The Readers Bay Foundation has launched a unique initiative called ‘The Reading Caravan,’ blending tourism with a love of reading.

This one-day road trip, Ghana’s first tourist-readers adventure, engages patrons in reading while traveling.

On Saturday, 22nd June 2024, the Reading Caravan bus departed from Accra Mall at 8:30 am, heading towards Larteh and Mampong Akropong in the Eastern Region.

The first stop was at the Akonedi Shrine Global Headquarters in Larteh Kubease, where patrons received a brief history of the shrine.

The second stop was at Akropong Methodist Primary School, where Irene Boakye-Danquah, the founder of Readers Bay Foundation, hosted a reading competition for the school children.

The vibrant students took turns reading, with the best-performing class being declared the winner.

The competition aimed to encourage a love of books and boost children’s literacy.

To further support this goal, the foundation donated assorted books to stock the school’s library.

The final stop of the day was at the Anagkazo Bible and Ministry Training Centre.

Patrons were taken on a tour of the facility, which includes chapels, conference rooms, dormitories, and recreational facilities.

In an interview, Irene Boakye-Danquah, Founder of Readers Bay Foundation explained the foundation’s new approach.

“In previous tours, we focused solely on visiting schools and conducting literacy activities. This time, we are fusing them with tourism because we believe that tourism can unveil many wonders to the world. While we tour the country, we are also learning,” she said.

The Reading Caravan initiative aims to make every Ghanaian child’s educational experience comparable to that of their peers in more privileged circumstances, demonstrating that with the right resources and support, such goals are achievable.

By combining literacy with tourism, the Readers Bay Foundation continues to innovate in its mission to enhance the educational experiences of Ghanaian children.

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He said more play time will help burn calories to reduce overweight and obesity. Dr Kaali said the frequent consumption of processed canned foods and beverages high in sugar and salt with low nutritional value and a lack of physical activity among children are the major causes of overweight and obesity in Ghana.

He called for a food policy that will help to determine standards of the nutritional content of processed foods and canned beverages imported into Ghana.

He said parents must be interested in the Body Mass Index of their children, monitor their weight and reduce fatty food in the diets of their children.

How a child is fed in the first year of life may contribute to obesity in later years, if not done right.

He therefore encouraged new mothers to breastfeed their children exclusively in the first six months of their lives and be mindful of the types of foods they feed them with.

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She said it behooved the country as it prided itself on being the first to ratify the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) to put in place measures to protect children.

Ms Abudu made the call at the final national stakeholders consultative meeting on the amendment of the Children’s Bill and the Child Justice Administration Bill organised by the Gender Ministry in Accra.

The Children’s Rights Bill, a legislative framework, aims to protect, promote, and fulfill the rights of every child in Ghana.

It recognises that children have distinct rights that deserve specific attention, considering their vulnerability and developmental needs.

The Child Justice Administration Bill aims to reform and strengthen the criminal justice system for children and ensure that their rights are adequately protected.

The Minister said the CRC enjoined Ghana as a party state to formulate and implement legislations, put in place institutions and programmes to promote the rights and total well-being of all children in the country irrespective of their backgrounds.

In view of that, she said, the Ministry commenced the process of strengthening the child protection system, making it “fit”for the country with the development of the Child and Family Welfare and Justice for Children Policies.

Ms Abudu said that was to ensure that the system became more effective, sustainable, socio -culturally appropriate, and relevant for the country to better protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, and exploitation.

The Minister said after the approval and launch of the two policies, the next major step towards the system strengthening was to reform the laws related to children.

“We acknowledge that strengthening the child protection system demands that we take into account the international standards and protocols as well as incorporate the socio-cultural, religious, and traditional beliefs of Ghanaians, “ she stated.

Ms Abudu said there had been consultations with stakeholders to solicit views to make the laws fit for the country.

The Minister said after the final consultative meeting, the input and comments would be consolidated and submitted to the Attorney General for advice.

