The Department of Children is currently one of the implementing departments of the Ministry of Women and Children's Affairs (MOWAC). The Department has a Research Division referred to as the Research, Information, and Advocacy Division (IRAD). The Division is presently made up of five Senior officers namely; Sylvester Kyei-Gyamfi (Head), Mrs. Florence Quartey, Isreal Akrobotu, Abena Aprekua Badu-Aboagye and Patience Hayford. In spite of limited staff at the division, IRAD still enjoys the services of National Service and other personnel posted on attachment for most of its outreach programmes.

Though not fully equipped it has over the years been involved in child-related research and come out with some published and unpublished materials which have served as reference materials for research and other professional and educational activities. The hallmark of IRAD is to keep improving its work to develop an efficient and most reliable Child Information System in Ghana. The sky is our limit.

The following are some of the reports published by the Division:

• State of Ghana's Children 1997
• Ghana's Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (1994)
• Ghana's Children 2000
• Report on Children's Involvement in Cocoa Farming Practices 2005
• Ghana's Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (1997-2003)
• Ghana's Report to the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child (1997-2005)with the Concluding Observations

In addition to the published materials, the Division also has carried out a number of studies which have not been published. These include:

• Children's Involvement in Fishing in Kudikope in the Asugyaman District
• Child Commercial Sex Work in the Komenda Edina Eguafo Abirem District
• Voices of Children on the Implementation of the GPRS1
• Children's Involvement in Surface Mining in the Western and Ashanti regions of Ghana
• The use of Corporal Punishment in Ghana
• The use of the Internet by Children: A case study of children in the Accra Metropolis

Compiled by Sylvester Kyei-Gyamfi
Head of Information Research Advocacy Division (IRAD)
Department of Children