Young girls between the ages of 10 and 16 years actively engage in sexual relationships with their peers and older men at Akyem Sekyere, catchment areas like Abekoase, Subriso, Ahenkrasu and parts of Monsie.

Statistics available to Citi News indicate that, between January and December 2016 alone, as many as 26 adolescent girls in basic schools at Akyem Sekyere dropped out of school due to teenage pregnancy.

That number increased to 32, between the same period in 2017.

This was revealed in an interview with Citi News by Afua Serwaa Bonsu, a Senior Physician Assistant at the St. Monica’s Health Centre in Akyem Sekyere.

“The rate at which teenage and adolescent girls are getting pregnant is very alarming and it is going out of hand here in the Atewa District. It is becoming normal to the people here and some kind of fashion which I do not understand, girls as young as 11 years are getting pregnant here and this is mind-boggling,”she said.

“They visit our facility with a headache, fever, weakness and dizziness, but after careful observations, checking of vital signs and running of tests, we get to know they are pregnant sometimes 3 months that they themselves are not even aware of.”

This problem has taken a huge toll on education and the performance of students, especially young girls in the District.

District Education Director blames situation on illegal miners

The Atewa District Education Director, Isaac Kojo Okyere, in a Citi News interview, attributed the high number of teenage pregnancies to the presence of illegal miners in the Atewa District who he said, entice the young ladies with money.

“I blame the high number of illegal miners who invaded the district to mine in the Atewa forest and other lands in the district. During the peak of the galamsey period, they came here in their numbers to destroy the environment and in causing destruction to the farmlands and water bodies, they also ended up luring the young girls and enticing them with money to have sex with them, and this has largely contributed to the high number of girls who drop out in the basic schools here,” he lamented.

Kojo Okyere, however believes government’s ban on small-scale mining and the ongoing campaign against galamsey will help reverse the trend.

“We at the Education Service are very worried about these developments in the sense that how can you have 32 adolescent girls dropping out of school because they are pregnant? What then happens to their education as future leaders of this country? So personally I’m very excited about government’s decision to end illegal mining in the country, and I hope the situation will improve as the miners have left the areas.”

This position is re-echoed by Efua Serwaa Bonsu, the Physician Assistant. She revealed how some parents push their own teenage daughters to these illegal miners for money.

“In some of our engagements with these pregnant teenage girls, they tell us that some of the parents forcibly send them out to go and get money from the illegal miners. The Akyem land is rich with a lot of mineral resources such as gold, and a lot of people came to the district to mine. The Atewa District was one of the worst hit with the activities of illegal miners during the heat of the galamsey period and these miners had money to spend lavishly on them”.

Fathers impregnating their daughters

Diana Twumasi, the Founder of Sister’s Diary, a Non-Governmental Organization which empowers girls, revealed to Citi News how some fathers also engage in sexual intercourse with their own daughters.

“I engage the young girls occasionally, and they tell me things they do not tell their parents and also share deep thoughts and secrets with me. After a recent interaction with a group of them, one came up to me to tell me a problem which she said was eating her up and it was about how her own father who was constantly actively engaging her in sexual intercourse. Afraid and worried as she is, she is not able to tell her mother about the affair with her father because she is aware several colleagues of hers also have the same problem with their fathers at home and this is really affecting them academically and psychologically”.

Parents are also to blame

Some parents Citi News interacted with at Akyem Sekyere, were not surprised at the turn out of events blaming themselves for the increasing spate of teenage pregnancy in the community.

“It is true, teenage pregnancy is very common in this town, so if you have been informed about it then it is the truth. Some young girls do not even complete school, but give birth in SHS 1, break from school and give birth again, and continue school so before they complete SHS they have given birth to 2 kids”.

“Some of the fault also come from us the parents, the money we give to kids to school is not much, we have to give them enough money that will not push them to engage in sexual activities but some of the children too are also very bad regardless of the amount of money you give them, they still engage in sexual activities because as they leave home to school we do not follow them and they end up in rooms of guys without our knowledge”, a parent lamented.

Eno Kwakyewaa, a parent who’s young daughter is pregnant for the second time, in an interview with Citi News blamed the lack of support from some fathers in the community for the sad state of affairs.

