This year’s International Women’s Day celebration forum focused on girl child marriage and education.

[contextly_sidebar id=”QNE89eISaqsRUA5paJMockhBESoGOr3k”]Speaking at the forum on the Theme, “Press for Progress” Madam Akufo-Addo also acknowledged some individuals who had positively impacted the lives of children in their communities.

“The 2018 International Women’s Day theme is ‘Press for progress’. All over the world, we are experiencing strong and concerted activism towards gender parity. Today is an opportunity for us to add our voices to the discussions to get us closer to our goal.

“I certainly want to have my grandchildren to live in a Ghana where we have gender parity so this year’s theme speaks to something deep within me. For me, it means we move despite the obstacles. That we push forward in spite of the resistance. It means that we do not allow anything to stop us. Today, discussions will focus on two important and related issues. Girls’ education and the elimination of child marriages. Why the focus on these two issues? Because education is the catalyst for the development of the individual and the nation.”

Meanwhile the Centre for Democratic Congress (CDD), in a statement marking International Women’s Day, has commended various stakeholders for their immeasurable contribution towards the fight for women’s rights, justice, and equality.

It, however, maintained that progress towards gender parity remains slow.

According to CDD, inequality is very prevalent in women’s participation in politics, in spite of the policies introduced to increase women representation in key government offices.

Quoting a recent Afrobarometer survey, CDD indicated that statistics had shown that a large majority (72%) of Ghanaians “agree” or “agree very strongly” that women should have the same chance of being elected to political office as men. However, women are rarely encouraged to compete for such positions.

“This was evident in the 2016 elections where there was only one female presidential candidate and only one female running mate, representing 14.3% as opposed to 85.7% male. Though there was an uptick in women representation in Parliament in the elections (37, compared to 29 in 2012) – the highest in the country’s history – this is still very low, compared to 238 elected male parliamentarians,”CDD added in its statement.

CDD-Ghana also noted that Ghanaian women, both in the rural and urban settings are confronted with peculiar challenges which threaten their socio-economic and political development.

The Centre, therefore, recommended that government applies the appropriate policies and measures to accelerate the realization of gender equality in Ghana.

Paramount among these is the passage of the Affirmative Action Bill, which will ensure 50:50 representations of women in key public appointments.

–

By: Marian Ansah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Join the fight against child marriage – First Lady urges Ghanaians appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Unicef estimates that 25 million child marriages have been prevented in the past decade.

One in five girls are now married before they are 18, compared with one in four a decade ago.

South Asian countries have seen the biggest reduction in child marriages, Unicef says.

In India this was achieved by better education for girls and by publicising the harm child marriage causes.

The agency said the problem was now most severe in Africa but even so, Ethiopia had cut child marriage rates by a third.

Anju Malhotra, Unicef’s principal gender adviser, said that given the life-changing impact child marriage had on a girl’s life, “any reduction is welcome news – but we’ve got a long way to go”.

“When a girl is forced to marry as a child she faces immediate and lifelong consequences,” she said.

“Her odds of finishing school decrease while her odds of being abused by her husband and suffering complications during pregnancy increase. There are also huge societal consequences, and higher risk of intergenerational cycles of poverty.”

The report said that the burden of child marriage was shifting to sub-Saharan Africa, where more progress was needed to offset population growth.

Unicef said nearly one in three child marriages were now in sub-Saharan Africa, compared with one in five a decade ago.

World leaders have vowed to end child marriage by 2030 under the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Ms Malhotra said that to meet that target, efforts had to be stepped up “to prevent millions of girls having their childhoods stolen through this devastating practice”.

–

Source: BBC

The post Child marriages declining – UN appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

This age old practice inhibits the girls’ educational development, employability and subsequently influences their world view.

The act takes the form of abduction, elopement and betrothal of these young girls who are mostly sold for a bride price.

In recent times of information age, due to the attention that it has received and since been made a crime, the perpetrators have developed new ways of practicing the act.

Some of the new ways are connivance of girls in the act and sending girls out to the cities to work during school holidays where the men follow up ostensibly to bring them back home.

