Dormaa Ahenkro (B/A), May 8, GNA - A 15- member child protection committee has been inaugurated in Dormaa municipality with a call on parents and opinion leaders to appreciate the challenges confronting the youth and help address them. Mr James Kwame Adams, Deputy Co-ordinating Director of Dormaa Municipal Assembly, who made the call, noted that child-related problems were on the rise "because adults have failed to regularly interact with their children to know their shortcomings". The child protection committee was initiated by COCOBOD to co-ordinate the activities of community child protection committees in cocoa growing areas tasked to sensitize cocoa farmers on the dangers of using child labour on their farms.

Mr Adams said ten COCOBOD-sponsored community child protection committees would be set up across the municipality to work towards eradicating child labour on cocoa farms. Mr Owusu Sekyere, Municipal Social Welfare Officer, stressed that child labour on cocoa farms in the sub-region had attracted international condemnation and deprived a number of children education. He said the practice had dented government's child-related policies, explaining that the capitation grant, school feeding programme, free bus service for school children, national health insurance scheme and free school uniforms might not achieve the desired target for children. The social welfare officer called on stakeholders in child protection and development to re-define good parenting to ensure that children were taught to regard all adults as potential parents. Mr Salifu Salmanu, Municipal Labour Officer, expressed regret that cocoa farmers, particularly the tenants and caretakers, often did not enrol their children in schools. He announced that as part of the COCOBOD package, the community child protection committees would identify basic factors inhibiting the smooth schooling of children in cocoa growing areas, for financial and material assistance.