Saltpond (C/R), Jan 26, GNA - The Central Regional Branch of the Ghana NGO Coalition on the right of the child has embarked on an advocacy programme to get Community Child Panels to be established. Mrs Baaba Brew-Fletscher, the Regional Chairperson of the Coalition told the Ghana News Agency after a meeting with some members of Mfantseman District Assembly that the formation of Community Child Panels was a mandate of the United Nations Convention on the rights of the child.

Mrs Brew-Fletscher, a member of Cape Coast Municipal Assembly, representing the OLA Estates, said the panels were based on the four principles of the Convention -- non discrimination, best interest of the child, right to life survival and development, and respect for the views of the child.

She said the Panels would promote the dignity of the child and settle minor civil cases involving the child.

Mrs Brew-Fletscher said putting children before the law courts over minor offences dehumanised them and appealed to District Assemblies to encourage establishment of Community Child Panels to handle such cases. Mr Robert Quainoo-Arthur, District Chief Executive for Mfantseman, said the Assembly had put initiated measures to protect the child, including applying sanctions on parents who refuse to enrol their kid to school.