In an attempt to stop children begging on the streets, the Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, Lariba Zuweira Abudu, has urged the general public to stop giving out money to child beggars.
Madam Abudu said giving to these children encourages them to stay on the streets.
“It is our culture of the way we give to these minors that is why they are on the streets, so we should look at it as a country where you don’t give a minor money.”
Speaking at a press conference in Accra on Sunday, June 4, 2023, the minister stated that government has taken steps to remove these children from the streets. These measures include repatriating them to their countries.
“We have done a lot, we did some sweeps, we have gone out there with media to send them out.
“They come from neighbouring countries, and we have engaged the embassies of the countries we think they are coming from, Burkina Faso, Niger and we have even repatriated some of them about 400, they will go and find another way back,” she said.
The Minister added that “I always say, why should we give a child of school-going age money? It is business as usual, we as a country should look at it”.
“If a child is 6 years, and he is begging, why do you give the child money? If you don’t give today, I don’t give tomorrow, somebody doesn’t give one week they will go back to school”, the minister emphasized.
