Fight against child marriage requires sustained action — ActionAid

Mr. John Nkaw, the Country Director of ActionAid Ghana (AAG) says the fight against child marriage required sustained actions not just for an individual girl’s future but that of the country.

He said the successful fight against the menace would also help contribute to achieving the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the provision of the Affirmative Action Law.

Mr. Nkaw called on stakeholders to work together against child marriage to create a society where child marriage and teenage pregnancy would be a thing of the past and every girl educated and free to shape her destiny.

He said this at the Upper West Regional Multi-Stakeholder Conference on Child Marriage on the theme: “Addressing the Root Causes of Girl-Child Marriage: The Role of Stakeholders.”

Representatives of Religious and Traditional Authorities, Civil Society Organisations, state Agencies and Departments as well as survivors of child marriage among others attended the conference.

It was to create a platform for stakeholders to map out strategies on how they could address the rising incidence of child marriage and teenage pregnancy in the region.

“ActionAid carried out some form of work around child marriage in the Upper West Region for over 10 years now and it has come to light that child marriage menace in the region is rising,” Mr. Nkaw said.

Data from the Upper West Regional Health Directorate indicated that 1,411 deliveries of mothers aged between 10-19 were recorded from January to July 2024, against 1,606 and 1,720 recorded within same periods in 2023 and 2022, respectively.

Mr Nkaw explained that child marriage and teenage pregnancy had debilitating consequences on the health and well-being of the survivor and in some cases, it resulted in complications and loss of lives during childbirth.

He added that child marriage was an infringement on the fundamental human rights of survivors including their right to education, which had made it imperative for urgent action to address it.

“Child Marriage perpetuates the cycle of poverty and undermines our efforts towards gender equality, human rights and sustainable development,” Mr. Nkaw added.

He pointed out that their commitment to ending child marriage was in response to the SDGs, especially Goal 5, which focused on achieving gender equality and empowering all women and girls, and targets to eliminate all harmful practices, including child marriage by 2030.

He mentioned some interventions of AAG in addressing child marriage as the establishment of the Girls’ Empowerment and Advocacy Platforms/Clubs across the country and the Young Females Platforms in selected Senior High Schools in the country.

ActionAid Ghana also established and trained 82 Community-Based Anti-Violence Teams (COMBATs) in the region to monitor and respond to cases of violence including child marriage.

Some survivors of child marriage at the conference shared their experiences of child marriage and teenage pregnancy and how they survived the challenges.

Miss Barikisu, a survivor, said she got entangled in teenage pregnancy and child marriage due to the divorce of her parents and her search for survival.

According to her, she became pregnant a few months before her Basic Education Certificate Examination and was compelled to move in to stay with the perpetrator where she performed wife duties but with the support of AAG, she returned to school and completed SHS.

Mr. Peter Maala, the Upper West Regional Chief Director, in a speech read on behalf of the Regional Minister, recognised the grave implications of child marriage, teenage pregnancies, and early childbirth on the lives of girls.

He lamented that the statistics of child marriage were alarming and demanded urgent and sustained action to tackle them.
“These numbers are not just statistics; they represent the shattered dreams, lost potential, and truncated futures of our daughters, sisters, and nieces”, Mr. Maala observed.

He indicated that the menace of child marriage was a clarion call to all stakeholders, CSOs and traditional and religious leaders among others of the urgent need for decisive and collaborative action to address it.

Madam Charity Batuure, the Upper West Regional Director of the Department of Gender, who chaired the conference, said there had been several interventions in the region to end child marriage.

She said that led to some improvement in the statistics saying, “…we need, however, to up our game or intensify our engagement so that we can achieve the desired results.”