CHAPTER EIGHT
Date - 14/Sep/2016
CHAPTER EIGHT
. The Vulnerable and Excluded
Vulnerability in the district is informed by various factors. People in the district are vulnerable because of poverty, sex, disability and age.
There is a significant size of vulnerable population in the district. Their protection is therefore a core responsibility of the Assembly. They include the poorest of poor, persons with disabilities, women and children.
8.1. Persons with Disabilities
The District has a significant number of persons with Disabilities, below is a table showing the numbers of various disability groups in the district.
Table 30: Registered members of PWDs in the various settlements
| Disability Group | Number |
|---|---|
| Ghana society of the blind (GSB | 143 |
| Ghana society for the physically Challenged (GSPD) | 44 |
| Ghana national association for the deaf & dumb (GNAD) | 27 |
From the above table, it is evident that, the blind forms a greater part of PWDs in the District; this can be attributed to the fact that, there is prevalence of tsetse flies along the Kamba River, a tributary of the Black Volta, which causes onchocerciasis.
The district is making efforts to build a Resource Centre for persons with disabilities. The district also has supported a number of persons with disabilities in the area of education. Persons with disabilities have also been enrolled on the Livelihood Empowerment Against Poverty Programme(LEAP), implemented by the Department of Social Welfare.
Despite the above interventions, the disabled is still constraint, most of them do not have any visible source of income and as such, the poverty level among them is severe.
8.2. Women
Women form about 52.4% of the District’s population. However, most women in the District are marginalized and disadvantaged. The constraints in facilitating the inclusion of women into mainstream development are due to factors that impede on their fundamental human rights. Factors such as domestic violence act as a bane to women’s development in the District.According to the department of Social Welfare, between 2010 and 2013, seventy-five (75) cases of abuse against women were recorded by the outfit. Most of these cases were domestic violence related. They include non-maintenance of children, paternity-neglect and physical violence.
There are a number of efforts being made to empower women in the district. Some of these include support for the construction of widowscentre in Kokoligu, sensitization programmes on domestic violence, support to women groups and financing the activities of the Gender Desk Office.
.3. Children
Children constitute 37% of the district’s population. They are considered the most vulnerable group in the district. Several factors account for this. Children’s nutritional status is a reflection of their overall health. Child malnutrition in the District is close to15%. This is for children under age 5. Nearly one out of every five children in the District is stunted or too short for their age and 4% are considered severely stunted. This makes children vulnerable in terms of health, survival and development. (Source; GHS – Nandom, 2012)
There are over 2,550 orphans and vulnerable children. Besides the number of children, orphan as a result of HIV/AIDS is close to 300. This phenomenon exposes children to increased risk of being neglected or exploited if the parents are not alive to assist them.
One other factor that makes children in the District vulnerable is child migration. Child migration is high in the District. Most of these children aged 9 to 16 years often travel to the South of the country, especially during school holidays. They are therefore exposed to child labour, sexual exploitation and at times trafficked.
Nonetheless, efforts are being made to help promote and protect children. Some of which include community sensitization on child rights protection and promotion, formation of Anti-child Trafficking/migration Network. There also exist District Child Protections Teams which monitor issues concerning children in the District.