By Solomon Gumah
Tamale, Nov 9, GNA – A stakeholders’ conference seeking to equip young girls with the needed information to stay in school and complete their education has been held in Tamale.
The conference dubbed: “Annual Girls Clubs Conference”, was to encourage girls to aspire for leadership positions in their schools and communities as well as support one other to grow and develop their potentials.
It was organised by the Northern Regional Programmes Office of ActionAid Ghana as part of efforts to empower girls in the various clubs that it established in the schools in the Northern Region.
It was on the theme: “Promoting Girl Child Education and Leadership: The Role of the Girl Child”, and brought together some experienced women mentors, including health professionals to educate participants on their reproductive health rights, leadership and the need to prioritise their education to enable them become responsible citizens in the country.
Representatives of the girls clubs in the schools, who attended the conference included Choggu Demonstration A and B Junior High School (JHS), Bishops’ JHS, Tiyumba JHS, Kasalgu AME Zion JHS and Choggu Nurul Islamic JHS.
Mrs Beatrice Yanman Biije, a Programmes Officer at ActionAid Ghana, speaking during the conference, said it sought to provide the appropriate guidance, mentorship and help young girls to make well informed choices on their education, reproductive health and leadership.
She said prior to the conference, ActionAid Ghana with the support of the school patrons, had been engaging with the girls at the club level in the schools on issues of violence against girls.
She added that the conference was a platform to reflect and review some of the challenges identified at the schools to enable the mentors provide the needed guidance and counselling.
Mrs Biije expressed concern over the increasing rate of teenage pregnancy and abuse of contraceptive pills amongst girls in the region.
Madam Linda Amoah, Northern Regional Education Officer in-charge of Girls Education, said advocacy on girls and women empowerment over the years had seen major reforms from both national and international organisations.
She said it was time for girls and women to realise their hidden potentials and to work assiduously towards ensuring their inclusion in various leadership positions.
Madam Amoah told the girls at the conference to set achievable goals and to remain committed to seeking excellence to become responsible citizens and role models to other young girls in the future.
Madam Bushira Alhassan, Northern Regional Director, Department of Gender who spoke on child marriage, teenage pregnancy and their implications on girls’ education, encouraged girls to desist from premarital and unprotected sex and rather channel their time to acquiring knowledge and skills.
She advised them to stay away from negative peer influence to avoid teenage pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections.
Miss Bernice Busagri, a student of Tiyumba JHS in Tamale, said the girls clubs in the school had helped boost her confidence and assertiveness, especially on issues of reproductive health and rights.
She thanked ActionAid Ghana for the initiative and said such interventions were critical to fighting issues of gender-based violence, teenage pregnancy and the inclusion of girls and women in key leadership positions in country.
GNA