Human Trafficking in [Ghana] [other countries]Street Children in [Ghana Child Prostitution in [Ghana] [other countries] |
Prevalence, Abuse & Exploitation of Street Children In the
early years of the 21st Century - 2000 to 2010 gvnet.com/streetchildren/Ghana.htm
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CAUTION: The following links and accompanying text have been culled
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FEATURED ARTICLES *** Give children quality education Ghana Broadcasting Corporation GBC News, 10 Feb 2008 www.modernghana.com/news/157167/1/give-children-quality-education.html [accessed 16 May 2011] Six young reporters campaigning on 'Quality Education for all children' a UNICEF project, say poverty and parental irresponsibility among other things are reasons why many children did not go to school. The young reporters aged between 10 and 17, sharing their experiences and challenges faced by Ghanaian children in an interview said during their campaign, it was realized that many children did not go to school because their parents could not provide them with basic educational materials, such as school uniforms, exercise books, bags and pens. They disclosed that, some children
they interviewed engaged in different kinds of trade such as selling iced water,
plantain chips and bread rather than going to school because they had to
support their mother's who are mostly single parents, adding that some
father's of the children are irresponsible especially for their education. Ghanaian minister is on a mission The Commonwealth Times, November 5th, 2007 www.commonwealthtimes.org/?p=7887 [accessed 16 May 2011] Ama, 15, lives in What hope for thousands of street children? UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70530 [accessed 16 May 2011] His mother wouldn't let him keep going to school, he said. Instead, he was forced to go to work with her at the market. So one night he quietly left. He went to Accra where he hoped he would find someone to support his education. Instead of school, Anderson had to work. He lugs boxes and cases, often taller than he is, in one of the city's bus stations. In exchange he gets a handful of coins. At night, he sleeps on a cardboard mat in front of a meat shop. Anderson's best friends are also
13 years old. They stick together for protection, but sometimes it's not
enough. "Sometimes the grown-up boys beat us, even take our money
and that sort of thing," he said. He also risks being raped and sexually
abused. ***
ARCHIVES *** UNICEF - www.unicef.org/infobycountry/ghana.html [accessed 16 May 2011] The Department of Labor’s 2004 Findings on the Worst Forms
of Child Labor www.dol.gov/ilab/media/reports/iclp/tda2004/ghana.htm [accessed 6 February 2011] INCIDENCE
AND NATURE OF CHILD LABOR - In urban centers, street children work mainly as truck pushers,
porters, and sales workers. Human Rights Reports » 2005
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2005/61572.htm [accessed 6 February 2011] CHILDREN - The migration of children from
rural to urban areas increased, due to economic hardship. Children were driven
to the streets to fend for themselves, increasing both the occurrence of
child labor and the school dropout rate. During the year MOWAC officials
estimated that as many as 40 thousand porters, most of whom were girls under
18, lived on the streets in major cities, including Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Rights of
the Child (CRC) UN Convention on the Rights of the Child, 6 June 1997 www1.umn.edu/humanrts/crc/ghana1997.html [accessed 6 February 2011] [19] The Committee is also
concerned by the increase in the number of children living and/or working on
the street in major cities. It is also worried by the violence that is often
directed against them. The Committee is further concerned by the lack of
statistical data and studies on such children. Child delinquency on the increase in North The Ghanaian Chronicle, 27 February 2009 www.modernghana.com/news/204182/1/child-delinquency-on-the-increase-in-north.html [accessed 16 May 2011] I asked them, in clear words, why
they were not in school? And almost all of them expressed the desire to be in
school. Some said though they had parents, they have no money to take them to
school. I quickly asked, “But don't you
know basic education is free in Ghana?” The children intelligently replied,
“So will the government give us books, bags, pencils, pens, sandals and
uniforms? There is no room for us to sleep, and there will be no food after
school.” Some said they have to work to support their family, and take care
of junior ones, because their parents had died, or were sick, old, or just
don't work at all. The children expect to find work
in the streets, find friends, earn money, and be able to bring money home to
cater for their families. The children get sick easily, so
they tell me, and there is no money for medicines. “If someone needs to go to
hospital, we make contributions, and if someone hasn't earned money to buy
food, we share what we have.” Bill Graham, The Ghanaian Chronicle, 18 July 2008 ghanachild.wordpress.com/2009/02/03/ghana-who-cares-about-these-children-on-the-streets/ [partially accessed 17 May 2011 - access restricted] WORK THEY ENGAGE IN - The Ghana Statistical Service
estimated that approximately 27.2 percent of children aged 5 to 14 years in
Ghana were working in 2001.These children work as cart pushers, bar-keepers,
head porters, hawkers, shoe shine boys just to mention but a few. . Ignored
by authorities and the public, they are often the target for exploitation,
threats and violence. But the question is: where are their parents? Who cares
about them? Should we pretend not to see it as a problem or accept it to be
normal and live with it? CAUSES - It will be an understatement to
say that these children are suffering. At night, they sleep in kiosks and in
front of stores exposing them to all kinds of diseases and thieves. Vehicles
knock some down. They are easily lured into robbery, drug peddling, child
prostitution and other vices. The girls are compelled to satisfy the sexual
desires of their male counterparts to get food and for protection. Ernest Best Anane, www.modernghana.com/news/169028/1/porters-street-kids-registered-for-nhis.html [accessed 16 May 2011] The Subin
Sub-Metro Mutual Health Insurance, in collaboration with the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), has moved to register
porters and street-children in the metropolis, to enable the less-privileged
in the area access healthcare, under the National Health Insurance Scheme
(NHIS). The programme
resulted from the realization that most of the porters were located in the Subin area.
