Nyentie community begins processes to end child marriage
Nyentie, one of the communities in the Sissala West District of the Upper West Region where child marriage is more pronounced, has begun processes to formulate bye-laws to halt the menace in the community.
The chief and people of the community after receiving some education and sensitization on the issue by the Community Development Alliance (CDA) through its project “Let Girls Learn, End Child Marriage” funded by STAR Ghana have come to the realization that child marriage have very negative effects on the future of female children in the community.
As a result, the community with the help of CDA is poised to formulate and enforce bye-laws against the outmoded cultural practice and to protect the girls and allow them go to school and stay to complete and become responsible citizens of the community.
Speaking during a meeting with the chiefs and people of Nyentie and its adjoining communities, Mr. Sulemana Bipuah, Programmes Manager for Community Development Alliance (CDA), said until the many obstacles surrounding girls education were consciously addressed, girl-child education would continue to lag behind.
He noted that ending child marriage had become a global concern and commended the community for taking such a bold step to come up with bye-laws to protect their girls.
He appealed to them to endeavour to think through all the proposals and identify all loop holes in order to be sure that they would be implementable, saying sometimes how laws were framed made them difficult to implement.
Mr. Bipuah however assured them that CDA would be available to help them think through the proposals so that they could come out with well crafted bye-laws that they could commit to its effective implementation.
Mercy Dakogri, CDA “Let Girls Learn, End Child Marriage” Programme Officer said the project was being implemented in 30 communities in three districts in the Upper West Region with an overall goal of ending the practice of child marriage while enabling girls to pursue their educational and vocational aspirations.
Mr. Sulley Mohammed, Adolescent Health Coordinator at the Sissala West District Health Administration, said child marriage had very negative effects on victims and appealed to the community people to protect their girls against child marriage in order to secure their health.
Madam Pauline Balangtaa, Sissala West District Education Girl Child Officer appealed to parents to love their children and give them the necessary protection against such practices in order for them to go to school.
Kuoro Mahamudu Nasare, Chief of Nyentie Community assured that the bye-laws when finalized would be implemented to the letter to discourage perpetrators.
Source: GNA