The Nadowli-Kaleo District Director of the Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Mr Umar Yakubu Yaarun, has observed that child marriage and teenage pregnancies were the leading cause of high school dropout in the district.
According to him, if the situation is not brought under control, the future of many teenage girls in the district would be jeopardised and poverty and vulnerability would be further heightened among the women.
Mr Yaarun made the observation during a community forum on equal rights and Opportunities for Women and Girls (EROP) project held at Goli community in the Nadowli-Kaleo District of the Upper West Region.
The CHRAJ District Director pointed out that lack of proper parental care for girls is responsible for child marriage and teenage pregnancies and encouraged parents to double their effort in catering for their children to help curb the canker and to guarantee girl child education in the district.
He also sensitised the community members against domestic violence, which he said was a crime punishable by law and they should endeavour to report cases to the agencies such as the police, CHRAJ and Social Welfare Department for the necessary action.
Mr David Ganye, the Regional Coordinator for AfCHuRSD, noted that early marriage was of serious concern to them because of how it retarded the development of women and girls.
He said AfCHuRSD was working hard to ensure domestic violence, child marriage and teenage pregnancies become a thing of the past in all the communities they work in and beyond.
Mr Ganye encouraged the community people to work together with the AfCHuRSD community support teams to end these social, economic and developmental challenges.
Mr Prosper Kpankyaano, the Nadowli-Kaleo District Social Welfare Officer, encouraged the women to develop themselves and take up leadership roles to ensure women were fairly represented at the decision-making level.
The forum was organised by the EROP Project Support Team under the Support of the African Centre for Human Rights and Sustainable Development (AfCHuRSD) in collaboration with GH Alliance and WOMEN IN NEED (WIN) with funding support from the Dutch Embassy in Ghana.
The EROP project seeks to ensure that women and girls in Ghana realised their human rights and utilized opportunities to better their lot.
