Regions in the north record more cases of child marriage
The three northern regions in Ghana continue to record high incidents of girl-child marriages among girls in the country, according to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) conducted by the Ghana Statistical Service (GSS) in 2011.
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The survey revealed that the Northern, Upper East and Upper West regions recorded 27.7 per cent, 36.6 per cent and 36.1 per cent cases of child marriages respectively in 2011, making them the regions with the highest cases in the country.
The Operations-Based Team Leader for World Vision in the Northern Region, Mr Timothy Akapadadei, who announced this at a community sensitisation programme on the effects of child marriages at Zogu in the Savelugu Municipality at the weekend, also cited United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) statistics to buttress his point.
UNFPA statistics
According to him, the UNFPA statistics on child marriages indicate that 39,000 girls are married off world-wide everyday, while 140 million girls became child brides between 2011 and 2012 with 50 million below 15 years.
Mr Akapadadei, who was speaking on the theme: “Ending Child Marriage in Ghana through Strengthening Family and Community Structures”, to mark this year’s Day of the Africa Child, said all the child-centred non-governmental organisations (NGOs) working in northern Ghana had come together to address the worrying trend of child marriages in the area.
It was organised by Tuma Kavi Development Centre, a non-governmental organisation in the region, in partnership with World Vision and other partners.
Mr Akapadadei said child marriage was an outmoded practice that should be stopped, adding that it deprived the young girls of their education since they were forced to drop out of school. He stressed, “Child marriage is a violation of the rights of a child, which is punishable by the laws of the country because it is done without her consent and approval.”
Advice to guardians
He advised guardians, especially those in the rural areas, to not marry off their children who were very young to men just because of money or material gain since they were rather doing the child more harm than good.
The Programme Manager of Tuma Kavi Development Centre, Mr Nathaniel Sulemana, said the time when children were forced into marriages was over.
“These young girls go through so much psychological trauma when they marry men who are anonymous to them because they end up demoralised for the rest of their lives since there is no love and affection between them,” he said.
He indicated that the fight against child marriage could only be won in the country if we all came together to fight it.
The Communications Manager of the Christian Children’s Fund of Canada (CCFC), Mr William Anim-Dankwa, said outmoded cultural practices such as child marriages prevented children from becoming responsible citizens. He, therefore, pledged his organisation’s support in protecting the rights of the vulnerable children.