Ending child marriage, teenage pregnancy not the sole responsibility of the girl - H. E. Ron Strikker

After five years of continuous sensitization and awareness creation for child marriage-free communities in The Hunger Project Ghana’s Epicenter catchment areas, an end-of-project stakeholder’s forum was held on Wednesday, 16th December 2020 at the Capital View Hotel in Koforidua to share the success stories of the project since its inception in 2016.

The project dubbed “The Her Choice Project” has strengthened the girl child to become socially and economically empowered to withstand societal norms and cultural beliefs which tend to project that girls are somehow inferior to boys.

Delivering the keynote address at the end-of-project stakeholders’ forum, the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands to the Republic of Ghana, H. E. Ron Strikker stated that he is extremely happy with the feat chalked by the project in the last five years.

In his closing remarks, H.E. Ron Strikker added that, ending Child marriages or teenage pregnancies must not solely be the responsibility of the girl or women but the community as a whole.

The project coordinator, Mrs Patricia Osei Amponsah during her presentation at the forum stated the following as some of the major achievements attained by the project.

* 3 girls were rescued from child marriage.

* 11 teenage mothers were sent back to school.

* 45 schools trained and adopted girl friendly measures.

* Her choice clubs established in 45 schools.

* Over 2500 girls and boys were educated and trained on child marriage, gender, child rights and SRHR issues.

* Over 33, 746 community partners sensitized and trained on issues affecting the girl child and child marriage.

The Country Director of The Hunger Project-Ghana, Mr. Samuel Afrane emphasized that, THP Ghana will do all it can to ensure the sustenance of the programs running under the project. He expressed his profound gratitude to the partners of the project for their relentless support in the last five years.

HER CHOICE is an alliance of four Netherlands-based organizations: Stichting Kinderpostzegels Nederland, The Hunger Project, International Child Development Initiatives (ICDI) and the University of Amsterdam. These organizations combine their efforts with 27 local partner organizations to combat child marriage in ten countries.

In the last five years, Her Choice has worked hard to end child marriage, together with girls and boys, their families, and their communities.

This multi-facets project did not only safeguard girls from being treated as brides but also ensured that teenage mothers are empowered economically by sponsoring their vocational training.

Teenage mothers who had no dreams of returning to school were also encouraged and supported to continue their education.

The Her Choice Project has ran from January 2016 to December 2020 and was implemented in partnership with the Netherlands Embassy, Commission on Human Rights and Administrative Justice (CHRAJ), Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DOVVSU), Ghana Education Service, Ghana Health Service, Birth & Death registry, National Youth Authority, Department of Agric, Business Advisory Services and UNICEF.