Published in the Daily Graphic on 17/05/2010, pg 17
Story: Matilda Attram
SDA Church assists Psychiatric Hospital
THE Accra South-East District of the Seventh-Day Adventist Church (SDA) has donated assorted items to the Accra Psychiatric Hospital and the Osu Children's Home for the upkeep of the inmates.
The items, worth GH¢800, included eggs, biscuits, toiletries, clothes and bags of rice.
Presenting the items, the District Pastor, Pastor Emmanuel Acquaye Allotey, said the presentation was in fulfilment of the church's social responsibility to share its blessings from God with the rest of society.
"Jesus Christ devoted much time to healing and supporting the poor and that’s what we want to emulate," he said.
The Chairman of the Welfare Committee of the church, Elder Joe Kwarteng, stated that the presentation was to show love, concern for and interest in supporting the less privileged in society.
He said the church inculcated the spirit of love, giving and volunteerism in its members, hence the willingness of members to contribute their widow’s mite to support the needy.
The First Elder in charge of the church, Elder Paul Kwaku Addai, commended the workers of the two institutions and assured them of subsequent visits by the church to support their operations.
The church, also known as the Nungua Beach Road SDA, used the opportunity to fellowship with inmates of the institutions.
Receiving the items, the Senior Nursing Officer of the Accra Psychiatric Hospital, Mr Kofi Nartey, and the Assistant Supervisor of the Osu Children's Home, Madam Annie Kpedekpo, thanked members of the church for their support.
Monday, May 24, 2010
Special Courts review remand cases
Published in the Daily Graphic on 20/05/2010, pg (spread,middle pg)
Story: Matilda Attram, Nsawam
Remand prisoners at the Nsawam Prison heaved a sigh of relief when 10 special court sessions were held at the prison to review their cases, some of which have been pending for 10 years.
At the end of the exercise, which was carried out under the auspices of the Justice For All Project, 27 remand prisoners regained their freedom.
Other remand prisoners were granted bail, some were convicted and sentenced while a few cases were adjourned to the next hearing scheduled for June 22.
There were 2,356 male remand prisoners at the Nsawam Prison alone when auditing of remand prisoners was carried out in 2007.
The Justice for All Programme, dubbed ‘the Remand Review Project’, was initiated in 2007 to enhance justice delivery and foster the adherence to human rights.
A collaborative effort among the Attorney General’s Department, the Centre for Human and Civil Liberties (CHURCIL), a non-governmental organisation, the Ghana Police Service, the Prison Service, and the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), the Remand Review Project is also a mechanism intended to decongest the prisons.
Performing the opening session, the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood, observed that the high population of remand prisoners was a clear indication that the Judiciary had breached some provisions of the 1992 Constitution.
“Each one of us actively engaged in the administration of criminal justice has contributed to this anomalous situation. For this reason, the responsibility lies on us to collaboratively work to find a concrete solution this problem, which sadly thus constitutes a blot on our human right records,” she said:
According to her, the Judiciary, among other stakeholders and the general public, breached Articles 19(1) and (2) (c) of the 1992 Constitution, which provided some rights of an accused person before being judged.
The articles state that “(1) A person charged with a criminal offence shall be given a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court”, while (2) (c) states that “A Person charged with criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until he is proved or has pleaded quilty.”
She further explained that in criminal jurisprudence, there were two types of offences, which demanded intervention by the courts prior to the commencement of the actual trial.
The types of offences, she said, were the bailable and the non-bailable offences.
Mrs Wood said the basic requirement of any trail court before which an accused person had been arraigned for trial in a criminal case was to ensure that the person, if released on bail, would appear on the adjourned date to stand trail.
“There is no reason why a court must remand an accused person in custody, pending trial if there are no valid reasons showing that such a person will not appear to stand trial,” she said.
She added that the real challenge, however, occurred during the non-bailable offences such as robbery, murder, narcotics, rape and defilement.
Mrs Wood said that even so the courts had held that notwithstanding the ouster of the time-honoured discretionary power to grant bail in such cases, bail would nonetheless be granted whenever it was demonstrated that there had been unreasonable delay in the trial or where the facts presented upon arraignment did not support the offence with which the accused had been charged.
The Chief Justice appreciated the need for the country to take her constitutional responsibilities seriously to ensure that criminal justice was delivered for the benefit of all.
She further mentioned safety, security and stability as elements that constituted a country’s ability to nurture development and good governance.
She said Ghana was a highly respected nation of hope in Africa and, therefore, must demonstrate a clear and sustained commitment to the rule of law and human rights.
She advised officials of the Judiciary to turn down unlawful demands from the public and rather acknowledge their judicial oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the nation to protect the rights of the citizens.
