Right To Play Ghana will mark this year’s Universal Children’s Day Celebration at Mamfo in the Ahafo Ano District of the Ashanti Region.

The organisation will use the event to highlight the progress made in collaboration with other partners on the Cocoa Life project, in the areas of child protection and safety, child labour and child rights in the Ashanti (Sekyere East District and Ahafo Ano North Municipality), Western North (Bia West and Juaboso District), and Central (Awutu Senya) regions.

The Universal Children’s Day was established in 1954 by the United Nations to promote international togetherness and discuss the strategies to improve the welfare of children worldwide.

The theme for the 2019 celebration is “Empowering children to rise; everyone’s concern.”

Right To Play Ghana has been working with Mondelez International and other stakeholders to eliminate all forms of child labour and abuse in selected cocoa-growing communities in the country through the Cocoa Life project.

As an organisation that is into the promotion of the comprehensive welfare of children, Right To Play Ghana will use the occasion to celebrate the key achievements and rally stakeholders to intensify efforts in eradicating all forms of child labour and abuse.

The celebration will start with a float through the principal streets of Mamfo, which would be followed by the distribution of communication materials to educate the public on child rights and protection.

There would also be a durbar of chiefs and stakeholders, drama on child labour, cultural display and poetry recitals to emphasise the importance of child protection to the development of the country.

This year’s Universal Children’s Day also coincides with the 30th-Anniversary of the passage of the Convention on the Rights of the Child by the United Nations which continues to transform children’s lives around the world.

It will be a good opportunity for stakeholders who will be present to review the present state of child welfare in Ghana and discuss new strategies to eradicate all forms of child abuse, particularly in Cocoa farming communities.