AFRIKIDS GHANA HOLDS REVIEW CONFERENCE (D/G, Monday, March 2, 2009. PAGE 40)

AFRIKIDS Ghana, a child welfare non-governmental organisation based in the Upper East Region, has held a stakeholders conference in Bolgatanga to assess its performance over the years.
Afrikids runs a number of projects one of them being “Operation Fresh Start”, which is an innovative child rights project that tackles child trafficking and the associated problems of child streetism and child labour in the Upper East Region.
The short-term aim of the organisation is to reduce the levels of child trafficking while the long-term one is to stamp it out altogether.
The day’s conference was on the theme: “Fashioning out a realistic resettlement package for project beneficiaries; the role of stakeholders”.
It attracted participants from a cross-section of society, including local authorities drawn from the Bolgatanga, Bongo, Talensi,Nabdam and Kassena Nankana West District assemblies, and representatives of the regional coordinating council, the department of community development, the department of social welfare and trade associations.
In a welcoming address, the Country Director of Afrikids Ghana, Mr Nicholas Kumah, acknowledged the collaboration his organisation enjoyed with the district assemblies, stressing that they had been of immense help to the organisation in the running of its projects.
He noted that 95 per cent of the 160 children engaged in various dehumanising labour repatriated from Kumasi to the Upper East region by Afrikids Ghana had been retained with some of them being trained in various vocations.
The country director stated that although the initial thinking of the people was that the project would not be possible, "we of Afrikids have made it a reality".
He said the first batch of trainees were due for graduation while the rest were also making progress in their respective courses and would also graduate by the end of the year.
According to Mr Kumah, international organisations had developed interest in Afrikids’ activities and wanted to be part of the success story.
"It will, therefore, not be fair that the assemblies in which the project has been successful, are not fully on board to share in the glory," he noted.
Mr Kumah, therefore, called on the assemblies to show practicalcommitment to the operations of Afrikids by contributing their part to reduce to the minimum the menace of streetism, child labour and child trafficking.
He acknowledged the interest shown by Barclays Bank Ghana in Afrikids’ projects and expressed the hope that the new- found partnership would yield the desired results.
Mr Richard Amoah, the Project Manager of Operation Fresh Start, a wing of Afrikids Ghana that deals with resettlement of repatriated children, took stakeholders through the various stages of the project.
He said those children had been on their various vocations since their integration and some of them would graduate some time this year.
Mr Amoah stated that the first batch of trainees who sat for their apprenticeship examinations passed, adding that one of them obtained a distinction.
"The belief therefore that that it would be impossible to resettle
these category of people is being proven incorrect by the works of Afrikids, because the trainees have for the past years been still at post eager to complete their respective vocations," he said.
Recounting some of the achievements chalked up by the project so far, Mr Amoah disclosed that one of the beneficiaries was now continuing her education at the Gbewaa Teacher Training College while more than 120 parents were engaged in some livelihood activities due to the extended microfinance support the project had given them.
He threw a challenge to the stakeholders that the trainees needed to be resettled with a start-up package, which demanded their commitment to practically support Afrikids in that direction.