When an investment is made in Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) and child rights, a nation is not merely providing a service; but making the most strategic investment, Mr Constant Tchona, the Country Director, Plan International Ghana says.
“We are building a generation of critical thinkers, innovators, and leaders. We are breaking cycles of poverty, inequality, and discrimination before they take root. We are, quite simply, securing our collective future,” he added.
Mr Tchona made the remark at the seventh session of the National Children’s Parliament in Accra and the commemoration of the International Day of the Child.
The theme for the celebration was “My Day, My Right: Investing in Early Childhood Care and Development, A National Priority.”
The seventh Parliament gave children from across the nation platforms to make contributions about their lives and future, point out challenges children faced in various sectors, and make recommendations to policy makers, families, civil society and academia etc.
The Country Director said an investment in ECCD was incomplete if it was not also an investment in their right to participate.
“Today, in this parliament, you are demonstrating that you are not passive beneficiaries, but active agents of change. The issues you debate, from quality education and protection from violence to gender equality and climate action, are the very issues that define our present and will shape our tomorrow,” he added.
Speaking on the theme, Mr Tchona said it could not be more critical as the first 1,000 days of a child’s life, and the early years that followed, laid the foundational architecture for the entire future; for learning, health, resilience, and for their ability to contribute to society.
“We have heard your powerful deliberations today. We have listened. And we commit to carrying your recommendations forward. To the policymakers and leaders here today, let us heed this call. Let us match the courage and clarity of these children with our own commitment to action and investment.
“To the children of Ghana, you have a right to be heard, to be safe, to learn, and to thrive. Plan International Ghana will continue to work tirelessly alongside you and for you, to ensure that every girl and every boy can live a life free from fear and full of opportunity,” he said.
Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, the Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, said children were not passive recipients of national decisions, but active participants or partners in shaping the future all hoped to build.
She said the children’s opinions on the revised early childhood care and development policy reminded them that no policy meant for children should ever be created without children.
“It also means that every child deserves to be given a better start in developing to their full potential. Thus, every child, every way, deserves to live, learn, play, and grow in dignity and freedom,” she added.
Addressing the children, the Minister said: “My dear children, as the saying goes, children are the future. Indeed, you are Ghana’s future and today is truly your day. A day to celebrate your creativity, your curiosity, your courage, and your dreams.
“Your laughter fills our homes, your curiosity fills our schools, your questions challenge our assumptions, your imagination inspires innovation, and your dreams carry the blueprint of the brighter Ghana we all hope to build. As Minister for Gender, Children, and Social Protection, I want each of you to know that you are seen, you are valued, and you are here. Your ideas matter. Your feelings matter. Your rights, indeed, matter,” she said.
Beatrice Laary, the Minority Speaker at the session, empowered by Plan International Ghana, sharing her experience, said: “The whole process was very exciting and everybody had a chance to voice out their problems especially from their regions.
“I think the government should invest in the ECCD policy so that young children can get education and when they get to the higher level of their education they will be able to excel in anything they do,” she said.
Ms Laary, who took over the office of the Ministry of Youth Development and Empowerment for a day on October 10 this year, advised other children to express themselves without limits, adding that they were special and so should be able to be vocal about what mattered to them.
Speaking about her dreams, she said: “I would like to be an engineer, a seamstress and a music producer at the same time. So that is what I would like to do in the future.”
