On Wednesday, April 12, 2023, the Department of Social Welfare, Ghana, under the auspices of the Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection (MoGCSP), in collaboration with UNICEF Ghana, Catholic Relief Services Ghana, and the Consortium, organised a one-day workshop to celebrate and climax the 2023 International Day for Street Children.
The celebration, which was held on the theme “Safety for All Children, sought to promote awareness of street-connected person’s issues across the country.”
It was also to afford stakeholders the opportunity to validate the 5-year strategic plan for Street Connected People.
Delivering her keynote address, the Deputy Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Hon. Francisca Oteng Mensah, decried the sorry state of street-connected children and called on all well-meaning Ghanaians to work with the government to help curb streetism, which has become rampant in the country.
“Street Connected Children get exposed to physical and moral dangers whilst living on streets and sometimes get abused by the very adults who are supposed to protect them and ensure their safety. Let me use this opportunity to call on all Ghanaians to join the Government and our various stakeholders to protect children who find themselves on the streets.” She said.
In her address, the Director of the Department of Social Welfare, Rev. Dr. Comfort Asare, on behalf of the Chief Director, Dr. Afisah Zakariah, called on all stakeholders to work hand in hand to streamline data on street children in Ghana for effective monitoring.
Solidarity statements from UNICEF Ghana, Coalition of Street Connected Children, and Catholic Relief Services called for a collaborative approach to help combat streetism in Ghana and to protect street-connected people from the vices and other dangers they face on the streets.
Benedict Mensah, a street-connected person, also appealed for support and protection for all street children in Ghana.
The International Day for Street Children has been celebrated globally on April 12 since 2012 to raise awareness about the millions of street children all around the world and to recognize the humanity, dignity, and defiance of street children in the face of unimaginable hardships.