Launching the mass registration, Ms Esther Odoom,
Scheme Manager, noted that most of the porters were dying of malaria, and
other common diseases, because they cannot afford medical costs. About 2,000 porters and street-kids were
registered at the launch of the exercise, with 800 of them getting it
virtually for free. Give children quality education Ghana Broadcasting Corporation GBC News, 10 Feb 2008 www.modernghana.com/news/157167/1/give-children-quality-education.html [accessed 16 May 2011] Six young reporters campaigning on
'Quality Education for all children' a UNICEF project, say poverty and
parental irresponsibility among other things are reasons why many children
did not go to school. The young reporters aged between 10 and 17,
sharing their experiences and challenges faced by Ghanaian children in an
interview said during their campaign, it was realized that many children did
not go to school because their parents could not provide them with basic
educational materials, such as school uniforms, exercise books, bags and
pens. They disclosed that, some children
they interviewed engaged in different kinds of trade such as selling iced
water, plantain chips and bread rather than going to school because they had
to support their mother's who are mostly single parents, adding that some
father's of the children are irresponsible especially for their education. www.modernghana.com/news/150209/1/street-academy-organizes-dinner-dance-to-support-c.html [accessed 23 September 2011] A call has been made for a study
to be undertaken to understand why many more children are leaving their homes
and finding solace in the streets of big towns and cities. “Today the children on the streets are
multiplying as more and more join them, those already there are also starting
families, sadly these families have single parents and if we do not quickly
and collectively find solution to the root courses of this upsurge of streetism things will get out of hand”. He said it was obvious that most,
if not all the children are refugees of one form or the other. There were cultural
refugees, who run away from their homes to avoid being forced into marriages,
undergo female genital mutilation (FGM) and being enslaved under the Trokosi system, among others. The others are economic refugees who leave
for the streets because of adverse living conditions at home, most likely due
to conducts of hostile parents and guardians. Ghanaian minister is on a mission The Commonwealth Times, November 5th, 2007 www.commonwealthtimes.org/?p=7887 [accessed 16 May 2011] Ama, 15, lives in Committee on child labour, trafficking inaugurated mobile.ghanaweb.com/wap/article.php?ID=130307 [accessed 6 February 2011] A 21-member steering committee for
an International Labour Organisation (ILO) project on combating child labour
and trafficking was inaugurated in Dr. Slyvester
Sakyiamah, Executive Director of the Social
Research Associates, said the Kumasi Metropolis had
become the destination for most of the children trafficked from the Upper
West, Upper East, Northern regions and other parts the country. He said the
children were found to be cart pushers, bar-keepers, head porters, hawkers
and domestic servants among other exploitative jobs. Dr. Sakyiamah
said due to the nature of the work they engaged in, the lack of shelter and
better conditions of life, some of them become street children, who were easily lured into robbery, drug
peddling, child prostitution resulting in socio-economic problems. Organizations Partner to Trio News, www.trio-solutions.com/news/project_okurase.shtml [accessed 16 May 2011] Services at the center will
include formal education for street children, many of whom are orphaned due
to HIV/AIDS and who will live at the center, and other local children in
nearby villages. Arts-based skills training will be provided to women, older
street children and vulnerable teens by master craftspeople, visual and
performing artists from Nkabom and the Craftspeople
Association of Accra, Ghana. Education in information technology and English
as a second language will be available for adults to make them more
competitive in the global marketplace. Seminars will be conducted to inform
the local community about malaria and HIV/AIDS. Children orphaned due to AIDS
will have the chance to grow up in a home with a family on the grounds of the
center, and students from colleges around the world will be given
opportunities to intern, student teach and work at the center, local
orphanages, the children's hospital. Survival of the Fittest: Pushing Wheelbarrows to live in Buduburam Laura Suen,Buduburam, New Liberian,
January 11, 2008 [accessed 16 May 2011] He doesn’t have the luxury to
attend school. For the past six years, he has worked pushing heavy loads for
at least 12 hours each day, every day of the week. He is one of the wheelbarrow boys working
in Buduburam. Mehrenburg’s day begins at 5 a.m. That is when
he rents his wheelbarrow for 10 000 cedis ($1 US)
and begins work immediately, pushing goods within the camp in order to make
money to survive. Clients include shopkeepers who need vegetables, rice,
