The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has said Cabinet has granted approval for memoranda on children for the Ministry.

The memoranda include the Ratification of the 1993 Hague Convention on Inter-Country Adoptions, Amendment of the Children’s Act, Approval of Child And Family Welfare Policy and the Approval for the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography to be Laid before Parliament for Ratification.

A statement signed by the Nana Oye Lithur, Gender Minister and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra said the ratification of the 1993 Hague Convention on inter-country adoption, will enable Ghana to better comply with the provisions on alternative care as provided for in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and thereby better protect the best interest of the child.

It added that it would also provide an opportunity for Ghana to regulate its laws on inter-country adoptions and that the approval for ratification of the Convention will enable Government to create a Central Authority for Adoption in Ghana to be responsible for the processing of all inter-country adoptions.

The statement said Ghana’s accession to the 1993 Hague Convention on Inter-country Adoption, would make monitoring of children placed in inter-country adoption effective.

It said Ghana’s accession to the 1993 Hague Convention on inter-country adoption required that the Children’s Act be amended and that for this reason, Cabinet has approved a request from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection to amend the Children’s Act.

The statement said the Child and Family Welfare Policy approved by Cabinet, sought to establish a well-structured and coordinated Child and Family Welfare system that promotes the well-being of children, prevents abuse and protects children from harm.

It said the overall goal of the Policy was to help formulate child and family welfare programmes and activities to more effectively prevent and protect children from all forms of violence, abuse, neglect and exploitation and guided by national and internationally-recognized principles, as well as values, beliefs and practices specific to Ghana.

The statement added that the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, on the Sale of Children, Child Prostitution and Child Pornography has been approved to be laid before Parliament for ratification.

It said the Optional Protocol criminalises the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography and seek to reinforce the protection of the rights of the child and thus guarantee such rights as related to sexual and economic exploitation and from doing any work that will interfere with the child’s education or harmful to the health, moral or social development of child.