The Child Panel of the Accra Metropolitan Assembly (AMA) on Thursday commenced business, to oversee the welfare of under-privileged children in society.
The seven-member Panel, which was established three months ago, would also offer alternative dispute resolution to child-related issues except on criminal matters.
The members paid courtesy calls on the Chief Justice, Mrs Georgina Wood, and the office of the Ghana National Commission on Children to formally introduce the panel and seek their support in the performance of their duties.
At the meeting with the Chief Justice, Mr. Adjebu Lamptey, Chairman of the Panel, called for better collaboration between the members and the Judicial Service.
He said the main objective of the panel was to work to bring peace and sanity into homes in the metropolis, adding that very soon Child Panel Secretariats would be created in all the 11 Sub-metros to take care of child rights issues in their vicinities.
Mrs. Wood praised the AMA for the establishment of the unit and said the Judicial Service had the interest of children at heart and would work to ensure that their rights were respected.
"We now have four courts, which run on daily basis hearing cases involving children and another court dedicated to domestic violence. We would continue to work for the betterment of children as our infrastructure improves," she added.
At the Commission on Children, Mr. Israel Akrobeto, Assistant Programmes Officer, appealed to all metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies to allocate at least 0.5 per cent of their funds for child rights issues.
"I will also call for strengthening of the external family system whereby underprivileged children could be made to stay with other well to do members who would take care of them, especially of their education," he said.
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