DEMOCRACY AND POLITICAL GOVERNANCE to regional, continental and international standards and codes in the following areas: health and welfare, child education, custody and guardianship, the right to information aiming at promoting social, spiritual, physical and mental well-being, child slavery, child labour, child prostitution and child pornography. Since 1997, Ghana has submitted annual reports to the UN Committee on Children's Rights, detailing legal and administrative reforms carried out to conform to the Convention on the Rights of the Child. Comments and perceptions on the rights of the child 102. The views of the general public on this issue are reflected in the publication, Comments on the Dissemination of Ghana's Report to the United Nations Committee on Children's Rights. It is felt that, while considerable progress has been made in the education, health and welfare of children, infringement on and violation of their rights are still prevalent. The report makes recommendations concerning registration of birth, publicising the Convention on the Rights of the Child, child labour, cultural practices infringing on or detracting from the rights of the child, and teenage pregnancy. The 1997 NGOs' Complementary Notes on the Ghana Report to the UN Committee on Children's Rights identifies gaps in the implementation process, including the fact that the Ghana National Commission on Children is lacking in authority to enforce the provisions of the law. ii. Findings of the CRM 103. There are complaints about the negative impact of modernisation on children, in its cumulative impact of eroding or violating their right to innocence. 104. Stakeholders pointed out that practices such as human trafficking, forced labour, slavery and prostitution seriously detract from and violate the human rights of children. Ghana is a party to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and has enacted the Children's Act in line with the constitutional protection and promotion of the dignity of children. However, consultations by the CRM revealed that Ghana has not ratified the two UN protocols on sexual exploitation of children and on child involvement in armed forces, nor the Convention on Human Trafficking. iii. Recommendations 105. The Panel recommends that the Government of Ghana: ? Adopt the UN Protocol against Human Trafficking in Women and Children. 43