“The Ministry will then present the Bills for Cabinet approval after which Parliamentary passage would be sought,” she said.

Ms Abudu said the passage of the two Bills would ensure that children were protected and cared for in a dignified manner.

Mr Umar Farouk Aliu Mahama, Chairman, Parliamentary Select Committee on Gender and Children, said despite the country’s legislative measures to protect children, there were many challenges, including child labour and child marriage that hindered the full realisation of children’s rights.

He underscored the need for timely and effective responses to cases of abuse, neglect, and exploitation by improving collaboration between various stakeholders such as law enforcement, social workers, and community leaders to create a protective environment for children.

“We must address issues such as inadequate infrastructure, poor teacher-student ratios, and the digital divide that disproportionately affects children in rural areas,” Mr Mahama stated.

The Chairman said by providing equal access to quality education, children could be equipped with the necessary skills and knowledge to shape a brighter future for themselves and the nation.

“We must also enhance public awareness campaigns and empower children to understand their rights and speak up against violations,” he said.

Chief Justice Getrude Sackey Torkornoo in a speech read on her behalf by Madam Ellen Ofei-Ayeh, a Circuit Court Judge, said the inability to secure free health services as provided by the Bill for the vulnerable child victim was one predominant concern in child adjudication panels and courts.

She said public health institutions that demanded payment of monies from parents and guardians of child victims and children as a condition for the release of medical reports must be sanctioned.

Mrs Torkornoo said the Family Tribunals, Juvenile Tribunals, specialised courts such as the Gender Courts and all other courts in the country were mandated by law to ensure the best interest of the child was achieved by making them child-friendly.

The Chief Justice said the Child had not been spared from the influence and effect of substance abuse, which was the driving factor putting more children in conflict with the law.

“ The Judicial Service, being a stakeholder in ensuring the best interest of the child, an institution that deals with child offenders, who may become substance abusers, would desire that any person who engages a child in any form of narcotic business, be held criminally liable for that specific act, just as the Cyber Security Act, 2020, Act 1038, did for children by an enhanced punishment,” she stated.

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Ghana has witnessed a substantial decline in the practice of child marriage, bringing hope as the country approaches the deadline for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Recent data reveals that only one in five young women aged 20 to 24  were married before the age of 18, a notable improvement from the troubling statistic of one in three about a decade ago.

This positive trend marks a significant step forward in securing a brighter future for Ghana’s youth and underscores the nation’s commitment to fulfilling the SDGs’ vision for a more equitable and just society.

In a collaborative effort to end child marriage, the United Nations Population Fund, UNFPA, and the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF recently organized a five-day workshop in Cape Coast under the UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to End Child Marriage.

The workshop sought to address the critical drivers behind harmful practices affecting children, focusing on child marriage, adolescent pregnancies, and related issues.

To achieve this, participants, including implementing partners and stakeholders from various ministries and sectors, engaged in a co-creation process to develop a consolidated set of tools. Central to the workshop’s objectives was the development of a Social Behavior Change (SBC) playbook

UNICEF Social Behavior Change Specialist, Charity Nikoi, said the playbook will serve as a global resource, enabling country and regional offices to effectively tackle child marriage through adaptable, sustainable, and scalable interventions.

She added that the playbook emphasizes a human-centered design approach geared towards empowering communities to play an active role in ending child marriage.

“In this Social Behaviour Change Playbook Workshop, we are using the human centered design to end child marriage which we designed together with the community. We targeted adolescents, parents and community leaders and so on. We are looking at what happens to each of these personas when it comes to child marriage. What are the contributory factors, the root causes. We designed what is cost effective and appropriate for them to use” she said. 

“We wanted our partners, that is CSOs and government institutions, to know about the new strategy for SBC that we have added to the basket. The human centered design is one. A lot of the participants were very excited to be part of this new approach” Madam Nikoi added. 

UNFPA Programme Analyst, Gender Based Violence, Faizal Bawa, while praising  Ghana’s commitment to the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030, stressed the need for further action to achieve the SDG targets in the country.

