Daily Graphicc (Pg 11) Tues., June 29/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A four-year pilot project, dubbed the Gender Responsive Skills and Community Development Project (GRSCDP), is to be implemented in 59 selected districts across the country at a cost of $14.63million to include gender concerns into the assemblies' policies.
Under the project, all budget planning officers and other selected district assembly staff including some stakeholders in the various regions have undergone a day's seminar to enhance their knowledge about the project.
The four-year pilot project which is supported by the Ghana Government and the African Development Bank (AfDB) will benefit about 3.5 million women. The project will also sponsor 500 needy boys and girls to go through vocational training within the selected districts.
The regional distribution of the selected districts are Eastern; seven, Ashanti; six, Brong Ahafo; seven, Volta; six, Upper East; five, Upper West; four, Northern; four, Western; six, Central; six and Greater Accra; eight.
It also recognises the importance of women empowerment and equitable participation in development as vital to reducing poverty in the country.
Speaking at the last of a series of regional seminars at Koforidua in the Eastern Region, the Project Manager, Mr Forster Kwame Boateng said some of the benefits that the participating districts would enjoy include the rehabilitation of 25 community vocational institutes which would train the youth on employable skills.
He said as part of the project, the National Vocational and Training Institute (NVTI) would be supported to redesign its curriculum in order to be more responsive and also focus on competence based training to boost middle level manpower for the development needs of the people.
Also he said 512 teachers within the NVTI sector who had been identified would be trained on the new curriculum to enable them support the programme which would also link potential employers to training, as a way of managing the labour market.
According to him, the project through the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC), which was the implementor of the project, was working at ensuring that teachers under vocational training were employed by the government.
He said the Ministries Departments and Agencies (MDA's) would also benefit from capacity building in order to make them more gender sensitive in their development programmes.
Mr Foster said when completed, the project would help bring socio-economic independent to women and their children in the participating districts and the country as a whole adding that the project would also ensure equitable socio-economic development in the country.
During an open forum, participants lauded the project and rather mentioned that the issue of gender was critical to the development of the country since women were the most vulnerable in the country.
The participants called for more support for women so that they could engage themselves in more employable skills to improve on their socio-economic needs in future.
Others also called for an increase in the number of scholarships for needy boys and girls in the various communities.
Friday, July 30, 2010
Plan Ghana champions children’s right to education
Daily Graphic (Pg 21) Thurs., July 22/10
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Education is a basic human right recognised since the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Since then, numerous human rights treaties have reaffirmed this right and have supported entitlement to free, compulsory primary education for all children.
In 1990, the Education for All (EFA) commitment was launched to ensure that by 2015, all children, particularly girls, those in difficult circumstances and the vulnerable, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
There is, however, much work to do before this is achieved. UNESCO estimates that 75 million children are not in school and in 2005-2006, as many as 90 million children were without access to education. Beyond the basic need for education to support one’s self and family in later years, many social ills occur in the vacuum of free and accessible education. Moreover, the education gap runs much deeper than a rural-urban divide. Even in urban areas, poor and marginalised children are unable to benefit from greater access to school facilities because of cost, distance and culture.
A 2007 UNESCO and UNICEF report addressed the issue of education from a rights-based approach. Three inter-related rights were specified which needed to be addressed by all countries: The right of access to education with emphasis that education must be available for, accessible to and inclusive of all children; the right to quality education emphasising that education needed to be child-centred, relevant and embrace a broad curriculum, and be appropriately resourced and monitored; and finally the right to respect within the learning environment which also states that education must be provided in a way that is consistent with human rights, equal respect for culture, religion and language and free from all forms of violence.
Also goals two and three of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focus on universal primary education and aim to reduce the gender gap in education.
While a notable progress has been made in the category of enrolment in Ghana, much progress was still needed, especially, in addressing gender parity especially at the higher levels and quality of education that addresses socio-economic needs.
This is why Plan Ghana, a child's right organisation working in six areas in the country, namely Asesewa, Bawjiase, Mankessim, Tumu, Wa and the Volta Region, works to ensure that all children, especially those from rural and impoverished parts of the country, access their rights and have a say in their own development.
Plan Ghana works to improve access to quality education by supporting the recruitment and training of teachers, providing textbooks, school supplies and equipment, and running school health education programmes in 52 schools. It is also piloting a feeding programme in one community, benefiting 350 children.
Plan Ghana started its operations in the country in 1992 and its core areas of activity include the provision of quality education and teacher training, better health, food security and creating awareness of child rights, all of which are rooted in the rights of the child.
In the area of quality education, the programme focuses on encouraging community participation in children's learning and provides child-friendly environments and infrastructure for effective teaching and learning, as well as scholarships to needy children, enabling them to fulfil their full academic potential when money is a barrier.
Among Plan's notable achievements over the years is the increase in school enrolment figures from 60 per cent to 95 per cent through a partnership with 300 communities to improve 180 school facilities in rural areas where it operates. In remote communities, conditions have been improved with increased access to usable water from 27 per cent in 2003 to 73 per cent in 2008 and 3,500 students have also benefited from Plan's scholarship scheme for secondary, vocational and tertiary education. It has also facilitated the training of more than 1,000 teachers in rural areas and also spear-headed a birth registration campaign with registration jumping from 17 per cent in 2003 to 62 per cent in 2008 in its project areas.
Plan Ghana has also pioneered the participation of children in international programmes including the Commonwealth games in Australia in 2005 and the UN Session on Children in 2006. It also devised the sponsorship of six child ambassadors to the US and two other children who played key roles at the UN General Assembly to discuss child participation in New York. The two were part of Plan-West Africa's 'Violence Against Children' project, and have received advocacy training, helping them to help other children participate.
