�Respect The Rights Of Children�

Child rights advocacy outfit, Right To Play, has appealed for respect for the rights of children irrespective of their circumstances. Samuel Oppong Kwabiah, project coordinator of Right To Play, Ghana, said child abuse was still rampant in some parts of Ghana, and said the absence of child rights protection institutions in some parts of the country had left children in those parts vulnerable. The Wa East District of the Upper West Region, for instance, has no office of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), and, therefore, relies heavily on the facility in Wa. Mr Oppong Kwabiah has consequently called on teachers in particular �to support children to know their rights and responsibilities so they can protect themselves and report abuses and violent cases against them� to the appropriate authorities. �It is important that the rights of all Ghanaian children, irrespective of where they live, are respected and protected as outlined in the Children�s Act, Act 560,� he said. The power of sports Right To Play, a child-centered non-governmental organization, uses the transformative power of sports and play to educate and empower disadvantaged communities with a focus on enhancing the quality of education, transforming health practices and building peaceful communities. It is currently working to address challenges affecting the promotion of child rights and protection in 33 communities within two districts of the Upper West Region. Right To Play is currently implementing the �Creating Safer Communities for Children Project� in the Upper West Region, in partnership with Plan Ghana and a coalition of key state child protection-focused institutions, including the DOVVSU, the National Commission on Civic Education, the Department of Social Welfare, and the Department of Children. At a leadership training programme for school-based child rights clubs at Funsi in Wa East, children participants confirmed the findings of a baseline survey conducted by the coalition of state child protection-focused institutions when they admitted that teenage pregnancy, early marriage, child prostitution, child labour and poor health care, among others, were factors that affected their rights. Indeed, a primary 6 pupil mentioned that since April this year five of her classmates had dropped out of school because of pregnancy and early and force dmarriages, and expressed fears that the situation could be worse in neighbouring communities.