Assembly organises workshop on child marriage

An organisation committed to the protection of child rights, ActionAid Ghana, in collaboration with the Social Welfare Department of the Ga West Municipal Assembly, organised a two-day workshop at Amasaman last Wednesday to train and sensitise community leaders and caregivers to the effects of child marriage.

The workshop, which formed part of a nationwide campaign on “Ending Child Marriage”, was to train the opinion leaders in the community to enable them to educate the people about the implications of child marriage.
In a presentation, the Senior Social Development Officer of the assembly, Mr Dabre Tanko, advised parents and caregivers to involve children in taking decisions on issues that affected them to make the children comfortable and happy.
They should also refrain from imposing on the children decisions that suited them.

 Children’s rights
Mr Tanko said children’s rights were broader than child protection because it gave them the right to take decisions that involved them, adding that: “Children are part of the family, but it seems whenever decisions concerning them are being made, they are sidelined, and that is not the best at all. Let them feel they belong to the family too.”
He observed that the enforcement of Child Protection Rights was inadequate because some parents and caregivers abused children but went unpunished because of what he described as “the lack of enforcement of the laws guarding their rights”.

Role models
Mr Tanko mentioned some factors that led to the harsh treatment of children by their parents or caregivers as poverty, broken homes and illiteracy, adding that: “So many factors can cause parents to neglect their children, and especially those who give their children out in marriage are most likely to do so because of poverty, illiteracy and ignorance.”
Encouraging the participants, he said they should report suspicious cases that were related to child abuse, and serve as one another’s keeper by protecting all the children in the community and serving as good role models that could be looked up to in the society.
“Chiefs and queenmothers should ensure that families are faring well and mobilise solidarity and support,” he added.

Rights projection
 The Ghana Project Coordinator for Ending Child Marriage, ActionAid, Miss Abena Anim-Adjei, said the project was aimed at safeguarding and protecting rights of children, especially young girls, because they were the most vulnerable in the society.
“Girls are very vulnerable in the society, more so if they cannot express their feelings. They have been suppressed for long and it’s about time they got a mouthpiece,” she stated.
She added that they were working closely with the Girls’ Unit of the Ghana Education Service (GES) and all girls clubs in various basic and secondary schools to ensure that the implications of child marriage were widely communicated to reach more people.

Positive response
Later in an interview with the Daily Graphic,  Ms Anim-Adjei said so far, the response had been positive and that they had been able to rescue 17 girls from child marriage and re-united them with their parents safely.
“So far, 17 young girls have been rescued from their marital homes and returned to their respective families; those pregnant will also continue with their education after they put to bed. We also have about over 40 cases reported to us so far on child marriage,” she mentioned.
Ms Anim-Adjei mentioned that the project was being undertaken in four regions namely: Greater Accra, Upper East, Upper West and Brong Ahafo regions, reaching out to 120 towns in 12 districts.
The workshop brought together 45 participants, including opinion leaders, chiefs, teachers, parents, caregivers and other stakeholders from eight towns within the municipality.