The GWO’s initiative is aimed at mobilizing key stakeholders to engage in dialogue, strategizing and implementing best practices in orphan care rather than the popular institutionalized care.

The occasion, which is marked on every 2nd Sunday of November each year, would this year be marked on Sunday, November 12, under the theme: “One voice for the orphan: promoting foster care”.

Events lined up for the celebration include sermons, congregational prayers for orphans, visit to orphanages, recruit families for fostering/ adoption, prayer for foster parents, among others.

Mr Daniel Nonah, Director, Department of Social Welfare, in a speech read on his behalf at the launch, called on Ghanaians to develop interest in foster parenting.He said in our part of the world, people who lost their parents were cared for by other extended family members, but due to urbanization and other socio-economic factors; orphans now go through emotional and psychological trauma without getting help from other members.

Mr Nonah expressed the hope that GWO will not only promote foster care but will speak for the voiceless orphans and as well give them hope and opportunity to share their life experiences with people.The Director said the Department would continue to collaborate with non-governmental organisations as stakeholders, to provide equal opportunities and support to vulnerable people in their communities to access quality childhood development care and social protection programs.

In his presentation, Rev George Abaidoo, National Coordinator, GWO, said there is a need to understand that the biblical concept of the ‘orphan’ includes more than just a boy or girl who has lost one or both parents.He said it describes the child who faces the world without the provision, protection and nurture that parents uniquely provide.

“It is the firm desire of GWO to see the local churches in every region in Ghana increasingly play the central role in meeting the needs of orphans in distress; from family preservation and adoption to provision for specific physical, social, emotional and spiritual needs”, he added.Rev Abaidoo said as the Christian population grows, the impact of Christianity in our time will be known by the way the church uses her influence to address major societal problems.

The National Coordinator noted that it was in this view that GWO seeks to add a unified voice and coordinated effort for every orphan to grow up in a safe and nurturing permanent loving family and to know their Heavenly Father.Special prayers were offered for orphans whereas among dignitaries present at the launch include Mrs Naa Adjorkor Mohenu, Country Director at Bethany Christian Services and Reverend Jemima Amanor, Director for Gender and Family Issues, Methodist Church of Ghana.