GHANA: Children's Rights in UN Treaty Body Reports

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Summary: This report extracts mentions of children's rights issues in the reports of all UN Treaty Bodies and their follow-up procedures. This does not include the Concluding Observations of the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child which are available here: http://www.crin.org/resources/treaties/index.asp

Please note that the language may have been edited in places for the purpose of clarity.

     

    UN Human Rights Committee

    CCPR/C/GHA/1

    Concluding observations adopted: 8 July 2016

    Positive legislative developments: The Committee also welcomes the ratification of, or accession to the optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict, on 24 September 2003; optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children child prostitution and child pornography, on 24 September 2003 (para 5).

    Non-discrimination and harmful traditional practices: The Committee is concerned about the persistence of certain harmful practices, notwithstanding their prohibition by law, such as female genital mutilation, trokosi (ritual servitude), forced early marriage and witchcraft accusations leading to confinement in witch-camps.  The Committee also expresses its concern about the practice of polygamy, which is still permitted through religious or customary norms and widely accepted in society. While, as explained by the delegation during the dialogue, the cultural background of these practices must be borne in mind when devising strategies to address them, the Committee recalls that a failure to comply with the obligations contained in the Covenant cannot be ultimately justified by reference to political, social, cultural or economic considerations within the State. The Committee regrets the lack of information on possible cases of prosecutions of perpetrators and measures of redress granted to victims of harmful practices (para 17).

    The State party should strengthen its awareness-raising and education programs in that regard, in particular in those communities where the practices remain widespread; Further enhance its efforts to prevent and eradicate harmful traditional practices; Proactively investigate cases of traditional harmful practices and ensure that victims have access to effective remedies and adequate protection, rehabilitation and reintegration mechanisms (para 18).

    Voluntary Termination of Pregnancy: The Committee is concerned that, despite the legally available exceptions to the prohibition of abortion, safe abortion remains largely inaccessible due to the stigma associated to voluntary termination of pregnancy in the society and to its relatively high cost and the fact that it is not covered by the National Health Insurance Scheme. The Committee is concerned by the percentage of unsafe abortion-related maternal deaths (para 23).

    The State party should increase its efforts to reduce maternal mortality, resulting from unsafe abortions, by adapting its regulation on pregnancy and abortion so as to ensure that women do not have to undertake unsafe abortion. It should also ensure that voluntary termination of pregnancy should be available to individuals regardless of their means, for example by considering incorporation into the National Health Insurance Scheme. It should also implement awareness-raising policies to combat stigmatization of women and girls who seek abortion, and ensure access to contraception and adequate and affordable reproductive health services for all women and adolescents (para 24).

    Child labour: While noting the efforts undertaken by the State party to address the issue of child labour, in particular the worst forms of child labour, the Committee expresses its concern at the persisting prevalence of this phenomenon in the State party (para 31).

    The State party should intensify its efforts to eliminate child labour, in particular by strengthening its public awareness-raising campaign in this regard. The State party should also investigate cases of worst forms of child labour, bring alleged perpetrators to justice and ensure that all victims are adequately protected, assisted, rehabilitated and compensated (para 32).

    Corporal punishment: While noting the efforts taken by the State party, the Committee notes that corporal punishment is still widely practised in society and accepted as a form of discipline, in particular within the family, schools and alternative care settings.          

    The State party should step up its efforts to put an end to corporal punishment in all settings. It should encourage the use of non-violent forms of discipline instead of corporal punishment and should conduct public information campaigns to raise awareness about its harmful effects (para 35, 36).

    Birth registration: The Committee is concerned about the large number of children who remain unregistered in the State party, especially in rural area. It is also concerned at barriers encountered by recognized refugee children who were born outside Ghana and do not have birth certificates, to have identity documents issued by Ghanaian authorities. The State party should step up measures to expedite the registration of children who remain unregistered. It should take all measures, to facilitate access to identification documentation to refugee children born outside Ghana (paras 37, 38).

     

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    UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights

    Ratified in 2000, but not yet reported.

