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Two child-related organisations, Hope For Future Generations (HFFG) and ActionAid Ghana, have celebrated this year's International Day of the Girl Child with a call on policymakers to fully implement child protection laws, including the Children’s Act (Act 560), and strengthen institutional enforcement.
The day was celebrated on October 11, on the global theme, “The Girl I Am, The Change I Lead: Girls on the Frontlines of Crisis.”
The HFFG in its release signed by the Executive Director, Cecilia Senoo, called for girls' leadership to be celebrated. Saying girls worldwide are organising, speaking out, innovating, and leading in their communities—often under duress.
She said at Hope for Future Generations, “We aim to spotlight their voices and stories, showing that girl-led initiatives are essential components of sustainable progress”.
She also called for the highlighting of barriers, demanding solutions in crisis settings, especially as girls face heightened risk, including school dropout, child marriage, gender-based violence, mental health strain, and limited access to essential services.
She also called for the mobilisation of stakeholders, including governments, donors, civil society, media, private sector, and citizens, to integrate girls’ leadership and rights in policymaking, budgeting, and emergency response.
Also, she called for the allocation of resources, including financial, programmatic and technical for girl-centred services, including education, health and psychosocial support, as well as creating safe spaces for girls’ voices to influence decision making.
The organisation also called for the amplification of stories of girls leading change in their communities.
The Country Director, ActionAid Ghana, John Nkaw, for his part, celebrated the courage and leadership of girls across the country, who are rewriting their stories, those who rise each day to challenge inequality, lead advocacy, and create a fairer Ghana for all.
He said girls are not victims to be rescued, but are rights-holders and leaders of change, adding that every day, they stand at the crossroads of multiple crises, including gender-based violence, economic hardship, digital exclusion, and climate emergency, yet they continue to lead movements for justice, dignity, and equality.
The statement, however, said yet, amid these challenges, girls were not waiting for change, but that they were leading it.
He cited Yendi, where girls’ clubs supported by ActionAid were mentoring their peers to report abuse and stay in school, the Volta Region, where teenage girls were leading community campaigns to end child marriage and harmful cultural practices, as well as in Ga South, where young girls were pioneering digital literacy projects, equipping their peers to thrive in a digital future.
These stories, the Country Director said, were proof that when girls are protected, empowered, and resourced, they do not merely benefit from progress; they become the driving force behind it.
Every movement for gender equality, social justice, and climate resilience grows stronger when girls are at the forefront.
He quoted a 16-year-old girl leader from Northern Ghana who said, “We are not the future, we are the change Ghana needs now.”
At ActionAid Ghana, “we believe justice for girls is not about charity; it is about power, accountability, and reparation.
True reparation means fixing the broken systems that have failed girls, from underfunded schools and weak protection mechanisms to discriminatory norms that normalise abuse”.
“Justice demands we dismantle the walls that silence girls and deny them access to education, safety, and opportunity.
When these barriers fall, girls rise. And when girls rise, Ghana rises with them,” he said.
He added that Ghana had made commendable commitments to girls’ rights through international frameworks such as the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), CEDAW, and the Maputo Protocol saying that these align with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), particularly Goals four which is on quality education), five on gender equality, and 16 on peace, justice, and strong institutions.
However, these commitments must move beyond paper.
They must translate into tangible action and therefore ActionAid Ghana is calling on the government, parliament, traditional and religious leaders, education authorities, and the private sector to end school-related gender-based violence by enforcing accountability, protecting survivors, and ensuring safe, gender-responsive learning environments.
Invest in girls’ education, health, and leadership by expanding mentorship, digital access, and climate-resilient initiatives, especially for rural and marginalised girls.
Adopt gender-responsive budgeting that allocates adequate resources to girls’ empowerment as a matter of justice, not benevolence.