The Chairman of the project, Justice Benjamin Teiko Aryettey, told journalists that the programme was expected to review 140 cases of prisoners whose dockets had been provided by the police within the 2009/10 legal year.
Explaining the rationale to carry out the exercise at the prison, the Deputy Director in charge of the Nsawam Prison, Mr Chris Larvie, stated that the lack of vehicles to transport prisoners to the various courts was one of the logistic challenges faced by the prison service.
A Supreme Court judge, Ms Justice Rose Owusu, expressed the need for a special exercise under the project for female remand prisoners, explaining that, "We did not intentionally forget them, but only had the impression from the police that there was none".
Story: Matilda Attram, Nsawam
Remand prisoners at the Nsawam Prison heaved a sigh of relief when 10 special court sessions were held at the prison to review their cases, some of which have been pending for 10 years.
At the end of the exercise, which was carried out under the auspices of the Justice For All Project, 27 remand prisoners regained their freedom.
Other remand prisoners were granted bail, some were convicted and sentenced while a few cases were adjourned to the next hearing scheduled for June 22.
There were 2,356 male remand prisoners at the Nsawam Prison alone when auditing of remand prisoners was carried out in 2007.
The Justice for All Programme, dubbed ‘the Remand Review Project’, was initiated in 2007 to enhance justice delivery and foster the adherence to human rights.
A collaborative effort among the Attorney General’s Department, the Centre for Human and Civil Liberties (CHURCIL), a non-governmental organisation, the Ghana Police Service, the Prison Service, and the Ghana Bar Association (GBA), the Remand Review Project is also a mechanism intended to decongest the prisons.
Performing the opening session, the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood, observed that the high population of remand prisoners was a clear indication that the Judiciary had breached some provisions of the 1992 Constitution.
“Each one of us actively engaged in the administration of criminal justice has contributed to this anomalous situation. For this reason, the responsibility lies on us to collaboratively work to find a concrete solution this problem, which sadly thus constitutes a blot on our human right records,” she said:
According to her, the Judiciary, among other stakeholders and the general public, breached Articles 19(1) and (2) (c) of the 1992 Constitution, which provided some rights of an accused person before being judged.
The articles state that “(1) A person charged with a criminal offence shall be given a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court”, while (2) (c) states that “A Person charged with criminal offence shall be presumed innocent until he is proved or has pleaded quilty.”
She further explained that in criminal jurisprudence, there were two types of offences, which demanded intervention by the courts prior to the commencement of the actual trial.
The types of offences, she said, were the bailable and the non-bailable offences.
Mrs Wood said the basic requirement of any trail court before which an accused person had been arraigned for trial in a criminal case was to ensure that the person, if released on bail, would appear on the adjourned date to stand trail.
“There is no reason why a court must remand an accused person in custody, pending trial if there are no valid reasons showing that such a person will not appear to stand trial,” she said.
She added that the real challenge, however, occurred during the non-bailable offences such as robbery, murder, narcotics, rape and defilement.
Mrs Wood said that even so the courts had held that notwithstanding the ouster of the time-honoured discretionary power to grant bail in such cases, bail would nonetheless be granted whenever it was demonstrated that there had been unreasonable delay in the trial or where the facts presented upon arraignment did not support the offence with which the accused had been charged.
The Chief Justice appreciated the need for the country to take her constitutional responsibilities seriously to ensure that criminal justice was delivered for the benefit of all.
She further mentioned safety, security and stability as elements that constituted a country’s ability to nurture development and good governance.
She said Ghana was a highly respected nation of hope in Africa and, therefore, must demonstrate a clear and sustained commitment to the rule of law and human rights.
She advised officials of the Judiciary to turn down unlawful demands from the public and rather acknowledge their judicial oath to uphold and defend the Constitution of the nation to protect the rights of the citizens.
The Chairman of the project, Justice Benjamin Teiko Aryettey, told journalists that the programme was expected to review 140 cases of prisoners whose dockets had been provided by the police within the 2009/10 legal year.
Explaining the rationale to carry out the exercise at the prison, the Deputy Director in charge of the Nsawam Prison, Mr Chris Larvie, stated that the lack of vehicles to transport prisoners to the various courts was one of the logistic challenges faced by the prison service.
A Supreme Court judge, Ms Justice Rose Owusu, expressed the need for a special exercise under the project for female remand prisoners, explaining that, "We did not intentionally forget them, but only had the impression from the police that there was none".
Fire Alarm system in town
Published in the Daily Graphic on 20/05/2010, pg 16
Story: Matilda Attram
A new equipment to help control rampant fire outbreaks has been introduced into the country.
