The Forum for African Women Educationalists (FAWE), a non-governmental organization focused on girls’ education, has disclosed that the increase in teenage pregnancies in the Upper East Region is linked to illegal small-scale mining activities, widely known in Ghana as galamsey.
This revelation was made on 28th March 2025 during a media engagement organized by FAWE.
According to Emmanuel Gazari, a senior field officer at FAWE, a survey conducted by the organization revealed that districts such as Bongo and other gold-rich areas have witnessed a sharp rise in teenage pregnancies since the discovery of illegal mining in the region.
The Upper East Region has seen the discovery of gold in about seven districts in recent years. These include Bawku West, Talensi, Nabdam, Bolgatanga Municipal, Bongo, and two others. All these districts except Talensi are reportedly engaged in illegal mining activities, locally referred to as galamsey.
FAWE revealed that this trend has significantly contributed to the increasing number of teenage pregnancies in the region.
“We are beginning to see that there is seemingly an increase in the number of teenage pregnancies, and one of the factors is the galamsey menace in the country. Unfortunately, where the galamsey sites are, the project doesn’t operate in those areas. That is one gap we have to look at and deliberate as to how to go in and resolve the problem.
“If you also look at the aspect of acceptability, the project has been accepted across all four regions, where we now have people coming up to report cases on behalf of the adolescents or encouraging the adolescents to come and report their cases. Through this project, a young lady was rescued from forced marriage and is currently in university,” he stated.