“Basically, we are looking at tools we can use better in the communities, looking at various target population that we work with, parents, adolescent girls and boys, traditional leaders, family heads. How do we ensure that knowing the importance of our community system, we are able to target all these population with information to be able to address issues of child marriage. This workshop is timely because we are going into the third phase of the global programme to end child marriage which starts from 2024 to 2030. This will give us the opportunity to use some of these tools in the third phase next year”.                      

One of the facilitators of the Nucleus Group, Shaz Bhola, emphasized that the primary objective of the co-creation workshop is to adopt a listening-first approach. Unlike traditional agendas driven by predefined goals, the workshop encourages engagement with communities to better understand their needs and concerns on specific topics.

“The target of the workshop is largely to practice a listening first approach . So, generally, when we go into communities, we might have a site agenda of things that we need to accomplish on a particular topic.  We then look at behavior of drivers for instance, where there’s overlap between an issue like child marriage which is the harmful practice we’re focused on. But then, when we listen to the community’s understanding of what their concerns are and what the drivers of those overlap”

A total of 44 participants from civil society organizations, public sector, UNICEF, UNFPA and representatives from Guinea Liberia and Sierra Leone came together to forge a unified path towards ending child marriage.

They visited two communities in Abrem Essiam and Essuekyir ,all in the Central Region to practice a rapid inquiry method with personas of different ages, gender perspectives and roles. After the field visit, the participants developed and tested prototypes which they shared with the personas. Some participants shared their views after the workshop.

First Vera Allotey from the Department of Community Development in the Eastern Region, who said the workshop was very inciteful.

“I was a bit curious because I wanted to find out how the play book would look like, and how we are going to use it to interact with the community members. My expectations have been met however, not fully. I thought that besides testing of the prototype some validations would have been done, there are some few gaps that would have to be filled. However, it’s been good so far. There is a good side and I’m happy to have been part of it” she said.

A Public Relations officer of the Light Foundation, an NGO, Imam Yussif said the group and field work have been very helpful.

“I was also curious and expecting to learn. When they started the workshop, it was so engaging, we were united and I liked the session of presentation, group work and field work. I’ve learnt a lot. I’ve learnt how to approach people systematically but I think there’s more room for improvement. When we talk about the tools, it’s not that clear so I think they can do better when it comes to the issue of tools that we can use on the field. Though you can see what they are using, you’ll have to ask a myriad of questions. They have done very well. I enjoyed it and I’m happy to be here”, he added.

The outcomes of this landmark workshop hold the potential to reshape the future for countless vulnerable children. By co-creating innovative and effective solutions, the international community takes a step closer to realizing a world where child marriage becomes an archaic practice.

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Head of Planning, Research, Monitoring and Evaluation ECOWAS Gender Development Center, Awudu Ahmed Gumah, has hinted of plans of ECOWAS to support Ghana in its quest to end the menace of child beggars. 

This he said will be done in the second phase of a pilot Programme, which was commenced by the centre in 2019. 

“We have a project that is being financed by the Italian government, being implemented by the UN High Commission for Human Rights, that is for child protection. So, we are targeting children on the move. Children who are moving from country to country and engaging in so many other things that are inimical to their health and to their education. We try to support their families to ensure that they remain with their families and are able to go to school”

On a daily basis, children as young as three years old, find their way onto the streets to beg for alms and other forms of assistance. Majority of them who are from the Sahelian region solicit the support of the public for their survival.

Mr. Gumah said the project will among other things ensure the menace of child beggars is eliminated in Ghana as well as the West African sub-region.  

“In the second phase Ghana will be a part because it has been a success so we are hoping that in the second phase we will cover all the ECOWAS member states. And so, Ghana is definitely going to be among those to benefit from this project.

Mr. Gumah, who was speaking in an interview with GBCGhanaonline in Accra, described phase one as a success. He called for the support of member countries to ensure the next phase also becomes a success. 

