Eradicating child marriage a shared responsibility - AAG

Mr Sumaila Abdul-Rahman, Country Director, Action Aid Ghana, says a shared and collective effort by all stakeholders in child protection is needed to eradicate child marriage in the country.

He said the staggering number of children who are married off before age 18 was worrying and needed concerted efforts by all to nip the phenomenon in the bud.

The Country Director, was speaking at a ceremony on Thursday in Ashaiman in the Greater Accra Region to unveil a child marriage ambassador to help end the practice.

The ceremony, which was attended by pupils, girl's clubs, women, traditional rulers, opinion leaders among others,was on the theme: “Working with communities and children's clubs to prevent child marriage”.

ActionAid Ghana in 2015 launched the “End Child Marriage Project” funded by UNICEF and is being implemented in 120 communities in four regions; Upper East, Upper West, Brong Ahafo and Greater Accra where the phenomenon is most prevalent.

Mr Abdul-Rahaman said the pervasive nature of the practice, prevalent in Northern Ghana, was a draw back to the country’s development, cautioning that serious action needed to be taken to reverse the debilitating practice.

With the commitment and renewed efforts to end the practice, he expressed optimism that a zero tolerance for child marriage as envisioned would be achieved.

To end child marriage, however, he indicated that there is need to reduce socio-cultural practices that facilitate the incidence of child marriages in targeted communities.

This, he explained would be further heigthened through capacity building of girls aged 12 to 17 years to claim their rights, resist child marriages and focus on education.

Madam Emelia Allan, Child Protection Specialist at UNICEF, collaborators of the project, noted that progress to end child marriage in Africa especially Ghana has been rather slow.

She said on the average, one out of five girls in Ghana is married before their 18th birthday, adding that the situation was worrying and efforts ought to be doubled to reverse the trend.

She noted that her outfit was unwavering in its efforts in working closely with Civil Society Organisations and Non-Governmental Organisations as a step in ending the practice.

"Together we can achieve greater progress in ending child marriage in Ghana”, she implored.

Miss Abigail Baciara Bentie (BACI), 2014 winner of TV3's Ghana Most Beautiful pageant, who was unveiled as the ambassador of the End Child Marriage Campaigned, pledged her determination in helping children to enjoy their rights to education by eradicating child marriage in the country.