Madam Otiko Djaba calls for zero tolerance on child marriages

The Minister of Gender, Children and Social Protection, Otiko Afisah Djaba, has re-emphasised the need to fight child marriage in the country.

The phenomenon, she said, has become a threat to national development. Speaking at a meeting with chiefs and queen mothers of the Upper East Region, the minister called on parents and other stakeholders to support all initiatives to end child marriage. 

She said no girl child must be married before 18 years, hence the need for stakeholders to ensure that both the boy child and the girl child are allowed equal opportunity to education.

Educating the girl child, according to her, was critical to the development of a nation, therefore, collective efforts is necessary towards solving  problems affecting the girl child especially that of early child marriage. 

She noted that child marriages and teenage pregnancies partially contribute to maternal deaths, infant mortality, under-weight and mal-nourishment in in the country. 

Madam Otiko Djaba called for zero tolerance on child marriages in the country. Therefore all children must be protected from abuses such as child marriages; which stunts the girl child's educational opportunities. 

She proposed that ending the harmful practice of child marriage required engaging the media for increased advocacy.  

The Gender Minister,charged Ghanaian women to speak their minds on issues that affect them without fear or favour. 

According to her, the rights of women to speak must be respected as the rights of men. She said her outfit in consultation with key stakeholders have developed a national strategic framework on ending child marriage which will be rolled out in the coming days. 

According to her, the framework will help provide a holistic approach in the implementation of appropriate strategies and key interventions by different sectors of the Ghanaian society towards ending the menace. 

Madam Otiko Djaba maintained that the fight against child marriage in the country remainsgovernment’s priority as well as her ministry.  

While the practice of child marriage had been slowly declining, particularly for girls under age 15, more concerted efforts are still needed to accelerate the pace of change. Meanwhile, as part of the Gender Minister’s two day working visit to the Upper East Region, she visited the Bolgatanga rehabilitation centre. 

Workers at the centre appealed to the minister to renovate the dilapidated structures to enable them carry out their duties as expected. She earlier on met with women groups including hairdressers, fashion designers, soap makers, basket weavers among others.

GBC