Ghanaians Against Child Abuse Launched in Tongo 

The Talensi District Department of Social Welfare and Community Development in collaboration with UNICEF have launched the Ghanaians Against Child Abuse, GACA, in Tongo of the Upper East Region.  

The move is aimed at preventing all forms of child abuse in the district. 

GACA is in line with the government’s child and family welfare and justice for children policies that will provide the framework for strengthening the child protection system and to prevent and respond appropriately to issues of child abuse. 

Speaker after speaker emphasized that the proper training and upbringing of children is not the sole responsibility of parents, but teachers and stakeholders.  

Parents were urged to ensure their children remain their best friends so they could discuss issues pertaining their welfare and social needs with them instead of being fed with wrong information from their friends. 

Parents were also charged to give attention to the education of their children since that was the best legacy they could bequeath to them. 

The speakers explained that with good education, the children will be equipped with the right skills that will propel them for better jobs. 

Speaking to Radio Ghana’s Samuel Ayammah after the launch in Tongo, the Talensi District Director of Social Welfare and Community Development, Martina Awuni, said the department has embarked on a lot of sensitization exercise on the need for parents and stakeholders to contribute their quota towards the proper training and upbringing of children in the area. 

She said Chiefs and Queen mothers in the area are all supporting the department in ensuring that children are given the needed attention. 

She said with good guidance and counseling, the children could avoid certain mistakes which could affect their lives for life, and urged all to contribute their quota towards the proper training and upbringing of children. 

Mrs. Awuni said there are a lot of issues of child marriage in the area. According to her, early marriage increases social isolation and launches girls into a cycle of poverty, gender inequalities and high risk of dying from complications of pregnancy and childbirth. 

She said the high bride price received for young girls in the area means that families often see child marriage as a survival strategy. 

GACA is a child protection social drive campaign seeking to eradicate child abuse. Some of the most prevalence child abuse GACA seeks to address include Early marriages or forced marriages, child labour especially communities along the lake, child trafficking, teenage pregnancy, child neglect at various stages and excess beating or corporal punishment.  

GACA is led by the government of Ghana in collaboration with UNICEF and with the support of Global Affairs Canada, the Korea International Co-operation Agency, KOICA, and the United States Agency for International 

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