NGO proposes bye-law to stop violence against girls

A non-governmental organization (NGO), Songtaba operating in the Northern Region, has recommended the enactment of bye-laws with guidelines and sanctions by District Assemblies to halt violations against girls.

It said legislation at the local assembly level is the surest way to guarantee the safety of the children and ensure their future development.

The NGO said even though Ghana was the first to ratify the UN Convention on the Child, there had been less commitment and progress in ensuring that children’s rights were not violated.

“The Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international and regional instruments such as the African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, which specifically address discrimination against the girl-child, obliges the State to take special measures to safeguard females, especially the disadvantaged, to ensure access to education for all,” it said.

Madam Adam Lamnatu, Coordinator of the Songtaba, made the suggestion in a press statement copied to the Ghana News Agency, proposing a bye-law to stop violence against girls in schools in the Nanumba North District.

She said the proposed bye-law was part of several interventions her organization was undertaking in the north-eastern part of the region under the Stop Violence Against Girls in School (SVAGS) Project, which is an initiative by ActionAid Ghana, with its partner SONGTABA.

Madam Lamnatu said the bye-law was necessitated by the fact that the Nanumba areas had peculiar cultural practices, which inhibit girl child education with a high incidence of early marriage, forced marriages and fosterage, adding that, male dominance, female inferiority complex coupled with teenage pregnancies had led to the communities calling for a more drastic policy to address the issue.

She said among some of the things the bye-law was proposing are that all children including girls of school going age (six years and above) must be enrolled in schools.

The parents of a child of school going age who was not enrolled in school should be sanctioned and compelled to enroll the child into the nearest community school.

“No child, including girls below the age of 18 years and in basic schools, should be forced into marriage and that any parent or guardian of a child who condoned child marriage or is partner to such a marriage shall be sanctioned accordingly,” itsaid.

Madam Lamnatu said the proposed bye-law had been made available to the Nanumba District Assembly for consideration, advising that the community should form a seven-member committee including the assembly assemblies, to ensure the effective implementation of the bye-law.

She entreated the Assembly to pass the proposed bye-law to ensure the

welfare of the girl-child and improve upon her standard of living.