In areas where the girls are complicit in the act, these girls drop out of school and travel to work as head porters in Accra.

The travel to Accra is sponsored by the lover of a girl so that upon her return from Accra, she gets married to him. These girls drop out usually from classes five and six as well as JHS forms one and two.

The ages of these girls are usually between thirteen and sixteen.

The other way is: parents who are aware that their daughters will not kowtow to their pressure deliberately send their daughters to the cities under the pretext of asking them to go and work when schools are on holidays.

The plan on the other hand is to avoid the intervention of teachers and other stakeholders.

Later, the would-be-husband is sent ostensibly to the city to bring the girl home. It’s at this point that the marriage is consummated since all arrangements have been completed with the parents.

In the matter of child marriage and its associated disadvantages to the girl child development, there have been global efforts to reduce to the barest minimum the canker of the phenomenon.

In line with this the first and third targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 4 and 5 respectively states: “by 2030, ensure that all girls and boys complete free, equitable and quality primary and secondary education leading to relevant and effective learning outcomes; eliminate all harmful practices, such as child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilations.”

The above targets become difficult to achieve when the phenomenon of child marriage which comes along with the dropping out of school and teenage pregnancy still prevails in its new ways.

Communities where the act of school dropout, child marriage and consequently teenage pregnancy is prevalent there are efforts that are made to by Parents and Teachers Association (PTAs) as well as School Management Committees (SMCs)to nip the situation in the bud by instituting fines.

Sadly, due to the connivance of the girls and their lovers they have found a way to avoid the fine: the girls drop out of school and leave their homes for Accra to work and then upon their return they declare their intentions of not returning to school.

In some other cases, the indigenes of the communities threaten the lives of teachers who they believe stand in their way of luring girls into marriage.

The war against child or early marriage can’t be won when the girls don’t understand the consequences that come along with it. The focus must be on making girls understand that their future success is not in being wives; instead it’s in their skill and intellectual development.

Girls must be made to understand that they have a greater role to play in the development of their communities than yielding to pressure to marry.

All these start and end with how adequately the Ministry of Gender and Social Protection as well as the Girl Child Unit of the Ghana Education Service are resourced annually from national to district levels so as to ensure that the triple phenomenon of dropping out of school, child marriage and consequently teenage pregnancy which hinder the progress of the girl is brought to an end.

The power of the state institutions responsible for bringing to an end this phenomenon can only be realised if there’s adequate and available resources as well as consistent sensitisation programmes on the need to abstain from such vices and empower parents as well as guardians with acquisition of knowledge in order to invest their resources in their girl children.

When these girls and the communities are encouraged to know that there is a better alternative to becoming brides or marrying girls, this nation only loses the triple phenomenon that hinder the successful skill and intellectual development of the girl child.

–

By: Alex Blege

The writer is a freelance journalist.

Writers emal: [email protected]/[email protected]     

The post Child marriage: New ways of perpetrating the act [Article] appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Speaking at the commemoration event of the Campaign on accelerated reduction of maternal mortality in Africa (CARMMA), the Minister said more needs to be done in terms of sensitization in order to stop child marriage in the country.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ryI8eXYMyOKUZQGte4IrFtYPA1e2nWrk”]“It is not good enough for you to say it is an honour to send your child off to marry her grandfather. For a 14 year old to marry a 68 year old man is not an honour it’s a dishonour. It is Haram. And for anybody in this twenty first century -Ghana sixty years on, and with Africa at the helm of affairs – to think that it is okay to mutilate any young girl in the name of honor of culture is also an indication that we have still a lot to do in terms of sensitization” she said.

The Minster,  who has been very vocal against child marriage, suggested that laws be transcribed into local dialects for easy interpretation by the locals in the country who might not know what they are entitled to.

“It is important that our people who cannot read, be given the laws in a medium that they can read [or listen to]. All the laws are in English or in French and they are written, and so if you cannot read, then you might not know that what you are doing is against the law and that it is criminal.”

