The Board with Madam Cecilia Abena Dapaah
The caretaker Minister of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MoGCSP), Cecilia Abena Dapaah, has inaugurated a nine member-board for the Central Adoption Authority.
The new board was inaugurated in accordance with Section 86 of the Children’s Amendment Act, 2016 (ACT 937) and is in charge of recommending policies, programmes and services for the protection of children from adoption related abuses such as exploitation and trafficking.
The new board is chaired by the Chief Director of MoGCSP Dr. Afisah Zakariah has members including Dr. Comfort Asare; Ag. Director at the Department of Social Welfare at MoGCSP, Justice Eudora Christina Dadson; High Court Judge, Lawrencia Akorli; Director of Community Policing at Ghana Police Service, Nicholina Asare; Programmes Officer, Gender studies and Human Rights Documentation Centre.
Other members are Dr. Senalor K. Yawlui, Director of Consular Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration, Barimah Amankwah; Coordinator for GNCRC, Yvonne Amegashie; Assistance Director, Legal Aid Scheme and Stephen Tikai Dombo; Head of Central Adoption Authority.
Mrs. Abena Dapaah congratulated the board members on their new roles and charged them to perform their duties diligently. She stated, “The board has the task of ensuring that adoptions in the country are conducted with the best interest of the child and in conformity with the Hague Convention on the protection of children and co-operation in respect of inter-country adoption.”
She also charged them to ensure that current reforms in the adoption process in the country are sustained by putting in place pragmatic measures that will encourage a continuous post adoption monitoring of adoptive families for both in-country and inter-country adoption.
Chairperson of the board, Dr. Afisah Zakariah extended her gratitude to President Akufo-Addo and ascertained the new board’s commitment in making progress. She stated, “We pledge to deliver in this new board. We are going to put in place policies and strategies to ensure that adoption both local and international go on smoothly.”
By Abigail Adeyemi