Accra, Nov. 20, GNA - Former President Jerry John Rawlings on Thursday urged the government, Ghanaians, parents and potential parents alike to make a commitment to give children a better life for the future, as the bedrock of the nation is the child.

In a statement to mark the Universal Children=B9s Day, he said personal attention through strict moral education and interest in the progress of the child in society, were key to ensure that children grew to become responsible citizens.

"We all have a commitment to ensuring that the basic rights of children are respected and recognised," former President Rawlings said. "Today every adult should reflect on the challenges facing our children and endeavour to make a commitment to bringing up children under conditions that are conducive to childhood development." The former president said children served as an important aspect of the social structure because they ensured that various family lineages were perpetuated.

"The naming of our children after their forebears significantly proved that when we bring forth children, we do so not only in honour of our immediate living family and friends but our ancestors and of course we pray that they will grow into responsible adults so they can in future bring forth to continue that ancestry." Former President Rawlings said the question was whether we gave children enough recognition as an integral wheel to the progress of the small family unit, our extended family unit or our nation as a whole. He noted that elsewhere in the world some children had been recruited as soldiers in senseless wars.

"In Ghana there may not be children trapped in such acts of barbarism but many Ghanaian children are forced into various forms of labour from being porters at markets, selling all sorts of items on our dangerous streets, spending whole days at the farm or simply loitering around all day while their colleagues are in school. "Let us use this occasion to reflect on the fact that solving issues affecting our children requires collective effort and of course a great deal of commitment from successive governments. Children are our future as they bring joy, love and inspiration to us every single day." Former President Rawlings said, "we must show love as it is not just enough to tout a commitment to early childhood development without the concomitant policy implementation strategies. "While some of our children may not be attending school in spite of the existing legislation that gives every child that right, some of them are in school but a not receiving requisite education due to a lot of factors. "Majority of public funded schools, which are the only recourse for a huge percentage of our children population, are under-funded, with no textbooks, furniture and basic transport facilities. "Parents who cannot afford to purchase textbooks for their children end up realising that their children are receiving little or no education at school." Former President Rawlings said the education system was fraught with problems from teachers who are poorly paid to classrooms that had no roofs. He said the scourge of poverty and untreatable diseases like HIV/AIDS were issues that directly affected children, adding that, governments and relevant state agencies had to tackle these matters head-on to guarantee the country=B9s positive future. 20 Nov. 08