“Our husbands are also part of the problem, they do not assist us financially in taking care of our daughters. If your daughter is sacked from school and your husband supports you the child will go back to school and not end up in a man’s room to look for assistance”.

Eno Kwakyewaa said not all parents push their children to illegal miners for money.

“It is never true that we all push our girls to men, my daughter has given birth and I asked her to go back to register because there is free SHS now, but to my surprise she is pregnant again. I am really sad and in pain. I attended PTA at her school at Anyinam Presby and asked her to come home with me but she refused. Later when she came, I realized she was pregnant again so now what do I do, I can’t sack her from home neither can I abort the pregnancy for her so, I will allow her to deliver and after that, if she wants to continue her education I will let her do so. I wasn’t successful growing up in life so why should I push my kid into a behaviour which did not help me”.

Gloria Akplaku, the Girls Education officer for the Atewa District in an interview with Citi News, also called for urgent attention and a vigorous community participation to end the trend.

Teenage girls could get infected with HIV/AIDS

With the high teenage pregnancy cases recorded in the Atewa District, the Ghana AIDS Commission is alarmed.

Madame Golda Asante, the Technical Coordinator of the Ghana AIDS Commission in the Eastern Region believes residents in the Atewa District are at risk of contracting HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.

“If 30 young girls are getting pregnant and dropping out of school then this is very serious. It is serious in the sense that if they got pregnant, it is because they had unprotected sex which may not be with single partners but several others and this makes them and the whole community vulnerable to contracting and spreading sexually transmitted diseases including HIV”.

She however indicated that the Ghana Aids Commission will intensify its already existing community education and outreach programs in the district to deal with the challenges.

“We have already established AIDS clubs in the district and we also have district focal persons there. What the Commission is going to do is to prioritize our activities in the district, we will concentrate more in the district and let our presence be felt in the entire communities around. We are going to engage the members in series of community education programs to help prick their knowledge on this important sensitive health issue and I believe this will go a long way to help sanitize the entire community”.

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By: Neil Nii Amatey Kanarku/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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Mr. Thomas Azurago, the Birim North District Health Director who disclosed this, said there is the need for the Health Directorate, the District Assembly and traditional leaders, to create awareness for parents to help reduce the menace.

He said stakeholders in the communities can make rules and regulations to prevent teenagers from engaging in premarital sex and prevent child marriages.

Mr. Azurago said maternal mortality in the District was also becoming a major challenge for the Directorate, and therefore urged pregnant women to begin their pre-natal clinic attendance early to help reduce it.

He said the District had planned to deploy midwives to deprived communities in the District to assist Traditional Birth Attendants in order to minimize maternal morality drastically.

Mr. Azurago also mentioned tuberculosis, anaemia, diabetes, hypertension and obesity as the most common diseases among the people in the area.

He entreated the public to often do regular check-ups to help stay strong and healthy.

He appealed to the Assembly to provide an ambulance for the Birim North Government Hospital and an office for the Health Directorate to support their services delivery.

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Source: GNA

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According to Francisca Oteng Mensah, Ghana’s youngest legislator who was elected in 2016, this will ensure that teenage girls, who often bear the brunt, do not dropout of school because of unwanted pregnancies.

The Kwabre East MP maintained that, there is the need for a dispassionate discussion to help find holistic long-term solutions rather than sweeping such critical issues under the carpet.

She made the remarks at an engagement with some staff members of the Our Lady of Grace Senior High School (SHS) at Mampongteng in the Kwabre East District.

She also proposed the distribution of condoms to school girls every weekend to enable them prevent unwanted pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections (STIs).

She emphasized that developed countries like the United Kingdom (UK) had used such measures to enhance the sexual reproductive lives of adolescent girls and prevented unexpected pregnancies.

“During my visit to the UK, I observed that some schools were distributing contraceptives and condoms to teenage girls on Fridays to help protect them sexually. It is high time we paid attention to such issues since parents cannot be everywhere with their teenage girls. The use of these contraceptives will also help teenagers not to contract sexual related diseases.”

She appealed to the Ministry of Education (MoE) to adopt such practices or initiate special projects to curb the high rate of teenage pregnancies in Ghana.