    ____________________________________________________

    UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination

    CERD/C/62/CO/4
    Last reported: 17 / 18 March 2003
    Concluding Observations issued: 2 June 2003

    Issues raised:

    Harmful traditional practices: While noting the legislative and other measures adopted to eradicate practices that are harmful to the health and dignity of women, the Committee is concerned that some practices, in particular female genital mutilation, degrading treatment of widows and the Trokosi system. (Paragraph 12).

    Education and minority groups: The Committee is concerned about the existing educational gap between populations of certain geographic areas of the country, which has an ethnic dimension. The Committee encourages the Ghanaian authorities to pursue and increase the efforts already undertaken to remedy this situation. It would like to receive, in the next periodic report, information on the results of the Northern Scholarship Scheme, as well as on the criteria for selecting the beneficiaries. (Paragraph 12).

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    UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women

    (CEDAW/C/GH/CO/6-7)

    Published: 7 November 2014

    Review: 24 October 2014

    Institutional reform: The Committee welcomes the State party’s efforts to improve its institutional and policy framework aimed at accelerating the elimination of discrimination against women and promoting equality of women and men, including the following:

    a) The “re-engineering” of the Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs;

    b) The National Policy and Plan of Action to cover the period 2009 to 2019 on the implementation of the Domestic Violence Act, 2007. (para. 5).

    National institutions: The Committee takes note of the fact that, in order to facilitate sustainable national development, the mandate of the newly restructured Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has been expanded to include equality of women and men, the promotion of the welfare and protection of children, and the empowerment of disadvantaged and marginalized groups of women, including older and disabled women. However, the Committee is concerned that the expansion of the mandate may dilute the focus on women’s rights and that it has not been matched with a corresponding increase in budget allocations, remaining at less than one per cent of the national budget. (para. 16)

    In accordance with its General Recommendation No. 6 (1988) on effective national machinery and publicity and the guidance provided in the Beijing Platform for Action on the necessary conditions for the effective functioning of national mechanisms, the Committee recommends that the State party:

    (a) Ensure that a sharp focus on women’s rights is maintained in the mandate of the newly restructured entity;

    (b) Significantly increase the financial resources of the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and allocate a higher percentage of the national budget to gender equality issues;

    (c)      Provide the national machinery for the advancement of women with the necessary human and technical resources for its effective functioning.  (para. 17)

    Stereotypes and harmful practices: The Committee notes the measures taken by the State party to eliminate stereotypes and harmful practices, e.g. the criminalisation of female genital mutilation and efforts to secure the release of women and girls in servitude in trokosi shrines. However, the Committee is deeply concerned at the persistence of adverse cultural norms, practices and traditions, as well as patriarchal attitudes and deep-rooted stereotypes regarding the roles and responsibilities of women and men in the family and in society, which contribute to the persistence of violence against women and harmful practices. It is equally concerned at the harmful, albeit decreasing, practice of enslaving young girls in trokosi shrines. (p.22)

    The Committee urges the State party to:

    (a) Put in place, without delay and within a clear time frame, a comprehensive strategy, in conformity with articles 2 (f) and 5 (a) of the Convention, to eliminate stereotypes and harmful practices that discriminate against women, such as polygamy, forced and early marriage, the stigmatization of widows and widowhood rites, female genital mutilation, denial of inheritance rights to women, enslavement of young girls in trokosi shrines and violence against girls and older women believed to be witches;

    (b) Strengthen measures aimed at securing the release and preventing further enslavement of young girls in trokosi shrines;

    (c) Ensure the full implementation of the laws criminalising female genital mutilation and other harmful practices including by bringing perpetrators to justice. (para.13)

     

    The Committee is concerned by the persisting phenomenon of women being accused of witchcraft, especially in the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions of the country. The Committee indeed notes the high number of cases of violence against girls and older women alleged to be witches causing several of them to seek refuge in so-called witch camps often under difficult living conditions including lack of access to adequate housing, sufficient food and water and sanitation. (para. 24)

    The Committee calls on the State party to ensure the swift closure of all remaining “witch camps” and that alleged witches are provided with adequate rehabilitation and safe reinsertion into their communities or with alternative housing and livelihood options. Concrete steps should also be taken to protect the rights of all girls who have been growing up in these camps including through ensuring that they are provided with rehabilitation, safely reintegrated into their families and communities and given access to quality education and vocational training. (para. 25)

    The Committee is concerned at the lack of progress in curbing the high prevalence of force, early, and child marriage. (para. 40).