“Sometimes you cannot prevent people from moving from one country to the other, but then when they move, they go with their children. Because they find themselves in a new environment, they cannot afford to send their children to school. So that’s our main concern, children so I think that ECOWAS is doing a lot in that respect, but we expect most member states to come in”

The ECOWAS Gender Development Centre, EGDC, mobilizes and empowers women to be active participants in the regional integration process.

It was established 2003, and has been instrumental in liaising with member countries for the implementation of Gender sensitive policies as well as training and capacity building programmes.

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Lead patron of the Duo Concept Foundation and Public Affairs Director of the Parliament of Ghana, Ms. Kate Addo has urged the youth to prioritize volunteerism and mentorship opportunities as a means of improving their career chances at every level of their social lives.

Speaking to children at the Great Mission International during the Easter celebrations, Madam Kate urged the youth to be submissive, tolerant and willing to learn from experienced professionals within any field of interest.

“The sure way to perfect your craft and your God given talent is to identify a mentor and be willing to learn”

She added that the new digital era gives young people opportunities to explore and identify mentors regardless of distance.

“You don’t have to be present to learn from others, you can follow their steps, ask for assistance, and remain connected using current technological tools”.

Ms Kate Addo made these remarks during a donation made to the Great Mission International orphanage home in Nungua as part of the Easter celebration.

A patron of Duo Concept Foundation, Kakra Acheampong in his remarks, urged the children to cultivate the habit of self-discipline and study’s to improve their knowledge.

The foundation, co-founded by Panin and Kakra Acheampong donated items including toiletries, toothpaste, soft drinks and water worth over Ghc 10,000 as part of their contribution towards the festivities.

The drive is to encourage benevolent persons and organizations to support the less privileged to make their lives comfortable.

Duo Concept Foundation is a Non-governmental organization supporting the less privileged, girl child empowerment and educational talk programs across the country.

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The World Health Organisation, WHO, has appealed to countries to take action to prevent, detect and respond to incidents of substandard and falsified medical products.

WHO cites recent incidents where over-the-counter cough syrups for children had confirmed traces or suspected amount of contamination in them and this resulted in more than 300 fatalities in three of the seven countries (at least) affected.

WHO said most affected are young children under the age of five.

“Over the past four months, countries have reported on several incidents of over-the-counter cough syrups for children with confirmed or suspected contamination with high levels of diethylene glycol (DEG) and ethylene glycol (EG)” the world health body said.

According to WHO, the contaminants are toxic chemicals used as industrial solvents and antifreeze agents that can be fatal, even taken in small amounts.

It warns that the contaminants should never be found in medicines.

The Gambia, Indonesia, and Uzbekistan were among countries cited.

To raise awareness, medical product alerts were rapidly disseminated to national health authorities of all 194 WHO Member States.

The medical product alerts requested the detection and removal of contaminated medicines from circulation in the markets, increased surveillance and diligence within the supply chains of countries and regions likely to be affected, and immediate notification to WHO if these substandard products are discovered in-country; and inform the public of the dangers and toxic effects of the substandard medicines at issue.

As these incidents are not isolated, WHO is urging stakeholders engaged in the medical supply chain to take “immediate and coordinated action.”

WHO calls on regulators and governments to:

• detect and remove from circulation in their respective markets any substandard medical products that have been identified in the WHO medical alerts referred to as potential causes of deaths and disease;
• ensure that all medical products in their respective markets are approved for sale by competent authorities and obtainable from authorized/licensed suppliers;
• assign appropriate resources to improve and increase risk-based inspections of manufacturing sites within their jurisdiction in accordance with international norms and standards;
• increase market surveillance including risk-based targeted testing for medical products released in their respective markets including informal markets; and
• enact and enforce, where relevant and as appropriate, laws and other relevant legal measures to help combat the manufacture, distribution and/or use of substandard and falsified medicines.