Also Plan Ghana is running a football project in the Eastern Region which aims to get more girls in school, because in Ghana, girls often drop out, increasingly due to teenage pregnancy. Within the last three years that the project has been operational, over 1,200 girls from rural communities have joined the project, increasing school enrolment, with the condition being that they must be in school before they can participate.
Vida, a pupil who dropped out of school and had two children, in an interview said: “I was encouraged by three members of the girls' football team to go back to school. Today, I am in school and a member of the team. With the support of my team mates, my family, the community and Plan Ghana, I hope to attain my highest potential.”
Through the football project, the area has since seen a 15 per cent increase in girls’ enrolment in school and a decrease in absenteeism and dropout rates. The project also aims at highlighting barriers to education for girls in rural communities and help reduce teenage pregnancy rates in the Eastern Region.
One of Plan Ghana’s notable achievements in its project areas last year was when the President of Ghana, Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills, praised Plan Ghana's management and staff for their good work during a visit to its offices in Tumu in the Sisala District of the Upper West Region.
He said: “I am very happy for the good work Plan Ghana is doing in this area to uplift the living standards of children and their families. I commend you highly for that. I hope you will keep it up and possibly expand your programme to cover more districts in the region. Keep the good work up Plan Ghana.”
Through its work, the Tumu area has seen an increase in school enrolment and library books have also been provided to primary schools to encourage good reading habits among children. This has lead to an improvement in their ability to read and write. The project has also supported the training of 19 pre-school teachers in the latest teaching methodologies. This has made teaching and learning more efficient and effective.
Also in the Wa West, Wa East and Wa Municipalities where Plan Ghana works in 50 communities and sponsors about 5,000 children, the School Health Programme has helped to train teachers in safe hygiene and provided hand-washing facilities to schools, improving sanitation for both teachers and pupils.
In addition, a Plan study carried out in the Sissala District of the Upper West Region found that food insecurity was a severe and chronic problem. Though it was widespread among the district's population, pre-school children, school-going children and young mothers were the worst affected and most vulnerable.
Through the survey, Plan Ghana piloted a project in Kupulima in Wa East in the Upper West Region which is managed by the community to feed children in schools, helping increase school enrolment, attendance and performance. It organised community awareness-raising meetings and trained parents to stress the importance of balanced nutrition and school attendance.
What's more, Plan Ghana has trained 63,561 teachers and built and rehabilitated 8,152 child-friendly schools so that they can deliver quality education, since learning is crucial for development and one of the most powerful tools in breaking the cycle of poverty.
The organisation invests more in education than any other programme area and works to ensure that children, young people and adults get the knowledge and life skills they need to realise their full potential.
As part of its school-improvement programme, which is a major part of its formal education work, Plan Ghana delivers support to every aspect of a school, which is essential in creating the best learning environment for children, ensures the active participation of children and communities in school governance, and holds individual school management accountable for children’s enrolment, attendance, learning and successful completion.
The organisation also reaches out to children who have never been to school or who have dropped out, offering them the chance of a quality education, and works to break down barriers that prevent many girls from being educated with projects to help thousands of them into school.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
Education is a basic human right recognised since the 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights. Since then, numerous human rights treaties have reaffirmed this right and have supported entitlement to free, compulsory primary education for all children.
In 1990, the Education for All (EFA) commitment was launched to ensure that by 2015, all children, particularly girls, those in difficult circumstances and the vulnerable, have access to and complete free and compulsory primary education of good quality.
There is, however, much work to do before this is achieved. UNESCO estimates that 75 million children are not in school and in 2005-2006, as many as 90 million children were without access to education. Beyond the basic need for education to support one’s self and family in later years, many social ills occur in the vacuum of free and accessible education. Moreover, the education gap runs much deeper than a rural-urban divide. Even in urban areas, poor and marginalised children are unable to benefit from greater access to school facilities because of cost, distance and culture.
A 2007 UNESCO and UNICEF report addressed the issue of education from a rights-based approach. Three inter-related rights were specified which needed to be addressed by all countries: The right of access to education with emphasis that education must be available for, accessible to and inclusive of all children; the right to quality education emphasising that education needed to be child-centred, relevant and embrace a broad curriculum, and be appropriately resourced and monitored; and finally the right to respect within the learning environment which also states that education must be provided in a way that is consistent with human rights, equal respect for culture, religion and language and free from all forms of violence.
Also goals two and three of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) focus on universal primary education and aim to reduce the gender gap in education.
While a notable progress has been made in the category of enrolment in Ghana, much progress was still needed, especially, in addressing gender parity especially at the higher levels and quality of education that addresses socio-economic needs.
This is why Plan Ghana, a child's right organisation working in six areas in the country, namely Asesewa, Bawjiase, Mankessim, Tumu, Wa and the Volta Region, works to ensure that all children, especially those from rural and impoverished parts of the country, access their rights and have a say in their own development.
Plan Ghana works to improve access to quality education by supporting the recruitment and training of teachers, providing textbooks, school supplies and equipment, and running school health education programmes in 52 schools. It is also piloting a feeding programme in one community, benefiting 350 children.
Plan Ghana started its operations in the country in 1992 and its core areas of activity include the provision of quality education and teacher training, better health, food security and creating awareness of child rights, all of which are rooted in the rights of the child.
