Stakeholders unhappy about surge in teenage pregnancy in Sunyani  

Stakeholders at an adolescent community forum have expressed concern about uncontrolled premarital sexual practices among teenagers in the Sunyani Municipality, calling for a collective approach to bring the situation under control. 

They said that was contributing to increasing teenage pregnancies and affecting girl-child education, as well as increasing adolescent single parenting in the municipality.

 That, they also said, was affecting the holistic growth and development of girls and making many of them a liability as well as increasing the vulnerabilities of children. 

Adolescent parliament

The ‘Sunyani Adolescent Parliament’ set up by the Global Media Foundation (GloMeF), a media advocacy non-government organisation (NGO) under the Resilient City for Adolescents (RC4A) project being implemented in the Sunyani Municipality, organised the forum. 

GloMeF is a non-profit organisation, which specialises in the usage of social and behaviour change communication, right and evidence-based research approaches to facilitate inclusive development programmes targeting young people, women, children and other vulnerable groups. 

The forum was attended by adolescents, queens and chiefs, assembly members and civil society organisations.

The Assembly Member for the Sunyani Area One Electoral Area, Kwaku Ayittey, regretted that “some of the teenagers have sexual intercourse in abandoned structures”. 

He said the situation was becoming alarming and something ought to be done to bring it under control. 

Nana Konama Dompe I, the Kyidomhemaa (sub-queen) of the Sunyani traditional Area, noted that sexual intercourse and substance abuse were “becoming the order of the day” for teenagers, saying that many girls in the municipality were engaged in immoral relationships. 

The ‘Speaker’ of the Adolescent Parliament, Daniel Frimpong-Sarkodie, urged girls to endeavour to preserve their virginity until they marry, saying sex before marriage would only ruin their future. 

Background

In a brief background, the Executive Director of Citizens Watch Ghana, an NGO, and the RC4A implementation partner, Simon Asore, explained that the Adolescent

Parliament leads the adolescent movement and gives them a voice in the decision-making process, as part of the implementation of the RC4A project. 

He said the project implementation was expected to directly benefit 1,500 and indirectly reach out to 3,000 boys and girls.  

The Swiss Botnar Foundation, under its Resilient City for Adolescents Initiative, is funding the implementation of the 300,000-pound sterling project, which seeks to improve the lives of adolescents in the country. 
— GNA