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Background Various governments in Ghana have tried to improve healthcare in the country. Despite these efforts, meeting health care needs is a growing concern to government and their citizens. Short term medical missions from other countries are one of the responses to meet the challenges of healthcare delivery in Ghana. This research aimed to understand Ghanaian perceptions of short-term missions from the narratives of host country staff involved. The study from which this paper is developed used a qualitative design, which combined a case study approach and political economy analysis involving in-depth interviews with 28 participants. Result Findings show short term medical mission programs in Ghana were largely undertaken in rural communities to address shortfalls in healthcare provision to these areas. The programs were often delivered free and were highly appreciated by communities and host institutions. While the contributions of STMM to health service provision have been noted, there were challenges associated with how they operated. The study found concerns over language and how volunteers effectively interacted with communities. Other identified challenges were the extent to which volunteers undermined local expertise, using fraudulent qualifications by some volunteers, and poor skills and lack of experience leading to wrong diagnoses sometimes. The study found a lack of awareness of rules requiring the registration of practitioners with national professional regulatory bodies, suggesting non enforcement of volunteers’ need for local certification. Conclusion Short Term Medical Missions appear to contribute to addressing some of the critical gaps in healthcare delivery. However, there is an urgent need to address the challenges of ineffective utilisation and lack of oversight of these programs to maximise their benefits.

Short-term experiences in global health (STEGH), also known as short-term medical missions continue to be a popular mode of engagement in global health activities for students, healthcare providers, and religious groups, driven primarily by organizations from high-income countries. While STEGH have the potential to be beneficial, a large proportion of these do not sustainably benefit the communities they intend to serve, may undermine local health systems, operate without appropriate licenses, go beyond their intended purposes, and may cause harm to patients. With heightened calls to "decolonize" global health, and to achieve ethical, sustainable, and practical engagements, there is a need to establish strong guiding principles for global health engagements. The Advocacy for Global Health Partnerships (AGHP), a multi-sectoral coalition, was established to reflect on and address the concerns relating to STEGH. Towards this end, AGHP created the Brocher Declaration to lay out six main principles that should guide ethical and appropriate STEGH practices. A variety of organizations have accepted the Declaration and are using it to provide guidance for effective implementation of appropriate global health efforts. The Declaration joins broader efforts to promote equity in global health and a critical reevaluation of volunteer-centric, charity-based missions. The current state of the world's health demands a new model of collaboration -one that sparks deep discussions of shared innovation and builds ethical partnerships to address pressing issues in global health.

Drawing on the fact that education of children is a human right issue, the study explored parent’s involvement in the education of their children with disabilities. Using quantitative research methodology, 166 respondents were sampled from two selected basic schools in Koforidua, Ghana. Results indicated that, often the demand on parents such as time, work, house chores, and many other commitments impede their preference to be involved in their children’s education. The school activities most parents involved themselves in are the Parent Teachers Association’s (P.T.A.) meetings. This is because parents do not see themselves as having interest in many of the other activities children in school are involved in. Equally, though some parents from poor background may want to educate their child with disability, the cost involved in educating the child is high. Evidence showed that there was a moderate level of parents’ involvement in the education of their children with disability and that the level of involvement is associated with the socio-economic status of such parents. The study concluded that parental involvement in their children with disabilities education leads to positive learning outcomes and academic achievements. It was recommended among others that parents should get involved in decisions concerning the education of their children with disability; parents must honour invitations from schools and speak with school staff and teachers. Again, parents should disabuse their minds of the perceptions that taking their child with disability to school is of no benefit and a waste of resources. Key Words: Parents, children with disabilities, education

Juvenile delinquency is a global phenomenon that affect children's developmental process and represent a significant concern for the society. Despite the fact that it is a global issue, its effects are felt more in developing countries such as Ghana due to inadequate resources available to rehabilitate them. However, the study explored the procedure used in admitting inmates into the juvenile detention facilities and challenges in rehabilitating them and recommended strategies based on findings to improve on the rehabilitation system. Using a quantitative research methodology, simple random and purposive samplings were used in selecting 94 respondents for the study at the senior correctional centre. Data obtained from the inmates was analyzed with SPSS and descriptive statistics with frequency distributions were employed to explain the data. The findings indicated challenges that affect both care takers and inmate at the centre regarding human resources, inadequate training period, facility to house inmate and the proper procedure for admission into the correctional facility. These challenges showed that, there are gaps in the rehabilitation process which mission is to make delinquent children valuable members of the society after they are released. Rather many juvenile delinquents stand high risk of becoming criminals in their adulthood.