Children’s rights, mobility and transport in Ghana : access to education and health services.

Abstract

Children’s physical mobility and access to transport is an issue commonly overlooked in the child rights context. However, the opportunity to be mobile, in order to access health and basic education services not available in close vicinity to the child’s residence, is crucial to many formal rights, notably Articles 24 and 28. Drawing principally on field evidence from four off-road villages in Gomoa district, southern Ghana, we review children’s patterns of access to education and health services, the implications of child poverty for access to motorised transport, limitations imposed by physique and smaller stature on ability to walk long distances, and associated vulnerability to traffic accidents. Because young people commonly lack power and access to decision-making processes in Ghana, their transport and mobility needs are even less likely to be met than those of other groups. Young people’s input into the transport arena could have enormous potential for improving lives.