Let’s halt child marriage; Children in Wa appeal
A number of children in Wa, the Upper West Regional capital, have marched through the streets of the town to call for a planned and sustained national effort to end child marriage in the region in particular, and other parts of the country.
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The event was organised by Plan Ghana to mark this year’s AU Day of the African Child, which fell on June 12.
This year's celebration centred on 25 years after the adoption of the African Children's Charter, which focuses on accelerating collective efforts to end child marriage in Africa. In Ghana, the event was observed on the theme: "Ending child marriage in Ghana to restrengthen family and community structures."
Communiqué
The children later presented a communiqué to the Regional Minister, Alhaji Amin Amidu Sulemani, and the Upper West Regional House of Chiefs at separate ceremonies.
According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (2011) by the UNICEF, about 27 per cent of women aged between 20 and 24 were married before 18 years.
In a communiqué, the children said: "We have noted with concern the alarming incidence of the practice of child marriage in the region and its devastating socio-economic consequences on the girl-child,” indicating that “the practice has denied us of our childhood, disrupting our education, increasing the risk of abuse, jeopardising our health and has put us into perpetual poverty."
Pointing to statistics, the communiqué said: "While child marriage is common in Ghana, the Upper West Region (with 39 per cent prevalence rate of child marriage) is second to the Upper East Region, which has 50 per cent prevalence rate," and stressed that: "This is indeed alarming and calls for action."
"On average, one out of four girls will be married before their 18th birthday," it said.
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While acknowledging efforts by the Upper West Regional Co-ordinating Council, the Police, judicial service and various state agencies working to address what they described as "this violence/criminal act against us," the children said: "The implementation of all appropriate legislation and policies that effectively prohibit, prevent, punish and redress child marriage in our region requires the collective effort of stakeholders.”
Legal instruments
They also appealed to government and other stakeholders to implement key policies and legal instruments relating to human rights, gender equality, maternal and child health, and ensure that the perpetrators of ‘harmful traditional practices' were made to face the full rigours of the law to deter others.
They also appealed for support for the regional police command, as a matter of urgency, to open offices of the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) in all district capitals in the region, while the municipal and district assemblies in the region should support relevant state institutions to embark on rigorous sensitisation programmes in the communities.
It said the government should also strengthen child protection systems in the region and implement policies that would ensure that girls who were married at an early age would have the opportunity to continue their education, whether they give birth or not.
Public concern
Receiving the communiqué, Alhaji Sulemani observed that various studies had indicated that child marriages were the results of many factors that included poverty, lack of education and job opportunities, cultural practices and child betrothal, stressing that vigorous interventions were needed to change the trend.
He added that there was the need to enforce the laws to the benefit of children who were victims or potential victims of child marriage, and called on all stakeholders to play their roles to help eliminate the practice.