The Department of Social Welfare is so cash-strapped that it now depends on donor agencies to be able to carry out some of its programmes. This is because the government has failed to release the approved budget for the department to enable it to effectively carry out its functions.

Mrs Beatrice Duncan, a Protection Officer of UNICEF, who disclosed this said such, was the seriousness of the situation that the Department now goes to UNICEF for little resources such as paper to work with.

Speaking at a workshop on human rights for journalists in Accra, Mrs Duncan stated that the plight of the department was a reflection of the larger picture of regard for rights, especially that of children in the country.

She said the scant regard people had for children’s rights had contributed to the dramatic rise in armed robbery cases as they grow up without the required adult and parental supervision and care.