WHO calls on manufacturers of medicines to:

• “only purchase pharmaceutical grade excipients from qualified and bona fide suppliers;”
• “conduct comprehensive testing upon receipt of supplies and before use in manufacture of finished products;”
• “provide assurance of product quality including through certificates of analyses based on appropriate testing results;” and
• “keep accurate, complete and proper records of purchase of materials, testing, manufacture, and distribution to facilitate traceability during investigations in case of incidents.”

WHO urges all suppliers and distributors of medical products to:

• “always check for signs of falsification and physical condition of medicines and other health products they distribute and/or sell;”
• “only distribute and/or sell medicines authorized by, and from sources approved by, competent authorities;”
• “keep accurate, complete and proper records relating to the medicines and their distribution and/or sale;” and
• “engage competent personnel to handle medicines and provide advice to the public on appropriate use of the medicines.”

To save lives, WHO says “it will continue to work with the Member State Mechanism on substandard and falsified medical products in implementing its mandate to promote effective collaboration in the prevention, detection and response to substandard and falsified medical products.”

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The CEO of Child-In-Tech, Akua Otubea Essah, has underscored the importance of building the skills and interests of young people in financial technology and the technological space in general.

She asserted that now more than ever, there is an urgent agenda for introducing and deepening the knowledge and application of technology in all aspects of life of the youth, especially students in Senior High Schools.

This is to ensure a brighter and better future for themselves and the country. Ms. Otubea Essah made the observation at the Child-In-Tech Conference held in Accra for 150 students selected from seven Senior High Schools in the Greater Accra Region.

She commended the sponsors, Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communication, GIFEC, and particularly the Platinum Sponsor, ‘Taptap Send’, a remittal firm, for demonstrating commitment at enhancing the fintech space in the country.

The Growth Africa Director of ‘Taptap Send’, Darryl Mawutor Abraham said research indicates that students in the SHS level are amongst the most actively involved age group engaged in digital transactions for educational and financial transactions. However, they are not in full grasp of the nitty-gritty of financial technology which makes it imperative for entities like ‘Taptap Send’ to support such educational programmes.

A Resource Person for Taptap Send, Akosua Oppong-Mensah, observed that the remittance eco-system has become a source of capital inflow and fund mobilization for developing countries and its citizens, including Ghana and ‘must be taken advantage of to the benefit of all and that it is for that reason among others, that Taptap Send does not charge any fees for its services to its customers’.

The Senior Manager, Sustainability and Partnership of GIFEC, Abena Nyamesem, explained that GIFEC aims at bridging the electronic and digital infrastructural gap between the urban and rural centres of the country so as to enable all citizens of the land to be abreast of and benefit from the technological revolution currently sweeping across the globe.

In recent months, Taptap Send has sponsored a series of fora on the fintech space in Ghana including the 10th edition of Tech-In-Ghana Fair in November and the TEDx Conference in Accra in December 2022. The company also distributed food items to its clients during the 2022 Christmas as part of its Corporate Social Responsibility.

Schools which participated in the Child-In-Tech conference were Accra Girls Senior High, Kaneshie Secondary Technical High, Accra Academy, Accra Wesley Grammar, Airport East Methodist, and Ideal High.

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Compassion International has developed a platform which will help track the report of abuse cases and attend to them accordingly. This platform is called resolver, a child protection reporting system designed to track all incidents of abuse, neglect, and exploitation experienced by participants under the programme.

Speaking on behalf of the National Director, Mrs. Florence Sena Amponsah, the Senior Manager of Programme Support noted that Compassion International Ghana has strengthened accountability in reporting abuse cases by creating awareness and partnering with government agencies such as the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), Social Welfare among others to achieve this objective.

In the address, Mrs. Sena Amponsah highlighted that Compassion Ghana’s church partners have been instrumental in creating a safe environment for participants to report cases of abuse. She also noted that research indicates that victims of abuse, neglect and exploitation prefer reporting the incident to people they are comfortable with.

