Few studies have examined the intentions of parents and guardians to vaccinate their children younger than 18 years against COVID-19 in Ghana. Parents are the decision makers for children younger than 18 years; therefore, we examined parents’ and guardians’ intentions to accept the COVID-19 vaccines for their children. An online survey was conducted among 415 parents and guardians in Ghana. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 25 was used to analyse the data. We found that 73.3% of parents/guardians would allow their children to be vaccinated against COVID-19. The binary logistic regression analysis shows that parents/guardians with Senior High School education, those who believed COVID-19 could not be cured, and those who agreed and those who neither agreed nor disagreed with the statement “once the vaccine is available and approved, it would be safe” were less likely to accept COVID-19 vaccine for their children. Also, parents/guardians who neither agreed nor disagreed that “the best way to avoid the complications of COVID-19 is by being vaccinated”, those who agreed that “I am of the notion that physiological/natural community is better compared to vaccine-induced immunity” and “I believe the vaccine programming may be likened to the new world order” were less likely to accept COVID-19 vaccine for their children. There is a need for public health practitioners to intensify education on the benefits and side effects of COVID-19 vaccines, as well as provide regular and up-to-date information about vaccines’ safety to parents and guardians.

By April 2020, about half of the world's population was under some type of lockdown, which affected over three billion people in more than ninety countries. These global lockdowns, implemented to mitigate the spread and impact of COVID-19, inflicted high human costs worldwide and the protection measures put in place severely impacted daily lives. This study explores children's experiences related to the three-week lockdown in Ghana and gains insights on their knowledge, attitudes and practices regarding COVID-19. Using a crosssectional approach which employed mix-methods for data collection and analysis, this study has provided clarification on children's opinions and experiences during the lockdown period in Ghana. The study utilized mixed methods relying on remote research methods including a web survey and phone interviews for data collection from a sample of 385 children in Accra and Tema; two of the hotspots of COVID-19 infected areas in Ghana. Almost half of the children sampled affirmed that the lockdown affected them. Some of the positive effects of the lockdown include; prevention from the transmission of the virus, children having quality time with their families, and learning new skills at home. In terms of the negative effects, the lockdown affected schooling and learning due to school closures, increased mental stress of both parents and children, and had adverse effects on livelihoods of some parents. The findings indicate that two out of ten children were subjected to different forms of punishment during the lockdown with most being victims of punishment as a result of the lockdown affecting the livelihoods of many parents. This puts these parents under extreme stress and made them overly aggressive to the least provocation from their children at home. Regarding knowledge, the results show that almost all children sampled were aware of COVID-19. The qualitative aspects however, reveal that some children do not have accurate knowledge about the causes of COVID-19. There is therefore the need for an increased educational drive aimed at strengthening children's knowledge of the risks of the transmission of the virus in educational institutions and in settings where children and young persons are the dominant groups. Awareness raising is required to sensitize the public about the negative effects of physical punishment and the need to be circumspect when correcting children at home.

This paper focuses primarily on the current conditions of girls engaged in the ‘Kaya’ business in commercial markets in urban areas in Ghana. The paperaims at establishing the failure of the family and government in addressing the ‘kayayie’ phenomenon in Ghana. The specific objectives are to find the causes, consequences, and attempts made by government to address the phenomenon, and the way forward. The methodology for writing this paper is essentially that of a desk review of available literature and information from the Ministry of Gender Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), supplemented with academic materials and personal observations. The paper poses the question: why has the family and government failed to address the ‘kayayei’ phenomenon in Ghana? It is positioned on Everett Lee’s Push and Push Model (1960) which explains migration as having factors that either push or pull individuals to move out of places of origin. A major finding of this paper is that budget challenges affect the government’s capacity to provide funds and sustain projects aimed at improving the welfare of kayayei. The paper does not only recommend that issues relating to ‘Kayayei’ should be prioritised but also that a national data collection exercise be embarked upon to collect accurate figures to enable government take informed decisions, and to enhance monitoring and evaluation.