By Emmanuel Gamson, GNA
Tamale, Oct. 14, GNA – Madam Yakubu Fatima, Northern Regional Chairperson for the alumna for the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED), has called on members of the public to help to stop teenage pregnancies and child marriages.
She said teenage pregnancy and child marriages were dominant in the country, especially in the northern sector, and stressed the need for the citizenry to join the campaign to end the social canker.
She made the call in Tamale, at an event which was jointly organised by Alumna (CAMA) and CAMFED, with support from Youth Empowerment for Life, Ghana Youth Guide (GYG), Global Sharpers and the Marie Stopes International, to commemorate this year’s International Day of the Girl Child.
The event, attended by female students from selected schools in the Tamale Metropolis, was themed; “Empowering Girls: Co-opting Partners to End Teenage Pregnancy and Child Marriage in Ghana”.
Madam Fatima said “there was a growing rate of teen pregnancies and its resultant effects on the girl child. This phenomenon is pronounced in the north and indeed the statistics of teenage pregnancy and child marriage is taking an upward trend”.
She appealed to religious and traditional authorities and corporate bodies to join forces to help reduce the problem, adding “there is, therefore, the need to integrate our efforts and interventions as stakeholders to press for change”.
Ms Sadik Hamdiya Tunteeya, a representative from the GYG, who addressed the occasion, indicated that about 13.5 million girls were married before they turned 18 years worldwide every year, and one out of nine girls married before age 15.
She said“this is a serious problem, which contributes to poverty in our communities and cuts the girl child of her ambitions”.
She expressed the need to empower the girl child through education and skill training to help end teenage pregnancies and child marriages to enable them to contribute to economic growth in the country.
Madam Tahiru Shukuratu, Northern Regional Secretary of CAMA, said the Association carried out 210 advocacy campaigns in 17 districts in the northern region to sensitise members of the public on the need to stop teenage pregnancy and early child marriages.
She said the Association reached out to teenage girls and gave them skills training in various areas and also sent some back to school.
GNA
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