Ms. Oteng Mensah also called on teachers to intensify sex education in schools for teenagers.

She stressed that there was also the need for concerted efforts by parents, teachers and other stakeholders to help deal with the menace of teenage pregnancy in Ghana.

There were reports that about fifty-seven thousand teenage pregnancies were recorded nationwide in the first half of 2017.

A total of 31 teenage pregnancy-related deaths were also recorded during the period.

It also indicated that, a total of 9,100 adolescents reportedly got pregnant in the Ashanti Region during the first half of this year.

Three teenage pregnancy related deaths were also recorded in the region during the period.

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By: Hafiz Tijani/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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A total of 31 teenage pregnancy related deaths were also recorded during the period.

This was made known by Mr Simeon Kwabena Acheampong, the Ashanti Regional Manager of Marie Stopes International, Ghana, an international NGO, providing contraception and safe abortion services.

According to him, a total of 9,100 adolescents reportedly got pregnant in the Ashanti Region during the first half of this year.

He also said three teenage pregnancy related deaths were also recorded in the region during the period.

Mr Acheampong was speaking at a three-day adolescents’ camp meeting organized jointly by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) in Kumasi.

It brought together members of the adolescent health ambassadors clubs in senior high schools (SHS) across the country.

These ambassadors are being supported to create awareness on reproductive health in both their schools and communities as part of stepped up effort to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

The meeting was held under the theme “Equipping young people as health ambassadors for sustainable development”.

Mr. Acheampong expressed concern about the high rate at which many a young girl were getting pregnant and dropping out of school.

This, he indicated, was unhelpful to the fight to reduce poverty and asked that all combined their effort to give protection to adolescent girls.

Dr. Gloria J. Quansah Asare, the Deputy Director General of GHS, labelled the youth as valuable asset and said everything should be done to help them to avoid missteps and pitfalls.

He spoke of the need to reach out to them with reproductive health services to make the right choices and decisions.

Statistics show that majority of the Ghanaian adolescents are in school and she said that made the school a critical platform for providing adolescent and youth-friendly health services.

That, she indicated, informed the decision by the GHS to form the clubs to get to them, with the right health information and services.

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Source: GNA

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Mr. Simeon Kwabena Acheampong, the Regional Manager of Marie Stopes International, Ghana, an international NGO, providing contraception and safe abortion services, said three teenage pregnancy related deaths were also recorded during the period.

Nationwide, 57,000 teenage pregnancies with 31 deaths, were seen.

[contextly_sidebar id=”V2wvlaUOqcCt48QrNn9Y5sDwLN8LFcTf”]He was speaking at a three-day adolescents’ camp meeting organized jointly by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) and the Ghana Education Service (GES) in Kumasi.

It brought together members of the adolescent health ambassadors clubs in senior high schools (SHS) across the country.

These ambassadors are being supported to create awareness on reproductive health in both their schools and communities as part of stepped up effort to prevent unwanted pregnancies.

The meeting was held under the theme: “Equipping young people as health ambassadors for sustainable development”.

Mr. Acheampong expressed concern about the high rate at which many a young girl were getting pregnant and dropping out of school.

This, he indicated, was unhelpful to the fight to reduce poverty and asked that all combined their effort to give protection to adolescent girls.

Dr. Gloria J. Quansah Asare, the Deputy Director General of GHS, labeled the youth as valuable asset and said everything should be done to help them to avoid missteps and pitfalls.

He spoke of the need to reach out to them with reproductive health services to make the right choices and decisions.

Statistics show that majority of the Ghanaian adolescents are in school and she said that made the school a critical platform for providing adolescent and youth-friendly health services.

That, she indicated, informed the decision by the GHS to form the clubs to get to them, with the right health information and services.

–

Source: GNA

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The survey accused the male students of UCC of engaging young girls in the university community in “sex for money” activities, thereby contributing to the rise of teenage pregnancy and child prostitution in Cape Coast and its adjoining communities.

In a house-to-house interaction with some youth by personnel of NASPA to ascertain why the children engage in prostitution and the measures to curb the act, some teenagers located in Apewosika and Amamoma blamed the male students of UCC for going round and sleeping with girls in the community in exchange for money, hence the rampant teenage pregnancy and prostitution in the area.

