AFRICA/GHANA - Bishops concerned about the consequences of urbanization and unemployment

Accra (Agenzia Fides) - The Bishops of Ghana are concerned about the growing number of street children, a consequence of the increasing urbanization of the country. In the statement, published at the end of their plenary assembly on the theme "The laity in the context of the new evangelization", the Bishops stress that "children who should be in the classrooms are found loitering and/or hawking on the streets of our towns and cities. With increased urbanisation, the practice of prostitution is on the ascendancy while the HIV/AIDS pandemic is still rampant in some parts of the Country, particularly, in cities. There are cases of armed robbery attacks in our cities".
The report points out how "urban poverty has increased over the last few years compared with rural poverty".
The Bishops call the laity to work to improve the situation, even if "the problems related to urbanization seem daunting". Poverty is a direct consequence of unemployment. After concluding that previous development programs did not create new jobs, the Bishops ask for new projects based on self-financing, making minimal use of international aid, but at the same time they say that "the determination of the global community to bring extreme poverty to an end must challenge Ghana to work hard to achieve the new Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at an earlier timeline before 2030. We urge our Laity to educate themselves and be abreast of the contents of the bail-out package from the International Monetary Fund (IMF)".
The new sustainable development goals were approved last September in New York by more than 150 heads of State and government. (L.M.) (Agenzia Fides 17/11/2015)

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