GHANA, UNICEF STRENGTHEN PARTNERSHIP TO ADVANCE CHILD PROTECTION
The Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, has held a bilateral engagement with senior officials of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on strengthening interventions to protect and empower children and adolescent girls in Ghana.
The engagement, held in New York during the 81st United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) brought together the Minister and a UNICEF team comprising George Laryea-Adjei, Director of the Global Programme Division, Lauren Rumble, Associate Director for Gender Equality and Veronica Kamanga Njikho, Senior Advisor for Child Protection.
Discussions centered on strengthening collaboration to address key challenges affecting children and adolescents, particularly child marriage, adolescent pregnancy, birth registration and the protection of vulnerable girls. The discussions also explored how birth registration could be strengthened and linked to child protection interventions as a tool for identifying and protecting children and contributing to efforts to prevent child marriage.
The Minister and UNICEF team also discussed the Livelihood Empowerment and Productive Inclusion Programme (LEPIP), a joint Government of Ghana-UNICEF initiative designed to support out-of-school, vulnerable and at-risk adolescent girls and young mothers aged 16-21. The programme provides a combination of social protection, financial inclusion, life and livelihood skills, access to essential services and livelihood support to help girls transition from skills development to sustainable income generation.
The engagement further considered ways to strengthen social protection systems and interventions, particularly mechanisms for identifying and supporting vulnerable households with Pregnant women. The Minister discussed the importance of strengthening support to the social protection financing system to ensure that interventions are better targeted and able to reach children, adolescent girls and families facing multiple vulnerabilities.
Dr. Agnes Naa Momo Lartey reaffirmed the Ministry’s commitment to working closely with UNICEF, government institutions and other stakeholders to strengthen systems and implement practical interventions in the areas discussed. She emphasised the need for coordinated action that addresses both the immediate vulnerabilities of children and girls and the underlying social and economic factors that place them at risk.
The UNICEF team commended Ghana on its efforts to address child marriage and other vulnerabilities affecting children and adolescents’ girls, and expressed its readiness to continue working with relevant stakeholders to strengthen interventions and systems that promote the rights, protection and well-being of children.
Grace Acheampong, ISD