They also mentioned that some parents who demand money from their wards force them into prostitution.

This came to light when personnel of NASPA in Cape Coast visited the university communities to embark on teenage pregnancy awareness campaign.

The campaign, which was on the theme: “Our Girls, Our Future,” was aimed at discouraging children from engaging in illicit sex.

Speaking in an interview with Today, Central Regional President of NASPA, Mr. Wonder Totor, said the move was to educate girls in the community and reduce child prostitution and teenage pregnancy in the community.

For his part, Vice President of NASPA, Bright Nat Enninson, called on Domestic Violence & Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) to start the arrest and prosecution of male students who keep impregnating girls in the community.

About 5,106 teenage pregnancies were recorded in the Central Region between July and December 2016.

Out of this, 430 were aged between 13 and 15, while the remaining 4,682 pregnancies were recorded among 16 and 19.

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Source: Today Newspaper

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Tanzania President John Magufuli has said girls will not be allowed back to school after giving birth during his administration.

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The District Health Director, Mrs. Comfort Suglo, said it went down by 5.1 per cent, in 2016.

A total of 458 cases were reported in year 2016, compared with the 2015 figure of 507.

[contextly_sidebar id=”ZAOSJ2iZb8O7tJnBpfIQxqEJgjwfwGEA”]She announced this in a speech read for her at a health outreach programme organized at Kwanwoma by Hope for Future Generations (HFFG), an NGO, and she said although progress was being made, nobody should be complacent.

The programme provided a forum for parents, the youth and community leaders to discuss ways to discourage adolescents from pre-marital sex, prevent unwanted pregnancies and illegal abortion.

It formed part of the Ghana Adolescent Reproductive Health (GHARH) project – an intervention to improve access to health information and utilization of quality reproductive health services by adolescents.

The project is being implemented by HFFG together with the Planned Parenthood Association of Ghana (PPAG), Ghana Health Service, Ghana Education Service (GES), and the National Population Council (NPC) with funding from the UKAID-Palladium Group.

Miss Roseline Lodonu, the HFFG Project Coordinator, said the three-year GHARH project had targeted to bring down teenage pregnancy by six per cent in the beneficiary areas in the Ashanti Region.

These include Atwima-Kwanowma, the Asokore-Mampong Municipality and the Kumasi Metropolis.

The project is combining the training of peer educators, stakeholder meetings and community durbars to achieve the intended goal.

Mr. Emmanuel Asuah Dadzie, assembly member for the Kwanwoma electoral area, reminded parents of their responsibility to children and asked that they provided them with their basic needs.

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Source: GNA

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The alliance in a statement to mark Mothers’ Day called for the establishing of free day care centres at markets to ease the pressure on kayayei and teen mothers in need.

It also urged government to extend the school feeding to cater for them.

The AWMA in the statement decried the plight of Kayayeis, also known as head porters, and their “often malnourished children” who are exposed to harsh conditions whilst with their working mothers.

The alliance noted that “free day care and feeding facilities for these child mothers will ease their burden and provide a safe haven for their babies. Whilst we wait for a workable policy to deal with the kayayei situation and teenage pregnancy in general.

“If Ghana is to eradicate maternal and under-five mortality, these interventions are critical,” the statement noted further.

Find below the full statement

Build day care centres at markets  and make it free for teen mothers and extend school feeding to same:

The Alliance for Women in Media Africa, (AWMA), will like to use the occasion of Mothers day to highlight the plight of teenage mothers especially those without support who are struggling.

The situation of the kaayayeis (head porters) is most deplorable. They often have to carry huge loads whilst carrying their often malnourished children. For several hours in the day these babies and toddlers are exposed to the vagaries of extreme weather.

Free day care and feeding facilities for these child mothers will ease their burden and provide a safe haven for their babies. Whilst we wait for a workable policy to deal with the kayayei situation and teenage pregnancy in general.

If Ghana is to eradicate maternal and under-five mortality, these interventions are critical.

We will also like to say congratulations to all mothers for the sacrifices they make and continue to make to raise the nation.

signed:

Shamima Muslim Alhassan.

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By: Delali Adogla-Bessa/citifmonline.com/Ghana

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