In the area of quality education, the programme focuses on encouraging community participation in children's learning and provides child-friendly environments and infrastructure for effective teaching and learning, as well as scholarships to needy children, enabling them to fulfil their full academic potential when money is a barrier.
Among Plan's notable achievements over the years is the increase in school enrolment figures from 60 per cent to 95 per cent through a partnership with 300 communities to improve 180 school facilities in rural areas where it operates. In remote communities, conditions have been improved with increased access to usable water from 27 per cent in 2003 to 73 per cent in 2008 and 3,500 students have also benefited from Plan's scholarship scheme for secondary, vocational and tertiary education. It has also facilitated the training of more than 1,000 teachers in rural areas and also spear-headed a birth registration campaign with registration jumping from 17 per cent in 2003 to 62 per cent in 2008 in its project areas.
Plan Ghana has also pioneered the participation of children in international programmes including the Commonwealth games in Australia in 2005 and the UN Session on Children in 2006. It also devised the sponsorship of six child ambassadors to the US and two other children who played key roles at the UN General Assembly to discuss child participation in New York. The two were part of Plan-West Africa's 'Violence Against Children' project, and have received advocacy training, helping them to help other children participate.
Also Plan Ghana is running a football project in the Eastern Region which aims to get more girls in school, because in Ghana, girls often drop out, increasingly due to teenage pregnancy. Within the last three years that the project has been operational, over 1,200 girls from rural communities have joined the project, increasing school enrolment, with the condition being that they must be in school before they can participate.
Vida, a pupil who dropped out of school and had two children, in an interview said: “I was encouraged by three members of the girls' football team to go back to school. Today, I am in school and a member of the team. With the support of my team mates, my family, the community and Plan Ghana, I hope to attain my highest potential.”
Through the football project, the area has since seen a 15 per cent increase in girls’ enrolment in school and a decrease in absenteeism and dropout rates. The project also aims at highlighting barriers to education for girls in rural communities and help reduce teenage pregnancy rates in the Eastern Region.
One of Plan Ghana’s notable achievements in its project areas last year was when the President of Ghana, Prof. John Evans Atta-Mills, praised Plan Ghana's management and staff for their good work during a visit to its offices in Tumu in the Sisala District of the Upper West Region.
He said: “I am very happy for the good work Plan Ghana is doing in this area to uplift the living standards of children and their families. I commend you highly for that. I hope you will keep it up and possibly expand your programme to cover more districts in the region. Keep the good work up Plan Ghana.”
Through its work, the Tumu area has seen an increase in school enrolment and library books have also been provided to primary schools to encourage good reading habits among children. This has lead to an improvement in their ability to read and write. The project has also supported the training of 19 pre-school teachers in the latest teaching methodologies. This has made teaching and learning more efficient and effective.
Also in the Wa West, Wa East and Wa Municipalities where Plan Ghana works in 50 communities and sponsors about 5,000 children, the School Health Programme has helped to train teachers in safe hygiene and provided hand-washing facilities to schools, improving sanitation for both teachers and pupils.
In addition, a Plan study carried out in the Sissala District of the Upper West Region found that food insecurity was a severe and chronic problem. Though it was widespread among the district's population, pre-school children, school-going children and young mothers were the worst affected and most vulnerable.
Through the survey, Plan Ghana piloted a project in Kupulima in Wa East in the Upper West Region which is managed by the community to feed children in schools, helping increase school enrolment, attendance and performance. It organised community awareness-raising meetings and trained parents to stress the importance of balanced nutrition and school attendance.
What's more, Plan Ghana has trained 63,561 teachers and built and rehabilitated 8,152 child-friendly schools so that they can deliver quality education, since learning is crucial for development and one of the most powerful tools in breaking the cycle of poverty.
The organisation invests more in education than any other programme area and works to ensure that children, young people and adults get the knowledge and life skills they need to realise their full potential.
As part of its school-improvement programme, which is a major part of its formal education work, Plan Ghana delivers support to every aspect of a school, which is essential in creating the best learning environment for children, ensures the active participation of children and communities in school governance, and holds individual school management accountable for children’s enrolment, attendance, learning and successful completion.
The organisation also reaches out to children who have never been to school or who have dropped out, offering them the chance of a quality education, and works to break down barriers that prevent many girls from being educated with projects to help thousands of them into school.
Ga East Assembly reasons with drivers
Daily Graphic (Pg 23) Thurs, July 22/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Dome Zonal Council of the Ga East Municipal Assembly have suspended a decision to implement a ‘no parking’ bye-law on the Atomic to St John’s route which was aimed at bringing sanity on that route.
The authorities had to rescind their decision after hundreds of drivers and their mates from the early hours of last Monday morning when the ban was to be enforced, began demonstrating against the decision by not allowing any Urvan bus to work on that stretch of road for well over eight hours.
The situation caused chaos as passengers had to find alternative means of getting to their destination while the already bad traffic situation in that part of the area was worsened as some drivers resisted the demonstrators from including them in their exercise.
It took the intervention of the Ga East District Commander of Police, DSP Ameyaw Afriyie to calm tempers down after he had held a meeting with the leaders of the four major transport unions operating in the area, the Ga East District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Ekow Sackey and the executive of the district council.
The transport unions were the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Progressive Transport Owners Association PROTOA, Co-operative Transport and Tiger Transport Association.
To help salvage the situation, the DCE also tasked a five-member committee headed by the District Commander of Police to address the concerns of the drivers whose main claim was that the distance between the earmarked bus stops was too long and therefore, they would not comply.