    Ensure maximum visibility to the national dialogue involving traditional leaders, National House of Chiefs, Ministry of Chieftaincy and Traditional Affairs and UNICEF to sensitize the population on the high risks for girls linked to early and forced marriage (for their life, health, education and future economic chances) in addition to representing a violation of the CEDAW and CRC Conventions. (para. 41 (i)).

     

    Violence: The Committee notes the State party’s efforts to combat violence against women, in particular the adoption of the Domestic Violence Act, 2007 (Act 732) and the National Policy and Plan of Action on Domestic Violence (2009-2019). It also notes the repeal of section 42(g) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960, Act 29 which failed to criminalize non-consensual sex within marriage. The Committee nevertheless remains concerned about:

    (a) The delays in adopting the Legislative Instrument required to fully implement the Domestic Violence Act as well as the insufficient resources allocated to implement the National Policy;

    (b) The persistence of violence against women, including rape, sexual harassment in school, in the workplace and in the public sphere, early and forced marriages, domestic violence and female genital mutilation;

    (c) The remaining obstacles faced by women in bringing cases of sexual violence to court owing to cultural taboos, the low number of investigations and convictions, and the increased use of mediation in cases of domestic violence; and

    (d) The absence of State-run operational shelters and the heavy reliance on NGO-run shelters. (para. 26).

     

    The Committee calls on the State party to:

    (a) Ensure the effective implementation of the Domestic Violence Act (2007), including by expeditiously adopting enabling legislation and increase the human and financial resources for the implementation of the National Policy;

    (b) Intensify efforts to prevent and systematically punish all forms of violence against women and girls by ensuring that complaints are fully and effectively investigated and that perpetrators are brought to justice;

    (c) Provide systematic and mandatory capacity-building for judges, prosecutors, lawyers, police officers and health-care providers, to ensure that victims of violence are dealt with in a gender-sensitive manner;

    (d) Ensure that women victims of domestic violence have full access to protection orders and legal remedies rather than mediation;

    (e) Strengthen victim assistance and rehabilitation by establishing a comprehensive care system for women victims of violence, including free legal aid, medical and psychological support, counselling and rehabilitation services, throughout the territory of the State party; and

    (f) Ensure that a sufficient number of adequately equipped shelters are available to women victims of violence in each district, staffed by trained personnel. (para. 27)

                  

    Trafficking and exploitation: The Committee notes the State party’s efforts to prevent trafficking in women and girls and protect and rehabilitate victims, including the creation of a trafficking database and collaboration with local authorities. However, it notes with concern that the State party remains a source, transit and destination country for women and children trafficked mainly for purposes of sexual exploitation and forced labour. The Committee is also concerned about the reported high incidence of internal trafficking of women and girls from rural areas. It is particularly concerned about the limited number of convictions under the Anti-Human Trafficking Act (2005), partly due to the low level of reporting and inadequate identification of victims of trafficking. While noting the State party’s efforts to ensure the protection of women in prostitution, the Committee is concerned that women in prostitution are disproportionally affected by the criminalization of prostitution in comparison to their clients. The Committee is further concerned at the absence of information on the impact of existing rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for women wishing to leave prostitution. (para. 28).

