Convener of the Coalition for Street-Connected Children Organisation, Dr. Ernestina Tetteh, has attributed the continuous rise in the number of children begging on the streets of Ghana's major cities to poor strategic planning and the lack of sustained efforts in tackling the issue.

Her statement follows an increasing presence of children—often accompanied by adults—soliciting money in urban areas. In many instances, an adult, usually the child’s mother, is seen keeping watch from afar to avoid being detected.

Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Thursday, May 8, 2025, Dr. Tetteh emphasized the ineffective nature of past interventions, which were mainly funded by short-term donors, making them unsustainable.

“Our interaction with social welfare over time reveals that they worked with some embassies in the past, receiving funding to remove their nationals. That was the approach. There was some communication, and they sent some children back, but they returned,” she shared.

“You know how donor-funded initiatives work—once the funds are depleted, the project ends. Once the initial attempt wasn’t followed up on, we ended up right where we started.”

Dr. Tetteh also criticized what she described as a “knee-jerk approach,” arguing that treating the children as a security threat without long-term plans has been ineffective.

“We used the knee-jerk response: ‘they’re a security threat, so let’s send them away,’ but they came back. Even with the local children. There’s no clear strategy,” she pointed out.

She also stressed that the lack of reliable data continues to hinder the development of effective solutions.

“Data is difficult to gather; all we know is that the numbers keep rising. They typically come from Chad, Niger.”

“We also know, though we can’t prove it, that there are syndicates organizing their entry into the country. We’ve seen vehicles bringing children in.”

Dr. Tetteh concluded by noting that outreach programs face resistance due to adult oversight.

“Even if you attempt to talk to the children or get them to accompany you, they don’t want to. This is because there are adults standing in the background, watching over them,” she added.