Children's Rights in Ghana Reality or Rhetoric?

by Ame, Robert Kwame; Agbényiga, DeBrenna LaFa; Apt, Nana Araba; Abane, Albert; Acheampong, Frank Owusu; Adjaloo, Michael Kwodwo; Ampong, George Oppong; Ayete-Nyampong, Lilian; Blaufuss, Kathrin; Clerk, George; Duncan, Beatrice Akua; Hampshire, Kate; Kilpatr

• ISBN13: 9780739148006
• ISBN10: 0739148001
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2011-02-22
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

This is the first book that examines Ghana's compliance with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). Ghana being the first country to ratify the Convention, it thus fills an important gap in the literature on Ghana. The book throws a searchlight on a wide range of rights issues including children's identity, violence against children and women, child exploitation and children in conflict with the law plus a host of other CRC related issues and further identifies and explains the main obstacles in the way of realizing children's rights in Ghana. A major strength of this book is that the contributors, Ghanaians and non-Ghanaians alike have vast experience in empirical research in Ghana and most importantly, come from diverse academic disciplines. Researchers, instructors, and students of Social Work, Sociology, Criminology Human Rights, Education and Law, are examples of a few academic disciplines that would find this book a welcome relief in their search for relevant and current data on children's issues in Ghana. It should also be of great interest to policy makers, human rights activists, Children's NGOs and international development partners interested in children's issues.

Author Biography

Robert Kwame Ame is assistant professor of human rights and criminology at Wilfrid Laurier University. DeBrenna LaFa Agbnyiga is assistant professor in the School of Social Work and assistant dean for equity, diversity, and inclusive academic affairs in the College of Social Science at Michigan State University. Nana Araba Apt is professor of sociology and dean of academic affairs at Ashesi University College in Accra, Ghana.

Table of Contents

Figures	p. vii
Tables	p. ix
Foreword	p. xi
Acknowledgments	p. xiii
Childhood and Identity	p. 1
Introduction: Confronting the Challenges: Optimizing Child Rights in Ghana	p. 3
Defining Childhood: A Historical Development Perspective	p. 15
Controversies in Paternity: Who Is a Child's Father under Ghanaian Law?	p. 37
Bridging the Child Rights Gap in a Refugee Context: Survival Strategies and Impact on Inter-generational Relations	p. 59
Children in Dangerous Circumstances: Exploitation and Abuse	p. 75
Corporal Punishment in Ghana	p. 77
Child Labor in Ghana: Global Concern and Local Reality	p. 99
Children's Rights, Mobility, and Transport in Ghana: Access to Education and Health Services	p. 113
Policies, Laws, and Programs	p. 129
Children's Rights, Controversial Traditional Practices, and the Trokosi System: A Critical Socio-legal Perspective	p. 131
Assessing the Progress of the 1998 Children's Act of Ghana: Achievements, Opportunities, and Challenges of the First Ten Years	p. 151
Situating CRC Implementation Processes in the Local Contexts of Correctional Institutions for Children in Conflict with the Law in Ghana	p. 169
Ghana's Education System: Where Rhetoric Meets Reform	p. 193
Conclusion: The Future of Children's Rights in Ghana	p. 215
Appendices	p. 223
United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989	p. 225
The Children's Act, 1998 (Act 560)	p. 245
Index	p. 277
About the Contributors	p. 291
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.