, Ghana
Journalists Association was inaugurated under the auspices of the UNDP to provide the framework to implement the objectives of the initiative.
Mr. Alfred Salia Fawundu, UN Resident Co-ordinator said the Global Compact was not a regulatory body "neither does it impose any legal or financial obligation on firms that sign-up to it.
"It is about doing business with an eye on human and labour rights and adopting work processes that are environmentally friendly and sustainable….It is about creating a safe environment for all partners to promote the growth and sustenance of business. Indeed, it is the building of strategic partnerships; a golden age of business," he declared.
Nana Addo Akuffo Addo, Attorney General and Minister of Justice said the compact was a reflection of the new civilisation the world wanted to build that aimed at discouraging tyranny and dictatorship and promote the respect for individual freedom, creativity and the rule of law. "It is not by accident that we are launching the Global Impact and the African Union simultaneously since the two initiatives have similar objectives aimed at progress and prosperity of the people," he said.
Mr Kwamina Bartels, Minister for Private Sector Development said the success of the initiative depended on efforts to bring labour, management and civil society together to promote fundamental human rights. He said the compact was an indication that entrepreneurs recognised the need to uphold the right to collective bargaining by labour, the elimination of compulsory labour and child labour.
Mr James Anaman, Managing Director of Public Affairs of the Ashanti Goldfields Company (AGC) said the company was the first in Africa to sign on to Global Compact due to the company's commitment to a holistic socio-economic development of Ghana. He said AGC had conformed to the objectives of the Global Compact for the sustainable management of the environment by installing an Arsenic recovery Plant on its major processing plant at Obuasi to capture toxic emissions.
Both Mrs Berangere Magarinos and Mr Andreas Bluethner of the UN System Staff College in Italy lauded the Global Compact initiative as one of the best innovations the leadership of the UN, under Mr. Annan had brought to the international body.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- Vice President Aliu Mahama on Wednesday said the government's policy of creating wealth for Ghanaians through the private sector would benefit only a few unless companies committed themselves to their social responsibilities.
The Vice President said this when he launched Global Compact, an initiative by United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan that encourages businesses and organisations to balance their needs with that of the disadvantaged and the requirements of future generations.
The UN Boss announced the Global Compact in 1999 World Economic Forum, to seek partnership between private companies, UN Agencies, labour organisations, non-governmental organisations and other parties to build an equitable and sustainable global market.
In July 2000, the Initiative was launched, at the UN Headquarters in New York, for partners to voluntarily sign up to embrace nine universal principles in the areas of human rights, labour, standards and the environment.
Members are, subsequently, required to support and respect the protection of internationally proclaimed human rights, eliminate all forms of forced and compulsory labour, undertake initiatives and to promote greater environmental responsibility.
Vice President Mahama lauded the principles and urged Ghanaian businesses to sign up and implement them for their businesses to grow and to become beneficial to all Ghanaians. Twenty-two companies in Ghana, including Ashanti Goldfields Company have so far registered while on the global level 100 major multi-nationals and 1,000 other companies have committed themselves.
He said: "As government, our concern for the common good makes Global Compact an ally. "I find the launch of the Global Compact at this particular moment, when we have a vision to create a Golden Age of Business, very appropriate for without a corporate partner, who is socially responsible, we might create jobs and wealth for a few but not create a prosperous nation."
Vice President Mahama expressed the government's commitment to work with companies, civil society and other partners toward the achievement of a sustainable socio-economic growth. He commended the mining companies and the Volta River Authority for being alive to their social responsibilities in their operational areas, saying that companies should not only embrace opportunities, but challenges to satisfy the need of others, as well.
Professor Alexander Kwapong, Chairman of the Council of State, said Ghanaian companies that become members of Global Compact would learn from the experiences of others and benefit from globalisation instead of becoming its victim.
Prof. Kwapong, a member of the 18-member Advisory Committee that would provide an overall direction for the implementation of the Global Compact - Ghana, said the initiative should be considered as a catalyst in the country's quest for socio-economic development.
Other members of the advisory council are Mr Kwamena Bartels, Minister of Private Sector Development, Mrs Cecilia Bannerman, Minister of Manpower Development and Employment, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mrs Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie, President of the Ghana Journalists Association and Mr Kwasi Adu Amankwah, TUC Secretary-General. Global Compact is not regulatory nor does it impose any legal or financial obligation on firms that sign up.
Mrs Berangere Magarinos of the UN System Staff College, said the world body, which had been positively transformed under the leadership of Mr Annan, would learn best business practices from its private sector partners, while it influences them with its principles on human values.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- Mr Kwamena Bartels, Acting Minister of Tourism on Thursday launched an International Food, Drink and Family Fair to be held in the country with a challenge to participants in the industry to improve quality and packaging to attract and sustain foreign patronage for Ghanaian foods.
Throwing the challenge in a speech read for him, Mr Bartels underscored the importance of food and drink fairs and said "it has become a major tourist attraction in a number of countries, the one held in Brazil every year has been adjudged the most patronised food fair in the world".
The fair, scheduled to take place from 19 December to 2 January 2003, is being organised by the Ghana Trade Fair Company (GTFC) and Rebban Ads, a Ghanaian advertising company.
