Officials unveil the ‘I Will’ campaign pledge
THE MINISTRY of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), has launched a campaign to promote quality care giving practices for children aged between 0-8 years.
The “I Will” campaign, launched in partnership with UNICEF, Ghana Health Service (GHS) and Ghana Education Service (GES), provides an integrated approach to Early Childhood Development (ECD) communication.
Gender Minister Designate, Hajia Lariba Zuweira Abudu, said the campaign has been designed to help address the challenges associated with the care of children and serve as a rallying call for parents, guardians and other stakeholders to increase their commitment towards the development of children in their early years of life.
She said in spite of progress made in the area of child survival, protection and development, a number of children remain underdeveloped in the physical, cognitive, psycho-social and language domains due to poor health, nutrition, inadequate stimulation and learning opportunities.
“As an integrated social and behavioural change programme, the campaign brings together key components in one basket; thus health, nutrition, protection and welfare, early learning and responsive care giving,” she said.
Ms. Abudu also indicated that the campaign recognises that the needs of adolescent mothers, as well as their wellbeing and care giving behaviours, have direct impact on the development of their children and, therefore, advocates for the elimination of stigma and discrimination against adolescent mothers, while providing them with the needed support.
Director General of the Ghana Education Service (GES), Professor Kwasi Opoku-Amankwa, said the importance of ECD to the attainment of educational policies and by extension, national goals cannot be underestimated.
“For us at GES, we are excited because beyond its primary objective of promoting an integrated approach to ECD communication, we are optimistic that once our target audience embrace the campaign and follow through with its recommended actions and activities, the next generation of learners would be fully prepared psychologically, physically and emotionally to discover their purpose in life and realise their aspirations,” he stressed.
Chairperson for the Parliamentary Select Committee on Gender and Children, and Deputy Gender Minister Designate, Frances Oteng Mensah, said the impact made in the lives of the children through the campaign would have life-long ripple effects, hence all stakeholders have an obligation of ensuring a good start for them.
“We, therefore, call on all stakeholders to contribute their little quota to this course as these efforts would collectively yield the desired results,” she said.
In addition to the launch, series of activities have been outlined to roll out the campaign at all levels.
BY Jamila Akweley Okertchiri