The committee, which was expected to present its report to the assembly last Tuesday morning together with leaders of the various union, some drivers and their mates, have so far earmarked new stops which they would present to the DCE.
Speaking to DSP Afriyie after the meeting, he said the council had been asked to suspend the bye-law and arrange for a meeting between all the parties coming Sunday where they would be briefed on the new demarcation and the necessary punitive measures that would taken any driver who flaunt the bye-law.
The Zonal Council Chairman, Mr Sampson Ato Ampah, also in an interview denied claims by the drivers that the council’s task force was charging GH¢50 for wrongful parking and picking of passengers.
According to him, the council earmarked the designated bus stop about a month ago and had since been educating the drivers and their mates to ensure that they only pick and alight passengers at the assigned bus stops.
He said the decision to implement the bye-law was communicated to them last Sunday at a meeting which was expected to be attended by all stakeholders.
However, he said before they could implement their decision, he had a call at 5.30 am that some organised drivers and their mates were preventing others to work on the route as they did not want to comply with the council’s bye-law.
This, he said, resulted in a clash between the council’s task force some of whom had to use force to bring the situation under control, and in the process, some drivers and their mates were assaulted and were asked to go to the hospital for treatment at the expense of the council.
Speaking to some of the drivers and their mates, they said the council was noted for forcing decision down their throat.
They explained that although at the meeting on Sunday they opposed the ear-marked bus stop, the council executive refused to listen to them, adding that a similar case was the charge of a daily fee of GH¢3 which they were currently paying, but they had since its inception some months ago complained that it was too much and needed to be reviewed.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Dome Zonal Council of the Ga East Municipal Assembly have suspended a decision to implement a ‘no parking’ bye-law on the Atomic to St John’s route which was aimed at bringing sanity on that route.
The authorities had to rescind their decision after hundreds of drivers and their mates from the early hours of last Monday morning when the ban was to be enforced, began demonstrating against the decision by not allowing any Urvan bus to work on that stretch of road for well over eight hours.
The situation caused chaos as passengers had to find alternative means of getting to their destination while the already bad traffic situation in that part of the area was worsened as some drivers resisted the demonstrators from including them in their exercise.
It took the intervention of the Ga East District Commander of Police, DSP Ameyaw Afriyie to calm tempers down after he had held a meeting with the leaders of the four major transport unions operating in the area, the Ga East District Chief Executive (DCE), Mr Ekow Sackey and the executive of the district council.
The transport unions were the Ghana Private Road Transport Union (GPRTU), Progressive Transport Owners Association PROTOA, Co-operative Transport and Tiger Transport Association.
To help salvage the situation, the DCE also tasked a five-member committee headed by the District Commander of Police to address the concerns of the drivers whose main claim was that the distance between the earmarked bus stops was too long and therefore, they would not comply.
The committee, which was expected to present its report to the assembly last Tuesday morning together with leaders of the various union, some drivers and their mates, have so far earmarked new stops which they would present to the DCE.
Speaking to DSP Afriyie after the meeting, he said the council had been asked to suspend the bye-law and arrange for a meeting between all the parties coming Sunday where they would be briefed on the new demarcation and the necessary punitive measures that would taken any driver who flaunt the bye-law.
The Zonal Council Chairman, Mr Sampson Ato Ampah, also in an interview denied claims by the drivers that the council’s task force was charging GH¢50 for wrongful parking and picking of passengers.
According to him, the council earmarked the designated bus stop about a month ago and had since been educating the drivers and their mates to ensure that they only pick and alight passengers at the assigned bus stops.
He said the decision to implement the bye-law was communicated to them last Sunday at a meeting which was expected to be attended by all stakeholders.
However, he said before they could implement their decision, he had a call at 5.30 am that some organised drivers and their mates were preventing others to work on the route as they did not want to comply with the council’s bye-law.
This, he said, resulted in a clash between the council’s task force some of whom had to use force to bring the situation under control, and in the process, some drivers and their mates were assaulted and were asked to go to the hospital for treatment at the expense of the council.
Speaking to some of the drivers and their mates, they said the council was noted for forcing decision down their throat.
They explained that although at the meeting on Sunday they opposed the ear-marked bus stop, the council executive refused to listen to them, adding that a similar case was the charge of a daily fee of GH¢3 which they were currently paying, but they had since its inception some months ago complained that it was too much and needed to be reviewed.
Obtain forest certification • Wood producers urged
Daily Graphic (Pg 46) Wed., July 20/10
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
WOOD producers in the country have been urged to acquire forest certification to satisfy international consumers.
If not, wood and wood products from Ghana in the next few years would not be bougth on the international market.
A Forest Certification Auditor, Mr Joseph W. Osei, made this known at a media sensitisation workshop in Accra on forest certification and sustainable forest management in Ghana.
This would be a big blow to Ghana’s forest sector, which is said to contribute five to six per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with over 50 per cent of the products exported to Europe and the United States of America.
The international forest management certification mandates that forest products such as timber were harvested in a manner which would not lead to deforestation or desertification in the near future.
Ghana, at the beginning of the 20th century, was said to have over eight million hectares of high forests stocked with both timber and non-timber forest products but today it has been reduced to 1.6 million hectares.
According to Mr Osei, even though Ghana’s annual allowable timber cut was two million cubic meters per annum, the current estimated harvest including illegal chainsaw operations was 3.5 million cubic meters.
He said this and other factors had made consumers of topical forest products, especially on the EU and American markets, become concerned about the source of forest products as they want to be assured that the forest products they bought originated from sustainably managed forests.
Retailers and manufacturing industries, he said, were therefore, threatening to stop buying forest products that were not certified.