cement, and other loads moved to and from shops and homes. Within his 12-hour work day, his
only break is a quick 15-minute lunch – that is, if Children push wheelbarrows to survive in Buduburam Abednego David, Vision Online.net, 2 May
2007 jmghana.blogspot.com/2007/05/child-labour-at-liberian-refugee-camp.html [accessed 16 May 2011] Samuel David,
14, a refugee child at Buduburam, does not go to
school with other children. He goes to the Buduburam
market at 6 am with a wheelbarrow, which was bought for him by his sister Mamie David. David’s routine includes
transporting heavy loads of vegetables and other commodities for marketers to
and from the Buduburam market center and at the
residence of buyers’ returning from Kasoa, a
central commercial market town within the same Gomoa
Buduburam District in the Central Region. David, who starts work very early
in the morning and finishes work at 6 pm, said he can’t afford to go to
school. “I am not attending school
because there’s no money for fees,” he said. “I give the money that I earned
daily to my sister for food” he said.
David is one of many boys who push wheelbarrows at Buduburam
camp. Most of them do this work to survive and do not go to school. Northern, Upper East & West Are the Suppliers of
Street Kids in Oppong Baah,
Public Agenda, This article has been archived by World Street Children
News and may possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 16 May 2011] Several reasons have been adduced
for the swarming of He explained that the geographical
position of Kumasi makes it more vulnerable to the
phenomenon of street children, as it offers a transit point to migrants from
all parts of the country and beyond. These migrants, he said, more often than
not terminate their journey in On a good day a porter can earn
between ¢ 30, 000 and ¢ 50, 000. On bad days, however, a porter has to fall
on a colleague to have something to eat. The girls are compelled to satisfy
the sexual desires of their male counterparts to get food to eat. Due to such
instances a number of young girls become pregnant and have to go back home. Untold stories of “Kayayei” 17 May 2007 news.myjoyonline.com/news/200705/4704.asp [accessed 16 May 2011] There are thousands of children living
and working on the streets, and the number is growing in The Ghana Statistical Service
estimated that approximately 27.2 percent of children aged 5 to 14 years in
Ghana were working in 2001. The report indicates that in rural areas,
children can be found working in fishing, herding and as contract farm
labour. Children also work as domestics, porters, hawkers, mine and quarry
workers, and fare-collectors. In urban centres like
Accra, street children work mainly as truck pushers, porters, and sales
workers. What hope for thousands of street children? UN Integrated Regional Information Networks IRIN, www.irinnews.org/Report.aspx?ReportId=70530 [accessed 16 May 2011] His mother wouldn't let him keep
going to school, he said. Instead, he was forced to go to work with her at
the market. So one night he quietly
left. He went to Accra where he hoped he would find someone to support his
education. Instead of school, Anderson
had to work. He lugs boxes and cases, often taller than he is, in one of the
city's bus stations. In exchange he gets a handful of coins. At night, he sleeps on a cardboard mat in
front of a meat shop. Anderson's best friends are also
13 years old. They stick together for protection, but sometimes it's not
enough. "Sometimes the grown-up
boys beat us, even take our money and that sort of thing," he said. He
also risks being raped and sexually abused. Poverty in Reporter: Prue Clarke,
Transcript from PM, Australian Broadcasting Corporation ABC, 13 October 2005 www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2005/s1481873.htm [accessed 16 May 2011] Growing poverty has tripled the number of children living on the streets. “During my visit to a class organized for street children by an NGO, I was puzzled to find just a handful of girls in the class. ‘That's because of the job they do’, the teacher told me. ‘They're all asleep now. They're prostitutes’. - sccp Family policies, family planning needed to end child
homelessness Editorial, The Statesman, 19/12/2006 www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/editorial_detail.php?newsid=110§ion=0 [accessed 16 May 2011] But The Statesman still thinks
that the NPP as a government, and we as a society, should be doing more to prioritise the development and well-being of the next
generation of Christmas on the streets Mary Morgan , The Statesman, 16/12/2006 www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/news_detail.php?newsid=1778§ion=7 [accessed 16 May 2011] Streetism is one of the most visible
problems faced by the youth of today; visible, but unmeasured, because nobody
really knows quite how many street children there are in this country - they don’t
show up on our national censuses and mostly don’t appear on the school
rolls. Catholic Action for Children,
a non-governmental organisation, has been tracking
the growth of child streetism in Ghana over the
past few years. At the last headcount in 2002, there were 19,165 street
