Celebrities Join "Stop Violence Against Children" Campaign

Some Ghanaian celebrities have joined the ongoing 'Stop Violence against Children' campaign to intensify education to stop the menace.

The campaign, which seeks to end all forms of violence against children, has been boosted by intensive social media efforts and celebrities involvement at the next phase.

This was in a statement signed by Mr Latif Abubakar, event organizer, and copied to the Ghana News Agency in Accra.

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and O Africa, a Non-Governmental Organisation focused on the well-being of children, are the implementers of the campaign with support from the European Union.

The campaign, aimed at reaching millions of Ghanaians with messages to prevent abuse and promote the wellbeing of children, is expected to support the reduction of violence against children and adolescents.

Mrs Cynthia Morrison, the sector Minister, recently called on citizens to end all forms of violence against children.

A research conducted by O Africa indicated that many children still dropped out of school due to varying reasons despite the various social intervention programmes government had instituted to increase enrollment, participation and retention of children in school.

It indicated that corporal punishment still prevailed in schools, in spite of the tough stance taken by the Ghana Education Service to ban it.

The research also found that some children experienced violence at home with 50.8 percent corrected through caning and whipping, and 7.7 percent through physical punishment with bare hands.

Overwhelmingly, children experienced violence at school with a little over 80 percent reporting that the corrective method used was the cane, it said.

Mr Platini Ashiagbor, the Chief Executive Officer of O Africa, said the campaign had been designed to show the full horror of violence against children in the hope that it would raise awareness to create a new culture of parenting.

He urged the public to join in celebrating the success of the campaign and commit to the fight against child abuse for a violence-free future.

Notable celebrities who joined the campaign include Yvonne Nelson, Blakk Rasta, Adjetey Annan, Kafui Dey and Ecow Smith-Asante.