He said the only way out of the situation was to ensure that timber companies acquired forest certifications through the Ghana Forest Management Certification (GFMC), where they would be mandated to comply with all national laws and international agreements.
He added that forest certification ensured that timber companies acknowledged the cultures of communities living close to the forest, contributed to their development by signing a social responsibility agreement and also enabling forest workers to get better working conditions.
The Director of the National Working Group on Forest Certification, Ghana, Dr Ernest Asare Abeney, who spoke on sustainable forest management and the future of Ghana’s forest, said presently, forest certification was voluntary, independent, non-discriminatory, transparent and market-driven.
According to him apart from one plantation in the country no timber company had a forest certification although a few had applied and were yet to be certified.
He said sustainable forest management required a deliberate human intervention such as policy, legislation and management, to safeguard productive and protective functions of the forest.
Mr Abeney said sustainable forest management in the country aimed at ensuring that the goods and services derived from the forest met present day needs while at the same time securing their continued availability.
He added that forest management was required to help improve forest health and vitality in order to reduce risks and impacts of unwanted disturbances, wildfires, airborne pollution, invasion by species, pests, diseases and insects.
Story Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
WOOD producers in the country have been urged to acquire forest certification to satisfy international consumers.
If not, wood and wood products from Ghana in the next few years would not be bougth on the international market.
A Forest Certification Auditor, Mr Joseph W. Osei, made this known at a media sensitisation workshop in Accra on forest certification and sustainable forest management in Ghana.
This would be a big blow to Ghana’s forest sector, which is said to contribute five to six per cent of the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) with over 50 per cent of the products exported to Europe and the United States of America.
The international forest management certification mandates that forest products such as timber were harvested in a manner which would not lead to deforestation or desertification in the near future.
Ghana, at the beginning of the 20th century, was said to have over eight million hectares of high forests stocked with both timber and non-timber forest products but today it has been reduced to 1.6 million hectares.
According to Mr Osei, even though Ghana’s annual allowable timber cut was two million cubic meters per annum, the current estimated harvest including illegal chainsaw operations was 3.5 million cubic meters.
He said this and other factors had made consumers of topical forest products, especially on the EU and American markets, become concerned about the source of forest products as they want to be assured that the forest products they bought originated from sustainably managed forests.
Retailers and manufacturing industries, he said, were therefore, threatening to stop buying forest products that were not certified.
He said the only way out of the situation was to ensure that timber companies acquired forest certifications through the Ghana Forest Management Certification (GFMC), where they would be mandated to comply with all national laws and international agreements.
He added that forest certification ensured that timber companies acknowledged the cultures of communities living close to the forest, contributed to their development by signing a social responsibility agreement and also enabling forest workers to get better working conditions.
The Director of the National Working Group on Forest Certification, Ghana, Dr Ernest Asare Abeney, who spoke on sustainable forest management and the future of Ghana’s forest, said presently, forest certification was voluntary, independent, non-discriminatory, transparent and market-driven.
According to him apart from one plantation in the country no timber company had a forest certification although a few had applied and were yet to be certified.
He said sustainable forest management required a deliberate human intervention such as policy, legislation and management, to safeguard productive and protective functions of the forest.
Mr Abeney said sustainable forest management in the country aimed at ensuring that the goods and services derived from the forest met present day needs while at the same time securing their continued availability.
He added that forest management was required to help improve forest health and vitality in order to reduce risks and impacts of unwanted disturbances, wildfires, airborne pollution, invasion by species, pests, diseases and insects.
‘Let’s strengthen laws protecting children’
Daily Graphic (Pg11) Tues., July 20/10
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, provides for a uniform set of rights for children. It is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights that is civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.
In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention because people under 18 years of age often needed special care and protection which adults did not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognised that children also had human rights.
It, therefore, provided member states the opportunity for their governments to institute legislation, policies and structures for setting in motion the mechanisms for realising these rights at the country level.
The convention sets out the rights that must be realised for children to develop their full potential, free from hunger and want, neglect and abuse. It reflects a new vision of the child.
The convention offers a vision of the child as an individual and as a member of a family and community, with rights and responsibilities appropriate to his or her age and stage of development. By recognising children's rights in this way, the convention firmly sets the focus on the child as a whole.
Apart from making provisions for enhancing child survival, participation, and development, the convention makes provisions for the protection of children from harm and exploitation, and to consolidate child protection and improve the welfare of children in the country, Ghana enacted Children’s Act 1998; Act 560).
The law provides an opportunity for tailoring some meaningful services to many children in Ghana in the last ten years. A careful study of national and regional initiatives indicated an awareness of the idea of rights pertaining to children. The general population is also becoming cognisant of the attention paid to the welfare of children from both public and private institutions including local and international NGOs.
Human rights apply to all age groups and children have the same general human rights as adults. But children are particularly vulnerable and so they also have particular rights that recognise their special need for protection.
Other laws that seek to protect children in the country include the Domestic Violence Act and the Criminal Code of Ghana.
In line with the objective of giving children the needed protection that they require, the Greater Accra Regional Multi-sectoral committee on children met in Accra to discuss the issue of child protection and early childhood care in the region.
The meeting was attended by representatives from the Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Basic Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Department of Social Welfare, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the National Population Council and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC).
Others were some child related non-governmental organisations working in the area of child protection such as BASICS International and representatives from educational centres such as the Autism Centre and the Dzorwulu Special School in Accra.