“…So I want to implore all of us to find out how we can translate all the of laws into voice, into the different dialects, so that our people where the issues are occurring in the communities in the households will be able to understand that the time has come for them to change” she pleaded.

–

By: Ann-Shirley Ziwu/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Marrying off 14-yr old girl to a 68-yr old not noble – Otiko appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

Teenage pregnancies reported at health facilities in the district increased from 160 cases in 2016, to 201 in 2017, according to Alex Bapula, the Sissala East District Director of Health Services.

Mr. Bapula said this during a child marriage discussion with chiefs and queen mothers and other traditional authorities in Tumu and Sissala East District.

The discussion was organised by ActionAid-Ghana.

[contextly_sidebar id=”3NJ75LJdDmAvkH7L5AnOs5qMTlFxKoLZ”]He said the trend of teenage pregnancies in the district stood, at 11.1 percent in 2014; 12.4 percent in 2015; 11.9 percent in 2016; and 14.3 percent in 2017 in the period under review.

“The trend of teenage deliveries also stands at 12.7 percent in 2014; 12.3 percent in 2015; 9.2 percent in 2016; and 10.7 percent in 2017, within the same period” the Sissala East District Director of Health Services said.

Mr. Sulley Mohammed, Sissala West District Adolescent Health Coordinator, said a total of 295 teenage pregnancies were recorded in the district between the periods of June 2016 to July 2017.

He said there were also 160 deliveries, 15 abortions and 25 Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs), whilst a total of 579 adolescents in the district were put on family planning services.

Traditional authorities at the end of the meeting issued a communiqué prohibiting child marriage and teenage pregnancies in the district.

The communiqué stated that, no person should marry or impregnate a girl below the age of 18 years, and that anyone who acted contrary would be fined GHȼ500.00 and also made to offer a cow.

It also forbade incest in Sissalaland adding that anyone who committed such an act would pay a GHȼ1000.00 fine plus a sheep.

Furthermore, no family would accept or permit any girl below 18 years into their homes for purposes of marriage, adding that culprits would be made to pay GHȼ500.00 and a sheep.

The communiqué said no chief should support or shield any case of child marriage or pregnancy in their community, and that a chief who engaged in such acts would be required to pay GHȼ1000.00 and a sheep to the community.

Again, no parent should push or allow their teenage pregnant girl to stay with the family of the boy who impregnated her; rather, the girl should be allowed to stay with her parents while the boy takes the responsibility of caring for her needs.

Any parent who acted contrary would be fined GHȼ1000.00, the communiqué said, and urged parents to confiscate mobile phones from their children.

Madam Abiba Nibaradun, ActionAid-Ghana’s Upper West Regional Programme Officer, thanked the chiefs for making the commitment, and appealed to them to ensure that they worked to the benefit of the girl child, their families, communities and the nation at large.

–

Source: GNA

The post Surge in teenage pregnancies hampering anti-child marriage fight appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The clause, which was part of India’s law on rape, said intercourse between a man and his wife was permissible as long as she was over 15 years of age.

The age of consent in India is 18, but marital rape is not considered an offence. The verdict has been hailed by women’s rights activists.

However correspondents say that the order will be difficult to enforce.

The judgement said that girls under 18 would be able to charge their husbands with rape, as long as they complained within one year of being forced to have sexual relations.

“This is a landmark judgement that corrects a historical wrong against girls. How could marriage be used as a criteria to discriminate against girls?” Vikram Srivastava, the founder of Independent Thought, one of the main petitioners in the case, told the BBC.

However, the BBC’s Geeta Pandey in Delhi says that while welcome, the order will be difficult to implement in a country where child marriage is still rampant.

“Courts and police cannot monitor people’s bedrooms and a minor girl who is already married, almost always with the consent of her parents, will not usually have the courage to go to the police or court and file a case against her husband,” our correspondent says.

India’s government says the practice of child marriage is “an obstacle to nearly every developmental goal: eradicating poverty and hunger; achieving universal primary education; promoting gender equality; protecting children’s lives; and improving women’s health”.

