Akwamu chiefs vow to end child marriage
The Chiefs and people of the Akwamu Traditional Area in the Asuogyaman District in the Eastern Region have declared their commitment to end child marriage and other harmful traditional practices that affect the girl-child in all communities.
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“We pledge to support our Paramount Chief and the Paramount Queenmother and actively promote awareness, education and support initiatives that protect the rights and well-being of our girls and our children at large.”
‘’Together, we will build communities and future where every child can thrive and fulfil his or her potential, especially the girl-child where the rights and welfare of our children are protected,” they said.
Declaration durbar
At the declaration durbar held at the Bogyawe Palace at Akwamufie on the theme “Akwamu Traditional Area Commitment to ending Child Marriage in Ghana, one Paramountcy at a Time”, the traditional leaders pledged to end child marriage that threatened girls’ lives, health and also limited their prospects.
The programme which was the first of its kind in the area was attended by high-powered delegations from the Ministry of Chieftaincy and Religious Affairs, United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA), Ghana Education Service, Ghana Police Service, Ghana Health Service, the Department of Social Welfare and Community Development, schoolchildren as well as religious leaders in all the churches in the traditional area; it was sponsored by the Obaa Development Foundation led by Nana Hemaa Awindor and UNFPA.
Earlier, some selected chiefs and queenmothers from the traditional area attended a one week workshop on child marriage at Koforidua and they shared their experiences with the participants at the durbar.
In a statement by UNFPA Resident Representative Dr Wilfred Ochan which was read on his behalf by the Head of Gender Unit, UNFPA, Dr Doris Mawuse Aglobitse, he said child marriage was a human rights violation.
He said despite laws against it, the practice remained widespread which was a significant problem in Ghana.
Dr Ochan noted that the prevalence of marriage by age 15 has stalled at about five per cent over the last 10 years, without any visible improvement.
According to him, for UNFPA, no girl, absolutely none should be married against her will, saying “we aim at achieving zero gender-based violence and harmful practices including child marriage in every country”.
UNFPA mission
“My organisation, UNFPA, has a mission to deliver in a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is filled.
This mission is huge and cannot be achieved without collaboration with different stakeholders.
It is for this reason that the global programme to end child marriage of which Ghana is a beneficiary, derived the strategy of working with traditional leaders and other gate keepers who are so close to the people and also live with them on daily basis in their communities,” the Resident Representative stated.
He said UNFPA-UNICEF Global Programme to end child marriage sought to promote the rights of adolescent girls to avert marriage and pregnancy and enable them to achieve their aspirations through education and alternative pathways.
The Paramount Chief, Odeneho Kwafo Akoto III, said in some of his communities, the misguided belief that marrying girls off early would preserve chastity and prevent premarital sex was regressive, adding that that inadvertently punished little girls for what should be a collective educational responsibility of parents, communities and male counterparts.
That, he said, posed significant challenge to the authorities who often must tread the fine line between child protection and age-old beliefs and customs.