'Engage in Volunteerism'

Story: Leticia Ohene-Asiedu & Cara Fanning
THE Minister for Women and Children’s Affairs, Akua Sena Dansua, has urged the youth to engage in volunteerism and community service to prevent them from engaging in social vices.
She said because children were vulnerable to societal influences, “social engagements such as volunteering and community service, which allowed peer interaction under the guidance of experienced hands, should be encouraged”.
Ms Dansua made this call at the launch of the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting in Accra.
She also asked for a collaborative effort in addressing children’s issues and achieving their goals, saying that “my door is always open” and appealed to Children and Youth In Broadcasting (CYIB) activists to promote that understanding.
Madam Sena Dansua said due to the outstanding performance of CYIB a member of the group would be invited to New York to attend the Commission of the Status of Women at the United Nations in New York.
The group won the Global International Children’s Day of the Broadcasting Award, Radio Division in New York last year.
Mrs Sena Dansua highly commended the CYIB for its hard work, saying “we know the sky will be your beginning, not the limit”.
She observed that because children absorbed very quickly the positive and negative influences around them, social engagements such as volunteering and community service, which allowed peer interaction under the guidance of experienced hands, should be encouraged as this would assist the youth.
She also asked for a collaborative effort in addressing children’s issues and achieving their goals, saying that “my door is always opened” and appealed to CYIB activists to promote that understanding.
The representative from the United Nation’s Children’s Fund (UNICEF), Dr Yasmin Ali Haque, said in 2007 UNICEF in collaboration with Curious Minds held a workshop with young people where issues that concerned them were discussed by the children.
She urged broadcasters to advance overall child development by producing programme contents that detailed the plight of children, as well as organise dramas that would help break down gender stereotypes and reduce discrimination.
Dr Ali Haque noted that television and radio could become meaningful positive media experiences for children and young people and CYIB had achieved that.
She commended CYIB for winning the international award and encouraged them to strive for the ultimate.
The UNICEF representative said the International Children’s Day of Broadcasting was created so that young people could have on airwaves educational content that they could understand and contribute.
CYIB is a subsidiary of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, which actively involves children in the discussion of children’s issues on radio.