Accra: The Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights (ARHR) has organised a regional policy dialogue in the Oti Region to strengthen collaboration among stakeholders in addressing barriers to reproductive health education and preventing gender-based violence (GBV).
According to Ghana News Agency, the dialogue brought together representatives of the Ghana Health Service (GHS), the Ghana Education Service (GES), the Domestic Violence and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU) of the Ghana Police Service, civil society organisations (CSOs), traditional authorities, the Department of Gender, Children and Social Protection, and other key stakeholders. Speaking at the event, Nana Oye Gyimah, Communications Officer at ARHR, highlighted the challenges adolescents and young people in Ghana face in accessing comprehensive and age-appropriate reproductive health education due to misconceptions, cultural norms, stigma, and resistance from some community members.
Nana Gyimah noted that gender-based violence remains a significant public health and human rights concern, affecting the health, safety, and socio-economic development of women, girls, and other vulnerable groups. Although Ghana has adopted several policy and legal frameworks, implementation gaps continue to undermine progress. She stressed the need for stronger collaboration among various stakeholders to improve policy implementation, strengthen accountability, and promote evidence-based interventions.
Facilitating a session on reproductive health education, Madam Esther Hammond, Acting Oti Regional Director of the Department of Gender, Children and Social Protection, called for intensified collaboration to eliminate misconceptions surrounding reproductive health. She emphasized that access to accurate reproductive health information is critical in empowering young people to make responsible decisions, reduce teenage pregnancies, and prevent sexually transmitted infections.
Participants in the dialogue observed that gender-based violence, child marriage, and other harmful practices continue to undermine the health and education of many young people, particularly girls. They adopted several recommendations aimed at strengthening institutional responses to reproductive health education and GBV prevention, including strengthening school-based guidance and counselling services and integrating comprehensive reproductive health education into the school curriculum.
The participants expressed confidence that implementing these recommendations would help reduce gender-based violence, improve adolescent reproductive health outcomes, and create safer, healthier, and more supportive communities for children and young people across the Oti Region.