The Reality of Children's Rights in Ghana (2009)

Undergraduate: Haseeb Fatmi

Faculty Advisor: Eunice Sahle
Department: International & Area Studies

---

I propose to research the effects of orphanages and their impacts on orphans in Ghana. Children, especially orphans, have become the most marginalized cohort in the world. Currently UNICEF and UNAIDS project the orphan population in sub-Saharan Africa at 48.3 million, surpassing the entire population of Ghana by over twenty million. Growing crises of HIV/AIDS and other epidemiological pandemics, warfare, malnutrition, and famine contribute significantly to the growing number of orphans, most of whom face death almost immediately or are kidnapped and used as soldiers or sex slaves. Orphanages provide the most basic necessities of life such as food, clothing, shelter, and protection. They provide health and educational opportunities otherwise inaccessible to develop these children into productive citizens in the community.
However, orphanages face considerable problems, and tens of millions of orphans never receive the help they need. With limited public funds and scarce supplies, orphanages manage to cope through aid from NGOs as well as donations and volunteers. Unfortunately, there are simply not enough orphanages to house all orphans, and there will never be. Therefore, neither building more orphanages nor throwing money at them will solve the problem, but working with them is a start to finding a comprehensive solution for orphans.