International Day of the Girl Child: 14-Year-old girl calls for peace

A 14-year-old Junior High School girl, Sophia Kamasah, has called on the two political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), to work at ensuring that there is peace during and after the December general elections.

According to her, the two major political parties have a major stake in ensuring the peace of the country during and after the December polls.

Ms Kamasah, a form two student of the New Ayoma Community Junior High School in the Jasikan District of the Oti Region, made the call last Thursday ahead of the celebration of the International Day of the Girl Child held on Friday, October 11.

The theme for this year's celebration is: “Unite for Peace”.

The 14-year-old who did a take-over of the role of the Chairman of the National Peace Council (NPC), as part of the Day of the Girl Child celebration, is a mentee of Plan International Ghana's "Be Smart, Learn and Stay Protected" project.

The project is being implemented in 20 communities in the Oti and Eastern regions.

Take Over

During the takeover process which was organised by Plan International Ghana, she acted as the Chairman of the National Peace Council and called on members of the council to ensure that they took the education on a peaceful election down to the grassroots for people to understand what it meant to have a peaceful country.

Ms Kamasah said without peace, women, children and the youth would be the most affected as they would not be able to go about their day-to-day activities, including education.

Mr Frank Wilson Bodza, the Deputy Director in charge of Conflict Management and Resolution, who briefed Ms Kamasah on the work of the council within the year, said the council has trained political parties in the region on how to manage intra and inter-party conflict, dubbed Alternative Dispute Resolutions.

The council, he said, has also met with the council of elders of the political parties, where they deliberated on how to ensure peace in the country.

The Gender and Sexual Reproductive Health Rights Specialist, Plan International Ghana, Esenam Ahiadorme, said the ‘Take Over’ was part of the entity’s annual celebration of the Day of the Girl Child, so that they will be interested in decision-making positions as they grow.

She said women and girls across the world face a lot of challenges as they grow, which discourages them from venturing into politics or decision-making positions.

Therefore, the ‘Take Over’ was a way of encouraging them to aspire to higher positions.

She said Plan International Ghana, this year, chose a girl from a rural community to ‘Take Over’ the position of the NPC Chairman so that it would encourage girls from other rural communities to also aspire high.

 Writer’s email:rebecca.quaicoe-duho@graphic.com.gh