children in Accra alone. The number is
up from 10,400 in 1996 when the survey began, and is estimated to have
reached some 25,000 to 30,000 now. Only those children who actually
sleep on the street and have no one to support them were counted. Some of
these include "second generation" street children, whose mothers
are street mothers. Who Is A Street Child? [access information unavailable] Sometimes children find themselves
on the street because their parents are too poor to provide for them. These
children are supposed to go to school but instead they sell all kinds of
wares, such as dog chains, toffees, toys, etc. Some of them beg or run errands for
survival. Most of them have travelled from far away villages in search of jobs. But when they move to the cities they don’t
get the jobs and have nowhere to go so they end up sleeping in front of
stores and kiosks. Streetism and Editorial, The Statesman, 11/10/2006 www.thestatesmanonline.com/pages/editorial_detail.php?newsid=63§ion=0 [accessed 23 September 2011] The Statesman is worried by
society’s growing disregard for the street child. But society must remember
that in every street child, we have a potential cutlass wielding robber and a
potential or actual drug addict. These
are kids have virtually nothing to lose. They are a threat to themselves and
a threat to the very society that shuns them. We are turning our streets into
breeding grounds for potential terrorists. UNICEF, DANIDA support Upper West to reduce child
mortality www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/regional/artikel.php?ID=110850 [accessed 16 May 2011] This year's celebration in the
region was held at the Wa central lorry park with
the main focus on street children, many whom are victims of the worst forms
of violence against children and are also exposed to all forms of abuse on
the streets. Mr Dery
urged the street children, many of who dropped out of school to push trucks
in order to earn their living, to avoid the use of narcotic and other hard
drugs and aim at becoming responsible adults in future. Micro finance scheme launched in Kumasi ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage////economy/artikel.php?ID=109711 [accessed 23 September 2011] The Street Children Development
Foundation (SCDF), a Kumasi-based non-governmental organisation (NGO), has embarked on a micro finance
scheme for porters and street children in Mr George Baffour
Owusu-Afriyie, Executive Director of the SCDF, said
this when he launched the scheme in Kumasi on
Friday. He said the organisation had so far
registered 670 porters and street children and they would contribute between
5,000 to 10,000 cedis daily. Information about Street Children - This report is taken from “A Civil Society Forum for
Anglophone West Africa on Promoting and Protecting the Rights of Street
Children”, 21-24 October 2003, At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 16 May 2011] CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES - Girls are less likely than boys
to have any form of education, are known to be less aware than boys about
sexually transmitted diseases, despite their increasing involvement in
commercial sex work. This puts them at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and of
unwanted pregnancy, which helps to explain the large numbers of
second-generation babies born on the street to parents who are themselves
street children The Alternative Africa: Street Children in The International Child And Youth Care Network CYC, Issue
24, • January 2001 www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0101-shanahan1.html [accessed 16 May 2011] KWAME’S STORY - Within the first week he discovered
that the streets are rough. He was beaten by other street boys, by city
guards and by police. By the end of the first week he had found three other
boys from his area, just a little older, and he joined them and 200 others in
their street dormitory area. The Alternative Africa: Street Children in The International Child And Youth Care Network CYC, Issue
25, • February 2001 www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0201-shanahan2.html [accessed 16 May 2011] SURVIVAL - The girl children have to adopt
extra survival strategies. Once the age of puberty has been reached many of
them will have boy minders who will demand sexual favors as payment for
protection. Many small girls will use sex for survival in terms of
supplementing their income. It is too easy to call them prostitutes. A
prostitute is for me a professional sex worker. A 14-year old who offers sex
for food and a few shillings to buy a length of cloth is not a prostitute. Quotes from the street www.onelifebeautiful.com/2006/11/african-dream.html [accessed 16 May 2011] In 2003, Wendy Jones asked street children
in Accra some simple questions and recorded what they said. Their lives may
seem very different from our lives but by reading their replies we can see
that they are people just like us, often with the same dreams and
aspirations. ‘If you could go anywhere in the
world, where would you go?’ Peter, 19: ‘My home town.’ ‘If you had three wishes, what
would you wish for?’ Simon, 14: ‘Shoes. One Shirt.