    The Committee recommends that the State party:

    (a) Ensure the effective implementation of the Human Trafficking Act, 2005, including through the swift adoption of enabling legislation;

    (b) Carry out a study to investigate the scope, extent and causes of forced prostitution and trafficking in human beings, particularly in women and girls;

    (c) Address the root causes of trafficking by increasing prevention efforts through poverty reduction strategies;

    (d) Take effective measures to provide assistance and support to women and girls victims of trafficking, through for instance increasing the number of available shelters including with support from civil society;

    (e) Ensure the investigation, prosecution and punishment of perpetrators of human trafficking;

    (f) Increase international, regional and bilateral cooperation with countries of origin, transit and destination to prevent trafficking, through information exchange, and harmonize legal procedures aimed at the prosecution and punishment of traffickers;

    (g) Address the root causes of prostitution; provide women wishing to leave prostitution with alternative income opportunities, and intensify efforts to provide access to assistance, rehabilitation and reintegration programmes for women and girls in prostitution. (para. 29)

     

    Education: The Committee notes the measures taken by the State party to promote girls’ education at all levels and that the budget for education represents an important percentage (30%) of the national budget. It also notes with appreciation the launch by the University of Ghana of a sexual harassment policy in March 2011 and the new policy to integrate girls and boys with disabilities into the regular school system. However, the Committee remains concerned about:

    (a) The continued low enrolment and completion rates of girls, at all levels of education, and the regional disparities in access to quality education owing to economic and cultural barriers;

    (b) The high dropout rate among girls, owing, inter alia, to child marriage and the high number of teenage pregnancies;

    (c) Urban/rural disparities with regard to the number of girls who are able to transition from junior high to senior high school due to the lower quality of education in rural and deprived areas;

    (d) The persistence of sexual abuse and harassment of girls in schools and the negative impact of harmful practices, such as early and forced marriage, on girls’ education, especially in rural areas; and

    (e) The lack of education facilities and of qualified teaching professionals, especially in rural areas, and the trend towards privatisation of education and the priority given to schooling of boys over girls, especially in rural areas. (para.32).

    The Committee recommends that the State party:

    (a) Ensure that girls and young women have de facto equal access to all levels of education, including by eliminating the direct and indirect costs of schooling, providing incentives for parents to send their daughters to school and building appropriate sanitary facilities in schools;

    (b) Set up adequate monitoring mechanisms to ensure that girls in rural areas and in public schools have equal access to quality education, and intensify efforts to reduce disparities in access to education and in terms of quality of education between urban and rural areas as well as public and private schools;

    (c) Improve the educational infrastructure, especially in rural areas, as well as the number of teachers and the quality of teacher training, in particular in rural schools;

    (d) Ensure that sexual abuse and harassment in school are adequately addressed and punished;

    (e) Integrate age-appropriate education on sexual and reproductive health and rights into primary and secondary school curricula, including comprehensive sex education for adolescent girls and boys covering responsible sexual behaviour and the prevention of early pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases such as HIV/AIDS. (para. 33)

     

    Health: The Committee notes the measures taken by the State party as a result of the Health Sector Gender Policy of 2009 as well as the revised National HIV and AIDS, STI Policy published in February 2013. It also notes with appreciation the adoption of the Mental Health Act, 2012 (Act 846) as well as projects aimed at promoting the National Health Insurance Scheme. The Committee nonetheless remains concerned about:

    (a) The maternal mortality ratios which have remained high, due in part to teenage pregnancies and lack of access to health-care services, including essential obstetric care, particularly in rural areas;

    (b) The lack of comprehensive education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, including on responsible sexual behaviour, and of family planning services, and the disproportionate level of unmet contraception needs among poor women and women living in rural areas;

    (c) Regional and socioeconomic disparities in women’s and girl’s access to sexual and reproductive health services, including skilled birth attendance and adequate antenatal and postnatal care;

    (d) The general lack of awareness about the conditions under which abortion is legally available and the stigma attached to it, resulting in numerous women resorting to unsafe abortion; and

    (e) The lack of information on the mental health status of women in the State party and on the implementation of the Mental Health Act. (para. 36).

