Ending child marriage is collective responsibility — Groups
Girls’ groups in the Adentan and La Nkwantenang-Madina Municipal Assemblies say child marriage can only be ended through a collective effort.
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They said parents, religious and traditional leaders as well as children and the media all had a part to play in ending child marriage.
Placards
The girls made their voices heard through placards at the 59th Independence day celebration when they joined schoolchildren and civil society organisations to march.
Some of the placards read, “Child marriage is a human rights violation. Together let’s put an end to it”; “Adults: Don't impose Marriage on a Child; “Families, communities and the state; together we can end child marriage in Ghana”; “Girls and boys, let’s make the right choices and raise our voices to end teenage pregnancies and child marriage in Ghana”; and “Protect our Girls: Invest in the future of Ghana”.
At the La Nkwantanang-Madina Assembly, the girls were from the St James Basic School at Teiman with Victorious Girls as the name of the club, while those at the Adentan Municipal Assembly were from the Sowadin ‘2’ JHS with Girls of Excellence as the name of their club.
The girls said ending child marriage was a key to achieving sustainable development in the country, adding that, investments in girls education and development would contribute to the growth of the country.
Why girls joined parade
Explaining why the girls joined in the Independent Day parade, the Municipal Girl-Child Officer of the La Nkwantanang-Madina Assembly, Mrs Christiana Azure Ayimzoya, said the campaign was important considering rate the fact that teenage pregnancy was alarming in the country even in the cities.
She cited, for instance, that at the St James Basic School at Teiman, there were five girls currently pregnant, a situation she said was disturbing.
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Mrs Ayimzoya said her outfit was encouraging such girls to remain in school until they delivered of their babies and returned to school after their maternity period.
She said the assembly was motivating girls who work hard by awarding them scholarship to ensure that they pursued their education to the highest level possible.
Inhuman practice
For his part, the Municipal Chief Executive of the Adentan Municipal Assembly, Mr Benjamin Angenu, described the practice as inhuman, explaining that he did not hesitate allowing those girls to join the parade as a way to sensitise the public to the practice.
He said the practice was not only illegal and an infringement on the fundamental human rights of the girls, but it was also dehumanising and denying the girls from acquiring formal education to the highest level.
Mr Angenu appealed to parents to stop giving out their girls to men at their tender age adding, “As for the men who marry such girls, all I can say is that they should stop it.”
Background
The Executive Director of the Centre for Development Initiative (CDI), the brainchild behind the clubs, Mr Alex D. Danikuu, said the organisation saw the parade as a perfect ground for the children themselves to voice what was affecting their peers.
Giving a background, he said in 2014 the African Union launched a two-year continental campaign to end child marriage in Africa which had already been extended to 2018. “One of the main objectives of the campaign is to support member states to frame, launch and execute national strategies and programmes in order to address child marriage,” he said.