The equipment, known as the Early Warning Fire Alarm System, when installed, enables individuals and corporate institutions to take immediate precaution against damage to public buildings, factories, shops and homes in the event of fire outbreaks.
The equipment, which extracts power from a rechargeable battery, is expected to trigger an alarm when it first picks the signal of any imminent fire outbreak through an in-built sensitive device, which automatically sends information to its central operating system at the district office of the Ghana National Fire Service where the building is located.
The system has the ability of sending text messages about the imminent disaster to the mobile phones of individuals and neighbours in charge of such buildings at various locations at the time of the incident, at no cost.
Demonstrating how the equipment works, Dr Kenneth Afari, the Chief Executive Officer of Socio Computers Limited, the suppliers of the equipment, indicated that the equipment comes with an in-built camera which could demonstrate in pictures the cause of the fire, as well as expose criminals who might have caused the fire.
The whole idea, according to him, was to check the fire at its early stage before it spread to cause severe damage.
He said the initiative to introduce the equipment was based on the fact that most government buildings were empty during the night.
“This technology has been in major developed countries for some time now and has been re-engineered to suit the conditions of this country, as far as fire destruction is concern,” he stated.
Dr Afari presented some of the equipment, worth GH¢2,160,000, to the 144 already established district fire offices in the country and assured them of free training for selected firemen to operate the system.
The Chief Fire Officer, Mr William Brown Acquaye, described the equipment as a good mechanism that would help the country to protect its properties, as well as reduce the workload of the Fire Service.
He expressed appreciation to the management of Socio Computers Limited for its support.
Story: Matilda Attram
A new equipment to help control rampant fire outbreaks has been introduced into the country.
The equipment, known as the Early Warning Fire Alarm System, when installed, enables individuals and corporate institutions to take immediate precaution against damage to public buildings, factories, shops and homes in the event of fire outbreaks.
The equipment, which extracts power from a rechargeable battery, is expected to trigger an alarm when it first picks the signal of any imminent fire outbreak through an in-built sensitive device, which automatically sends information to its central operating system at the district office of the Ghana National Fire Service where the building is located.
The system has the ability of sending text messages about the imminent disaster to the mobile phones of individuals and neighbours in charge of such buildings at various locations at the time of the incident, at no cost.
Demonstrating how the equipment works, Dr Kenneth Afari, the Chief Executive Officer of Socio Computers Limited, the suppliers of the equipment, indicated that the equipment comes with an in-built camera which could demonstrate in pictures the cause of the fire, as well as expose criminals who might have caused the fire.
The whole idea, according to him, was to check the fire at its early stage before it spread to cause severe damage.
He said the initiative to introduce the equipment was based on the fact that most government buildings were empty during the night.
“This technology has been in major developed countries for some time now and has been re-engineered to suit the conditions of this country, as far as fire destruction is concern,” he stated.
Dr Afari presented some of the equipment, worth GH¢2,160,000, to the 144 already established district fire offices in the country and assured them of free training for selected firemen to operate the system.
The Chief Fire Officer, Mr William Brown Acquaye, described the equipment as a good mechanism that would help the country to protect its properties, as well as reduce the workload of the Fire Service.
He expressed appreciation to the management of Socio Computers Limited for its support.
SODEP trains 100 people in English, Maths
Published in the Daily Graphic on 24/05/2010, pg 11
Story: Matilda Attram
SOCIAL Development in Education Project (SODEP),a project aimed at improving the lot of rural schools and teachers, has trained 100 resource persons in some critical subject areas of basic schools.
The resource persons, who were trained in English Language, Mathematics, Science, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Citizenship Education and Early Child Development, would in turn train teachers.
Dubbed ‘SODEP-Nkabom,' the project is a collaborative effort between the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Canadian Teachers Federation (CTF).
The project, which is also to upgrade education and development in deprived communities, has increased interest in education and it aids in the mobilisation of other forms of development that enhance the living standards of community members.
The project, which started in 2002, has helped to sharpen the content knowledge and teaching skills of teachers and has made members of such communities become responsive to their needs.
As part of the mechanisms to sustain the project, a one-day forum has been held in Accra to bring together participating organisations such as the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies, Traditional Authorities, Parent-Teacher Associations among other organisations in education delivery to share their ideas and experiences in the performance of their duties.
In his welcoming address, the Deputy-General Secretary of GNAT, Mr John Nyoagbe, indicated that the project came in two sections, one of which used innovative approach to assist teachers who were posted to deprived schools to adapt to the circumstances and challenges posed by their schools and environment.
He said the approach recognised the significant and collaborative role of all and worked with 30 schools and communities in five regions to assist them to identify their development challenges, as well as prioritise them.