Hosted by the Greater Accra Department of Children, members deliberated on the need for a co-ordinated effort where society would be involved by ensuring that all vulnerable children or children living under harsh conditions with either their parents or guidance would be identified and taken out of such situations.
According to the Regional Co-ordinator of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, despite the numerous laws that sought to protect children, a number of children were still used as child labourers some of whom worked as house helps and did not have access to education while others were made to hawk on the street from morning till dusk.
He said children continued to experience numerous abuses and that the time had come for the laws that protected them to be strengthened to ensure their survival, protection, development and participation in all spheres of life.
A Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr Simon S. Agbeehia who chaired the meeting, blamed the issue of the lack of child protection in the country on parents and the economy at large saying that "parents are chasing money instead of protecting their children" and that people seem to prefer material wealth than the welfare of their children.
He said the current economic pressures in the country did not allow the society especially parents and guardians to treasure their children the way they should.
The Programmes Director from the Autism Awareness, Care and training centre, Mr Mawusi Adiku was more concerned that parents and guardians did not take into account the behavioural changes in their children because they were sometimes too busy to notice them.
Some parents he said were also too overly protective of their children with disabilities, a situation which he said did not allow them to seek early or prompt care for such children for swift intervention.
He said such children especially those with autism, which he said was a developmental disorder characterised by communication, behaviour and social disorders, could be managed effectively with some of these children given skills training for their livelihood.
Members of the committee in their various submission called for the integration of children with disabilities into mainstream educational schools so as to help develop them socially and mentally.
They also called on parents and teachers to help build the confidence of such children so that they would not feel inferior to other children, a situation which they said demoralised them for life.
They also called for the education of parents on child protection to ensure that children were given the needed opprtunity to develop their capabilities without hindrances.
Article: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted in 1989, provides for a uniform set of rights for children. It is the first legally binding international instrument to incorporate the full range of human rights that is civil, cultural, economic, political and social rights.
In 1989, world leaders decided that children needed a special convention because people under 18 years of age often needed special care and protection which adults did not. The leaders also wanted to make sure that the world recognised that children also had human rights.
It, therefore, provided member states the opportunity for their governments to institute legislation, policies and structures for setting in motion the mechanisms for realising these rights at the country level.
The convention sets out the rights that must be realised for children to develop their full potential, free from hunger and want, neglect and abuse. It reflects a new vision of the child.
The convention offers a vision of the child as an individual and as a member of a family and community, with rights and responsibilities appropriate to his or her age and stage of development. By recognising children's rights in this way, the convention firmly sets the focus on the child as a whole.
Apart from making provisions for enhancing child survival, participation, and development, the convention makes provisions for the protection of children from harm and exploitation, and to consolidate child protection and improve the welfare of children in the country, Ghana enacted Children’s Act 1998; Act 560).
The law provides an opportunity for tailoring some meaningful services to many children in Ghana in the last ten years. A careful study of national and regional initiatives indicated an awareness of the idea of rights pertaining to children. The general population is also becoming cognisant of the attention paid to the welfare of children from both public and private institutions including local and international NGOs.
Human rights apply to all age groups and children have the same general human rights as adults. But children are particularly vulnerable and so they also have particular rights that recognise their special need for protection.
Other laws that seek to protect children in the country include the Domestic Violence Act and the Criminal Code of Ghana.
In line with the objective of giving children the needed protection that they require, the Greater Accra Regional Multi-sectoral committee on children met in Accra to discuss the issue of child protection and early childhood care in the region.
The meeting was attended by representatives from the Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Basic Education Division of the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Department of Social Welfare, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, the National Population Council and the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs (MOWAC).
Others were some child related non-governmental organisations working in the area of child protection such as BASICS International and representatives from educational centres such as the Autism Centre and the Dzorwulu Special School in Accra.
Hosted by the Greater Accra Department of Children, members deliberated on the need for a co-ordinated effort where society would be involved by ensuring that all vulnerable children or children living under harsh conditions with either their parents or guidance would be identified and taken out of such situations.
According to the Regional Co-ordinator of the Department of Children, Mr Peter Akyea, despite the numerous laws that sought to protect children, a number of children were still used as child labourers some of whom worked as house helps and did not have access to education while others were made to hawk on the street from morning till dusk.
He said children continued to experience numerous abuses and that the time had come for the laws that protected them to be strengthened to ensure their survival, protection, development and participation in all spheres of life.
A Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr Simon S. Agbeehia who chaired the meeting, blamed the issue of the lack of child protection in the country on parents and the economy at large saying that "parents are chasing money instead of protecting their children" and that people seem to prefer material wealth than the welfare of their children.
He said the current economic pressures in the country did not allow the society especially parents and guardians to treasure their children the way they should.
The Programmes Director from the Autism Awareness, Care and training centre, Mr Mawusi Adiku was more concerned that parents and guardians did not take into account the behavioural changes in their children because they were sometimes too busy to notice them.
Some parents he said were also too overly protective of their children with disabilities, a situation which he said did not allow them to seek early or prompt care for such children for swift intervention.
He said such children especially those with autism, which he said was a developmental disorder characterised by communication, behaviour and social disorders, could be managed effectively with some of these children given skills training for their livelihood.
Members of the committee in their various submission called for the integration of children with disabilities into mainstream educational schools so as to help develop them socially and mentally.
They also called on parents and teachers to help build the confidence of such children so that they would not feel inferior to other children, a situation which they said demoralised them for life.
They also called for the education of parents on child protection to ensure that children were given the needed opprtunity to develop their capabilities without hindrances.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Postgraduate admissions to go up
Daily Graphic (Pg11) July 14/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Government is developing an educational policy which would mandate public universities to allocate 10 per cent of their admissions to postgraduate education.
