By Elizabeth Larkwor Baah
Ningo, Sept. 21, GNA – The Ministry of Gender, Children, and Social Protection has trained 70 adolescent girls on Sexual and Reproductive Health Rights (SHRH) and Gender Based Violence (GBV) in the Ningo-Prampram District of the Greater Accra Region.
The training programme was organized in collaboration with the Ningo-Prampram District Assembly and sponsored by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), which aimed at reforming and educating adolescent girls to curb the high incidence of teenage pregnancy and SGBV in the district.
The girls were from Ngmetsokorpe D. A. Basic School; Lekpogunor Presby Basic School and Lekpogunor D. A. Basic School.
Madam Matilda Banfro, the Greater Accra Reginal Director, Department of Gender, said girls’ empowerment was vital in expediting development and curtailing the impact of the patriarchal system.
Madam Banfro said years of patriarchy had led to a damaging effect on women because most women and girls were denied their rights in the development agenda.
She said there were systemic barriers and oppressive practices that negatively impacted girls’ growth and development despite the success stories in fighting the system and urged the girls to take their education seriously to be responsible people in society.
Madam Felicity Mawuli Adobe, the Girl-Child Education Officer, Ningo-Prampram District Assembly, explained that the girl-child during developmental stages of life was faced with specific health and evolving needs and rights.
She said the stage also involved the development of knowledge, skills, how to manage emotions, and building relationships.
She said during this period, girls needed guidance from their parents and guidance to shape them for the future.
Madam Adobe also cautioned the girls to rise above barriers like early sex, truancy, and child marriage to serve as role models for other younger ones.
Ms. Juliana Abbey Quaye, Acting Eastern Regional Director, Department of Gender, urged the trainees to aspire to the highest level of academic level and work hard to beak obstacles.
She charged the adolescent girls to be agents of change in their communities by spreading the message to the others.
GNA