In partnership with AIDER and led by Dr Amna Nazir, our Stakeholder report to Ghana’s Universal Periodic Review makes specific recommendations to the government regarding (1) child, early and forced marriage; (2) child sexual exploitation; and (3) access to education.
Researchers
Consultancy background This Stakeholder Report focuses upon (1) child, early and forced marriage; (2) child sexual exploitation; and (3) access to education and makes recommendations to the Government of Ghana on these key issues. Implementation of such recommendations would see Ghana move towards achieving Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5 and 16 which aim for ‘gender equality and empowering all women and girls’, ‘inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all’, and ‘access to justice for all’.
Download the stakeholder report
On 31 October 2022, the UN’s Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights published its Stakeholder Summary Report for Ghana, which cited the UPR Project at BCU and AIDER Group’s joint submission (JS14):
“JS14 called on the government to implement both legislative and policy mechanisms to ensure the non-discriminatory practices of children with disabilities in education.” (para 36)
“JS14 called on Ghana to ensure that its domestic legislation on free education covered the hidden costs of education, so that these did not create a barrier to the right to education; and implement legislative mechanisms that will monitor the enforcement of free and compulsory education at community level.” (para 73)
Following the pre-sessions in Geneva, the European Union Delegation to the United Nations invited Dr Nazir to present at the Informal Exchange of Views with the EU Member States which took place on 6th December 2022. Dr Nazir raised concerns over the issues of (i) child, early and forced marriage, (ii) child sexual exploitation, and (ii) access to education in Ghana and urged Member States to issue recommendations in this regard.
EU Submission presentation sheet
The outcome of the review was published on 24 March 2023 in the Report of the Working Group. The following relevant recommendations were made to Ghana:
Step up its efforts to end child marriage and fully implement the national strategic framework for ending child marriage. Recommending state: Mongolia (149.208); Montenegro (149.209); Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela (149.221); Czechia (149.230)
Ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography. Recommending state: Costa Rica, Finland, Gambia & Slovenia (149.1); Algeria, Armenia & Lebanon (149.4); Greece (149.8); India (149.9); Malta (149.10); Panama (149.20); Nepal (149.21); Romania (149.24); Switzerland (149.26); Mauritius (149.29); Chad (149.37)
Adopt and implement a sexual and reproductive health policy for adolescents that includes sexual education. Recommending state: Estonia (149.148)
Develop a national action plan on the rights of the child. Recommending State: Luxembourg (149.242)
Promote access to education. Recommending state: Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (149.132); Nepal (149.154); Saudi Arabia (149.155); Algeria (149.158); Bangladesh (149.159); Brunei Darussalam (149.160); Costa Rica (149.161); Djibouti (149.162); Libya (149.163); Chile (149.189); Costa Ricca (149.193); Croatia (149.194); Bahamas (149.224); Cabo Verde (149.226); Lebanon (149.239); China (149.274); Greece (149.275); Sri Lanka (149.156); Philippines (149.213); Senegal (149.215); Qatar (149.250); Singapore (149.253); State of Palestine (149.256); Viet Nam (149.258); Angola (149.260); Bahamas (149.261); Lithuania (149.272)
These Member State recommendations are consistent with the categories of recommendations identified in the UPR Project at BCU’s Stakeholder Joint Report with AIDER for Ghana’s UPR.
About the UPR Project at BCU
The Centre for Human Rights (CHR) has been engaging with the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) since 2016. Under the auspice of the Human Rights Council, the UPR is an intergovernmental process providing a review of the human rights record of all Member States.
Through the UPR Project at BCU, the CHR we engage with the UPR through taking part in the UPR Pre-sessions, providing capacity building for UPR stakeholders and National Human Rights Institutions, and the filing of stakeholder reports in selected sessions. The UPR Project is designed to help meet the challenges facing the safeguarding of human rights around the world, and to help ensure that UPR recommendations are translated into domestic legal change in member state parliaments.
We fully support the UPR ethos of encouraging the sharing of best practice globally to protect everyone's human rights. The UPR Project at BCU engages with the UPR regularly as a stakeholder, having submitted numerous reports and been cited by the OHCHR.