The Child Protection System in Ghana has been decentralized to make all services responsive and accessible at the local level and closer everyone
The existence of begging in Ghana and most especially Wa municipal is a historical phenomenon. In the past, it was interpreted in religious and geographical terms where the beggars were said to be destitute Muslims due to the poverty situation in the area. This study looks at the position of Islam on begging. It also highlights good ways of raising a child in Wa municipal and why parents send their children to beg. Interviews were used to explore the perspectives of some key in-informant include Municipal Directors of some social administration departments (Department of Children, Social Welfare, GES) regarding child begging in the municipality and data were also collected.
The study was set out to assess the child protection system and child begging in Wa Municipality of the Upper West region of Ghana. The focus was on how the phenomenon actually works in practice relative to the norms and values of the society and how this affects the lives of the children. The policy-implementation process requires transparency, ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Recommendations such as rigorous advocacy programmes on child protection systems and child begging in the Municipality. A more systematic approach to analyzing and reporting on child protection system and child begging in the Wa Municipality. Build on the sense of pride and ownership of the people to generate enthusiasm for continued quality efforts are various ways to combat the rate of begging among children in the Wa municipality.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background
The Child Protection System in Ghana has been decentralized to make all services responsive and accessible at the local level and closer everyone. While the provision of services has improved in some sectors, social services in some municipalities and district assemblies, to address different child rights and gender-based violations remain unresponsive, fragmented and uncoordinated.
The link between systems such as social protection, community development, and prevention of gender-based violence, justice for children, education and health at the district level is inadequate.
UNICEF and other development partners are focused on strengthening the child protection system. In 1990, Ghana was the first country in the world to ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child and it is party to many other international instruments relating to child protection like:
- The African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child.
- The International Labour Organization Convention No.182 on the worst forms of child labour.
Children are considered to be the custodians of tomorrow’s world. The continuous existence of tomorrow’s world is dependent on its ability to socialize its children into responsible adults. The future of any society is dependent on the quality of its children and its dedication to their protection (Fortes, 1978; Oppong, 1973; Boakye-Boaten, 2010). Thus, Kangsangbata (2008) cautions that, any nation wary of its future should take its children and their issues very seriously especially in cases where poverty and deprivation are pervasive. National policies should therefore prioritize the wellbeing of the child, their protection and development.
In view of the above, the African family traditionally puts measures in place to ensure the survival and proper socialization of children. The survival of the child is the fulfilment of the fundamental kingship, political and religious obligation of the entire community. Children were thus valuable for the entire community, which had structures and systems in place to ensure their adequate growth and wellbeing (Fortes, 1978).
Child protection and survival was not only the preserve of the family; the state also played an integral role. Past and current governments have come up with policies to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the child. There was for instance the establishment of the Department of Social Welfare in 1940, the Children’s Maintenance Act in 1965, the Maintenance of Children Decree in 1977 and the Ghana National Commission on Children in 1979. Also, the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), 1998, was formed to address violence against women and children and to provide support for children without fathers (Mensah-Bonsu& Hammond, 1994). Recently, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection developed and launched the Child and Family Welfare Policy (CFWP) in 2015. “The policy comprises laws, programs, services and structures which sought to promote the wellbeing of the child by ensuring safety and protection from harm, achieving permanency and strengthening families to care for their children successfully” (Child and Family Welfare Policy: p. IV).
Over the years, there have been changes within the Ghanaian family which have affected the care for children. Families have now become more nucleated. This has affected the extended family system which supported communalism and reciprocity in the care for children. Most scholars have linked this change to socio-economic transformations (globalization and modernization). Many stakeholders have come to the realization of the problem of street children, but the condition is still prevalent because it has not received urgent and practical attention. Governmental policies do not amount to positive results because they are not challenged by internal or external elements. Child begging is on the rise which is a deviation from normative begging which often involves disabled persons (Kassah, 2008). Could it be that the incentives from begging have attracted children into the act? Or perhaps, the influx of migrant families from neighbouring African countries who beg using their children have attracted Ghanaian children to engage I n the act as most news outlets report? This study therefore investigates the push and pull factors associated with Child Street begging in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West region.
