Stakeholders from various backgrounds including traditional authorities, opinion leaders and public servants met for a day’s deliberations on how to reduce teenage pregnancies and child marriages in the Kassena-Nankana West District.

The meeting which was convened by the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development was held at the District Assembly’s Conference Hall, Paga in the Upper East Region.

Stating the purpose of the meeting, the Head of the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, Madam Victoria Asuliwono observed that, teenage pregnancies and child marriage were a persistent issue the world over, affecting millions of young lives. ”Sadly, the Kassena-Nankana West District has equally been faced with the canker.”, she lamented.

She said that the double-faced canker affects the socio-economic development of the young and teenage girls in the District. According to her, a number of cases were recorded in the past while yet; others were never reported for redress for reasons best known to the victims and their families.

She pointed out that, the canker is a clear violation of human rights; depriving children of their childhood, education, and potentials, noting that this harmful practice has even severe physical, emotional, and psychological consequences on the victims.

Madam Asuliwono used the occasion to explained child marriage as the union of two individuals, at least one of whom must be under the age of 18. On the issue of teenage marriage, she said that it typically involves individuals between the ages of 16 and 19 years old.

Referencing the United Nations’ body UNICEF, she disclosed that an estimated number of 650 million girls and women alive today were married before their 18th birthday. She said that In 2020 for instance, some 7.6 million girls under 18 years got married, which translates to 21,000 child marriages every day.

She mentioned the major causes of the teenage pregnancies and child marriages as poverty and economic factors; where families may see marriage as a means to reduce financial burdens or gain economic stability which made them see their daughters as sources of family income. Other causes she said included cultural and religious practices, conflict and displacement, limited access to education and job opportunities.

Madam Asuliwono held that, “Gender inequality and social norms play a major role in child marriage as deeply ingrained gender roles and stereotypes perpetuate the idea that girls are inferior to boys while social norms often prioritize boys’ education and career advancement over girls’”.

With all these negative impacts of the canker on the well-being of the girl-child, the Social Welfare and Community Development Director appealed to traditional and opinion leaders to be up and alive with their roles in shaping social norms and influencing community behaviours for positive outcomes in the fight against teenage pregnancy and child marriage.

She called on other opinion leaders including Government officials, Assembly Members, Unit Committee Members and Local Celebrities with large following to do their best in their specialized fields to help sway public opinion to social issues like child marriage.

Addressing the Stakeholders, the Kassena-Nankana West District Chief Executive (DCE), Hon. Gerard Ataogye noted that the phenomenon of teenage pregnancies and child marriages were a dent on the image of society and that all well-meaning citizens who care about the future leaders of Ghana, must immediately put their hands to the wheel and bring forward all their suggestions, resources and strategies to curtail the menace.

The Stakeholders present including officers from the Ghana Health Service, the Ghana Education Service, the National Commission for Civic Education, the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice, Queen Mothers, Chiefs among others all pledged to get actively in any efforts geared at stamping out the canker in the area.

Source:  Peter Atogewe Wedam, Kassena-Nankana West District Information Officer