On 15 December, we submitted written inputs to the Committee on the Rights of the Child (CRC) ahead of its 100th session scheduled for 12-30 January 2026, and during which it will review the Republic of Ghana, which ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child in 1990. Our submission addresses the underfunding of education and healthcare in Ghana, due to a high debt burden and IMF-backed austerity measures, which undermine children’s rights. It draws from our latest report Prioritising People in Fiscal Policy: Challenging Austerity, Reclaiming Public Services and Upholding Human Rights in Ghana.

 

Our submission recalls Ghana’s human rights obligations under the Convention to fund public education and healthcare to the maximum extent of its available resources, before highlighting how years of debt burden and austerity have prevented the country from steadily fulfilling this obligation. The inputs further highlight the negative impact of underfunding public services on children’s rights to education and healthcare. Our submission concludes by providing actionable recommendations to enable Ghana to expand its fiscal space and boost domestic revenue, thereby increasing funding for public services as an alternative to social spending cuts.

 

You can read the submission below.