1.2 Problem Statement
The breakdown of family care structure and improper implementation of governmental policies for children have resulted in the lack of parental oversight for many children. As a result, there has been a rise of children who spend time on the streets, with a whole lot of them taken to begging on the streets for survival. Elsewhere, it has been found that child begging is rooted in family pressures or change in family structure, characterized by the breakdown of the extended family system and family cohesion, waywardness, lack of social conscience, social unrest and religion (Awatey 2014). Again, using children as beggars according to Owusu-Sekyere et al. (2018) has become a social and economic construction that mediates how poverty is dealt with in livelihood challenges. Children are forced to beg mostly for single parents or non-biological relatives due to poverty.
In Ghana, begging is anti-social and considered criminal offence punishable by law under the Beggars and Destitute Act 1969; Section 2. This notwithstanding, the phenomenon is ripe in most urban centers. Beggars are thus often prone to abuse; whether children or adults. Generally, children who beg are more vulnerable as compared to adults.
Children are to be nurtured; thus, they require a defined social structure which would enable them grow peacefully. The street is a place full of harshness and unpredictability. Thus most children begging on the streets are denied their basic and human right including right to education, wellbeing etc. Education helps to develop the child’s mental and physical ability, personality and talents to the finest degree and prepares him or her for an active adult life in society. Children street beggars are therefore denied this opportunity of self-development. If children miss the opportunity to develop fully as responsible adults the economy of Ghana is bound to face difficulties in some years to come since they represent the future social capital and human resource of the country. (Kangsangbata, 2008).
1.3 Research Questions
1.3.1 Main Research Question
The central question that forms the basis of this study is; Child Protection System and its implication on child begging in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West region of Ghana.
1.3.2 Specific Research Questions
What are the child protection systems in Wa municipality?
Are the child protection system on begging effective in the Wa Municipality?
3). what are the causes of child begging in the Wa Municipality?
What are the available solutions to the causes of child begging in the Wa Municipality?
1.4 Research Objectives
1.4.1 Main Research Objective
The main objective of the study is to assess the implication of the child protection system and child begging in the Wa Municipality.
1.4. 2 Specific Research Objectives
The specific objectives are;
To identify available child protection systems in Wa Municipality
To assess the effectiveness of the child protection system on begging in the Wa Municipality.
To identify the causes of child begging in the Wa Municipality.
To identify the solutions to the causes of child begging in the Wa Municipality
1.5 Significance of the Study
The relevance of the study stems out from the fact that children are the future leaders of every society and the effectiveness of the child protection system in relation to child begging will be examined. The outcome of this assessment will provoke policy makers, government and NGOs inputs into the discussions about the need to be collectively involved in the implementation of child protection activities. Many organizations are mindful of committing resources to solving problems but careful to measure their results from time to time, and the results defect from the objective, new strategies are required. Therefore, in this study a measure of the impact of the programme for implementation will provide the needed boast for the institutions.
Again, this research will provide an external evidence base for reference by society and the academia in the child begging discourse.
1.6 Limitation of the Study
The challenges of the study was time and other logistics, delay in respondents completing questionnaires. In this regard, the study pointed out various measures to ensure that the anticipated challenges are minimized to give credibility and reliability to the results obtained.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
2.1 Introduction
This section presents an overview of the study on Child Protection System and Child Begging in the Wa Municipality of the Upper West region of Ghana. The review covers various thematic areas as elaborated below. Apart from highlighting some key results of the literature on Child Protection System and Child Begging, the discussion brings to the fore some knowledge gap.
2.2 Systems of Child Care in Ghana
Child care is very essential to the development of the child. This section looks at child care under the traditional family, child care during the phase of changes in the traditional family system and some social protection policies of the state in relation to child care.
2.2.1 The traditional Family and Child Care in Ghana
The family as society’s basic unit has undergone structural and functional modification. Thus, to understand present social conditions, Nukunya argues that there is the need to make reference to yesterday.