Sneakers.’ ‘What makes you happy?’ Sandra, 4: ‘Clapping games.’ ‘What makes you cry?’ Sandra, 4: ‘When I am hungry.’ ‘If you had three wishes, what
would you wish for?’ Sandra, 4: ‘A dress. Sandals.
Eggs.’ ‘What do you think about last thing
at night before you go to sleep?’ Godfrey, 18: ‘I think about the
next day. Because I think that evening has passed so I have to think about
the next day. As for the night I have no place to go and I just sleep.’ ‘What would you have if you could
have anything?’ Peter, 10: ‘A necklace, a watch, a
bed I can sleep in, a TV, a video tape – any tape, a chair.’ ‘Tell me about your mother.’ Larni, 18: ‘She wants me to be somebody.
Yet I am on the streets.’ ‘What would you like to do in your
future?’ Larni, 18: ‘In the future, if I'm rich –
I know I will be rich – yes, I hope, I hope I will be rich, I will care for street
children. Children with broken legs who can't work...’ ‘What do you regret?’ Betty, 18: ‘I will say I regret
being a street girl and I regret picking a boyfriend. And I regret having bad
friends – those that don't give good advice and wish for your downfall.’ ‘What’s your favourite
thing?’ Aisha, 19: ‘I have a long black dress. I
used to wear it and go anywhere. If I go to an exhibition or to visit some
people I can wear it. I love my long dress. It's fitted with sleeves. It's
black.’ [Adapted from:
streetchildafrica.org.uk] Meeting Street Children Damon Albarn, photos by Greg
Williams, Oxfam www.oxfam.org.uk/coolplanet/kidsweb/stars/damon7.htm [accessed 16 May 2011] More than 11,000 young people are
living rough on the streets and the number increases each day. The majority of these children lack almost
all basic needs: shelter, education, health care, adequate nutrition,
economic independence and personal safety.
Ignored by authorities and the public, they are often the target for
exploitation, threats and violence. Who is to Blame for Our Youth On the Streets? Joe Kingsley Eyiah, www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/features/artikel.php?ID=41059 [accessed 16 May 2011] TYPES OF STREET YOUTH - 2. About ninety-five percent
(95%) of street youth come under the category of homeless. In Street Life as Labour: The Working Lives of
Street Children in
Phil Mizen, Department of
Sociology, www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/sociology/staff/academicstaff/mizenp/mizenp_index/phils_research/ghana [accessed 16 May 2011] For the past two years, Yaw Ofosu-Kusi and myself have been
undertaking research examining the working lives of street children in Street Children: The Time Is Ripe For Harder Action! Heerko Dijksterhuis,
02-10-2003 At one time this article had been archived and may
possibly still be accessible [here] [accessed 16 May 2011] A really new approach we are
taking is that we plead for the higher skilled professional categories also
to be thrown open to street children. In Nketsiah Sings
For Street Kids Source: ghanamusic.com, 4 March 2005 www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/audio/artikel.php?ID=191857 [accessed 16 May 2011] The project seeks to help raise
significant amounts of money through eight major concerts to support five
selected Orphanages and Children’s home who have pledged to take up a
considerable number of street children across the country. All material used herein
reproduced under the fair use exception of 17 USC § 107 for noncommercial,
nonprofit, and educational use. PLEASE
RESPECT COPYRIGHTS OF COMPONENT ARTICLES.
Cite this webpage as: Patt, Prof. Martin, "Street Children - |
Human Trafficking in [Ghana] [other countries]Street Children in [Ghana Child Prostitution in [Ghana] [other countries]