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The State of Child Protection in Ghana

It has been almost 30 years (1990) since Ghana ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC), the first nation to do so. Since then, the country has put in place different legislations and institutional frameworks including the Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560), to ensure the adequate care and protection of children. Constituting the largest population group (38%),

many Ghanaian children still engage in child labour, streetism and other livelihood activities that expose them to child abuse and exploitation, trafficking and modern-day slavery, among others.

Whilst scattered research abounds on the different issues concerning children in or at risk of contact with the child protection system, there are few reports on the state of child protection in Ghana as this study does. This four-part study aims to bridge the gaps in the literature through a selection of crosscutting issues concerning the wellbeing of children, and the current state of the child protection system in Ghana. The study is divided into sections: child work and livelihoods; child abuse and its nexus to cultural practices; child protection institutions; and an analysis on child online protection and Participatory Development Associates (PDA) child abuse tracker.