Ghana’s First Lady, Lordina Dramani Mahama, has taken a leading role on the global stage by calling for stronger international cooperation to protect children in an increasingly digital world.
Speaking at the Fostering the Future Together Global Coalition Summit in Washington, D.C., hosted by Melania Trump, Mrs Mahama stressed that while technology is empowering young people, it also exposes them to growing online risks that require urgent and coordinated action.
Highlighting Ghana’s proactive approach, she pointed to initiatives such as the Safer Digital Ghana campaign, which focuses on raising awareness and preventing online abuse, alongside strengthened laws and enforcement mechanisms to safeguard children.
Mrs Mahama noted that with millions of young people actively using the internet in Ghana, digital platforms have become powerful tools for education, creativity, and economic opportunity. She shared a personal experience from Ghana’s 69th Independence Day, where young people used social media platforms like TikTok to connect and celebrate, even from afar.
However, she warned that these same platforms can expose children to dangers such as cyberbullying, exploitation, and harmful content. Citing research, she revealed that a significant number of young victims of online abuse withdraw from school due to these experiences.
Ghana’s strategy, she explained, includes digital literacy programmes in schools and partnerships with global technology companies like Meta and Google to improve content moderation and online safety standards.
Mrs Mahama urged world leaders to treat child online protection as a shared responsibility, emphasizing that safeguarding the digital future of children is both a moral obligation and a global priority.
The summit forms part of broader international efforts to address online risks facing young people, building on frameworks such as the UN’s Children and Digital report and the European Union’s Digital Services Act.
