Young Peoples and Human Rights Ghana

CEPEHRG, Accra For immediate Release May 16, 2016 The Mental Health and Well Being of the Ghanaian LGBTI Community O n May 17th 1990, t he World Health Organization (WHO) published a revised version of the “International Classification of Diseases Manual ‘ , in which homosexuality was not considered a mental disease any longer. Therefore sexual and gender diversity is celebrated worldwide and annually on May 17th since 2004 as the International Day against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia ‘ (IDAHOT) . I n a statement, t he World Psychiatric Association ‘ (WPA) strongly condemned any attempt to conflate the diversity of sexual orientations and gender identities within t he Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Trans and Intersex (LGBTI) community with a mental disorder. Despite all these and other declarations and statements, Dr. Akwasi Osei ( Chief Psychiatrist of Ghana and the Chief Executive of the Ghana Mental Health Authority ) has described homosexuals as persons...

Nigerian Gay Man Lashed 20 Times For Sodomy: Report BAUCHI, Nigeria (AP) — A young man convicted of sodomy was whipped 20 times Thursday in a northern Nigerian Shariah court. Though Mubarak Ibrahim was found guilty under Shariah law, it is the first conviction of a gay man in Nigeria since President Goodluck Jonathan signed a bill that further criminalizes homosexuality under the West African nation's Western-style penal code. Activists believe the new law has whipped up homophobia and endangers gay people in a country where lynchings and mob justice are common. But the Muslim Rights Concern group on Thursday said it was "the other way round as the practice of homosexualism and lesbianism is most capable of instigating widespread hatred and turning society upside down." It praised Jonathan for resisting pressures from Western powers that have condemned ...

New anti-homosexuality legislation in Nigeria is a serious blow to the country's response to HIV http://www.aidsalliance.org/NewsDetails.aspx?Id=291672   14 January 2013   On 13 January 2014, it was reported that President of Nigeria,  Goodluck Jonathan, had signed the Same Sex Marriage (Prohibition) Bill into law. The International HIV/AIDS Alliance is deeply concerned by the severely negative impact the new legislation will have on the HIV response in Nigeria. The Act will seriously impact the ability of men who have sex with men and transgender people to access life saving and essential HIV treatment and prevention services and also poses a serious threat to all organisations providing such services. The HIV epidemic is one of the most formidable challenges Nigeria is facing today.  Over 3.4 million Nigerians live with HIV, making Nigeria the country with the second largest population of people living with HIV in the World. Men who have sex...

January 3, 2014 A 19-year-old second year student of the Emit Electronic Institute in Accra has hanged himself in his room at the Old Habitat residential area within the Assin Fosu Municipality. Gideon Bansah left no suicide note but the motive behind his action was believed to be a rift he had with his father on that day. Briefing  The Mirror ,  the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Kwabena Owusu-Bempah, the Assin Fosu District Commander of the Ghana Police Service, said Bansah was found hanging on a nylon sponge in his room. ASP Owusu-Bempah said Bansah travelled from school to Assin Fosu on Thursday, December 12 and later left for town in the evening but never returned to the house until the following morning. He said when Bansah returned home, his father was said to have rebuked him and advised him not to engage in those nocturnal escapades again. According to the district commander, Bansah, apparently not satisfied with the father’s rebuke, e...

The Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative (CHRI), an international non-governmental organisation, has called for a concerted effort by stakeholders in the fight against child labour and its related issues in the country. Speaking at a durbar at Bortianor, a suburb of Accra, to mark this year’s Human Right Day, the Regional Co-ordinator of the CHRI, Mrs Mina Mensah, said until stakeholders teamed up and worked together as one unified institution, it would be difficult for Ghana to deal with matters relating to child labour which continued to hinder the country’s development. This year’s Human Right Day is on the theme; “Child labour deprives children of their right to development.” Child labour at Bortianor She said the reason why Bortianor was selected for this year’s Human Right Day commemoration by the CHRI was that most of the children in the area were subjected to child labour. Mrs Mensah mentioned fishing and stone quarrying as major activities which chi...

The Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) says the allocation of 50 pesewas to a pupil daily under the School Feeding Programme (SFP) is woefully inadequate and does not keep pace with the current economic trends in the country. It also said the allocation of the amount was dehumanising and a sad reflection of the premium government placed on children. Consequently, CHRAJ has urged the government to increase funding for the programme to an acceptable level within a year, and review the situation. The Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr. Richard Quayson, made the call when he presented the highlights of the 2013 CHRAJ report on “the state of human rights in Ghana”, at the celebration of the International Human Rights Day, in Accra on Tuesday. He said that the capitation grant per pupil per term which was less than GH¢700 was another sad reflection of the premium placed on children. “How do we expect the schools to provide quality education with...

The Commission for Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) says the allocation of 50 pesewas to a pupil daily under the School Feeding Programme (SFP) is woefully inadequate and does not keep pace with the current economic trends in the country. It also said the allocation of the amount was dehumanising and a sad reflection of the premium government placed on children. Consequently, CHRAJ has urged the government to increase funding for the programme to an acceptable level within a year, and review the situation. The Deputy Commissioner of CHRAJ, Mr. Richard Quayson, made the call when he presented the highlights of the 2013 CHRAJ report on “the state of human rights in Ghana”, at the celebration of the International Human Rights Day, in Accra on Tuesday. He said that the capitation grant per pupil per term which was less than GH¢700 was another sad reflection of the premium placed on children. “How do we expect the schools to provide quality education with suc...