Mr Bartels said the Brazilian fair had been making positive impact on the economy by attracting the influx of tourists into that country, adding that Ghana could also use its version to improve Ghana's domestic and international tourism. The minister said the fair would provide an opportunity for operators in the food and drink industry, the hospitality industry and all companies and shops to market their wares at faster and affordable prices.
According to him one other rationale for the fair, was for families to come together to socialise and refresh themselves during the Christmas and New Year holidays. He called for the establishment of more restaurants and places of leisure in both the regional capitals and the urban centres and stressed the need for education for Ghanaian food sellers to adopt hygienic methods of food preparation and sale services.
He pledged the Ministry's support to the fair saying, "it is our fervent hope that this fair would be nurtured to grow and attract exhibitors not only from West Africa but also from Europe and America and thereby gain international recognition."
Mr Segun Ogunsanya, Managing Director, Coca-Cola Company Limited, who chaired the launching, said the idea of the fair was laudable adding that it would afford the general public a "one shop" centre to buy varieties of products at affordable prices. He called on both local and international food and drink sellers to take the opportunity to promote their business and establish and maintain customers by participating in the fair.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- The Peoples National Convention (PNC) on Wednesday welcomed the birth of the African Union (AU), which was inaugurated in Durban, South Africa on Tuesday.
The Party saw: "The birth of the AU at this time as another manifestation of the statement that 'Nkrumah never dies' for Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah saw the need of the union of Africa 39 years ago" and worked relentlessly towards that achievement.
A statement issued by the publicity committee of the PNC, said the necessity for an AU had always been pressing since none of the African countries individually could survive in the present globalised economy and in the face of the growing force of other economic unions in the world. "Our economic survival and progress is dependent on our integrated African economy, which draws on the strengths of the various African countries to confront the other players in the world economy", the statement said.
The PNC also congratulated the political leaders of the various African countries, who made the AU possible especially, Colonel Muamar Gaddafi of Libya and asked them not to relent in their efforts to make the AU succeed. It called for the immediate addressing of problems especially, those of transportation and communication among African States to give the practical meaning to the birth of the AU.
The AU could be the framework within which the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) would hopefully be implemented, to address the issue of Africa's debt and poverty alleviation. It urged the present crop of African leaders to sacrifice a bit of their individual authority for the common good of the AU."NEPAD must be made the property of Africans and not their governments."
The statement congratulated President Thabo Mbeki and the South African people for hosting the historic meeting.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- The Ghana Dental Association (GDA) on Tuesday urged the government to streamline existing guidelines on the operations of medical and dental practitioners in the country.
The GDA in a communiqué issued in Accra at the end of its annual general congress said it was dissatisfied with the establishment of private dental clinics being operated by unregistered foreign trained dentists who had ignored the laid down guidelines by the Ghana Medical and Dental Council.
The communiqué signed by Dr Chloris Adadevoh, President and Dr Ishmael Bruce, Secretary respectively of the GDA said in the light of increasing incidence of HIV/AIDS in Ghana it had become necessary for the dental profession, the government and the public to work together as partners to promote a healthy lifestyle among the general public.
It said it was at that background that the theme: "Infection Control in Oral Health" was appropriate. The communiqué resolved that all health workers should be immunised against hepatitis infections and adopt necessary infection control procedures in all health facilities.
The statement called for an incentive package to be put in place to encourage oral health care for workers who worked in deprived communities. It said preventive dental auxiliary workers should be trained to augment the current level of oral health manpower in the country, especially in the districts.
The communiqué called for basic oral health workers to be covered under the national health insurance scheme. It said the GDA recognised that dental health workers were at increased risk of acquiring a number of infectious diseases during the course of their normal duties and given that there was severe shortage of dental manpower in the country, especially in the rural communities, the government's commitment to find an effective means of financing health care should not be under-played.
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Accra (Greater Accra) 11 July 2002- Mrs Gladys Asmah, Minister for Women and Children's Affairs, on Tuesday announced that a programme, dubbed "Operation Bring the Children Home" to curb the incidence of child trafficking would soon be launched in the country.
It would involve giving mothers credit for their various vocations. In particular, mothers whose children work, as fisher boys at Yeji and other places would be encouraged to attract their children back home. Mrs Asmah made the announcement at a two-day strategy formulation workshop for media practitioners in Accra.
The workshop was organised by the Women's Ministry in collaboration with the UN System Gender Programme and the Danish Embassy to update the knowledge of media practitioners on activities of the new Ministry, the challenges it faces and to deliberate on strategies for promoting gender mainstreaming and the protection of the rights of the child.
Media practitioners drawn from all over the country are attending the workshop, which has the theme: "Promoting Gender Mainstreaming and Children's Right Protection in Ghana." Mrs Asmah noted that, areas earmarked for the exercise were Kokrobite, Apam, Mumford, Ada, Ekumfi and Senya, adding that, the Seventh Day Adventists (SDA) had donated 50 bales of second hand clothes to support the programme.
She explained that, the bottom line to child trafficking was poverty and lack of education "for there is no mother anywhere in the world who when she has the where-with-all will send her child to be a slave or push a child into prostitution", adding, the Ministry would seek support for such groups of people. The Minister said Ghana Women and Children Centres would also be established to handle issues concerning women and children at the district, town and village levels.
Trained personnel from the National Commission for Women and Development (NCWD), Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC) and other voluntary social workers would run the programme and monitor the activities of women and children to inform the Ministry on policy formulation.
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