Parliament, UNICEF launch caucus to champion children's rights

Parliament of Ghana, in collaboration with UNICEF Ghana and the African Centre for Parliamentary Affairs (ACEPA), has launched a Parliamentary Caucus on Children to strengthen legislative action, budgeting and oversight on issues affecting children.

The non-partisan platform is expected to bring together Members of Parliament to ensure that children's rights and welfare are consistently reflected in laws, public spending, oversight and national development policies.

The initiative comes amid concerns that although Ghana has made significant progress in promoting children's wellbeing, many child-related priorities continue to receive inadequate attention in public decision-making.

Children aged between 0 and 19 account for about 15.1 million people, representing 45 percent of the country's population.

"The Parliamentary Caucus on Children is designed to champion the rights and wellbeing of children through Parliamentary action," a joint statement issued on the development, read in part.

According to the statement, the caucus will support Parliament's core functions by promoting child-sensitive legislation, strengthening oversight of programmes affecting children, advocating increased investment in children and social sectors, and encouraging evidence-based decision-making.

It will also monitor Ghana's obligations under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, promote meaningful and safe participation of children in governance, and foster collaboration among parliamentary committees on child-related issues.

The caucus will operate on principles including non-partisanship, the best interests of the child, equity, accountability, transparency, child participation and evidence-informed decision-making.

Membership will be voluntary and drawn from relevant parliamentary committees with balanced representation across political parties, gender, regions and both urban and rural constituencies.

"The Parliamentary Caucus on Children creates a stronger institutional platform for putting children's issues at the centre of national decision-making," the statement noted.