The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) in partnership with the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) and the UN in Ghana, will on Tuesday, December 13, 2022, convene a public forum to mark this year’s International Human Rights Day.
The Forum, funded by the European Union and UN in Ghana, will be held under the theme: ‘The State of Human Rights in Ghana: Progress, Challenges and Way Forward’. About 150 participants from across women/youth groups, the diplomatic corps, public/state institutions, religious institutions, UN Agencies, academia, civil society and the media will deliberate on the current state of human rights in Ghana. The participants will proffer more effective ways of ensuring government accountability for human rights abuses and an enabling environment that ensures every Ghanaian enjoys equal rights.
The Forum will be chaired by the Commissioner of the Commission of Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ) in Ghana, Joseph Whittal, and feature a keynote speech by the Minister of Justice and Attorney General, Godfred Yeboah Dame. There will also be statements from the National Commission for Civic Education, the UN in Ghana, the EU, as well as a panel discussion featuring representatives from the Ghana Prisons Service, the Media Foundation for West Africa, the UN and POS Foundation.
The Forum will also hold a panel discussion to seek present specific views in relation to freedom of expression, the press and challenges within the civic space and government’s commitments to recommendations made by UPR reports with specifics to gender equality and disability rights. Actionable recommendations on how to improve the human rights situation in Ghana suggested during the discussion will be documented and published.
There will also be a special Young Persons’ lab hosted by the UN in Ghana where young persons will engage in conversations on the human rights situation and its impact on them, especially with regard to digital spaces.
The Forum will be held at the British Council Auditorium in Accra, Ghana and will be broadcast live on Joy FM 99.7 with live streaming on the Facebook pages of the MFWA, EU-Ghana and the UN in Ghana.