"The project has worked in communities in the Greater Accra , Ashanti, Brong Ahafo , Volta and the Northern regions where these resource persons also train classroom teachers in order to raise their teaching and leadership capabilities," he stated.
Mr Nyoagbe mentioned the lack of trained teachers, full education facilities, and the high level of ignorance in some communities as major challenges of the project and added "We are trying to find measures to combat our challenges and hope to move to the rest of the regions".
In a presentation, a representative of CTF, Mr Durris Dezanney, expressed satisfaction with some communities for their efforts in improving themselves, saying "This has attracted the interest of other development non-governmental organisation (NGOs)”.
Story: Matilda Attram
SOCIAL Development in Education Project (SODEP),a project aimed at improving the lot of rural schools and teachers, has trained 100 resource persons in some critical subject areas of basic schools.
The resource persons, who were trained in English Language, Mathematics, Science, Information and Communication Technology (ICT), Citizenship Education and Early Child Development, would in turn train teachers.
Dubbed ‘SODEP-Nkabom,' the project is a collaborative effort between the Ghana National Association of Teachers (GNAT) and the Canadian Teachers Federation (CTF).
The project, which is also to upgrade education and development in deprived communities, has increased interest in education and it aids in the mobilisation of other forms of development that enhance the living standards of community members.
The project, which started in 2002, has helped to sharpen the content knowledge and teaching skills of teachers and has made members of such communities become responsive to their needs.
As part of the mechanisms to sustain the project, a one-day forum has been held in Accra to bring together participating organisations such as the Ministry of Education, Ghana Education Service, District, Municipal and Metropolitan Assemblies, Traditional Authorities, Parent-Teacher Associations among other organisations in education delivery to share their ideas and experiences in the performance of their duties.
In his welcoming address, the Deputy-General Secretary of GNAT, Mr John Nyoagbe, indicated that the project came in two sections, one of which used innovative approach to assist teachers who were posted to deprived schools to adapt to the circumstances and challenges posed by their schools and environment.
He said the approach recognised the significant and collaborative role of all and worked with 30 schools and communities in five regions to assist them to identify their development challenges, as well as prioritise them.
"The project has worked in communities in the Greater Accra , Ashanti, Brong Ahafo , Volta and the Northern regions where these resource persons also train classroom teachers in order to raise their teaching and leadership capabilities," he stated.
Mr Nyoagbe mentioned the lack of trained teachers, full education facilities, and the high level of ignorance in some communities as major challenges of the project and added "We are trying to find measures to combat our challenges and hope to move to the rest of the regions".
In a presentation, a representative of CTF, Mr Durris Dezanney, expressed satisfaction with some communities for their efforts in improving themselves, saying "This has attracted the interest of other development non-governmental organisation (NGOs)”.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Lack of data worsens human trafficking
Published in the Daily Graphic on 29/04/2010, pg 51
Story: Matilda Attram
The Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah, has identified the lack of comprehensive data, research and information as a major setback in its efforts at eliminating human trafficking in the country.
She said the inability of researchers to collect, collate and analyse information into a national database for planning affected proposed programmes for the fight against human trafficking.
The minister said this when she launched ‘Intervention and Database on Human Trafficking in Ghana’, a research by Rescue Foundation, Ghana.
The event, which was held in Accra yesterday, was to officially present to the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs a documented data on the research undertaken by the organisation and its partners on human trafficking in Ghana.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah said frequent reports on human trafficking in the country would help the government strategise its measures at eliminating the phenomenon and improving on its development efforts.
According to her, Ghana had been cited as a source, transit and receiving country for human trafficking by the Trafficking in Persons Report Department of the United States of America (USA).
She said the government was determined to eliminate human trafficking in the country, hence the passage of the Human Trafficking Act (Act 694) in 2005.
“Eliminating human trafficking is a priority for the government of Ghana, as enshrined in its Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPRS II), apart from the establishment of agencies to promote human rights,” she added.
She commended the Rescue Foundation for a good work done and called on all to join in the fight against the phenomenon to enable Ghana to achieve its objectives.
In a presentation, the Research Officer at the Department of Children (DoC) at the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, Mr Sylvester Kyei-Gyamfi, indicated that most traffickers were found to be Ghanaians.
According to him, 1,808 people were rescued from human trafficking in the country between 1998 and 2010, noting that the victims comprised 1,124 females, 614 males and 70 others whose gender could not be identified by the researchers.
He said 77.7 per cent of the victims investigated were children below 16.
Mr Kyei-Gyamfi observed that although human trafficking was a serious crime, people who engaged in it faced no harsh punishment.
He added that poverty was the main cause of human trafficking in the country.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rescue Foundation, Ghana, Mrs Sylvia Hinson-Ekong, said the collection of secondary data that emanated from projects and implemented by organisations working on human trafficking had become the singular source of information for the country.
