A Human Rights Perspective on the Rights of Children on the Streets of Ghana

Abstract

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, 1989, stressed the need to safeguard and uphold the rights of children across the world. Ghana as one of the first countries to ratify the convention codified it with the passage of the Children’s Act, 1998. Three decades after the domestication of this treaty, the prevalence of child streetism in Ghana is very startling. Using primary and secondary sources of data and based on the Compliance Theory with international law, this study sought to examine the phenomenon of street children in Ghana and the role of stakeholders in alleviating their plight. The study design used was qualitative methods and the data collected was obtained through semi-structured interviews and purposive sampling of expert opinions. The study focused on identifying the role of stakeholders in promoting the rights of children. It also sought to examine the policies and practices that have been implemented to protect the rights of street children; to evaluate their implementation and compliance to the treaties and policies Ghana has entered into to curb the issue of child streetism; and to make recommendations on how children on the streets of Ghana can be better protected. The study found that Ghana has a plurality of laws, policies and programmes towards child protection however, their implementation is hindered by the government’s inability to prioritize issues like streetism. That notwithstanding, the inter-governmental organizations and non-governmental organizations are making significant progress on the phenomenon of streetism. The study concluded that addressing the phenomenon of child streetism in Ghana would require more than the ratification of treaties, the creation of laws, and setting up of policies. Rather, government should strictly enforce the laws enacted and prioritize the issue of child streetism.