Marital Breakdown, not grounds for neglecting parental responsibilities — Parents told

The Commissioner and Head of Volunteers of the Special Monitoring Missions of the IHRC GH Amb Bernard Kofi Bonarparte, Founder of the Bonabear Foundation Ghana and also a Global Goodwill Ambassador admonishes parents not to hide behind the curtains of marital breakdown and divorce to neglect their parental responsibilities towards their children.

He urged parents to care for them and allow their children to live their full potential, by giving them guidance and supporting them through formal education and giving them the opportunity to follow their dreams.

According to him, this will curtail the incidence of the children being forced into street life.

On Monday, the 27th December saw another moment of demonstration of Love from the Bonabear Foundation Ghana under auspices of the Special Monitoring Mission of the International Human Rights Commission-Ghana in partnership with DUEDUAH-1 Hotel in Awanare a predominantly Cocoa Farming community in the Atiwa West Municipality - Eastern Region were participants went through some fun and engaging activities to mark the day.

Delivering his speech at the event, Amb Bernard Kofi Bonarparte mentioned that the Universal Declaration of Human Rights clearly outlines the need to allow people to decide with guidance regarding children what they wish to become in future. In Ghana, the Children's Act 560 also stresses the need to guide a child to live his or her full potential.

"The Children's Act stipulates that every decision taken in connection with the child must be in the interest of the child. For that matter, parents and guardians need to at some point in time seek the opinion of these children. This is very clear in Act 560. Children must be guarded and that is why that same Act, allows for parents and guardians to restrict the movement of children for the purpose of their education. All these are in the spirit of allowing them to grow to their full potential and not to the potential of the parents and guardians," he stated.

He added, "The partnership this year aided the commission to feed well over 1,100 men and women including children, these annual event saw all participants wearing smiles after they all received food, water and soft drinks including usable clothes and study materials and books to all the children present."

In attendance were dignitaries and opinion leaders from the community. The Chief Inspector of Police also gave a cautious word to the parents to desist from engaging their wards in forced labour with the aim of having these children support them on their farm. He added that when parents, in any case, identify a child’s interest in Agriculture, they should allow the child to have formal edification whiles pursuing courses in relation to his or her interest. Various speakers took turns to share words of advice to parents.