She added that many organisations implemented projects but did not make data collection and management a crucial part of the implementation process.
She described Rescue Foundation as a non-governmental organisation which partnered the security agencies, the ministry, the Department of Social Welfare, among other institutions, in a form of capacity building to rescue trafficked victims, especially children.
She advised parents to refrain from giving away their children to strangers, since the practice hindered victims’ education and potential.
Story: Matilda Attram
The Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Mrs Juliana Azumah-Mensah, has identified the lack of comprehensive data, research and information as a major setback in its efforts at eliminating human trafficking in the country.
She said the inability of researchers to collect, collate and analyse information into a national database for planning affected proposed programmes for the fight against human trafficking.
The minister said this when she launched ‘Intervention and Database on Human Trafficking in Ghana’, a research by Rescue Foundation, Ghana.
The event, which was held in Accra yesterday, was to officially present to the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs a documented data on the research undertaken by the organisation and its partners on human trafficking in Ghana.
Mrs Azumah-Mensah said frequent reports on human trafficking in the country would help the government strategise its measures at eliminating the phenomenon and improving on its development efforts.
According to her, Ghana had been cited as a source, transit and receiving country for human trafficking by the Trafficking in Persons Report Department of the United States of America (USA).
She said the government was determined to eliminate human trafficking in the country, hence the passage of the Human Trafficking Act (Act 694) in 2005.
“Eliminating human trafficking is a priority for the government of Ghana, as enshrined in its Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy II (GPRS II), apart from the establishment of agencies to promote human rights,” she added.
She commended the Rescue Foundation for a good work done and called on all to join in the fight against the phenomenon to enable Ghana to achieve its objectives.
In a presentation, the Research Officer at the Department of Children (DoC) at the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs, Mr Sylvester Kyei-Gyamfi, indicated that most traffickers were found to be Ghanaians.
According to him, 1,808 people were rescued from human trafficking in the country between 1998 and 2010, noting that the victims comprised 1,124 females, 614 males and 70 others whose gender could not be identified by the researchers.
He said 77.7 per cent of the victims investigated were children below 16.
Mr Kyei-Gyamfi observed that although human trafficking was a serious crime, people who engaged in it faced no harsh punishment.
He added that poverty was the main cause of human trafficking in the country.
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Rescue Foundation, Ghana, Mrs Sylvia Hinson-Ekong, said the collection of secondary data that emanated from projects and implemented by organisations working on human trafficking had become the singular source of information for the country.
She added that many organisations implemented projects but did not make data collection and management a crucial part of the implementation process.
She described Rescue Foundation as a non-governmental organisation which partnered the security agencies, the ministry, the Department of Social Welfare, among other institutions, in a form of capacity building to rescue trafficked victims, especially children.
She advised parents to refrain from giving away their children to strangers, since the practice hindered victims’ education and potential.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Medical team undertakes cleft lip repair
Published in the Daily Graphic on 15/04/2010, pg 11
Story: Matilda Attram
The Rotary Club of Accra West in collaboration with a 25-member medical team from Alliance for Smiles, a non-profit humanitarian organisation in the United States is performing a two-week surgery for Cleft lip children in Accra.
The club is organising the surgeries, freely, at the Ridge Hospital in Accra, in line with its social responsibilities.
At the opening ceremony, the President of Accra West Rotary Club, Mr Ekow Paintsil, said the exercise was initiated to provide essential medical care for needy children to “put smiles on the faces of the less privileged in society, especially, children.”
He expressed the need for society to encourage people with deformity to partake in communal activities through love and support.
Mr Paintsil expressed gratitude to the management of Ridge Hospital for their support in executing the project and called on the public to take advantage of the exercise to help solve such problems.
The Mission Director of Alliance for Smiles, Mrs Barbara Fisher, stated that the organisation is a non-profitable one which offered support for the development of needy children around the world.
She indicated that although the project signified the first visit of the organisation in Africa, it had served hundreds of children across the western world for five years.
“We adore children because they are important to society. The future of our society is in their hands,” she said.
She hoped the organisation would operate on 70 children within the two-week period and called on the public to take advantage of the surgery adding that “We are here to serve children and make life better for them and their future.”
The Medical Director of the Ridge Hospital, Dr Obeng Apori, expressed gratitude to Rotary Club of Accra West and Alliance for Smiles for supporting the health delivery service of the country.
He appealed to the organisation to train more Ghanaian health professionals in the cleft lip surgery to enable more patients in the country and in neighbouring countries, to benefit.
Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that affect the upper lip and roof of the mouth. They are among the most common birth defects that affect children. The incomplete formation of the upper lip (cleft lip) or roof of the mouth (cleft palate) can occur individually, or both defects may occur together. The conditions can vary in severity and may involve one or both sides of the face.