    In line with its General Recommendation No. 24 (1999) on women and health, the Committee calls upon the State party to:

    (a) Increase access for women and girls, in particular rural women, to basic health-care services, by increasing the number of health-care facilities and of trained health-care providers;

    (b) Intensify education on sexual and reproductive health and rights, through widespread dissemination of information about available contraceptive methods and family planning in order to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies and teenage pregnancies;

    (c) Adopt strategies to eliminate abortion-related stigma, raise awareness among women and girls about the conditions under which abortion is legally available, and ensure that safe abortion is affordable for all women under such conditions;

    (d) Collect disaggregated data on the situation of women’s mental health, and include in its next periodic report information on the progress made in implementing the Mental Health Act;

    (e) Ensure that the National Health Insurance Scheme is fully operationalised and effectively implemented to be able to care for the health needs of poor women, and by including obstetric emergencies in the list of services offered. (para. 37)

     

    Data collection and analysis: The Committee notes with concern the general lack of updated sex-disaggregated data. It recalls that data disaggregated by sex, age, geographical location and socioeconomic background are necessary for an accurate assessment of the situation of all women, to determine whether they suffer from discrimination, for the development of informed and targeted policymaking and for the systematic monitoring and evaluation of progress achieved towards the realization of women’s substantive equality in all areas covered by the Convention. (para. 42).

    The Committee calls upon the State party to develop a gender indicator system to improve the collection of data disaggregated by sex and other relevant factors necessary to assess the impact and effectiveness of policies and programmes aimed at mainstreaming gender equality and enhancing women’s enjoyment of their human rights. In this regard, the Committee draws the State party’s attention to the Committee’s General Recommendation No. 9 on statistical data concerning the situation of women and encourages the State party to enhance its collaboration with women’s associations that could assist in securing the collection of accurate data. (para. 43).

     

    (CEDAW/C/GHA/3-5)
    Last reported: 9 August 2006
    Concluding Observations issued: 25 August 2006

    Issues raised:

    Harmful traditional practices: The Committee is concerned about the prevalence of a patriarchal ideology with firmly entrenched stereotypes and the persistence of deep-rooted cultural norms, customs and traditions, including widowhood rites, female genital mutilation, and "Trokosi" (ritual slavery), which discriminates against women and constitute serious obstacles to women's enjoyment of their human rights. The Committee is also concerned about the persistence of the belief in witchcraft in some parts of the country, in particular in rural areas, and the fact that women accused of being witches are subjected to violence and are confined in witch camps. (Paragraph 21).

    The Committee urges the State party to introduce, without delay and in conformity with articles 2 (f) and 5 (a) of the Convention, concrete measures to modify and eliminate customs and cultural and harmful traditional practices that discriminate against women, so as to promote women's full enjoyment of their human rights. In particular, the Committee urges the State party to eliminate such practices as widowhood rites, female genital mutilation, "Trokosi" (ritual slavery), and confining women believed to be witches in witch camps. It invites the State party to implement existing legislation prohibiting such practices and adopt new legislation, as necessary, to eliminate these harmful traditional practices. It also invites the State party to increase its efforts to design and implement comprehensive education and awareness-raising programmes targeting women and men at all levels of society, including traditional leaders, with a view to changing discriminatory social and cultural patterns of conduct and to creating an enabling and supportive environment for women to exercise their human rights. The Committee encourages the State party to implement these necessary efforts in collaboration with civil society organizations, women's organizations and community leaders. It further calls upon the State party to review periodically the measures taken to assess the impact of these efforts and take appropriate remedial measures, and to report on results to the Committee in its next report.

    Education: While welcoming the State party's important achievements in the field of education, especially at the primary level, the Committee is concerned about the gender gap between boys and girls in secondary and tertiary education where girls constitute, respectively, 33 per cent and 22 per cent of enrolled students, as well as about the high drop-out rates of girls from schools. (Paragraph 27).

    The Committee urges the State party to continue its efforts to raise awareness of the importance of education as a human right and as a basis for empowerment of women. It encourages the State party to take steps to overcome traditional attitudes that constitute obstacles to girls' education. It recommends that the State party implement measures to ensure equal rights of girls and young women to all levels of education, to retain girls in school, and to put in place monitoring mechanisms to track girls' access to, and achievement levels in education, including the adoption of temporary special measures in accordance with article 4, paragraph 1 of the Convention and general recommendation No. 25 on temporary special measures. It requests the State party to report on the measures taken and their impact in its next periodic report.

