Accra, Sept. 8, GNA – Stakeholders’ have held a meeting to discuss ways to establish a data and information portal to help end child marriage in the country.
The meeting held on Tuesday in Accra was jointly organized by the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
The meeting allowed key stakeholders to contribute to building data and information on the portal.
Ms Malonin Asibi, Head of Domestic Violence Secretariat, said there was a ten-year development plan to end child marriage but was inadequate.
She explained that data was collated every two years, which did not augur well in planning for intervention and also to deal with the real situation on the ground.
Ms Asibi said the meeting was timely to meet demand data on child marriage and domestic violence.
She said UNFPA was interested in data and urged participants to provide inputs into the establishment of the portal, which would be situated at the DV Secretariat and managed by a trained staff.
She said the maiden engagement of stakeholders, a validation workshop, would be organized to demonstrate how the portal would operate.
Ms Selina Owusu, the UNFPA National Programme Analyst-Gender, said one of the main agenda of the fund was to safeguard girls by ending gender-based violence and other harmful practices.
Mr Senanu Agbozo, Consultant for Developing the DV Information and Database Portal, gave the objectives of the portal as a centralised reservoir where information could be accessed, increase accessibility of available information and enhance data security.
It would also categorise all information and data on stakeholders, provide useful links and relevant information on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and related issues.
It would have the ability to send bulk emails and control information feed.
He said it would have one-time registration, login options, sections for slideshows, news announcements, event notices, social media, disclosure and more.
Participants suggested that the portal be user friendly, especially with the use of a mobile phone.
It should be disability friendly, have live chat, contact numbers of key people, should contain all issues on child marriage, conventions Ghana had signed to.
It should also have success stories, animations, photos of engagements such as the one on ending child marriage, request forms for more information, search engine being thematic, toll-free lines which should be made active all the time, among others.
GNA