NEWS IN GHANA

The Resident Representative at the UNDP Ghana, Silke Hollander has charged the youth to always endeavor to amplify their voices and actions in a bid to help reduce the climate awareness gap to enable a broader section of the society understand how they can contribute to climate action. She also called for collaborative support on part of every Ghanaian towards ensuring climate action while  focusing on development objectives and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to achieve tackling the challenges of climate change. “As climate is impacting on livelihoods, health, employment, agriculture, etc. basically none of our development objectives can be achieved in a sustainable way without addressing the challenges of climate change.” The UNDP boss made this known while delivering her welcome address at the 2019 Social Good Summit (SGS) which was held at the Bank of Ghana Auditorium in Accra on September 18. This year’s summit which is on the theme: “Take Action to Save T...

As part of efforts to contribute meaningfully to both climate change mitigation and adaptation by providing the basis for efforts to reduce the negative effects of climate change, the Future Climate For Africa (FCFA) is organizing this year’s African Climate Risks Conference (ACRC2019) scheduled to take place in Addis Abba, Ethiopia from 7-9 October. The conference which is expected to bring together an array of delegates from all walks of life including governments, policy makers, decision makers, researchers, stakeholders and non-governmental organizations will convene under the theme, ‘Dismantling Barriers to Urgent Climate Adaptation Action’. The goal is to ensure the improved flow of knowledge and interactions among stakeholders toward greater impact and legacy of completed and on-going adaptation initiatives. The 3-day high-level forum which has received endorsement form IPCC aims to disseminate results and share insights from new and ongoing climate science ...

Ghana has marked this year's Scoliosis Awareness Day with a call on all citizens to join the fight against stigmatization and alienation of persons with scoliosis. The International Awareness Day is a day set aside globally to create awareness and sensitize people on the need to prevent Scoliosis, its detection, treatment, and cure. This year’s event which was celebrated on the theme: “Early detection, early prevention” was staged at the courtyard of the Chief's Palace at Sowutuom, a suburb of Accra. It was chaired by His Royal Highness, Nii Osabu Akwei Ofoli Tibo I, the Chief of Sowutuom-Nsumfa Traditional Area. At the forum, various speakers who took turns to address the participants charged them to speak up for scoliosis victims as well as endeavor to join the fight against stigmatization and alienation in order to galvanize support for the scoliosis victims. Participants were also admonished to help create the needed awareness in a bid to help demystify the myth...

You will be amazed to know that ever since the phenomenon of kidnapping has reared its ugly head in Ghana in 2018 and continue to wreak havoc, many Ghaianains have felt the shivers down their spines but unfortunately not everyone believe the stories. Shockingly, not even the disappearance of the 3 T'aadi girls including the attacks and abduction of some foreign nationals in the country in recent times could cast away their doubts. As doubting 'Thomases',  they might either been waiting to have a taste of the activities of the so-called kidnappers themselves or hear from a close relative who escaped from being kidnapped share his/her story before they can moved. Well for those of you out there who are still living in doubt about the effects of the kidnapping phenomenon happening in Ghana, a 22-year-old SHS graduate who recently escaped from the hands her abductors have been sharing her harrowing story to make you believe. Linda Owusuwaa Danso is a resident of Any...

Inadequate security personnel coupled with improper safety measures on campuses of some public schools in the country have become a major cause of worry to teachers in recent times. In an era where abductions and violent crimes appeared to be on the ascendancy, the teachers have expressed utmost fear for the lives of children. Some teachers of Accra College of Education-Demonstration School, located at Legon in Accra who earlier shared their frustration in an interview with a team of Human Rights Reporters Ghana(HRRG), said they fear the children are at risk of getting kidnapped if the situation at hand is not improved. The HRRG team of volunteers were at the school premise last Friday June 7, to educate the entire school population on kidnapping and its related issues to guide them in taking precautions to avoid being victims. One of the teacher's explained inadequacy of security personnel coupled with lack of improper security measures on campus has compelled teache...

HRRG Boss, Joseph Kobla Wemakor in an interview with victim  She could have fallen easily into the trap of her own uncle who attempted raping her during her visit to his house to assist with some household chores the last time. It is very pathetic of someone in whom her confidence is reposed as a guide and a role model. Someone who is supposed to be her pillar of support through her early stages of development into an adulthood. Regrettably, someone she hardly believes could behave in such an unjustly manner, the way he treated her. Who could have fathomed how a naïve and young girl like Cynthia Adu (not her real name), 17, could manage to outwit and extricate herself from a well-calculated trap of a ‘sexual predator’ in the name of her mother's kid brother (uncle)?. Impossible indeed! The thought of rape in mind could mean a whole lot for her. It means she could either contract one or more of those deadliest sexually transmitted diseases, become pregnant as a teenager ...

Mr. Isaac Tetteh, Managing Director of T. T. Brothers Limited, distributors of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages in Ghana has observed that giving to support the kids of Tema SOS Village is a responsibility he has been entrusted by his late mother with a warning never to quit for life. “It’s something that we will be doing forever. Even if I’m no more, I hope my children will continue from where I’ve left of since it’s something my mum has warned me not to stop and since she is no more, it’s something I’m going to continue”. Mr. Isaac Tetteh made this revelation in an interview with journalists on the sidelines of a donation exercise which took place at the Tema SOS Village on Easter Saturday morning. The exercise saw his company, TT Brothers Limited repeated its old ritual which began for the past sixteen (16) years when it donated bags of rice, gallons of cooking oil, toiletries and drinks to the Tema SOS Village. “Uncle T” as he is popularly known, is magnanimous in ...

