The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has reaffirmed its commitment to addressing the growing challenge of child hawking and streetism across the country.
Addressing Parliament during Question Time on Wednesday, June 24, the sector Minister, Dr Agnes Naa Momo Lartey, expressed concern about the increasing number of children living and working on the streets, stressing that the primary responsibility for removing them rests with local government authorities.
She cited Section 16(1) of the Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560), which mandates Metropolitan, Municipal and District Assemblies (MMDAs) to safeguard the welfare and promote the rights of children within their jurisdictions, as well as coordinate child protection efforts with relevant agencies.
“The direct responsibility for removing children from street situations, including child hawking, lies primarily with the MMDAs in collaboration with other stakeholders,” the Minister stated.
Despite this decentralised responsibility, she noted that the Ministry continues to play a coordinating, policy, and advocacy role. It is currently working with MMDAs, the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, the Ghana Police Service, civil society organisations, and development partners to strengthen systems for identifying, rescuing, rehabilitating, and reintegrating vulnerable children.
She further identified poverty as a key driver of child hawking, noting that government is implementing several social protection interventions to reduce household vulnerability and discourage child labour. These include the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty (LEAP) programme, the School Feeding initiative, and complementary livelihood support schemes for low-income families.
The Ministry and its partners are also intensifying public education campaigns on the dangers of child labour and the importance of education, while reinforcing enforcement of child protection laws, including the Children’s Act, 1998 (Act 560) and the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694).
The Minister emphasised that addressing streetism requires a sustained multi-sectoral effort involving government institutions, families, traditional authorities, civil society, and development partners, with the ultimate goal of ensuring all children are protected, remain in school, and are given the opportunity to thrive in safe environments.
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