Bolgatanga, July 13, GNA – Ms Dora Kulariba, the Upper East Regional Adolescent Focal Person, Ghana Health Service, says ineffective communication between parents and their wards is a major cause of teenage pregnancy cases in the region.
She said statistics showed the region as one of the top three regions with high cases of teenage pregnancy and attributed the cause to lack of sexual and reproductive health rights information among adolescents.
For the last three years, the region had exceeded the national target of 11.5 per cent, recording 15.8 per cent in 2018, 16 per cent in 2019 and 15.5 per cent in 2020 as well as 14.7 percent within the first quarter of 2021.
Ms Kulariba said this at a stakeholder engagement for traditional and religious authorities in Bolgatanga to enable them to promote sexual and reproductive health rights among adolescents in their various jurisdictions. The engagement was organized by the Rural Initiatives for Self-Empowerment-Ghana (RISE-Ghana), an advocacy non- governmental organization with funding support from the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF).
Stakeholders from six districts where the project is being implemented, Bawku West, Builsa South, Kassena-Nankana West, Talensi, Nabdam and Bongo attended the meeting.
Ms Kulariba expressed worry about the future of the pregnant girls and advocated collective stakeholder approach to address the phenomenon.
She said adolescence was a critical stage in the growth and development of every child and that it was imperative for parents to help the children to understand the changes in the development process.
“Adolescence is the period where the young people develop sexual feelings for the opposite sex and it is, therefore, necessary for parents to develop effective communication channels between them and their children to be able to empower them with sexual and reproductive health rights so as to enable them make informed decisions, regarding their sexual lives and this will help them prevent unplanned pregnancies and Sexually Transmitted Infections”, she added.
She urged parents to provide the needs of their children to prevent them from engaging in transactional sex, which was identified as an emerging cause of teenage pregnancy in the region.
Mr Awal Ahmed Kariama, the Executive Director, RISE-Ghana, noted that the project sought to train and equip traditional and religious leaders from the project areas with interpersonal communication skills to champion protection of children, sexual and reproductive health rights of adolescents and access to nutrition.
The Executive Director urged the stakeholders to intensify education among their people, especially parents to work towards upholding the Children’s Act of 2006, Act 590 and added “this will help contribute to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Naab Seirig Sore Sobil, the Chief of Pelungu in the Nabdam District, noted that for the traditional authorities to effectively play critical roles in protecting children, especially girls, there should be Legislative Instrument empowering the chiefs to punish perpetrators of criminal cases, including sexual violence such as rape and defilement.
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