Clothe the Naked Outreach (CTN), an Accra based non-for-profit organization, would next year award scholarships to some 13 needy children across the country.

The packages would cover their education from primary to the tertiary level.

The initiative, which was unveiled at a hand -over ceremony of the organisation, is geared at bridging the gap between the privileged and the less privileged in the society.

Mr Stephen Kwasi Quainoo, the CTN President, who announced this on Monday, in Accra, also said seven children were currently on the scholarship scheme at various levels of education, including tertiary.

Mr Quainoo, however, explained that the CTN scholarship, unlike that of other organizations, was not designed for only brilliant children.

This, he said, was to ensure that equal opportunities were created for all persons to help combat neglect and segregation, which he explained widened the gap between the rich and the poor.

The CTN President observed that more than 90 per cent of street children were those who did not have any support from family members or did not have anyone to take care of them.

'The ultimate goal of CTN is to give hope to the poor by putting smiles on their faces, "he said

"We don't have in abundance, but the little we have whether clothes, money or food, we make sure that we share it with the poor and the needy." Mr Quainoo said.

Mr Stephen Kwasi Quainoo commended the outgoing leaders for working tirelessly to ensure the smooth running of the organisation.

He also congratulated the incoming leaders on their feat and advised them to emulate the good works of their predecessors so as to position the organisation on a higher height.

Meanwhile, Ms Johnetta Abraham, Educational Consultant, who is also a member of the CTN, called on the Government to support the organisation because the scholarship initiative would help eradicate streetism and juvenile delinquency.

Ms Abraham said the initiative could also contribute to the Government's concerted efforts to optimise the human capital base because a more educated human resource could lead to proper exploitation of the country's resources to boost productivity.

"I believe Ghanaian children have the capabilities like that of the advanced countries," the education consultant said.

Ms Abraham also urged stakeholders and every individual to support the CTN in the forms of used or unused clothes, money and logistics to help fuel its running.

The Clothe the Naked Outreach has since its inception, in 2010, donated clothes, food and money to numerous institutions, including the Maximum Security Prison at Ankaful and the Ankaful Psychiatric Hospital in the Central Region, Countryside Orphanage, Rising Star Orphanage and Good Shepherd Orphanage at Kasoa.

The organisation has also donated clothes, food and farming tools to Kwaakwaa and Abodom villages in the Central Region as well as the Bepotuntum Village in the Eastern Region.

GNA