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The Upper East Regional Director of Children, Mrs Georgina Aberese-Ako, has appealed to parents to refrain from engaging in cultural practices that hamper the growth of children.

In a Press Release signed and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Bolgatanga to commemorate this year’s Day of the African Child (DAC), Mrs Aberese-Ako condemned the negative cultural practices such as early and forced marriages, female genital mutilation and child labour as they are a threat to the child’s development.

She said such negative acts undermined the proper growth and development of children and appealed to traditional and religious leaders to help fight the canker.

Mrs Aberese-Ako said as part of measures to help nib the canker in the bud, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, in collaboration with UNICEF, had formed a Regional Child Protection Committee to collaborate with the security agencies to arrest parents who abused the rights of children.

Also a Child and Family Welfare Document had been developed to help fight the phenomenon, she said.

“This occasion is firstly a commemoration to recall the 1976 uprising in Soweto when a protest by school children in South Africa against apartheid resulted in the public killings of these unarmed young protesters by police officials.

“The DAC further presents an opportunity to focus on the work of all actors committed to the rights of children on the continent to consolidate their efforts in addressing the obstacles for realising these rights,” she said.

Mrs Aberese-Ako said this year’s theme: “Conflict and Crisis in Africa: Protecting all Children‘s Rights,” was to enable stakeholders have a deeper understanding of the impact of armed conflict on children on the continent.
Whilst calling on politicians to be mindful of the theme and not do anything to cause trouble during the impending election, she entreated children not to allow themselves to be used by politicians to create conflicts in the election.

The Day of the African Child is commemorated every year on June 16 by Member States of the African Union and its partners.