Dam spillage: Let’s continue to support victims

Mrs. Stella Mawutor, the Volta Regional Director of the Department of Social Welfare, has called for support for remnants of victims of safe havens of the Akosombo Dam spillage.

Thousands of inhabitants of the three Tongu districts were displaced during the disaster last year, and the Regional Director said monitoring activities showed large
inhabitation of camps despite a perceived end to the situation.

Addressing a Regional Child Protection Committee meeting organised by the Department of Children, Mrs. Mawutor said living and socio-cultural challenges persisted in the three remaining camps, including Degorme and Agbetsikpo.

She called for national support to continue.

She said conditions in the camps were unfavourable and inmates lacked privacy and reported what she called “pent-up anger” amidst challenges with food and a lack of economic support.

The Regional Director appealed to corporate bodies, NGOs, and religious organisations that responded in the wake of the disaster to consider the plight of the remnants
particularly women and children.

“Even though the spillage is over, the work is not over. So, we are appealing to NGOs and others to support children and families. The donations have stopped coming and they need to survive until the next harvest. Many people lost their livelihoods and farmlands and need support to get back their lives.”

Mrs. Mawutor spoke of visible teen pregnancies in the camps, and said children were being forced to take up roles as breadwinners.

“For us in the Volta Region we were most affected, and our children are suffering. They are doing all forms of activities to survive, and people are taking advantage of
them. And so, we need support for them,” she said.

The Regional Director called child protection committees in the various affected districts to intensify and begin engagements aimed at addressing the challenges and
added that the Department was considering plans to support children back to school and provide skills training and other economic support programmes.

She said the Department was engaging schools in the flood districts to consider student victims navigate school fees and others such as PTA dues to ensure they
remained in school.

The Regional Director added that local Assemblies need to respond more swiftly to concerns and issues arising while acknowledging the pressure of the situation on their resources.

The quarter meeting considered reports on the flood situation from various entities making up the Child Protection Committee.

Mr. Israel Akrobotu, Regional Director of the Department of Children said the meeting, among others, would develop a Child Protection Emergency Response Plan.

He said challenges with assessing school, violence including sexual, and child exploitation continued to be ascendant in the hardest hit areas.

“When we went for the data collection, we met some children in the safe havens that complained bitterly that their results were in but because of the flooding schools had given them admissions but they were not able to go back to school. So those are some of the issues and we are of the view that when we have a strong child protection and emergency work plan, we’ll be able to bring all stakeholders together so that in case it occurs we will be able to address it,” he said.

Mr. Akrobotu said funding remained a challenge to the work of the Committee and hoped stakeholders would consider the weight of the issues and provide the needed empowerment.

Mr. Augustus Awiti, Regional Coordinating Director who chairs the Committee, addressing concerns over the availability of social workers, said many did not find the noble profession attractive, and that the Local Government Service must find ways of tackling the issue.