Katariga (N/R), June 27, GNA – Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), has launched Child Marriage-Free Community Alert Campaign (CM-FCAC) to mobilize community support to end incidences of forced and early child marriages in Northern Region.
The Campaign, being implemented with support from the UNFPA, seeks to create awareness about the consequences of child marriages and how the people could join forces to end the menace.
Speaking at a ceremony to launch the Campaign at Katariga, a community in the Sagnarigu Municipality of the Northern Region, Mrs Abena Adubea Amoah, Executive Director of PPAG, said child marriage was a major obstacle to sustainable development due to its negative social, health and economic impact on young girls and communities.
She noted that “These challenges do not only negatively make their lives difficult, but also continue to perpetuate cycles of poverty, low social status, illiteracy and poor adult lives”.
Mrs Amoah said although authorities had made some efforts to reduce forced and early child marriages in the country, most regions continued to record such cases.
“To tackle child marriage and its multifaceted causes such as poverty, gender inequality and discrimination, unhealthy social norms and cultural practices and others in communities, a multi-sectorial action are needed and we are contributing to this through the CM-FCAC ”, she added.
Mr Mammah Tenii, Head of UNFPA Tamale Decentralised Office, said child marriage was becoming a common practice in communities, and indicated that it was a human right abuse that needed to be stopped.
He said empowering adolescent girls in various ways could help them to make informed decisions about their health and basic rights.
“These young ones need to be educated to make life choices, they need to be taught lifesaving skills and career development paths to contribute meaningfully to the development of their families, our communities and to nation building”.
Tindan Paga Memunatu Issah, Queen Mother of Katariga, pledged her commitment to ensure that girls were not given out for marriages in her community and reiterated the need for traditional authorities to collaborate with other stakeholders to institute measures to curb the menace in the community.