On the 28th of July, 2022, Rev. Father Fabio Baggio, C.S., the Co-Under-Secretary of the Dicastery for the Promotion of Integral Human Development (DPIHD), heading the Section – “Refugees and Migrants”, took some time off during his participation in the 19th SECAM Plenary Assembly held from 25th of July to 1st August, 2022, at Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) campus, Legon, to visit with a cross-section of the Staff of Caritas Ghana at its headquarters, located on the premises of the National Catholic Secretariat at Shiashie, a suburb of Accra, also near Legon.
It was a friendly meeting focused on knowledge sharing:
What his (Fr. Baggio) office (section) in the Dicastery is about and doing, and the partnership he intends to enter with Caritas Ghana in the area of migration and refugee management looking at the socio-politico-economic environment in Sub-Saharan Africa, with particular reference to the West African States.- Caritas Ghana: its composition, activities, deliverables, partnership with development agencies, and challenges.
To complement his visit, he travelled to Gomoa Potsin in the Central Region of Ghana, in the company of Caritas Ghana’s personnel in charge of the anti-child trafficking programme, to visit with the children at Ghana Make A Difference (GMAD), a Residential Home for Children (RHC). GMAD is a shelter partner of Caritas Ghana, providing
rehabilitative care to seven rescued male children, victims of child trafficking. The Shelter’s Manager, Mr. Prince Djanku, appreciated the visit and commended Caritas Ghana for the partnership to remove and place children in a trafficking-free environment. In his interaction with the seven (7) Caritas Ghana children, Fr. Fabio listened keenly to the children’s experiences (ages 12 – 17 years) in their journeys of recovery and their aspirations for the future.
He applauded the children’s positive forthrightness and hope for a better future, and shared with them the Catholic Churches’ continuous support inspired by Pope Francis working with partners to ensure that they remain safe, have a decent education/vocational/technical skills, have access to good health care, among other basic needs and attain complete restoration when reintegrated with their families or guardians.
The entire Staff of Caritas Ghana say, “Thank you very much, Molte Grazie, Rev. Fr. Fabio Baggio, CS,” for your august visit and interest to working with us on issues of migration and refugee.