Human Rights Organization, Amnesty International Ghana(AIG) has launched its 2018 Reports on Death Penalty and Executions with the call on parliament and government to explicitly abolish the death penalty in the constitution for all crimes in Ghana.  The local chapter of the global Human Rights Organization, made up of over 4000 people together with its abolitionist friends and partners have also petitioned parliament among other requests, to support efforts towards ensuring the replacement of death penalty with death sentence as punishment for crime in the penal code of Ghana.  The launch which preceded the petitioning of parliament was held at the Accra International Press Centre on Wednesday April 11, 2019.  Present at the event were various dignitaries from embassies in the country, Government Officials, Representatives of UN Organizations, Ghana Police and Prisons Services, Civil Society Groups, Non-Governmental Organizations, Commission of Human Ri...

Journalists especially those championing the cause of migration has been charged to help prioritize and accurately report on migration and human trafficking issues in the country.  Mrs. Linda Asante-Agyei, the Vice President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) made the call while addressing journalists at a Lessons Learnt Workshop on Migration held for Migration Reporters within the Greater Accra Region on Wednesday, April 03, 2019. “We all know that as journalists, we have a critical role to play in shaping perception especially on migration therefore I’ll urge all of you to adequately and accurately report on migration-related issues”. The workshop, an initiative of Media Response with support from IOM Ghana seeks to help solicit feedback from the journalists who were earlier trained in the area of investigative journalism on migration within the Greater Accra Region. Speaking in interview, Mr. Samuel Dodoo, the Executive Director of Media Response advise journ...

Van Moorhouse Foundation (VMF), a nonprofit organization committed to enhancing people's lives especially the vulnerable through the provision of needs in impoverished communities, has conducted a free medical screening for over 250 inhabitants of Nzulezu community, in the Jomoro district of the Western Region. The beneficiaries made up of pregnant women, nursing mothers, the aged, including women and children, were thoroughly screened for malaria, hepatitis B including some communicable diseases, which affects some people in the area.  The recipients also took advantage of the opportunity to have their blood pressure level (BP), sugar levels, including body weight and height examined.  They were also counselled on how to ensure good dietary behaviour, including a healthy lifestyle at all times. The free medical screening was executed by a team of health professionals drawn from various health facilities in the country. Van Moorhouse Foundation, in resp...

Government has been urged to complement the efforts of the Human Rights Reporters Ghana(HRRG) including other Non-Governmental and Civil Society Organizations championing the cause of sensitization campaigns on kidnapping in the country in order to bring the activities of kidnappers to a halt.  Mr. Samson Dugbaze, the Headmaster of Dominion International School located at Ablekuma-Joma in the Ga West Municipal Assembly of the Greater Accra Region made the plea in an interview on the sidelines of a sensitization exercise on kidnapping when the team of Human Rights Reporters Ghana visited the school during the early hours of Thursday, April 4, 2019.  The exercise, according to the HRRG’s Executive Director, Mr. Joseph Kobla Wemakor forms part of the group’s campaign which seeks to demystify the phenomenon of kidnapping in Ghana in a bid to help children who are mostly targeted not to fall victims to pranks of kidnappers.  In all, over 40 pupils from the Dominion Inter...

Human Rights Reporters Ghana (HRRG), an NGO committed to ending all forms of human rights abuses in the country has enlightened over 200 pupils of the Hilen Springfield School in Accra on modus operandi, techniques and pranks of kidnappers in the country. The sensitization exercise which was staged at the Hilen Springfield School campus in the early hours of March 28, 2019 saw participants adequately equipped and empowered with knowledge on how to outwit the pranks kidnappers employ to lure their unsuspecting victims. They were also provided with guidelines and tips on how to unearth those pranks whenever they happened to encounter movement of the so-called kidnappers anywhere near them. The sensitization exercise which was more of an interactive session was conducted by a team of volunteers made up of lawyers, journalists and human rights activists who are members of the distinguished Human Rights group. The pupils had turns to ask questions and answers were provided to th...

Over 400 pupils of the Tower Preparatory and Junior High School(JHS) in Accra have been equipped with adequate knowledge, information and techniques aimed at outsmarting the tricks of kidnappers in the country. The participants, during the early hours of Wednesday, March 27, 2019, were vigorously sensitized on the modus operandi, tactics and pranks employed by kidnappers to lure their unsuspecting targets who are mostly young girls. They were also armed to the teeth with guidelines on how to outwit wiles of the so-called kidnappers whenever they come any close to them. The sensitization exercise was conducted by a team of Human Right Reporters Ghana(HRRG), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), committed to defending and protecting the freedom and fundamental rights of people in Ghana and beyond. According to HRRG’s Executive Director, Mr. Joseph Wemakor, the sensitization exercise forms part of his outfit’s project which seeks to help demystify the burgeoning phenomenon of...