Currently, postgraduate admissions make up only six per cent in all the public universities in the country.
This was made known by the Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education, Mr Paul Dzandu, at a national dialogue on postgraduate education in Ghana organised by the Graduate Students Association of Ghana in Accra.
According to Mr Dzandu, who spoke on behalf of the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, postgraduate education which focused on research and development was an important avenue for national development.
He said the government-approved norm for postgraduate intake in the public universities in the country was 10 per cent of the total student enrolment. However, data available from the NCTE indicates that out of 102,548 students enrolled in the public universities for the 2008/2009 academic year, only 5,919, representing six per cent, were postgraduate students.
He said “both the government and the leadership of the universities were aware that the survival of university education and the contribution of university to national development depended on the postgraduate education we provide.”
He added that “as a nation, we need to focus on postgraduate programmes which are of quality and relevance with research outputs geared towards the advancement of knowledge in the country and beyond.”
He said the government had so far put in place measures aimed at ensuring that postgraduate education was promoted in the country, and he mentioned some of the support provided to include an award of government bursary and thesis grant to all postgraduate students in public universities.
He said despite the challenges confronting postgraduate education in our universities, the future was not bleak.
A Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr Vlademir Antwi-Danso, said postgraduate education which should be the engine of growth in the country had for a long time been reduced to the acquisition of knowledge, a situation which he said was worrisome.
He said postgraduate education was a platform for research and development which should be linked with national planning and development.
Dr Antwi-Danso said for the country to be totally developed it required good leadership, resources and knowledge and when postgraduate education was well developed, it can provide the solution.
He called on the students to be aggressive in their research work, saying that they must endeavour to do proper research which would help improve national development.
The Vice Dean of the University of Ghana Graduate School, Prof. K. Ofori, who said research led to the acquisition of knowledge, also said every establishment in the country needed research for a sustainable development.
He, however, bemoaned the fact that most research work ended on book shelves.
The Dean of Nutrition and Food Science, Prof. Esther Sakyi-Dawson, said there was the need to reorient graduate students to come out with qualitative research to benefit the country.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
THE Government is developing an educational policy which would mandate public universities to allocate 10 per cent of their admissions to postgraduate education.
Currently, postgraduate admissions make up only six per cent in all the public universities in the country.
This was made known by the Deputy Executive Secretary of the National Council for Tertiary Education, Mr Paul Dzandu, at a national dialogue on postgraduate education in Ghana organised by the Graduate Students Association of Ghana in Accra.
According to Mr Dzandu, who spoke on behalf of the Minister of Education, Mr Alex Tettey-Enyo, postgraduate education which focused on research and development was an important avenue for national development.
He said the government-approved norm for postgraduate intake in the public universities in the country was 10 per cent of the total student enrolment. However, data available from the NCTE indicates that out of 102,548 students enrolled in the public universities for the 2008/2009 academic year, only 5,919, representing six per cent, were postgraduate students.
He said “both the government and the leadership of the universities were aware that the survival of university education and the contribution of university to national development depended on the postgraduate education we provide.”
He added that “as a nation, we need to focus on postgraduate programmes which are of quality and relevance with research outputs geared towards the advancement of knowledge in the country and beyond.”
He said the government had so far put in place measures aimed at ensuring that postgraduate education was promoted in the country, and he mentioned some of the support provided to include an award of government bursary and thesis grant to all postgraduate students in public universities.
He said despite the challenges confronting postgraduate education in our universities, the future was not bleak.
A Lecturer at the University of Ghana, Dr Vlademir Antwi-Danso, said postgraduate education which should be the engine of growth in the country had for a long time been reduced to the acquisition of knowledge, a situation which he said was worrisome.
He said postgraduate education was a platform for research and development which should be linked with national planning and development.
Dr Antwi-Danso said for the country to be totally developed it required good leadership, resources and knowledge and when postgraduate education was well developed, it can provide the solution.
He called on the students to be aggressive in their research work, saying that they must endeavour to do proper research which would help improve national development.
The Vice Dean of the University of Ghana Graduate School, Prof. K. Ofori, who said research led to the acquisition of knowledge, also said every establishment in the country needed research for a sustainable development.
He, however, bemoaned the fact that most research work ended on book shelves.
The Dean of Nutrition and Food Science, Prof. Esther Sakyi-Dawson, said there was the need to reorient graduate students to come out with qualitative research to benefit the country.
MPs attend workshop on gender skills project
Daily Graphic (soc) Tues. July 13/10
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Gender and Children, Mr Kobla Mensah Woyome has called for a better and more effective data collection system that will be reflective of the actual poverty levels in the country.
He said that was necessary to ensure that vulnerable people most of whom were women and children, received social interventions which would positively affect their livelihoods.
According to him, a project which was intended to benefit 59 needy districts in the country, did not capture some of the poor districts which had been clasified as poor under the Ghana Living Standard Survey, and were benefiting from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP).
Mr Woyome made the call when he chaired a sensitisation seminar organised by the Gender Responsive Skills and Community Development project (GRSCDP), for members of the committee in Accra at the weekend.
According to him, the lack of an effective and co-ordinated data in the country was one of the major causes of under development among people especially, women and children and therefore called on the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to compile and harmonise data that would be reflective of the actual poverty levels in the country.
The seminar was aimed among other things at sharing information with the members to enhance their knowledge about the project and also to establish a platform for dialogue and consensus building for the successful implementation of the project.
