Officials of DSW, Civil Society and some children living on the streets
The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP) through the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) has trained a total of 1,007 foster parents in its bid to encourage the fostering of orphaned or street children.
According to the Director of the DSW, Rev. Dr. Comfort Asare, the training is already yielding results as 207 rescued children are currently living with foster parents.
“According to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, children should live in stable, loving and nurturing environments, with proper health care and nutrition and provided equal opportunities to live in dignity and freedom. Sadly, children on the streets don’t have these rights,” she said.
She made the disclosure during the commemoration of the International Day for Street Children marked on April 12 each year.
The global theme for this year’s commemoration is: “Safe places”, while the local theme is: “The role of everyday Ghanaian in addressing the issues of children in street situations.”
Rev. Dr. Asare said a census conducted in 2014 by the DSW revealed that in the Greater Accra Region alone, 61,492 children were growing up on the streets, consisting of 66 per cent migrant children and 18 per cent urban dwellers.
She said some of the street children left home voluntarily because of abuse by their families including forced marriage, while others were as a result of parental neglect, and false perception about city life.
She, however, noted that just a few of the children rescued and trained return home to their families or stay with foster parents.
Country Representative of the Catholic Relief Services (CRS), Daniel Mumuni, said the issue of streetism was a reflection of how society and the global community had failed, explaining that it was inexcusable that societal dysfunction or failure had compelled young men and women who were capable of contributing to development to live on the streets.
He said the commemoration of the day provided the opportunity for duty bearers to reflect on the failures of the state and proffer a way out of the worsening situation.
Mr. Nelson Dinsah Jedi, who was a street child but now works with an NGO, said the rainy season was the most difficult time for him when he was on the streets.
He explained that anytime it rained, he had to stand for hours for the rains to subside before he could sleep.
He urged the public to play a collective role in addressing the issue of children on the streets.
By Jamila Akweley Okertchiri