The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur, has said her sector Ministry would continue to advocate for measures to eradicate human rights violations, especially the abuse of women and children.
The Minister made this known in Accra yesterday at the launch of the 2013 annual report of Amnesty International (AI), at the Ghana International Press Centre.
She said her sector would continue to advocate for human rights issues such as false eviction from homes, housing right, violence against women and girls, refugee right and death penalty.
Mrs. Lithur added that false eviction and housing rights are matters of concern, especially, as the Local Government Authority (LGA) was working immensely to expand and develop infrastructure of our regional capitals to meet our status as a middle income country.
She added that women and girls suffer from all kinds of human rights violations, where girls under age are involved in prostitution, and even forced into early marriage, which is very prevalent due to cultural and social purposes.
If we are working as a government, then we should be held accountable in such situations. Measures have been implemented to advocate and raise awareness in Ghana.
According to Mrs. Lithur, she was one of the advocators for the Right to Information Bill (RTI) to be passed, therefore, she would lobby for it to become a reality.
She said, �The creation of the Ministry I work with is an indicator of government commitment to address human rights, and elevating the status of the Legal Aids Scheme to be given more resources to the less privileged in the society, which will improve the human rights situation.�
In the speech read on behalf of the Minister for Information and Media Relations, the Acting Chief Director, Mr. Xola Senaya, said the government of Ghana recognised AI as a leading human rights organisation in the world, and considered its work in Ghana as important.
Mr. Senaya said the government had accepted the recommendation from the Constitutional Review to abolish the death penalty in the Constitution.
He said the government recommends the AI for being the leader in the global campaign for the abolition of the death penalty, the call for the protection of the rights of the people living in slum communities, and promotion of the rights of the vulnerable in our society.
He added that: �Ghana is one of the few countries in Africa that opens its doors to receive refugees from other countries such as Liberia, Sierra Leone, Togo, and most recently, La Cote d�Ivoire.�
The Acting Chief Director said the government was very impressed with Amnesty International�s work in Ghana, as they continue to keep the government and the people on their toes to improve our human right records, and thereby, improve the lives of our people.
The Director of Amnesty International Ghana, Mr. Lawerence Amesu, said the organisation would help combat human rights abuse in Ghana, and Africa as a whole.
He said the focus of this report was to know the situation of refugees and migrants in Ghana, and their ordeals, in respect of human rights.
Mr. Amesu lamented on the issue of death penalty in the country, saying, �last year, 27 people were involved in death penalty� which is not good for human rights.
He added that the demolition of 500 houses by the Accra Metropolitan Authority in 2012 was a human right abuse which needed to be looked at.
He highlighted on the recommendations by the organisation to the government, which include, compliance with human rights obligations, committing itself to abolition of the death penalty, and others.
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