Stakeholders urge government to prioritise Inclusion in Early Childhood Care Policy 

Accra-Ghana, Jan. 13, GNA – Stakeholders at a workshop to validate Ghana’s Early Childhood Care and Development Policy (ECCD) has urged the government to prioritise inclusion in the policy.
The participants said the very slow pace of integrating children with disabilities and their caregivers into the mainstream, demands a devoted policy focus.
The workshop organised by the Department of Children looked at the revised Early Childhood Care and Development Policy framework to solicit final inputs
The draft revised ECCD Policy defines six domains, which are nurturing care, health, nutrition, early learning, safety and security, responsive caregiving, and inclusion.
The inclusion domain focuses on introducing interventions and promoting behaviours that will accelerate access to services and care for children with disabilities.
The inclusion domain also provides for support to caregivers of young children with disabilities in recognition of the additional burden that caring for children with special needs imposes.
Mrs Florence Ayisi-Quartey, Acting Director of the Department of Children, said inclusion was important and cut across various sectors and pledged the department’s commitment towards the inclusion of children with disabilities in mainstream programmes.