Acquire licenses or face closure – Gender Ministry to orphanages

The Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection has issued a two month ultimatum to operators of orphanages in the country to acquire licenses or face closure.

Statistics by the ministry shows that only nine out of 133 orphanages across the country operate with licenses.

Speaking on Ghana Television’s morning Show, the Minister for Gender, Children and Social Protection, Nana Oye Lithur stated that the decision is to help profile the number of orphans in the country.

“Whether it is a church, company or an individual, once you are running an orphanage, you need to get a license from the department of social welfare,” the Minister emphasized.

According to her, the Ministry will give a grace period for orphanages to obtain their licenses.

She however stated that orphanages without licenses will be closed down after the grace period.

The whole idea, she said “is to protect children, especially there are orphans who have issues with care from parents or adults.”