Dignitaries present at the event
The Executive Director of the Economic and Organised Crime Office (EOCO), Commissioner of Police (COP) Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo-Danquah has urged parents to prioritize online safety of their children by implementing effective monitoring measures.
Such a move, she believed, would help reduce the number of missing children recorded in the country.
COP Addo-Danquah made these remarks at this year’s International Missing Children’s Day, hosted by Missing Children Ghana, a non-governmental organization.
She explained that failure by families to equip children with vital information such as house address and phone numbers of family members made it difficult for law enforcement agencies to track missing children.
“With my background as a policewoman in today’s world, ensuring online safety for children is crucial in today’s digital age,” she indicated.
Regina Asamoah, Founder of Missing Children Ghana, highlighted their educational project called “Safety of Children.”
According to her, as part of this project, the NGO will visit schools in the Greater Accra, Central, Eastern, and Volta Regions.
She said the three-year project aims to raise awareness and protect schools and communities at high risk of child trafficking, kidnapping, abuse, or exploitation.
It targets 5,000 school children and adults within the regions where it will be implemented, she added.
Mrs. Asamoah further noted that most missing children who did not have enough information about their families ended up at orphanages across the country.
According to her, there are over 1000 missing children in orphanages across the country, and that, she said, was disturbing.
Missing Children Ghana, she explained, has established a website where families of missing children could seek assistance.
She stated that the NGO had received over 700 police reports of missing children from families through its website and had also been able to reconnect 300 missing children with their parents.
Mrs. Asamoah said her organization was working in collaboration with the Department of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to carry out its operations.
She called on all relevant stakeholders to join hands in ensuring that children were protected from all forms of trafficking, abuse, or kidnapping.
Also, a fundraising event was held to raise funds towards the “Safety of Children” project.
By Nafisatu Abdul Razak