–

Source: BBC

The post India Supreme Court rules sex with child bride is rape appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

“The practice of taking young girls out of school midstream and marrying them off mostly to men far older than them must stop…One of the most backward and unacceptable practice is child marriage. This must be a cause that we take up with passion.”

[contextly_sidebar id=”geYqc6dcsHFLfYxljQl4TEnPi18kbvsn”]The former president made the remark when he gave the keynote address at the Women in Agriculture Summit in Morocco on Tuesday.

John Mahama further urged parents to desist from such practice and allow girls to spend more time in school.

“Girls must not only be made to go to school, but must also stay in school for as far as their capacity for academic pursuit can take them,” he added.

Touching on agriculture, Mr. Mahama called for the empowerment of women saying it is not a privilege “it is a right.”

He noted that Africa possesses about 600 million hectares of uncultivated arable land, amounting to “about 60% of the world total.”

Mr. Mahama said the available arable land means that “Africa has the potential to, not only feed itself, but feed the rest of the world” if better efforts are put into it.

The former president said in order to achieve this, “not only women, but also the youth must be attracted to invest and participate in agricultural production.”

Child marriage increases by 42% in Northern Ghana

A recent research shows that child marriage increased by 42% in Northern Ghana. This situation, analysts have said is above the national average of 24%.

–

By: Godwin Akweiteh Allotey/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @AlloteyGodwin

The post Child marriage practice backward – John Mahama appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

 Addressing the Northern Regional House of Chiefs as part of her three-day campaign tour against early child marriage, she pleaded with the traditional authorities to support government’s fight against the phenomenon.

 She said government was committed to promoting child rights in line with the legal framework and international treaties of which Ghana is a signatory.

 “The Children’s Act, the Child and Family Welfare Policy, the Justice for Children Policy coupled with the development of a National Strategic Framework on Ending Child Marriage would provide a holistic approach in the implementation of appropriate strategies and key interventions by different sectors of the Ghanaian Society.”

 Madam Otiko Djaba encouraged traditional rulers to influence their subjects to take advantage of the yet to be implemented “Free SHS” policy in September and send their children to school.

 This, according to her could reduce the high illiteracy ratio recorded in the Northern Region overtime.

 “I am appealing to you our chiefs and queen mothers of the various traditional areas in the region to work towards ensuring that come September 2017, every child of school age is enrolled in school.”

 “Those who for one reason or the other could not go back to school, my ministry will ensure that they are giving skills training.”

 She gave the assurance that women would be given special attention during selection of caterers for the Ghana School Feeding Programme.

 “Originally, the caterers were supposed to buy local food to cook for school children but that had not been the case for a long time. There is going to be directive to ensure that the caterers buy about 60% of locally produced food from smallholder women farmer groups.”

 She is convinced creating such opportunity will encourage more women to practice agribusiness.

 The Gender Minister later visited the Nyohini Children’s Home and commended the Director, Miss Augustina Quainoo and her team for their humanitarian services.

 “Despite your challenges, I am happy per your reports that you have been nurturing infants to become responsible citizens for over four decades.”

 Ms. Augustina Quainoo appealed to the Gender Minister to renovate the dilapidated structures there.

 She also entreated the minister to assist the home complete a dormitory project and a fence wall initiated by the former First Lady, Mrs. Lordina Mahama in partnership with an NGO called Boya Initiative.

–

By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Otiko declares zero tolerance for early child marriage appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

The organization is alarmed by the nation’s statistics of child marriage recorded in deprived communities, hence the campaign launch.

Chairperson of the Advisory Council of World Vision International Ghana, Dr. Adelaide Kastner at the event said the crusade sought to encourage child rights activism.

She emphasized the strict enforcement of laws and policies linked to child marriage.

Dr. Adelaide Kastner called for amendment of Ghana’s Criminal Offences Act 1960 to tie consensual sex age of 16 to the required legal marriage age of 18.

