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Mrs Monica Siaw, Agona West Municipal Officer of the Department of Social Welfare, has warned that the government would not hesitate to close down all mushroom orphanage homes which are not registered. She said Ghana had begun to experience a sudden mushrooming of orphanages estimated a 127 nationwide, and that there was the need to check the trend. Mrs Siaw noted that a majority of the almost 4,000 children living in these unregistered Orphanages in the country are not orphans. Speaking at the inauguration of the Glovo Orphanage Home at Agona Swedru in the Central Region, Mrs Siaw said the opening of orphanages is continuing at an alarming rate, with almost 40 per cent of the 95 orphanages nationwide having been opened between 2002 and the present. She stated that conditions in most of the orphanages are deplorable, with most of the staff unqualified, adding that many of them do not comply with the basic requirements of the Social Welfare Department. Mrs Siaw said for example, only five Children�s Homes have actually been given permission to function by the government of Ghana. She noted that the government through the Department of Social Welfare has initiated a dynamic process called the Care Reform Initiative to transform the sector and promote family-based care. The Social Welfare Officer urged Ghanaians not to support unregistered private orphanage homes, saying the children are at risk. Mr Williams Yirenkye, an Executive Director of Glovo Orphanage, said the reason for the establishment of the home is to take good care of children who are vulnerable in the Agona West Municipality and beyond. Mr Yirenkye noted that extended families are often the first protection safety net for children who lose their parents. Mr Yirenkye appealed to corporate bodies, foreign donors, philanthropists and well-to-do Ghanaians to come to the aid of Glovo Orphanage to enable it to perform its statutory functions. Used clothing and other items worth 1,000 Ghana Cedis were given to the children.