Dubbed: “Five-Year Strategic Plan on Street-Connected Children and Young Person (2024-2028)”, the plan also seeks to empower them through a comprehensive rehabilitation approach.

The plan launched at the week­end was developed by the Depart­ment of Social Welfare under the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP).

The United Nations Children’s Fund defines street children as “Any girl or boy between the age of 0 and 18 years found on the street for whom the street (in the widest sense of the word, includes unoccupied dwellings, wasteland, etc.) has become his or her habitual abode and/or source of livelihood; and who is inadequately protected, supervised, or directed by responsi­ble adults”.

Speaking at the launch on Friday, the sector Minister, Ms Dakoa Newman said the plan was aimed at addressing the multifaceted chal­lenges faced by street-connected children and young persons, which had become a crisis that demands immediate attention.

She noted that, these children were often overlooked and margin­alised, represented the most vulner­able in society as they were victims of circumstance beyond them, adding that, these children’s futures were stolen by poverty, neglect and systematic failures.

“According to United Nations sources (UNICEF, 2019), there are currently more than 150 million street children in the world. In Ghana, a survey conducted in 2011 by the Department of Social Wel­fare, in the Greater Accra Region identified approximately 61,492 individuals under 18 years old engaged in street work. Of these children, 65 per cent both resided and worked on the streets, with many originating from rural areas and relocating to urban centres,” she noted.

The Minister added that in April 2021, the Ministry of National Security, through a monitoring ex­ercise, identified 94 hotspots across 29 Metropolitan, Municipal, and District Assemblies, counting 2,257 children and families on the streets, most of whom were of foreign descent.

This, Ms Newman reassured that MoGCSP was committed to cre­ating a country where every child, regardless of their circumstances has the opportunity to thrive.

Furthermore, she said the five-year strategic plan was one of the many initiatives demonstrating the government’s commitment to addressing the situation of street-connected children and young persons in the country.

Also, the Minister said the strate­gic plan emphasises the importance of enhanced intersectoral collabo­ration and implementation, under­scores the need for families to take responsibility for their children, and promotes the strengthening of family relationships.

In her presentation of the plan, the Director of Social Welfare, Dr Comfort Asare, noted that poverty has been identified as one of the major causes that leads children to the streets.

However, she said the plan which has 10 strategic objectives seeks to address some challeng­es such as, growing numbers of street children, weakening family structure, dangers these children were exposed to and barriers to accessing essentials services such as health, education and shelter.