Teenage motherhood rises in Nkoranza Municipality

Madam Gifty Yeboah, a Deputy Director at Nkoranza Municipal Assembly, has said teenage motherhood was on the increase in the Municipality.

She said this at a stakeholders’ forum aimed at educating selected personalities about the Ghana Adolescent Reproductive Health Project (GARHP) on Monday at Nkoranza.

The forum organized by the Nkoranza Municipal Assembly and jointly funded by the Department for International Development (DFID) of United Kingdom Agency for International Development (UKAID) and Futures Group of Europe (FGoE) was attended by 100 participants from the Municipality.

Topics discussed included “Challenges that face the Adolescent Youth”, “Causes and Effects of early sexual practices”, “Problems that face children from broken homes”, “Causes and Effects of Streetism” and “The Importance of Adolescent Friendly Corners”.

Madam Yeboah, a Focal Person of the Project, attributed the problem to lack of knowledge and skills on reproductive health issues.

She said sexual practices and teenage pregnancies were major problems facing the nation because young people refused to pursue higher education while others become school drop-outs.

Madam Winifred Tienaah, Nkoranza Municipal Director of Health Services, said her outfit would establish Adolescent Friendly Corners at Nkoranza and Donkro-Nkwanta to serve as Counseling Centres for adolescent youth on reproductive health issues.

Mr Kwasi Djan, Nkoranza Municipal School Health Education Programme (SHEP) Coordinator, said some parents shirked their responsibilities towards their children and this contributed to the increased rate of school drop-outs and teenage pregnancies in the Municipality.