Cape Coast, Dec. 10, GNA – There must a collaborative efforts to break the string of teenage pregnancy in Ghana’s quest to eradicate poverty, Mrs Marigold Justina Assan, the Central Regional Minister, has said.
The shameful act of teen pregnancy was becoming a vicious cycle, defying positive cultural norms like puberty rites to prevent such deeds in former times, she said, and called for robust measures to curb the situation.
Mrs Assan was speaking the Community Orange Ambassadors Club inauguration in the Abura-Asebu- Kwamankese (AAK) District set up by Mr Elvis Morris Donkor, the Member of Parliament for the Area, through a collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund.
It was on the theme: “Empowering young people to speak up on issues of Sexual and Gender based Violence (SGVB), teenage pregnancy and advocate for adolescent reproductive health”.
The Minister said the string of teen pregnancy must be broken to prevent the struggles of early motherhood and ensure a brighter future for adolescents through a studious society.
She called on parents, community leaders and all well-meaning Ghanaians to help build a society free of domestic violence, gender inequality, defilement and SGBVs.
Mrs Assan encouraged girls to discover their potentials and get out of their shells to face the opportunities the world had to offer.
She commended the UNFPA and the MP for their efforts to minimize, if not stop entirely, teen pregnancy and its related implications.
Mrs Naomi Adjei-Konadu, the Coordinator of the Orange Ambassadors, recounted the successes of the Club, which had 17 members barely a month ago but now had more than 150 members from 12 communities in the district.
Eighty-nine of the total number inaugurated were from six communities: Wiomoa, Putubiw, Apewosika, Abaasa, Surowodofo, and Pataase.
Ms Adjei-Konadu, an Assembly Member of the Apewosika Electoral Area, said the Club met once a week to discuss ways to curb SGBV and where to direct its grievances.
Ms Claudia Lumur, the UNFPA Goodwill Ambassador to Ghana, said the Orange Centres would educate adolescents on the essence of speaking up against abuses and other related issues.
The UNFPA was passionate about achieving zero teen pregnancy cases in the AAK District and in the country as a whole, she said, and urged community members and leaders to own and embraced it for positive outcomes.
“We are looking forward to partnering with Members of Parliament (MPs) all around the country to create similar adolescent groups to help curtail the menace,” she said.
The inaugural ceremony also saw a health screening for the public to check for Hepatitis B, Hemoglobin level, blood groups and glucose.
Source: Ghana News Agency
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