“However, our experience from across our operational areas shows that not everyone who experiences abuse, neglect, or exploitation feels comfortable telling another person. Best practices indicate that providing options for reporting increases the likelihood of victims finding a reporting method that they feel comfortable with and will be more willing to access.”

A 2022 Incident Management study by Navex (Ethics Point) found that across 3,470 companies with incident management systems that logged more than 1.37 million incidents in 2021, 50% of those incidents were reported anonymously. Thirty percent (30%) of those incidents were made via a telephone-based hotline, while 40% were made to another person and 29% were made via a website-based reporting form.

She also made a clarion call to all stakeholders and caregivers to be conscious of child protection and be active advocates for the wellbeing of children to complement the efforts of Compassion International Ghana.

Resolver is an internal reporting system which can only be seen by Compassion and its Frontline Church Partners. This is to create a reporting channel for participants who experience any form of abuse, so the needed support is provided for their restoration. The resolver was developed by Compassion International and its partners in USA.

At the launch, government stakeholders on child protection, DOVVSU and Social Welfare took turns educating patrons on the types of child abuse highlighting child neglect as one of the major forms of abuse prevalent, and admonished caregivers to put in the effort to be present in the lives of their children to help them to become fulfilled and responsible adults.

The launch took place at Mpraeso Akrpong Presbyterian Church, one of CIGH’s church partners.

Compassion International Ghana (CIGH), is a Christian Non-Profit Organization (NPO) and a member of Compassion International Incorporated, headquartered in Colorado Springs, USA. Compassion International Ghana is Christ-centered, Church driven, and Child focused with a vision of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ Name. Compassion International Ghana executes this mandate by partnering with local churches to reach out to needy children in the local communities.

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Speaking on behalf of the National Director, Mrs. Florence Sena Amponsah, the Senior Manager of Programme Support noted that Compassion International Ghana has strengthened accountability in reporting abuse cases by creating awareness and partnering with government agencies such as the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), Social Welfare among others to achieve this objective.

In the address, Mrs. Sena Amponsah highlighted that Compassion Ghana’s church partners have been instrumental in creating a safe environment for participants to report cases of abuse. She also noted that research indicates that victims of abuse, neglect and exploitation prefer reporting the incident to people they are comfortable with.

“However, our experience from across our operational areas shows that not everyone who experiences abuse, neglect, or exploitation feels comfortable telling another person. Best practices indicate that providing options for reporting increases the likelihood of victims finding a reporting method that they feel comfortable with and will be more willing to access.”

A 2022 Incident Management study by Navex (Ethics Point) found that across 3,470 companies with incident management systems that logged more than 1.37 million incidents in 2021, 50% of those incidents were reported anonymously. Thirty percent (30%) of those incidents were made via a telephone-based hotline, while 40% were made to another person and 29% were made via a website-based reporting form.

She also made clarion call to all stakeholders and caregivers to be conscious of child protection and be active advocators of the wellbeing of children to complement the efforts of Compassion International Ghana.

Resolver is an internal reporting system which can only be seen by Compassion and its Frontline Church Partners. This is to create a reporting channel for participants who experience any form of abuse, so the needed support is provided for their restoration. The resolver was developed by Compassion International and its partners in USA.

At the launch, government stakeholders on child protection, DOVVSU and Social Welfare took turns to educate patrons on the types of child abuse highlighting child neglect as one of the major forms of abuse prevalent and admonished caregivers to put in the effort to be present in the lives of their children to help them become fulfilled and responsible adults.

The launch took place at Mpraeso Akrpong Presbyterian Church, one of CIGH’s church partners.

Compassion International Ghana (CIGH), is a Christian Non-Profit Organization (NPO) and a member of Compassion International Incorporated, headquartered in Colorado Springs, USA. Compassion International Ghana is Christ centered, Church driven, and Child focused with a vision of releasing children from poverty in Jesus’ Name. Compassion International Ghana executes this mandate by partnering with local churches to reach out to the needy children in the local communities.

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