A picture of participants of the Adolescents’ Learning Forum 2022 (ADOLEF)
The United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the United Nations’ sexual and reproductive health agency, has enlightened adolescents on the best practices in combating child marriage, adolescent pregnancies as well as creating safe spaces for girls to strive.
Addressing the young people during a 2-day annual Adolescents’ Learning Forum 2022 (ADOLEF), at Coconut Grove Hotel in Accra, the acting Country Representative of UNFPA Ghana, Barnabas Yisa, said the forum had empowered young girls against negative effects of societal norms and to compel them to achieve their aim. The forum was dubbed “Girls at the centre of all dialogues”.
“The forum, since its inception, has created a safe space for adolescent girls from the child marriage programme communities across the country to reflect on their journey, share their practical experiences and propose solutions towards zero child marriage and teenage pregnancy in Ghana,” he stated.
He lamented that whilst the prevalence of child marriage in Ghana had declined over the past three decades, progress has not been even within most regions.
Mr Yisa said pushing and promoting for girl child education, particularly in villages, is a responsibility that Christian and Muslim communities must not shirk in helping address the issue of teenage pregnancy in Ghana.
Mentorship
He urged the young boys and girls to have many mentors and role models, as their years of experiences and exposure will be a source of motivation for them. That, he indicated, will help them become the next ambassadors, programme specialists, grant officers, and country representatives, amongst others.
“Considering the fact that many naïve young girls fall prey to the antics of older men for economic or financial reasons, being educated will help alleviate that because schools will help give them more exposure in addition to helping them earn higher incomes in the future,” he explained.
The Programme Assistant for Gender at the UNFPA, Abigail Edem Hunu, pointed out that 1 in 5 young women currently were married before 18 years, as compared to 1 in 3 in the early 1990s.
Consequently, she expressed worry that the number of child brides will grow if the prevalence of child marriage remains at current levels.
She said the UNFPA/UNICEF Joint Programme had been supporting national agenda by prioritizing key result areas under the MoGCSP National Strategic Framework on Ending Child Marriage since (2017-2026) in the areas of National Gender Policy, National Child and Family Welfare Policy and Justice for Children Policy.
“Over 2,900 men and boys reached with the targeted intervention to enhance their capacity to become champions and advocates against child marriage with the Child Marriage Community Advocacy Toolkits. 350 religious and traditional leaders engaged in dialogues and trained at national and regional levels to increase their knowledge and promote positive attitudes and practices for ending child marriage,” she revealed.
Education key
She explained that because “Charity begins at home,” parents need to educate their wards as they approach puberty. In addition, schools and religious organisations should teach children about abstinence from sex, contraception, family etc.
“Such topics should be emphasized in school curriculums and religious doctrines so that girls, in particular, will be better equipped to deal with such matters should they come up.”
In her opinion, to practically work towards eliminating the practice of teenage pregnancies and child mothers, leaders need to stop paying lip service when it comes to child marriages. They should institute and enforce laws that will deter older men from taking advantage of young girls.
She therefore called on duty bearers, particularly traditional rulers, to institute measures to outlaw ancient traditional practices that help people to take advantage of young girls.
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