    Health: [.........] The Committee is also concerned about the steady increase in the number of HIV/AIDS infected women and girls. (Paragraph 31).

    [........] It also calls on the State party to ensure that its Reproductive Health Policy addresses adolescent health, and that its National HIV/AIDS/STDs policy is effectively implemented.

    Child marriage: [.........] The Committee is furthermore concerned that, even though the Children's Act 1998 (Act 560) sets the minimum age of marriage at 18 years, customary practices still lead to child betrothals and child marriages. (Paragraph 35).

    The Committee urges the State party to harmonize civil, religious and customary law with article 16 of the Convention, and to effectively implement the Children's Act 1998 (Act 560) prohibiting child marriages. The Committee also calls upon the State party to implement measures aimed at eliminating polygamy, as called for in the Committee's general recommendation No. 21 on equality in marriage and family relations.

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    UN Committee against Torture

    (CAT/C/GHA/1)
    Last reported: 16 / 17 May 2011
    Concluding Observations issued: 15 June 2011

    Issues raised:

    Conditions of detention: [........] The Committee also expresses concern at reports about the limited number of remand homes for juvenile offenders, and the poor conditions in such institutions. The Committee takes positive note of the marked decrease in the number of deaths in prison (from 118 in 2008 to 55 in 2010), but regrets the lack of information on the causes of these deaths. It also regrets the lack of information on the conditions of detention for migrants with irregular administrative status (art. 11). (Paragraph 16).

    The State party should:

    (c) Continue to put into effect plans to improve and expand the prison infrastructure and the remand centres, including those for juvenile offenders;

    Trafficking: The Committee takes note of the adoption in 2005 of the Human Trafficking Act, and its 2009 amendment, which brought the definition of trafficking in line with the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime. However, the Committee expresses its concern at persistent reports of internal and cross-border trafficking of women and children for the purpose of sexual exploitation or forced labour as, for example, domestic workers or head-load carriers (kayaye). The Committee is also concerned at the lack of statistics in the State party's report on, inter alia, the number of prosecutions, convictions and sentences of perpetrators of trafficking, including for child labour, and the absence of practical measures taken to prevent and combat this phenomenon. It also notes with concern that there is no formal referral process to transfer victims in protective custody to other facilities (arts. 2, 12 and 16). (Paragraph 21).

    The State party should:

    (a) Intensify its efforts to prevent and combat trafficking in human beings, especially women and children, including by implementing the anti-trafficking legislation, providing protection for victims and ensuring their access to medical, social, rehabilitative and legal services, including counselling, as appropriate;

    (b) Ensure adequate conditions for victims to exercise their rights to make complaints;

    (c) Conduct prompt, impartial investigations of trafficking and ensure that those who are found guilty for such crimes are punished with penalties appropriate to the nature of their crimes;

    (d) Conduct nation-wide awareness-raising campaigns and conduct training for law enforcement officials;

    (e) Provide detailed information on the number of investigations and complaints of human trafficking, as well as prosecutions and convictions in such cases.

    Harmful traditional practices: The Committee takes note of the positive actions of the Government in criminalizing harmful traditional practices, such as female genital mutilation and trokosi (ritual or customary slavery). It also notes the 25 per cent decrease in the number of reported cases of female genital mutilation between 1999 and 2010, although there were still a total of 123,000 reported cases during that period. The Committee remains concerned at the clear incompatibility between certain aspects of Ghana's customary law and traditional practices and the respect for fundamental rights and liberties, including the prohibition of torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. In this regard, the Committee is concerned at reports that some women have been accused of practicing witchcraft, and subjected to severe violence, including mob violence, burning and lynching, and forced to leave their communities. Many such women have been sent to so-called "witch camps" through a system that lacks minimal due legal process, and from which the possibility of returning to society is uncertain. The Committee also expresses concern about reports of cases of violence against widows who are often deprived of their inheritance and, in some cases, subjected to humiliating and abusive widowhood rites. The Committee regrets the lack of information on prosecutions and sentences imposed on perpetrators of such acts, as well as on assistance and compensation to the victims. It also regrets the lack of information on the steps taken to ensure that customary law in Ghana is not incompatible with the State party's obligations under the Convention (arts. 2 and 16). (Paragraph 23).

