Barima Akwasi Amankwaah, Programmes Officer, Ghana NGO Coalition on the Rights of the Child (GNCRC), on Tuesday said children should be given the necessary care and protection in order to stay focused and out of trouble.

To this end, he said, children ought to be provided with skills and tools to enable them participate actively and meaningfully in the social, economic and cultural development of their communities.

Barima Amankwaah made these remarks when he spoke to the Ghana News Agency at the end of a workshop in Tema on how to prevent and combat all forms of violence against children and the youths in Correctional Institutions, or in conflict with the law.

The two-day programme, organized jointly by GNCRC, Child Rights International and Plan Ghana, with funding from the European Union, was attended by representatives from the Security Agencies, the Department of Social Welfare, the Ghana Education Service, and Assembly Members.

It was under the theme: “Respecting, Protecting and Fulfilling the Rights of all Children.”

Barima Amankwaah stated that the true measure of a nation’s standing was how well it attended to its children, their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved , valued, and included in the families and societies into which they were born.

He, however, pointed out that without the necessary social safety nets in place, some children would fall through the cracks which could lead them into conflict with the law.

“It is our duty to give these children the appropriate care they need in order to reform them and help them re-integrate into society and become active, contributing citizens.”

Explaining the Juvenile Justice Act (2003), Barima Amankwaah said, “It is an instrument that aims to protect those children and youths in conflict with the law and ensure that they are enjoying the rights provided by the Act.”

He regretted that in spite of the Juvenile Justice Act which protects children, some of them who commit minor crimes normally end up in care institutions.

He said Juveniles were not criminals, and should therefore not be treated as such.

Barima Amankwaah said though young people who violated the law should be held accountable for their offences, the best interests of the child had to be the priority in all the stages of the process.

He was of the view that “taking action for today’s young offenders means not only seeking their social rehabilitation, but also preventing the adult crime of tomorrow.”

Mrs Josephine Konadu Koduah, Member of the Coalition, said by reason of their physical and mental immaturity, children needed special safeguards and care, including appropriate legal protection, before as well as after birth.

She urged key players in juvenile justice administration, to enforce the provisions in domestic laws on juvenile justice.

Mrs Koduah appealed to parents, guardians, teachers, religious leaders, opinion leaders and all other stakeholders, to work together to protect the rights of children.