The four-year project which is being funded by the Government of Ghana and the African Development Bank (AfDB) is aimed at promoting a gender and equitable socio-economic development through institutional capacity building for the overall improvement of women’s employment and entrepreneurship.
According to him, linking data would help identify areas where poverty was endemic to enable people in such areas to benefit from social intervention programmes for them to improve on their lives.
According to Mr Woyome, the need for more effective data had become necessary since most pro-poor communities did not enjoy the needed interventions that would help them to come out of their poverty, because they had not been identified.
He said if the country had a viable data on poverty levels in the various communities, it would make it easier for such communities to benefit from social interventions that would help improve on the livelihood of the people.
He added that poverty and gender inequality was among the most persistent and pervasive global challenges of the century and as such there was the need to make gender issues the core of all programmes and structures geared towards the socio-economic development of the country.
“Just as gender inequality exacerbates poverty, poverty contributes to increased gender disparity”, he said adding that gender equality was not only a women’s issue and therefore should also concern and fully engage men and boys who can contribute to advancing gender equality as individuals within the family, community and in all spheres of society.
The Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Juliana Azumah Mensah in a welcome address said the project was aimed at promoting equitable socio-economic development that was gender sentive through improved national capacities for enhancing gender mainstreaming, improved access to quality skills training for gainful employment and entrepreneurial development of women.
This she said would increase women’s access to financial and non-financial services for sustainable development that would equally benefit men and women, adding that the focus of the project was to alleviate poverty among women at both national and local levels.
The Project Manager, Mr Forster Kwame Boateng who gave a general overview of the project, said it was aimed at achieving three main components which were; Institutional strengthening for enhancing gender mainstreaming; support to skills training and entrepreneurial development and; a project management.
He said aside supporting 59 districts within the 10 regions, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), four Community Development Colleges, micro-finance institutions, project staff of other African Development Bank funded projects in the country, business development service providers and micro and small scale women entrepreneurs, would directly benefit from the project.
He said the project, which would be reviewed annually, had a monitoring and evaluation component which would ensure that it impacted positively on the lives of beneficiaries.
The MPs in their various contributions expressed concern about the manner of selection for beneficiary communities saying that they were not involved in the selection process, They however said they were ready to support the project to achieve its overall objective.
Story: Rebecca Quaicoe-Duho
A Member of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Gender and Children, Mr Kobla Mensah Woyome has called for a better and more effective data collection system that will be reflective of the actual poverty levels in the country.
He said that was necessary to ensure that vulnerable people most of whom were women and children, received social interventions which would positively affect their livelihoods.
According to him, a project which was intended to benefit 59 needy districts in the country, did not capture some of the poor districts which had been clasified as poor under the Ghana Living Standard Survey, and were benefiting from the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP).
Mr Woyome made the call when he chaired a sensitisation seminar organised by the Gender Responsive Skills and Community Development project (GRSCDP), for members of the committee in Accra at the weekend.
According to him, the lack of an effective and co-ordinated data in the country was one of the major causes of under development among people especially, women and children and therefore called on the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) to compile and harmonise data that would be reflective of the actual poverty levels in the country.
The seminar was aimed among other things at sharing information with the members to enhance their knowledge about the project and also to establish a platform for dialogue and consensus building for the successful implementation of the project.
The four-year project which is being funded by the Government of Ghana and the African Development Bank (AfDB) is aimed at promoting a gender and equitable socio-economic development through institutional capacity building for the overall improvement of women’s employment and entrepreneurship.
According to him, linking data would help identify areas where poverty was endemic to enable people in such areas to benefit from social intervention programmes for them to improve on their lives.
According to Mr Woyome, the need for more effective data had become necessary since most pro-poor communities did not enjoy the needed interventions that would help them to come out of their poverty, because they had not been identified.
He said if the country had a viable data on poverty levels in the various communities, it would make it easier for such communities to benefit from social interventions that would help improve on the livelihood of the people.
He added that poverty and gender inequality was among the most persistent and pervasive global challenges of the century and as such there was the need to make gender issues the core of all programmes and structures geared towards the socio-economic development of the country.
“Just as gender inequality exacerbates poverty, poverty contributes to increased gender disparity”, he said adding that gender equality was not only a women’s issue and therefore should also concern and fully engage men and boys who can contribute to advancing gender equality as individuals within the family, community and in all spheres of society.
The Minister of Women and Children’s Affairs, Ms Juliana Azumah Mensah in a welcome address said the project was aimed at promoting equitable socio-economic development that was gender sentive through improved national capacities for enhancing gender mainstreaming, improved access to quality skills training for gainful employment and entrepreneurial development of women.
This she said would increase women’s access to financial and non-financial services for sustainable development that would equally benefit men and women, adding that the focus of the project was to alleviate poverty among women at both national and local levels.
The Project Manager, Mr Forster Kwame Boateng who gave a general overview of the project, said it was aimed at achieving three main components which were; Institutional strengthening for enhancing gender mainstreaming; support to skills training and entrepreneurial development and; a project management.
He said aside supporting 59 districts within the 10 regions, the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs (MOWAC), four Community Development Colleges, micro-finance institutions, project staff of other African Development Bank funded projects in the country, business development service providers and micro and small scale women entrepreneurs, would directly benefit from the project.
He said the project, which would be reviewed annually, had a monitoring and evaluation component which would ensure that it impacted positively on the lives of beneficiaries.
The MPs in their various contributions expressed concern about the manner of selection for beneficiary communities saying that they were not involved in the selection process, They however said they were ready to support the project to achieve its overall objective.
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