A cleft, or separation of the upper lip and/or the roof of the mouth, occurs very early in the development of unborn babies. During foetal development, certain components of the upper lip and roof of the mouth fail to form normally.
Cleft lip repair is a type of plastic surgery to correct this abnormal development both to restore function and to restore a more normal appearance.
Most clefts can be repaired through specialised plastic surgery techniques, to improve children’s ability to eat, speak, hear and breathe, and to restore a more normal appearance and function.
Story: Matilda Attram
The Rotary Club of Accra West in collaboration with a 25-member medical team from Alliance for Smiles, a non-profit humanitarian organisation in the United States is performing a two-week surgery for Cleft lip children in Accra.
The club is organising the surgeries, freely, at the Ridge Hospital in Accra, in line with its social responsibilities.
At the opening ceremony, the President of Accra West Rotary Club, Mr Ekow Paintsil, said the exercise was initiated to provide essential medical care for needy children to “put smiles on the faces of the less privileged in society, especially, children.”
He expressed the need for society to encourage people with deformity to partake in communal activities through love and support.
Mr Paintsil expressed gratitude to the management of Ridge Hospital for their support in executing the project and called on the public to take advantage of the exercise to help solve such problems.
The Mission Director of Alliance for Smiles, Mrs Barbara Fisher, stated that the organisation is a non-profitable one which offered support for the development of needy children around the world.
She indicated that although the project signified the first visit of the organisation in Africa, it had served hundreds of children across the western world for five years.
“We adore children because they are important to society. The future of our society is in their hands,” she said.
She hoped the organisation would operate on 70 children within the two-week period and called on the public to take advantage of the surgery adding that “We are here to serve children and make life better for them and their future.”
The Medical Director of the Ridge Hospital, Dr Obeng Apori, expressed gratitude to Rotary Club of Accra West and Alliance for Smiles for supporting the health delivery service of the country.
He appealed to the organisation to train more Ghanaian health professionals in the cleft lip surgery to enable more patients in the country and in neighbouring countries, to benefit.
Cleft lip and cleft palate are birth defects that affect the upper lip and roof of the mouth. They are among the most common birth defects that affect children. The incomplete formation of the upper lip (cleft lip) or roof of the mouth (cleft palate) can occur individually, or both defects may occur together. The conditions can vary in severity and may involve one or both sides of the face.
A cleft, or separation of the upper lip and/or the roof of the mouth, occurs very early in the development of unborn babies. During foetal development, certain components of the upper lip and roof of the mouth fail to form normally.
Cleft lip repair is a type of plastic surgery to correct this abnormal development both to restore function and to restore a more normal appearance.
Most clefts can be repaired through specialised plastic surgery techniques, to improve children’s ability to eat, speak, hear and breathe, and to restore a more normal appearance and function.
Child labour cripples children's
Published in the Daily Graphic on 15/04/2010, pg 11
Article: Matilda Attram
Child labour continues to pose problems that result in child abuse and hinder the growth and development of children. Child labour seriously undermines efforts to provide children the necessary knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The Children’s Act, 1998 (ACT 560), defines a child as a person below 18 years. A child is said to be a victim of child labour when he or she engaged in hazardous work that is injurious to his/her health, and deprived him or her of education and development.
Section 89 of the Act states that the minimum age for a child to be employed shall be 15, while section 91 states that the minimum age of a person in hazardous tasks which may include going to sea, mining and quarrying, carrying heavy loads, farming, working with manufacturing industries where chemicals are produced or used, is 18.
The Act further regarded places where machines are used and others such as drinking bars, hotels and places of entertainment where an individual would be exposed to immoral behaviours, as unsuitable for children to work.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also defines child labour as “work that exceeds a minimum number of hours depending on the age of child and on the type of work which is considered as harmful to the child”.
According to the 2001 UNICEF report, an estimated 250 million children work under hazardous conditions in developing countries.
Hundreds of children are found hawking on the streets of Accra and other major cities in the country. Some are also found engaged in stone quarrying, others are used as farm hands, others engaged in the sale of iced water and “iced kenkey” among other items on the streets of major cities in the country, risking their lives to generate income, while others assist the elderly and physically impaired in begging for alms. Some of these children even lose their lives as a result of working in extremely dangerous environments.
Child labour continues to pose increasing concern among nations, especially developing ones such as Ghana. Information from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicated that there was an increase in child labour cases involving children between the ages of five and 17 in the country in 2001.
The report presented an estimated population of over 1,031,220 children under age 13 to be involved in child labour. Two hundred and forty-two thousand and seventy-four (242,074) children engaged in hazardous child labour and 2,474,545 representing 39 per cent out of 6,361,111 children in Ghana were engaged in economic activities, according to the GSS.
