AFRICAN GOVERNMENTS URGED TO INITIATE PROGRAMMES THAT WILL PROMOTE RIGHTS, NEEDS OF CHILDREN
Yendi (NR), June 15, GNA - As part of activities marking this year's African Union (AU) Day of the African child, the Yendi Area Child Development Programme (YACDP) is organizing durbars for school children and their parents drawn from Zugu, Gbungbaliga, Kpachiyili and Adibo at Yendi in the Northern Region.
The Programme Coordinator for Assemblies of God Relief and Development Services (ACREDS) Mr. George Maalug Kombian announced this when he delivered a speech on the African Union Day of the African Child at the Yendi Area Child Development Conference Hall.
Mr. Kombian called on African Governments, Chiefs, Religious Bodies and Civil Society Organizations to initiate Programmes that will enhance the needs and safeguard the rights of African children ,especially children with disability.
Mr. Kombian said it was important for other organizations to supplement the government's efforts by contributing their quota to promote the welfare of children.
He noted that it was against this background that Christian Children Fund of Canada (CCFC) was highly commended for their support to Ghana in education, health, Child Protection Water and sanitation, health and nutrition, sustainable Livelihood development and child sponsorship.
Mr. Kombian said the Yendi Area Child Development Programme dealt with child and family sponsorship through the support of CCFC in working hard to improve the lives of children in the Yendi Municipality by the construction of user friendly blocks for all inclusive education in the most deprived communities to help in the education of children.
He said in spite of various legislations safeguarding the rights and welfare of children, they were still subjected to physical violence, neglect and abuses in the homes and community. He indicated that girls were forced into marriages, subjected to female genital mutilation and sexual assault by males, among other violent actss.
Mr. Kombian stated that for the commemoration of the 22nd Day of the African Child, the theme: “The Right of children with Disabilities: The Duty to protect, Respect, Promote and Fulfill” was very appropriate.
He said the significance of the Day was inspired, among other things, by the 1976 uprising in Soweto when a protest by school children in South Africa against apartheid-oriented education resulted in the mass killing of these unnamed young protesters by State police.
He indicated that the African Union then the Organization of African Unity (OAU) in 1990, therefore, chose the Day for Member States to reflect on the plight of all African children and to improve their lives.
The Day of the African Child is commemorated every year on 16th June by Members States of the African Union and its partners in accordance with Resolution CM/Res: 1293(XL).
GNA