The Centre for learning and Childhood Development Ghana (CLCD)in collaboration with the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has launched a policy to put children at the centre of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
Dubbed; ‘The Children in All Policies 2030 (CAP 2030)’, the initiative is to increase children’s visibility in policies by ensuring that all major government sectors include children in all their policies at both local and national levels as well as amplify children’s voices in decisions that affect them.
Launching the Roadmap in a zoom meeting, Mrs Florence Ayisi-Quartey, Acting (Ag) Director of the Department of MoGCSP, called on Ministries, Departments and Agencies and private organisations to mainstream children’s issues in all policies and programmes.
According to her there was the need to ensure that the views of children were replicated in all policies or development programmes to end all forms of harmful traditional practices against them, adding that putting in place policies that ensured the protection of children was a sure way of protecting children at all times.
“We need to ensure that every child develops to their full potential, hence organisations should develop strategies that cater for the needy children.
Commenting on some of the harmful traditional practices against children, MrsAyisiQuarteysaid a national child marriage strategy had been developed to ensure that child marriage issues became a thing of the past.
Dr Kwame Sakyi, Co-Founder of the Centre for Learning and Childhood Disabilities, a non-profit making, research organisation focused on child health and development issues, said there was the need for countries to invest in child development.
He said the CAP 2030 Ghana Roadmap was developed through a systematic analysis of 22 medium-term sector plans (from 2013-2021) submitted to the National Development Planning Commission, adding that nine countries including Ghana, developed country-specific pilot plans to meet the goals of CAP 2030.
BY BENEDICTA GYIMAAH FOLLEY