HEYWARD RESERVE LIBRARY

BY DR. CLARA FAYORSEY

INTRODUCTION: The majority of Ghanaians experience low standards of living evidenced by poor quality of life and lack of access to basic social facilities including education, healthcare, safe water and sanitation (GLSS 1991/92), Nabila and Fayorsey,1996). In the urban areas, children from low income households contribute to family income through a wide range of commercial activities such as Hawking, head porterage, "shoe-shining", petty trading etc.

THE SITUATION OF THE GHANAIAN CHILD: Children are a potential human resource and therefore if any nation is to have continuity and progress, there is the need to preserve the future generation - children. Yet, most Ghanaian children are denied basic rights like food, shelter , education, health leisure and at times life. Despite the fact that Ghana is a signatory to the UN Convention and the O.A.U, charter on the rights of the child, children are subjected to several forms of abuse. The Ghanaian media abounds with cases and instances of child abuse ranging from abandonment, rape, assault to ritual murder.

Many children in Ghana do not have access to adequate food and nutrition although they may be residing with their parents or guardians. The situation is worse for children who are not under such care especially street children (Apt and Grieco, 1997; Korboe,1997). According to Ministry of Health and UNICEF estimates (Ministry of Health,1996),only 32% of the population have access to sanitary means of excreta disposal and 30.6% of rural households in Ghana do not have sanitary facilities at all, relying principally on seashores, bushes and farms as free range for defecation (GNCC,1997). This has serious implication for health and the safety of children in particular. Even where some facilities exist, children are not allowed to use them, especially, if its use involves some money out lay and are therefore exposed to snake bites in the bush and other hazards. Children play in filthy gutters and are often seen scavenging on waste disposal sites. These unhealthy habits are sources of diseases and ill health. In Ghana, children are the main agents for waste disposal from the household- a task performed by children as young as four years, thus exposing them to various disease pathogens (Grieco et al:1996)

POOR NUTRITION OF CHILDREN AND MOTHERS: Many children and pregnant women, as well as mothers are able to meet only 25% of their dietary requirements. This results in low calories intake and malnutrition the consequences of which are grave. Stunting, Kwashiorkor, decrease in the intellectual development of the child or death. The incidence of stunted growth in children, according to GLSS 1993 is high: 30% in rural areas and 16% in urban centers Even in those regions, where the bulk of the country's food is produced, children are denied a balanced diet. Protein rich farm and animal products like milk, beans, groundnuts and eggs are denied children, pregnant women and mothers but are sold for cash. (GNCC,1997) Fostering and informal adoption of children aged 8 upward is common in Ghana. Majority of these children who are girls end up as maids and are made to work around the clock. They have little or no time to play or interact with other children. These children are denied education and are subjected to hunger, even though in most cases these young girls prepare the meal. Most children who are abused suffer emotional, and psychological trauma. They may end up as delinquents in the streets of the major cities of the country. The problem of the upsurge of street children may not be only economic. It is a combination of many factors of which abuse and maltreatment of children is paramount. Poverty and the inability of parents to pay school fees, age and condition of buildings; schools without buildings, long walking distances to school are the main reasons for poor school attendance.
Truancy and absenteeism becomes a major problem in the wake of all the previous problems discussed. Truancy is very high among children in most rural areas of Ghana and among Moslem communities too. Market days and Fridays especially, register very low turn outs of school children in rural areas. Truancy and absenteeism is not limited to only school children but their teachers as well. A large proportion of female school drop outs is attributed to teenage pregnancy as well as lack of motivation. Also, when it becomes, necessary for a child to eke out a living for himself by doing odd jobs, going to school becomes only a dream (Nabila and Fayorsey:1996) It is the right of every Ghanaian child to have Free Compulsory Basic Education. The denial of basic education is an infringement on the child's basic human right.

THE ROLE OF THE FAMILY IN HUMAN RIGHTS PROTECTION OF THE CHILD: The family is the basic social unit of every known society and also the natural environment for the growth and well being of all its members. A basic human right for every individual member of the family is to have access to the barest necessities of life, such as water, shelter, food good health, education and security. Fortunately in Ghana the Children's Bill has been enacted yet sexual abuse continues in other forms such as : Rape assault, incest and sexual harassment. The known culprits of these atrocities are usually members of the family.

GENDER DIFFERENTIALS IN ENROLMENT RATES: School enrolment rates are lower for females as compared to males. Enrolment in primary and secondary schools is estimated at 57% of the population of school going age. The high cost of education does in fact lead to a higher dropout rate in the rural than in the urban areas. National statistics on gross enrollment gives the estimates for primary and junior secondary School(JSS) as 79.1% and 5.5% respectively. Girls represent 45.5% and 41.1% of enrollment in primary and JSS respectively (MOE/PEME,1993,1994). However, enrollment in public primary schools has increased considerably since the educational reform initiated in 1987 and directed towards improving access to education, among other things. The indices of change in public primary schools enrollment in recent years, shows that the increase in enrollment is higher among girls than boys - an improvement in the gender gap. There are also spatial disparities. For example, in Greater Accra and Central regions, the gross enrollment rate is over 95%, including private schools, while in the Upper East region only 43% of the school-age children are in school. The increase in the number of street children is an indication of the inability of parent and guardians to care for their children. In Accra alone, there are over 10,000 children on the street, trying to eke out a living for themselves (CAS:1996). Recent studies have indicated that a substantial number of these children do not have shelter, neither do they have adequate food and clothing. They also lack the necessary protection against delinquency, violence, rape and other crimes besetting the city. It is important to note that it is within the family that racial prejudices, gender biases, religious fanatism begins, and it is also within the family that one assumes an identity in terms of status, birth or ethnicity. The family, therefore is an important foci in educating and providing practical examples on issues regarding human rights.

POLICY GUIDELINES

• Provision should be made for the allocation of material resources or services to needy children and poor families. Resources distribution can be designed to serve any of a range of purpose, including the promotion of social equity, child benefit, single -parent family support systems, social housing and programmes to address needy and disadvantaged children's problems.
• Legal rules governing the human rights of children and family practices such as the laws on child marriage, marriage, marital breakdown and family property legislation should be studied, coordinated, and backed by legislation for the benefit of all Ghanaian children. Laws must be backed by appropriate sanctions and must be enforced through government and non-governmental agencies.
• The Ghana National Commission on Children (GNCC) should take up some of the critical practical issues regarding poverty among children and encourage the set up of counseling and placement centers for needy children.
• It is proposed that the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) should in collaboration with government and non-governmental organization begin to promote coordination of children and family policy.
• Issues regarding child's rights should be integrated into all government policies, governmental and non-governmental organizations who work for and with children should be made aware of these policies.
• There is the need for more integrated research on new emerging issues on the Situation of Children ,Needy and Disadvantage Children and Child's Rights.

DR Clara Fayorsey is a Senior Lecturer at the Sociology Department, University of Ghana, Legon