    The State party should:

    (a) Strengthen its efforts to prevent and combat harmful traditional practices, including female genital mutilation, in particular in rural areas, and ensure that such acts are investigated and that the alleged perpetrators are prosecuted and convicted;

    (b) Provide victims with legal, medical, psychological and rehabilitative services, as well as compensation, and create adequate conditions for them to report complaints without fear of reprisal;

    (c) Provide training to judges, prosecutors, law enforcement officials and community leaders on the strict application of the relevant legislation criminalizing harmful traditional practices, and other forms of violence against women.

    Corporal punishment: While noting that the Juvenile Justice Act (2003) and the Children's Act (1988) explicitly prohibit corporal punishment as a disciplinary measure in prisons, the Committee expresses its concern at the still widespread use of corporal punishment, in particular within the family, schools and alternative care settings (arts. 11 and 16). (Paragraph 24).

    The State party should:

    (a) Explicitly prohibit corporal punishment of children in all settings, including through the repeal of all legal defences for 'reasonable' and 'justifiable' corporal punishment;

    (b) Engage in the promotion of alternative forms of discipline to be administered in a manner consistent with the child's dignity, and in conformity with the Convention;

    (c) Develop measures to raise awareness on the harmful effects of corporal punishment.

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    UN Committee on Migrant Workers
     

    CMW/C/GHA/CO/1

    Adopted by the Committee: 5 September 2014

    Published by the Committee: 26 September 2014

    Issues raised:

    Ratification: The Committee notes with satisfaction that Ghana became a party (2012) to the Convention against Transnational Organized Crime, the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children as well as the Protocol against the Smuggling of Migrants by Land, Sea and Air. (para.5).
     
    Trafficking: The Committee acknowledges the efforts made by the State party to combat trafficking in persons and the commercial sexual exploitation of migrant workers, as well as initiatives to counter human smuggling and other irregular migration. However, the Committee remains concerned about:
    (a) The lack of information about progress in the implementation of the Human Trafficking Act and the Immigration Amendment Act;
    (b) The absence of information on the number of convictions of traffickers and smugglers;
    (c) The absence of statistical information on victims of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrant workers;
    (d) The insufficient services and resources dedicated to victims of trafficking and smuggling and to awareness-raising campaigns. (para. 44).
     
    The Committee urges the State party to:
    (a) Step up its efforts to enforce the Human Trafficking Act and the
    Immigration Amendment Act and its regulations, allocate sufficient resources for the implementation of strategies to combat trafficking in persons and counter human smuggling and other irregular migration and build the capacity of border guards, law enforcement officials, judges, prosecutors, labour inspectors, teachers and other social service providers on the existing legal framework and its implementation with regard to both trafficking in persons and human smuggling as well as other irregular migration; 
    (b) Promptly, effectively and impartially investigate, prosecute and punish all acts of trafficking in persons, human smuggling and other related offences, and deal expeditiously with cases filed against traffickers and human smugglers;  
    (c) Develop effective mechanisms to identify victims of trafficking and smuggling, especially migrant women and children, and build the capacity of relevant law enforcement and other officials with regard to their implementation;
    (d) Systematically collect disaggregated data on trafficking in persons and human smuggling as well as on other irregular migration;
    (e) Provide adequate assistance, protection and rehabilitation to all victims of trafficking in persons and smuggling of migrants, including in cooperation with civil society and organizations for migrant rights, and ensure that victims of trafficking and human smuggling are informed of their rights under the Convention;
    (f) Increase collaboration within schools, families and communities on prevention initiatives and continue collaborating with the media to educate the public about trafficking in persons and human smuggling. (para. 45)

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    UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities

    Signed in 2007, but not yet ratified.

    ____________________________________________________

    UN Committee on Enforced Disappearance

    Signed in 2007, but not yet ratified.

     

    Organisation: 
    Child Rights International Network

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