A report by the United Nation Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) also indicated that, based on a study conducted by the Tulane University in 2008, an estimated number of 1.6 million children are engaged in child labour in Ghana.
The report explained that these children work under hazardous conditions,such as carrying heavy loads, spraying pesticides, using machetes to clear undergrowth and burning vegetation.
The editorial column of the Daily Graphic February 9, 2009, issue concern about reports of children in the Eastern Region spotted to be engaged in ferrying tourists in canoes without any safety equipment.
Over the past few years, Initiatives, structures and mechanisms aimed at identifying and solving the problem were set up to improve upon children’s rights and welfare. Governments, as well as agencies and societal organisations including private ones have all joined the cause to curb this menace.
In connection with this, the ‘International Year of the Child’ was declared and accepted in 1979 by the United Nations (UN) with UNICEF creating the awareness on problems facing children in the world, and the measures to solve them.
Article 32 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates “The right of the child must be recognised by the state, protected from economic exploitation and any work that is likely to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development”.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted to ensure that member countries protected the rights of the child and Ghana was the first country among other sovereign nations to ratify the convention as a sign of the country’s commitment to protect working children from exploitation and hazardous conditions.
Again, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1999 launched a major global programme by instituting the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), with a request to individuals and agencies that provide advisory services, to focus on child abuse. The establishment of the Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC) under the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) in 2001 was also to oversee the welfare and development of children, and to co-ordinate services which would aim at promoting the rights of the child.
Other programmes to improve on the welfare of children in the country include issues discussed on child labour under the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2006 through 2009 (GPRS II), indicating that priority will be given to special programmes to combat the worst forms of child labour under which the government is implementing the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty which introduces a cash transfer programme to support families to fight against child labour.
Also, the Government's National Policy Guidelines on Orphans and Other Children Made Vulnerable by HIV AIDS and the implementation of the National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Child Labour, as well as other projects, are being implemented with support to the National Plan of Action in Ghana.
These demonstrate the commitment governments (past and current) and civil society organisations, NGOs, religious organisations and other social clubs, have attached to solving child labour.
The worst forms of child labour activities are predominant in rural areas, as compared to urban areas. Such activities of child labour manifests not only in street hawking but also in most rural areas, where most parents do not value education.
UNICEF is therefore, emphatic on the problem of child labour and describes it as “ a prison that withers both capabilities and potentials of children" and the problem has been attributed to many factors in our own society. Mention could be made of poverty, single parenting and sheer ignorance. The increasing cases of school dropouts, broken homes, peer pressure, unplanned families, gender roles, rural-urban migration and outmoded cultural practices, all contribute to the practice of child labour in our country.
A report by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on a study conducted with regards to the problem of child labour in communities across the country in 2008, observed that some rural dwellers regarded child labour as part of a training programme for children. Parents of child labour victims may think of only the economic benefits gained, but the problem does cause more harm than good to the family and society.
We are grateful to the government and all other organisation for their efforts in addressing the problem. There is however, the need to intensify measures including sensitisation programmes such as durbars involving community leaders, drama, movies and house-to-house campaigns on the need to stop child labour.
Also, there is the need for effective implementation of the policies on the rights of the child, which would go a long way in arresting the situation. Therefore, those who persist in breaking the law should be made to suffer the penalty.This will deter others from doing same.
Another issue is the need to enhance the implementation of effective family planning measures to ensure that couples give birth to children they can adequately cater for.To succeed in the fight against child labour in Ghana, attitudes must change and this could be achieved through major forms of inter-personal communication, where interactions and participation are encouraged.
Article: Matilda Attram
Child labour continues to pose problems that result in child abuse and hinder the growth and development of children. Child labour seriously undermines efforts to provide children the necessary knowledge and skills to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
The Children’s Act, 1998 (ACT 560), defines a child as a person below 18 years. A child is said to be a victim of child labour when he or she engaged in hazardous work that is injurious to his/her health, and deprived him or her of education and development.
Section 89 of the Act states that the minimum age for a child to be employed shall be 15, while section 91 states that the minimum age of a person in hazardous tasks which may include going to sea, mining and quarrying, carrying heavy loads, farming, working with manufacturing industries where chemicals are produced or used, is 18.
The Act further regarded places where machines are used and others such as drinking bars, hotels and places of entertainment where an individual would be exposed to immoral behaviours, as unsuitable for children to work.
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) also defines child labour as “work that exceeds a minimum number of hours depending on the age of child and on the type of work which is considered as harmful to the child”.
According to the 2001 UNICEF report, an estimated 250 million children work under hazardous conditions in developing countries.
