17/08/2026
DEPARTMENT OF CHILDREN CONVENES TECHNICAL WORKING GROUP MEETING FOR GHANA’S THIRD STATE PARTY REPORT TO ACERWC
ACCRA, August 12, 2026 — Reaffirming that the welfare and rights of children remain central to Ghana’s national development agenda, the Department of Children, under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), held a Stakeholders’ Technical Working Group Meeting at the Ministry’s Conference Hall on August 11, 2026.
The meeting was organized in fulfillment of Ghana’s obligations under the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child (ACERWC). Its primary focus was to jumpstart the preparation of Ghana’s Third State Party Report to the ACERWC and respond to the committee’s general observations and implementation status.
Delivering the welcome statement on behalf of the Chief Director, Dr Marian Kpakpah, Madam Patience Hayford (Head of PPBMED at the Department of Children) presented a call to action that extended beyond mere reporting obligations. In her address, Chief Director Kpakpah emphasized that compiling a State Party Report goes far beyond an administrative box-checking exercise. Instead, it serves as an invaluable opportunity to take stock of measures protecting child rights, assess progress, identify persistent challenges, and highlight concrete interventions.
“It is therefore crucial that the Third State Party Report presents a comprehensive, accurate, and evidence-based account of the situation of children in Ghana,” Dr. Kpakpah noted, stressing that active participation from all relevant institutions is non-negotiable.
A key milestone of the meeting involved reviewing reporting questions and mapping them directly to specific institutions based on their statutory mandates and technical expertise. This strategy ensures that data, information, and evidence are supplied by the entities best equipped to provide them. Stakeholders were encouraged to approach the exercise with strong ownership, ensuring that responses transparently outline both achievements and implementation hurdles.
Furthermore, the Chief Director urged that where information overlaps across sectors, cross-institutional teamwork must be prioritized to guarantee a harmonized, consistent, and credible report backed by verified policies and empirical data. While MoGCSP holds the core coordinating role, the success of the report relies on multi-sectoral synergy across Ministries, Departments, Agencies (MDAs), and development partners.
Beyond drafting the report, the engagement served as a crucial platform to strengthen inter-institutional coordination, resolve data gaps, and set firm submission timelines.
