The Country Director of International Justice Mission (IJM), Anita Budu, has called on the government to develop a sustainable national financing framework for children to strengthen domestic resource mobilisation and gradually reduce the country’s reliance on external donor funding.

She said protecting children in Ghana should not depend solely on donor priorities or funding cycles, stressing the need for sustainable domestic financing to support the country’s child protection systems.

Speaking on the theme “Beyond Policy: Financing Child Protection to Secure Every Child’s Future” at the Mensvic Hotel on September 17, Ms Budu said sustainable financing was necessary to ensure that child protection interventions could be maintained and effectively implemented.

“We encourage governments to develop a sustainable national financing framework for children that strengthens domestic resource mobilisation and gradually reduces reliance on external donor funding,” she said.

“Protecting Ghanaian children should not depend solely on donor priorities or funding cycles. Sustainable national ownership requires sustainable national financing.”

She said as efforts to strengthen financing for child protection progressed, Parliament also has an important role to play in ensuring that approved resources were properly prioritised and released.

Mrs Budu called on Parliament to strengthen its oversight of child protection budgets and support the timely release of approved funds.

“We respectfully encourage Parliament to strengthen oversight of child protection budgets, support the timely release of approved funds, and champion legislative and budgetary reforms that promote sustainable financing for child protection systems,” she said.

She also encouraged Parliament to support innovative financing approaches that could increase private sector investment and partnerships in child protection.

“Parliament can also help advance innovative financing approaches, including mechanisms that encourage greater private sector investment and partnership,” she said.

Mrs Budu said the ultimate measure of a functional child protection system would be whether children could access the support and protection they needed when faced with trafficking, abuse, or exploitation.

She said children who benefited from effective interventions in the future might not know the policies or financing decisions that made those interventions possible, but what would matter was whether assistance was available when they needed it.

“What will matter is that help was available when they needed it,” she said.

Ms Budu said this required a child protection system in which social welfare services could reach vulnerable children, frontline workers had the basic tools needed to handle cases in a trauma-informed manner, and justice institutions had the capacity to investigate, prosecute and protect victims.

She said the country needed to move beyond having child protection policies and systems that existed only on paper to ensuring that they worked effectively in practice.

She therefore called on stakeholders participating in discussions on child protection financing to leave with specific commitments that could be monitored and reviewed.