Most scholars have argued that, the concept of family to the African is difficult to conceptualize in precise terms. Siquana-Ndulo (1998) explains that, family in the African context does not conform to the Western understanding which refers to the conjugal pair with their offspring or adopted children; rather it is a much complex term. It is not surprising that Hume (2008:48) says that “it is difficult for the African to distinguish siblings as to the womb they came from”, because in the African parlance there is no word to connote “cousin”; cousins are siblings.Kambo Sticks
Nukunya defines the family as “a group of individuals related to one another by ties of consanguinity, marriage or adoption; the adult members of which are responsible for the upbringing of children” (2003:49). He further explains that the term family and kinship is one that could be used interchangeably. Meaning anyone part of a kin group could be classified as family which is sometimes termed as the extended family.
Child care was not the preserve of the biological parents of a child. It was done collectively by adult members of the family. Although a child’s own parents are responsible for its maintenance, they do not take as exclusive a share in its upbringing. A child grows in a household where there are many adults and older children. In the traditional Kamba of Eastern Kenya for example, children were of high value, they belonged to everyone in the community and as such were not the exclusive responsibility of the extended family but also the larger clan of the nuclear family (Mair, 2013).
Families engaged in practices of reciprocity and corporation to ensure the proper upbringing of a child. Among the Dagaaba/Wala and Ewe societies also, older members of the kin provided moral and financial contribution to the care of children. Families socialized and bore the entire costs of the upbringing of the child. This was based on the principle that adult members were responsible for molding and socializing children into a responsible adult (Nanbigne, 2004; Nukunya, 1969).
Children with deceased parents (orphans) were not left out in the fostering process. Ansah-Koi (2006) argues that, children with only one deceased parent were not classified as orphans since remarriage could occur. Although, such children could be fostered with the permission of the living parent especially in cases where the living parent does not have the needed resource for child care. Frimpong-Manso notes that the kinship foster care was based on the values of altruism, reciprocity and the fear of reprisal from deceased kinsmen. Care for children with deceased parents (orphans) was mainly as a result of the fear of the spirits of deceased parent, especially the deceased mother who watches how her child is treated and rewards with calamity foster parents who neglect their charges (Frimpong-Manso, 2014). Fostering was not only limited to orphaned children as members of the family who are rich were required to take care of children whose parents could not afford the brunt of child care.
In as much as children were very important to the traditional African family, Frimpong-Manso (2014) argues that there were cases when the rights of the child were infringed upon. This was because children were considered properties. Systems such as trokosi, female genital mutilation, and early marriages were some of the traditional practices that caused harm to the child. Suda (1997) also argues that in polygamous homes, children were likely to face abuse where there are problems of jealousy, conflict and insufficient resources.
2.2.2 Social protection policies for children in Ghana
Child care is not only the preserve of families. The state recognizes the importance of caring for children thus colonial, post-colonial, and today’s governments have set up organizations which have come up with policies and initiatives for child protection.
European missionaries were the first group to provide assistance for children instead of the extended family in Ghana under colonialism. Their activities were mainly centered on caring for children who were abandoned, orphaned, infirmed or had certain cultural inhibitions which prevented them from being raised. Their activities stretched to urban centers where the kinship system of fostering was not in existence (Hill, 1962; Frimpong-Manso, 2014).
In 1940, there was the establishment of the Department of Social Welfare (DSW). Child welfare therefore got a bit more attention. The DSW was basically established for reformatory purposes and industrial training for juvenile delinquents. This was aimed at inculcating in children the need to lead an industrious and honest life (Apt et al, 1998; Frimpong-Manso, 2014).
Although the colonial system made provision for children, Frimpong-Manso argues that their style was foreign and detrimental to the needs of the indigenous people. The system he explains was incompatible with the values, structure and concepts of child care in the traditional system as it failed to indulge the extended family system utterly disregarding its responsibilities in the care of children (Frimpong-Manso, 2014). However, what Frimpong-Manso failed to acknowledge was that, society had undergone rapid change under colonialism. People had been indoctrinated toward the western style of living and therefore the extended family system was not as strong as it was before the advent of colonialism.