Hundreds of children are found hawking on the streets of Accra and other major cities in the country. Some are also found engaged in stone quarrying, others are used as farm hands, others engaged in the sale of iced water and “iced kenkey” among other items on the streets of major cities in the country, risking their lives to generate income, while others assist the elderly and physically impaired in begging for alms. Some of these children even lose their lives as a result of working in extremely dangerous environments.
Child labour continues to pose increasing concern among nations, especially developing ones such as Ghana. Information from the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) indicated that there was an increase in child labour cases involving children between the ages of five and 17 in the country in 2001.
The report presented an estimated population of over 1,031,220 children under age 13 to be involved in child labour. Two hundred and forty-two thousand and seventy-four (242,074) children engaged in hazardous child labour and 2,474,545 representing 39 per cent out of 6,361,111 children in Ghana were engaged in economic activities, according to the GSS.
A report by the United Nation Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) also indicated that, based on a study conducted by the Tulane University in 2008, an estimated number of 1.6 million children are engaged in child labour in Ghana.
The report explained that these children work under hazardous conditions,such as carrying heavy loads, spraying pesticides, using machetes to clear undergrowth and burning vegetation.
The editorial column of the Daily Graphic February 9, 2009, issue concern about reports of children in the Eastern Region spotted to be engaged in ferrying tourists in canoes without any safety equipment.
Over the past few years, Initiatives, structures and mechanisms aimed at identifying and solving the problem were set up to improve upon children’s rights and welfare. Governments, as well as agencies and societal organisations including private ones have all joined the cause to curb this menace.
In connection with this, the ‘International Year of the Child’ was declared and accepted in 1979 by the United Nations (UN) with UNICEF creating the awareness on problems facing children in the world, and the measures to solve them.
Article 32 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child stipulates “The right of the child must be recognised by the state, protected from economic exploitation and any work that is likely to interfere with the child's education, or to be harmful to the child's health or physical, mental, spiritual, moral or social development”.
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child was adopted to ensure that member countries protected the rights of the child and Ghana was the first country among other sovereign nations to ratify the convention as a sign of the country’s commitment to protect working children from exploitation and hazardous conditions.
Again, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) in 1999 launched a major global programme by instituting the International Programme on the Elimination of Child Labour (IPEC), with a request to individuals and agencies that provide advisory services, to focus on child abuse. The establishment of the Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC) under the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC) in 2001 was also to oversee the welfare and development of children, and to co-ordinate services which would aim at promoting the rights of the child.
Other programmes to improve on the welfare of children in the country include issues discussed on child labour under the Growth and Poverty Reduction Strategy for 2006 through 2009 (GPRS II), indicating that priority will be given to special programmes to combat the worst forms of child labour under which the government is implementing the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty which introduces a cash transfer programme to support families to fight against child labour.
Also, the Government's National Policy Guidelines on Orphans and Other Children Made Vulnerable by HIV AIDS and the implementation of the National Plan of Action for the Elimination of Child Labour, as well as other projects, are being implemented with support to the National Plan of Action in Ghana.
These demonstrate the commitment governments (past and current) and civil society organisations, NGOs, religious organisations and other social clubs, have attached to solving child labour.
The worst forms of child labour activities are predominant in rural areas, as compared to urban areas. Such activities of child labour manifests not only in street hawking but also in most rural areas, where most parents do not value education.
UNICEF is therefore, emphatic on the problem of child labour and describes it as “ a prison that withers both capabilities and potentials of children" and the problem has been attributed to many factors in our own society. Mention could be made of poverty, single parenting and sheer ignorance. The increasing cases of school dropouts, broken homes, peer pressure, unplanned families, gender roles, rural-urban migration and outmoded cultural practices, all contribute to the practice of child labour in our country.
A report by the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) on a study conducted with regards to the problem of child labour in communities across the country in 2008, observed that some rural dwellers regarded child labour as part of a training programme for children. Parents of child labour victims may think of only the economic benefits gained, but the problem does cause more harm than good to the family and society.
We are grateful to the government and all other organisation for their efforts in addressing the problem. There is however, the need to intensify measures including sensitisation programmes such as durbars involving community leaders, drama, movies and house-to-house campaigns on the need to stop child labour.
Also, there is the need for effective implementation of the policies on the rights of the child, which would go a long way in arresting the situation. Therefore, those who persist in breaking the law should be made to suffer the penalty.This will deter others from doing same.
Another issue is the need to enhance the implementation of effective family planning measures to ensure that couples give birth to children they can adequately cater for.To succeed in the fight against child labour in Ghana, attitudes must change and this could be achieved through major forms of inter-personal communication, where interactions and participation are encouraged.
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