She implored government and development partners to make available adequate financial resources required for the fullest implementation of Ghana’s National Strategic Framework designed to end child marriage from 2017-2026.

She underscored the need for government to reinforce child protection agencies such as the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU) and the Department of Social Welfare.

“Faith based leaders, traditional leaders, civil society organisations, non-governmental organisations and the media should build community awareness of existing child marriage laws and formal prevention mechanisms and the impact of child marriage.”

A representative of UNICEF, Gloria Nyam Gyang implied that Ghana has a record of one out of five girls engaging in informal marriage.

“Here, in the northern part of the country, it is even 1 in every 3 of ours. In the face of this staggering reality, we need to reaffirm our strong commitment and intensify our efforts.”

She cited poverty, teenage pregnancy, very limited education and opportunities, gender inequality, traditions and social expectations as some of the key drivers of child marriage in Ghana.

“Sometimes girls themselves choose to be in a union because they perceive it to be what is expected of them, maybe to gain some status and recognition in the community, to escape from poverty or non-supportive family environment, or only because they have dropped out of school and don’t have any other viable alternative.”

The campaign aims at contributing 50 percent to the reduction of child marriage in Ghana by 2021.

It also seeks to challenge social norms and eliminate harmful practices against children, improve policy implementation as well as strengthen institutions and faith communities to protect children from the canker.

The 2015 Human Rights Watch Report titled “Ending Child Marriage in Africa” revealed that globally, more than 700 million women are victims of the circumstance.

The report further indicated that in sub-Saharan Africa, a staggering 40 percent of girls marry below 18.

African countries account for 15 out of the 20 countries with the highest rates of child marriage.

–

By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post World Vision Ghana launches ‘End Child Marriage Now’ campaign appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.

He has served notice that any parents or guardians found practicing child marriage or betrothal would be severely reprimanded.

He thus tasked all his divisional chiefs and elders to support the fight against teenage pregnancy which often leads to child marriage.

Sagnarigu-Naa Yakubu Abdulai’s advocacy followed a Non-Governmental Organization, Songtaba’s alarming report that child marriage was rampant in five districts of the Northern Region.

The report revealed that girls as young as 13 years are being forced to marry against their willpower.

It is against this backdrop, Sagnarigu-Naa Yakubu Abdulai has joined forces with Songtaba to end the menace.

Sagnarigu-Naa Yakubu Abdulai condemned the practice when Change Agents under the Girls Advocacy Alliance (GAA) project spearheaded by Songtaba in partnership with Plan International Ghana engaged the Sagnarigu traditional council at his palace.

The retired Diplomat attributed the increasing trend of child marriage to globalisation, saying, “Customs of Dagbon already frowns upon teenage pregnancy.”

He discarded the notion that the surge in child marriage and teenage pregnancy could be entirely blamed on poverty.

Islamic Cleric, Sheik Ilyas Umar implored the Sagnarigu traditional council to intensify their fight against child marriage and commercial sexual exploitation.

Sheikh Umar who teaches Islam at Tamale Senior High School (Tamasco) cited teenage pregnancy major cause of child marriage in the Northern Region.

This, according to him is affecting girl child education and promoting sexual promiscuity.

The Change Agents are a combination of traditional, faith leaders and women leaders “Magazia’s” selected by Songtaba under the GAA project.

The GAA is a five year project that seeks to achieve equal rights and opportunities for girls and young women.

It is being implemented in four districts by Songtaba with support from Plan International Ghana.

The project is rolled out in 40 communities across all four districts of the Northern Region and it has been extended to the Upper West and Eastern Regions.

The project focuses on five thematic areas. These are child marriage, sexual violence and abuse, commercial sexual exploitation of children and child sex tourism as well as access to Technical, Vocational Education Training (TVET) and decent employment opportunities for girls and young women.

It is estimated that the project could help reduce the menace within the stipulated period.

–

By: Abdul Karim Naatogmah/citifmonline.com/Ghana

The post Sagnarigu Chief wages war on child marriage appeared first on Citi 97.3 FM - Relevant Radio. Always.