NCCE, WORLD VISION GHANA TRAIN COMMUNITY CHILD PROTECTION COMMITTEES IN BODI TO STRENGTHEN CHILD PROTECTION

The National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), with support from World Vision Ghana, Bodi Area Programme, has held a three-day workshop for 15 Community Child Protection Committees (CCPCs) in the Bodi District to strengthen community response to child abuse, exploitation, violence, and harm.

The training, which ran from Tuesday, April 14 to Thursday, April 16, 2026, took place at the ICT Centre in Bodi. It aimed to equip CCPC members with the knowledge and skills needed to identify, report, and respond effectively to child protection concerns within their communities.

The NCCE District Director for Bodi, Mr. Emmanuel Awotwe, led presentations on violence against children, its causes and effects, as well as child online safety. He highlighted risks such as cyberbullying, online predators, and sexual exploitation, and shared safety measures and relevant laws for protecting children online. He also facilitated the “Circle of Support” toolkit activity to illustrate the roles of families, communities, and state institutions in child protection. Other formal actors facilitated additional sessions on health, education, and legal issues affecting children.

Representatives from nine CCPCs, including Kama, Manhyia, Dench, Apenti, Ntesano, Kwaffukaa, Dokukrom, Yayaso, and Kankyiabo, shared updates on their activities. They reported achievements such as reduced child labour linked to galamsey in Manhyia, enforcement of by-laws banning children from wake-keeping in Dench and Apenti, and the referral of defilement cases to lawful agencies in Kankyiabo.

As part of the workshop, participants worked in groups to develop community action plans and discussed how to handle criminal cases involving children. They stressed the need for such cases to be reported to the police and other appropriate agencies, rather than being settled privately or handled in ways that deny children justice and protection.

At the close of the training, participants described the engagement as a useful platform for deepening their knowledge, sharing field experiences, and strengthening community-level responses to child protection concerns. They appealed for periodic refresher sessions to help sustain the gains made and improve the effectiveness of CCPCs across the district. The District Child Protection Committee is expected to monitor CCPC activities and support the implementation of the community action plans developed during the workshop.

World Vision Ghana, Bodi Area Programme, emphasized that the initiative advances its goal of ensuring safe and protective environments for children in the district. Community members were also encouraged to remain vigilant, protect children from all forms of abuse and exploitation, and report suspected cases promptly to the police, social welfare officers, traditional authorities, or other appropriate child protection institutions.

BODI DISTRICT OFFICE, WN/R