Since the ratification of the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), awareness of children’s inherent value and their right to participate in decision-making processes affecting them has grown significantly. Despite these advancements, the realisation of children’s participation rights remains limited in many contexts, including Ghana. This study, guided by the Evolving Capacities of the Child Theory (ECCT), focuses exclusively on the perspectives of parents and government officials regarding children’s participation rights. Specifically, it explores parents’ opinions on children’s rights, their sources of knowledge about these rights, and their willingness to grant children participation rights, while also assessing government officials’ perspectives on the national policies supporting such rights. The study utilised secondary qualitative data from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection (MoGCSP), comprising interviews with 100 parents and 20 government officials. Findings revealed that while most parents acknowledged children’s rights to survival, protection, and development, they often neglected the right to participation. Many parents feared that granting children participation rights would lead to excessive freedom and challenge traditional authority structures. These findings underscore the persistence of cultural resistance and the need for targeted public education and policy interventions to bridge the gap between awareness and practice in Ghana’s implementation of children’s participation rights.
Kyei-Arthur et al. (Thu,) studied this question.