Bolgatanga, June 20, GNA - The Campaign against Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy has begun in 173 junior high schools (JHS) in the Upper East Region.
The Regional Directorate of the Department of Children in collaboration with the Regional Directorate of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) with funding support from UNICEF is leading the campaign in the Builsa South, Builsa North, Talensi, Kassena-Nankana West and Pusiga Districts.
Mrs Georgina Aberese- Ako, the Regional Director of the Department of Children, who disclosed this at a Regional forum organised in Bolgatanga, said the two- year campaign dubbed: “End Child Marriage Project,” had become necessary because the Region had the second highest child marriage rate in the country with 39.2 per cent.
She said last year, the Regional Directorate of the GES also undertook monitoring activities in schools in the Region and it was established that 430 girls in both the primary and JHSs got pregnant during the period.
“Out of this total figure, 105 were BECE candidates. It is a norm in the region that some parents marry off their pregnant girls to those responsible for the pregnancies. This practice accounted for the high school dropouts rate especially among the girl-child in some districts like the Talensi, Bongo and Builsa,” she said.
Mrs Aberese-Ako said both child marriage and teenage pregnancies had greater and negative consequences on the welfare and proper growth of the girl-child.
She cited the risk of HIV and AIDS infection and other sexually transmitted diseases, drop out of school, birth complication and death as some of the consequences.
She proposed that to help end the phenomena, there was the urgent need to enroll the girl-child in school at the right age, prosecute perpetrators of child marriage , ensure that traditional rulers and opinion leaders organise community level activities against child marriage and teenage pregnancies.
She attributed the cause of the problem to gender inequality, ignorance of the law, parental neglect, and negative cultural practices.
The Regional Director of the NCCE, Mr Pontius Pilate Apaabey Baba, said abuse of the Child Right was a human right violation that must be stopped.
She expressed the need for people to report such cases to the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Department of Children, Department of Social Welfare, the NCCE, Chiefs and Queen Mothers.
He entreated parents and teachers to ensure that they play key roles in their schools and jurisdiction so as to help resolve the problem.
The participants including the DOVVSU, CHRAJ, Department of Children, and Department of Social Welfare, the NCCE, Chiefs and Queen Mothers who attended the forum, gave the assurance that they would rally behind the campaign against Child Marriage and Teenage Pregnancy.
GNA
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